My First Crop

How does it happen that kids go back to school and the sun begins to set earlier? And this year the temps are below average. Is summer gone? Vanessa's first sunflower crop tells me that the transition might continue to happen quickly. I swear it seems like we just planted her seeds . . . (and we have counted a good number of spent blooms already.) Vanessa was a big helper when we did plant the seeds. The idea was to plant a particular variety that averages between 3 and 4 feet tall so she could actually reach up to the blooms and enjoy them independently. (I envisioned taking photos of her playing in the sunflowers.) So much for that. The plants grew to 8 feet or so. She's still been able to enjoy them in ways I didn't necessarily intend.

Check out her perspective . . . perhaps this is a hint to the color of her thumb (hint: the tomato stakes are about 3 and 1/2 feet tall):

And this isn't the best photo since it was cloudy, but we have visitors for meals of seeds. It's interesting -- their timing is predictable and Vanessa and I enjoy being able to see them each day. We have a perfect view from the kitchen window, which can make it hard to take a picture because I'm taking it through the screen. There's another bright yellow finch that comes. We've never seen all three at one time though.

Computer World

June, 2009

Vanessa has a strong interest in the computer. I can't imagine why. :) It's not like it is part of her daily life.

Once we got downstairs this morning, Vanessa asked if we could play Wonder Pets Save the Circus (Or as Vanessa likes to refer to it "Wonder Pets Sing a Picture "or "Wonder Pets Ball Letters.") Probably once or twice a week, especially when the computer is in view, Vanessa will ask to do various things on it. She likes to check out various blogs. And she loves to hear familiar songs and stories on it. Recently she decided she really likes the Wonder Pets game. With Mommy's help to move and click the cursor, Vanessa chooses the letters Lenny calls out. She finds three letters to spell a word. She thinks it's pretty cool. Not sure if she has a clue that she's spelling words (you can see the wheels turning in her head and she knows if she spelled a word, she gets to do another.)

Vanessa also likes to make her own puppies using a Blue's Clues picture tool. We go through the steps while Vanessa chooses the puppy's traits. Here's one she did over last weekend:

I have to share that Vanessa loves the Fresh Beat Band. Have you seen them? That's a silly question if you have Noggin. We don't make it point to watch each day, but Vanessa has seen lots of videos before and after Blues Clues and Wonder Pets. I totally get why she loves them. It's fun to watch her try to perform their dance moves. She jumps and turns 180 degrees and tries to criss-cross her legs really fast. She stops everything to watch these guys.

This morning as I was walking upstairs to get Vanessa, she began to sing her favorite song, Sing by Karen Carpenter. It was a little more especially fun since she was trying to sing in her best vibrato voice. I hurried to get the video camera in hope to capture some to share, because it's so darn cute, but as you might guess, she stopped before I could hit record. So sorry to once again tease you with something you can't see or hear . . . however, Vanessa loves to hear others sing Sing. And she'll ask Mommy to sing it lots and lots. She'll also often ask to watch this YouTube video:

I think it's so very cool that we have so many resources available to us! If Vanessa only knew how deprived the generations before her were . . .

Happy 8th Birthday, Rachel!

Vanessa’s sweet cousin Rachel turned 8 last week. She’s truly a princess with a curious nature to try new things. I think it’s all too perfect that Rachel has three little brothers to balance out the level of princessness she has in her. Rachel is polite, considerate and very loving – a true testament to how she is parented. She’s been a cheerleader and wants to play basketball. She’s moved through Awanas at rapid speeds and placed 3rd in her group. She loves to read and really likes anything related to American Girl, Barbies and Fairies. Purple and pink are her favorite colors. She had her ears pierced last week. From what we hear, she was very brave. And Rachel is taking the responsibility for caring for ears very seriously. She explains the process really well. She’s such a big girl now and we’re so very happy we get to share in her life!

And I just like this picture -- pretty soon Seth will be in the middle of it too. :)

An evening drive . . .

. . . with no particular place to go . . . but it doesn't matter as long as I'm with Babba!

Babba sure knows how to rev up the engine . . .

Babba, is this car like the ones from when you were little?

Who's telling stories?

Zooing It

We bagan the visit watching the scuba diver clean coral. And Vanessa loved watching the fish.

The stingray swam over rather quickly, almost like he was drawn to Adam's shirt. We were the only ones in the area.

The gibbons put on quite a show. Vanessa was intrigued.

(Warning: Turn down your volume.)

Vanessa rode the pony with Daddy.

And can you believe we were lucky enough to get really good views of Beco, the new baby elephant?! The timing was perfect and we ended up with lots of fun photos. Vanessa likes to ask,"Baby elephant with mommy?"

Possibly more next time . . .

One Girl's Closet

Happy Cake

Vanessa's on my lap sorting through pictures with me. She wanted to use "Mommy's email" (the computer) to share about her birthday happy cake. (She will reacquaint herself with a few other foods, right?)

An Artist at Work

Love the mess!

(Notice the cute little fat rolls? These pictures were taken a few weeks ago, and since thenVanessa has gone through a growth spurt -- the rolls/folds are almost gone :( Now her legs are beginning to make me think of slender ballerina legs, so I guess a sweet and somewhat welcomed development.)

Here she's talking about adding arms and hands to a "heart" she drew:

63,515,940 Seconds Old

This year it seems we dragged out the celebrating extra long, but it was fun!!! (I think Vanessa is still celebrating with her many balloons still floating around the play room and the persistent requests for happy cake.) Of course Vanessa began celebrating weeks ago. :) The rest of us joined her on August 1. We had a small party and Vanessa was so excited to see some of us gather for her. She carried her helium balloons around, proudly showing them to every person as they entered and reentered the room. She was blessed with many special and fun treats. We celebrated more the following Monday when more family came to visit.

Then on Thursday, August 6, Vanessa woke to balloons the birthday fairy so generously hung in the play room. They had to be cut down within a few hours because Vanessa couldn't stand not being able to reach them. :) We spent the morning playing and picnicking at a nearby park, since being outside is one of her favorite things. We then took a small nap and later celebrated again with ice cream cupcakes from Cold Stone Creamery, which Vanessa really enjoyed. (This also provided a second blowing out of candles since the first time, on the 1st, became a little scary after almost burning her face. She was extra careful the second time.)

It is hard to believe we just celebrated Vanessa's second birthday. It's also hard to believe she's now been with us for 63,515,940 seconds (at the time of this post.) Every second is worth celebrating.

II

Two years.

Too sweet.

Too cute.

Too pretty.

Too precious.

Too fun!

Never too zealous.

Never too talkative.

Never too creative.

Never too smart.

Never too silly.

Never too musical.

We'll love you to be or not to be whatever you want to be.

Happy Birthday!

Roger that.

5 4 3 2 1 . . .

BLAST OFF to birthday fun!

Beginning with the birthday boogie!

(For those interested -- she's actually dancing to Rocketship Run, by the Laurie Berkner Band.)