Things to do on a hot day, Part 1

It's been hot!  My brother laughs when we mention that- in South Carolina, it 'gets down to 85 degrees'.  But here in PDX, 80 is hot and miserable.  How do we cope?  We took Scarlett to a fountain.  There were lots of bigger kids there, kicking water around and running into each other and having water fights.  So we played mostly on the side, away from the kid traffic.  This particular fountain has water flowing over the rocks, then it stops for a while once the pool part is filled.  And when it stopped, Scarlett was mad and yelled at the water.  Then she started asking to go home.  'Home?  Home?'  So we got some ice cream, and I let her play with my cell phone, and all was well in the universe.

Happy

Yesterday, she was standing with a bowl of roasted carrots and saying 'happy, happy.'  Later, at the store, she started pointing at a box and saying 'happy?  happy?' and when I handed it to her, she said 'happy'. 


Speaking of happy things:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY FIRST NIECE, MY BEAUTIFUL NIECE, HOPE ELIZABETH!  I remember the day she was born, five years ago.  It was so hot, and I drove to Vancouver while Sally was in labor.  I was wearing job interview clothes so the outfit was thick and starchy.  We waited all day for this baby, not knowing if we were about to have a nephew or a niece.  She was born just before midnight, on her parents' five year wedding anniversary.  And now she seems all grown up and older than her years, sometimes Charlie and I forget that she's a little kid.  She takes such good care of her little cousin Scarlett, they adore each other so much, they're very lucky to have each other.

Which leads me to one more happy thing.  HAPPY TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY SALLY AND TOM!  Ten years is totally inspiring. 

Photography, take 2

For the work photography contest, Charlie unearthed my old blue guitar.  Turns out it's more green than blue, was it always so?  Oh, and it's broken, which makes the pictures more likely to win a contest RIGHT?  Here's what I came up with.

Next up, I need some toddlers, navy blue and red outfits, and a fountain.  AMBER???

New

These days, our toddler is really into 'new'.  We have some new books, and a few I recently checked out from the library, and she points at them and says 'new, new' and insists on reading only those, and none of the lame old books she used to like.

One of the new books has a picture of a waterfall, and she loves reading it even though the rhymes are really lame.  (They rhyme night with night.  That's not really a rhyme, is it?)  When we get to the waterfall page, she says her word for Grandpa, because she must remember going to the falls with Grandpa Chuck recently. 

Her memory, and her ability to repeat words we've only said once, is astounding.  So, we are trying to curb the sailor language in our house.  It's difficult.

Name

In the past week, Scarlett has started saying her name.  It sounds like 'Scarla' or 'Sarla'.  Yesterday, she was pointing at my oatmeal bowl and then hers, saying 'Mama, Scarla'.  She also likes to look at pictures of herself, as a tiny baby, on my phone.

And this weekend, for the very first time, she ate salmon, and ice cream.  Homemade ice cream.  What a lucky little toddler!

jump

Shaggy, photobombing my 'artistic' house/sky/powerline picture.

There's a photography contest at work, and we have to use navy blue, teal, gray and/or red.  Any ideas?  I might dig my blue guitar out of the depths of the basement and see if it looks teal in the light.  Stay tuned.

17 months

Dearest Scarlett,

Today is your 17-month birthday.  I think I can stop measuring your age by months, and just say that you're one year and a half. 

Today is also Uncle Tom's birthday!  Happy!  We are practicing saying 'birthday', for when you see him tonight.

This month was brought to you by the Learning Tower- perhaps the best toddler item we've found so far.  It puts you at counter-level with us, so we can cook together.  Mostly though, you love climbing in and out.  The first day at our house, you loved standing in it so much, your dad was able to bake fresh bread and make cookies.  That was a VERY happy day for Mama.

Your Grandparents came to visit from Chicago.  You especially loved your Grandpa Chuck.  One day after they'd left, you stood in the guest room pointing at the bed and saying 'grandpa, grandpa' which sounds like 'papa' or 'pampa' to me. They took you to the beach where it looks, from the photos, like you had an absolute blast.

They also took you to Multnomah Falls, and you went on walks with Grandpa and held his hand.

Other exciting things about your month:

• We celebrated Cousin Esther's first birthday!
• You've started taking just one long mid-day nap instead of two.  Yesterday, you slept for 3 hours.
• You're saying so many words, I can't remember them all.  A short list: Nice, ready, basil, stroller, smoothie, phone. 
• We put the bottles away, and you went on a temporary milk strike.  You're still opposed to drinking milk from the sippy cup but using a straw or regular cup is working okay.
• You love feeding your toes.  We spoon food to them, and you giggle, and my heart melts.

I am so proud of you!  And of us, as a family, that we fit together so well. 
Love, your Mama

Harvest

Beautiful baby enjoying our beautiful kale plant.

4th of July, belated

Tonight Charlie has been singing that song, 'Saturday, in the park, I think it was the fourth of July...'  It's really annoying to both of us that he can't get this song out of his head.  Scarlett likes turning the radio on and off, and the one in her room is at toddler-level so she does this a lot.  It's set to the oldies station, hence the song.  Here are some pictures from our fourth of July.

 I think it's called 'chillaxing'?

Making coffee

Scarlett helping me grind coffee beans.

At last...

At long last, our internet is working again and I have a lot of blogging to make up for. 

Charlie's parents came to visit from Chicago, for Esther's first birthday.  Though she hadn't seen him since she was wee, Scarlett immediately took to her grandpa Chuck.  They went on walks and held hands.  One day, after they left, she went into the guest room and pointed at the empty bed and said 'Gampuh'.  

They went to Multnomah Falls and Scarlett's face lit up when she saw that waterfall.  She ran towards it.  I can only imagine what her little brain was thinking...lots of water, making noise, a dangerous place to be, PARADISE!

 

 In this picture, I like to think she was saying 'Grandparents are Number One!'

Hiatus

I'm on an unfortunate and unplanned blogging hiatus because our home internet hasn't been working for several days.  I'm stealing internet from the Bipartisan Cafe right now. 

Trust that Scarlett is doing many cute and stubborn things and I will record them all very soon.