Roar!

Happy Birthday Aunt Kelly!

We spent Thanksgiving up in Tacoma, with Kelly, the baby boy that houses himself in her belly, and some lovely family.  Scarlett and Ella wore almost matching Thanksgiving dresses, not on purpose.  We ran and walked a 5K and 10K, but we weren't wearing turkey hats or pajamas or any of the other clever outfits.  My Granny and Uncle Jim came from Eastern Washington to celebrate with us.  Mostly though, we ate.

Next time I see these two, above, they hopefully will have figured out a way to fit baby brother into this shirt with them.

Star-Bellied Sneetch

A Happy Thanksgiving project plan

Factors that contribute to a winning five-day weekend:

• A morning drive to Tacoma, in my parents' huge vehicle - complete
• Turkey trot- 10K in 55:30- complete
• Watch parade on tv, point excitedly to giant panda balloon- complete
• Roasted Brussel sprouts- 50% complete
• Pie party- not yet completed

Scarlett is sleeping happily in Ella's crib, Charlie and my dad are watching football.  I have a lot to be thankful for.

Longest sentence ever

"That bike's too big for you to ride" she says.

Silver Falls

Scarlett's Grandma Diane came to visit, so we went on a little hike around Silver Falls. Scarlett grudgingly agreed to ride in her dad's backpack, mostly because I bribed her with honey nut rice cakes.  She's tried to jump into a waterfall before, so we weren't taking any chances.

 

 

 

We decided to have dinner in Silverton after, but ominously, the only open restaurant was a completely empty Mexican joint.  So we ate, and then the lights went out.  Not just in the restaurant, but in the entire district.  The drive home involved long winding roads with no power polls.  The next morning I asked Scarlett what
happened at dinner with grandma, and she remembered "lights".

This morning, I heard her rustling around in her room.  I went to peek at her crib, and she was just sitting there.  She looked at me and said 'Bob Dylan'.

Sorting Shapes

21 months

Dear Scarlett,

This is the month you started speaking in full sentences.  And since the portal has opened, you haven't stopped chattering.  I love this about you.

You like to put her gnome on the diaper pail at night and say, "Gnome is watchin' you sleep." And "Gnome stand on dirty diapers."  Yesterday at a restaurant, you said the crayons were watching you eat. 

You like to blame gnome, and panda, for your misdeeds.  "Panda turned the water on."  The thing is that panda isn't big enough to climb up the sink, and doesn't have the physical dexterity to turn the sink handles.  I know this, but you don't know that I know this. 

Then there's the story about Lucy and the butter.  We've been hearing this story for probably two months.  When you first started telling it, it was one word at a time.  'Lucy.... hands.... butter....Shaggy....no'.  You've been telling the story so long now that you've got the full sentences, "Lucy put hands in butter.  Shaggy say not to."  You also tell us about Esther going over by the fireplace, and Sally telling her not to.  The theme is: tattle-taling on your friends.

Our night time routine still starts with the bath- now you have rubber whales and a dolphin, from Grandma.  Then I lotion you up, and put you in jammies, and your dad holds you while you give a good night kiss to everything on your shelf, which is:
piggy bank
Scarlett O'Hara doll
two glass whales
bottle of Dr. Bronner's
bottle of tea tree oil
picture of Mama and Daddy ("wedding, married")
and. the family photo

Then, you and daddy turn off the light and I hold you, we gnome kiss and regular kiss.  I set you in your crib, and I sit next to you and read books.  Right before I leave the room, we gnome kiss through the bars and you tell me something about your day.  "Scarlett toss Cooper a cookie."  Or "Gnome is watching you sleep." 

I'm so proud of you and what a big girl you are becoming.
Mama

Birthday weekending

For my birthday weekend, Carrie came to visit.  We alternated between playing in Scarlett's fort and binge eating.

Scar teaching Carrie how to handle baby dolls

Friday night, we went to Apizza Scholls.  I haven't been there in so long, I'd forgotten how perfect it is.  We waited for 45 minutes for a table, during which time we walked around the block and Scarlett tried to climb every tree, sat on the steps of every house, and put rocks in her pockets, and ours. 

We had a white pizza.  Then we wrote these haikus:

(Emily's)

Apizza a-yum

White sauce garlic cheese and crust

Scarlett sat on floor

(Carrie's)

Perfect proportions

Topping to crust ratio

Half bacon slab, please

After the smog of pizza wore off, we ate fried pie.  Apple, and berry.  Then we talked about how we should never eat fried pie again.  I think we have this conversation every time.

Saturday morning we ate at Tasty n Sons, which was so good that I never wanted to leave.  I wish we'd taken pictures of the food, but mostly we were too busy eating it.  Here's the list:

• bacon-wrapped date
• glazed yams
• chocolate potato donuts
• sweet biscuits with berry compote
• potatoes bravas w egg and aioli
• bambino plate with honey butter (biscuit, eggs, bacon)
• Biscuit sandwichy thing
• Egg & cheddar biscuit with fried chicken

We also ate at the carts on Belmont, and Scarlett spent the whole time running around trying to see the moon.  She loves the moon like she loves whales and spilling food on the floor.  Passionately!  We told her the moon was sleeping under a blanket of clouds.  But she kept reminding us that we saw it at the grocery store (on a different night), and she wanted to go back there.  I don't know enough about the spinning of the earth to explain why the moon isn't in the same place every night.  But it's not.  She doesn't believe me.

Dessert!

 Charlie made breakfast on my birthday eve.  See, I wasn't kidding about the binge eating.

Scarlett and Carrie wore matching outfits, of course.  

Happy Birthday Emily

Apples

One apple up on top..

Apples apples up on top.  All of this must stop stop stop!

Halloween

Once upon a time, there were three little dancing bears

(It was difficult to get a picture of them together.)

and one fairy princess

Scarlett and her baby cousins, Esther and Forest, wore matching Jerry bear costumes for Halloween.  The pink costume was made by Hope's doting Uncle Charlie when she was just a year old.  This year, her baby sister wore it, and Charlie made matching costumes for Scarlett and Forest. 

 "she wore scarlet begonias tucked into her curls.
I knew right away she was not like other girls."
-Grateful Dead