Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Thumbelina...really.

Another year of trick or treating has come and gone. The days of being able to choose her costume are totally bygone. I tried my hardest to talk the young one into being a ladybug (she's fascinated by ladybugs and butterflies these days), but that was a no-go. The other "hit" in her life these days are Barbie movies. This started by being enamored with fairies, however. Daddy rented one of the fairy ones for her a few months ago, and that started a new era in our house. The Barbie era. I was pleasantly surprised by how well done the movies are, and how very tame...and content appropriate for all ages. Even though there might be a touch of romance, there's no kissing--yay! However, it now means that she wants Barbies for her birthday, wants to watch Barbie movies, and wanted to be a Barbie-related character for Halloween. In Barbie Thumbelina, the story is very different from the traditional fairy tale we adults are familiar with. It's a very cute little show, and C made a sweet little Thumbelina and she was so happy to be the little heroine. The thing that pleased me the most about her trick-or-treating experience this year though was that I only had to remind her 2 or 3 times to say "thank you" (she remembered most of the time on her own :) and most of our neighbors were more impressed by her manners than by how cute she was...even though she was very, very cute.




Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Preschool Halloween

C had her first school Halloween party, or Harvest party. Either way, the kiddos wore their costumes (no scary ones!). When the parents arrived, the children had a little costume parade to the main gathering room. Then they sang their Halloween songs, including "Five little Pumpkins" (pictured below) and a song about all sorts of Halloween-y things and what they do, Skeletons dance, spiders crawl, cats creep, etc. Then, it was back to the classroom for snacks (mummy dogs, carrots in dip to look like a hand, and the like), and crafts. Parents helped the young ones make 1-liter bottle jack-o-lanterns, monster claws (gloves stuffed with candy corn for nails and then popcorn), and games. Good times.

Crafty Girl

C loves her art. She's in an art class where she makes all sorts of wonderful creations. So many, in fact that we have to have a special basket where we put all of her completed projects. At home, she calls the room where we keep my scrapbooking supplies the "art studio" and clamors for opportunities to "make something." Quite frankly, I struggle to come up with great things to make and do. Her friend's mom, and my friend, on the other hand has great ideas for preschooler crafts. This particular craft looked easy enough for me, so I filched the idea and C and I made "Indian Corn" decorations.

Pumpkin picking

Even though we didn't carve up our pumpkins this year, C is still enamored with them and wanted to pick out a pumpkin for the season. We went up to Red Barn Farm with friends this year and the girls chose pumpkins. C picked three. One big-ish, one medium, and one little mini pumpkin. She said "one for Daddy, one for Mommy and one for ME!" The girls rode the ponies, checked out the animals, played on the haystack a little, and then picked their pumpkins. It was a good afternoon.

Dashy Doctor

One of C's favorite activities lately is "doctor". However, there are times when neither Mommy nor a friend are available to play with her. She has finally discovered a great alternative--doctoring her "friends". She still doesn't do much with her dolls, but last year we got a great pony baby Rainbow Dash for a dollar at the Post yard sale and she has proven to be a fantastic patient.


Firehouse




The second week of October is fire safety week so that was the focus of C's preschool that week. They made several related crafts and coloring pages, learned about firefighters and not playing with matches or lighters. The week culminated with a field trip to the local firestation where they had a tour of the station, the truck and learned about getting out of their room if there is a fire, and about "stop, drop and roll". We saw a short video about it, and then the kids got to practice. Fun! Finally, one of the firemen (they were all men here), got dressed in his gear in front of them, so the children could see that underneath all the "stuff" was a real person and they didn't need to be scared of him if there is a fire in their house and someone dressed like him comes to help them. I thought it was quite amusing that once he was dressed in all his gear, the kids acted like he was one of the characters from an amusement park and wanted to hug him, give him "high fives" and have their photos taken with him. Cute!

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Just try it

The last few weeks have been a battle at almost every meal, as I've decided not to "short order cook" for C anymore...at least not until she's tried everything on the regular, adult menu. All I ask is one bite of each item, including all the little bits that are included in some meals, like the peppers in my hoisin beef dish, or the veggies in the chicken & biscuits that F made tonight. To her surprise, she's even discovered some new things she likes! She discovered that she liked the beef part of the hoisin beef, and said mmmm, to the cauliflower and carrots tonight. Funny thing is, she's been adamantly refusing to eat carrots for months now...in any shape or form. Tonight was the real breakthrough. She said, "Mommy, I have to try everything, right?" When I said yes, she put her fork to the broccoli and ate it. "I tried the broccoli, just like last time." Then, she ate a carrot ("mmmm") and a cauliflower, ("mmmmm") and a piece of the chicken in the sauce. I asked her if she'd tried the peas. The answer was "No, Mommy," but the significant thing was that nothing else followed. She put her fork into her peas and ate them! No argument, no hiding them, no bargaining, she just ate them! Then, she ate more of the biscuit, a bit more chicken and another carrot. Happily! A carrot!

Friday, October 16, 2009

There's more than one baby in the Bible? Get it right, Mom.

C loves telling me all about her day as I drive her home from preschool. Lord, please let her continue to tell me as much when she's a preteen and teen-ager. Seriously, that's a real prayer.

Here's the scoop on today.

C: we did church at school today (she goes to a Christian preschool).
M: you did? That's wonderful. What did you do in church?
C: we singed songs
M: what did you sing? (the content of the question goes ignored)
C: we talked about a baby
M: what baby? (thinking that they're already getting ready for Christmas program and is thus, Jesus)
C: there was a mean king who didn't like babies and he wanted to hurt the baby and the baby's mommy put him in a RIVER! But don't worry, Mommy, the beautiful princess (because of course all princesses must be beautiful, right--thanks Disneyfication) found him and saved him.
M: Oh, baby Moses.
C: He didn't have a name. But the beautiful princess found him and she named him Moses.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Weird literacy

C is writing. Tonight we spent an hour at her easel practicing her writing. I didn't get pictures, but ...

C: Mommy, how do you write cat?
M: why?
C: I want to write cat.
M: c. a. t.
C: come by my easel! watch me write cat
M: okay. (walk to easel)
C: how do you write cat?
M: c.
(C writes a giant c)
M: a.
(C writes a giant a, correctly placed after the c)
M: t.
(C writes a giant t, correctly placed after the a)

We sound out the word, very, very slowly. Then, she drew a cat.
Much the same scene ensued with sun, mouse, spider, frog, dog, fairy and mom.
So, she loves to write. The sounding out of words is much more like pulling teeth. I hit on something though...

M: would you like to write a special word?
C: a special word?
M: yes, special. write E.
C: E...one stick, one on top, one on bottom, one in the middle
M: now, R
C: Stick, loop, stick, R.
M: now, I.
C: Stick, and a hat, now shoes, I
M: now, N.
C: Stick, help me mommy. (I help with the slant), stick. N.
M: what word do you think that is.
(5 minutes of progressively faster sounding.)
C: ERIN! It's Erin!!! (does her excited dance). I can write Erin!

Erin would be the name of her "bestest friend in the whole world. I love her."
I think this may be the first sign of appreciating the appeal of reading words herself. Now if it would take less than five minutes to do the sounding...

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Lazy Sunday

Go Chiefs? Seriously, they're watching a Chiefs game.

This is lazy Sunday in our house. Our climate-control system has not been switched from air conditioning to heat yet with outside temps of 50s and 60s, so F and C are conserving their body heat by snuggling up to watch the football game. F's a 3rd generation Steeler fan, so we're usually a Steeler household, but right now we live right outside Kansas City, so we watch Chiefs games when we can't get the Steelers on TV. That would be today.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Ciderfest, year 2

Last year, in an effort to keep busy on the weekends, I looked for events in the surrounding area and discovered a great resource in KCParent.com. The site lists all the festivals and other activities for children of all ages in the KC area. One of the events I discovered was a little festival in Louisburg, where they have a cidermill. Two weekends every autumn is the ciderfestival. Last year, C and I visited the vendors, she rode a pony, and we checked out the cider mill. This year, we did the same. However, last year, she tried the inflatable bounce-house, freaked out and the man gave us our money back. This year, she has embraced the inflatables and wants to bounce and climb wherever we find one. She was even quite adventurous and went through the obstacle-inflatable not once, but four times! Her agility and daring astound me some days.

Apple Orchard and Pie

'Tis the season...for apples! C's preschool class went on their first field trip last week to the Alldredge Apple Orchard near Platte City. What an experience! C spent the week before the trip telling me repeatedly that she was going to pick apples at the apple orchard. By the time the morning of the trip came around, I thought she was going to burst. The burstiness just got worse when we arrived, as we were in the last group to pick apples. The whole thing was very well organized. At first, all the children were together, and they got to help feed the chickens. This was a one-shot opportunity, so all the children were together for this part. They very well didn't want 50 kids and their parents tromping through the same bunch of trees all at the same time, so the children were divided into stations. At one station, we rode on a hayrack and got a survey of the orchard property. At the next, the children listened to a story about how bees help make apples. After the bees, we got to see and feed some baby billy goats, pet some young barn kittens, and then see a pony. Finally, after every child asked "when are we going to pick apples?" around 100 times (pardon my hyperbole), we got our bags and went into the orchard to pick some quite lovely Braeburn apples. I learned something new too--the only part of a Braeburn apple to turn red is the part that gets lots of sun. Otherwise, they're green. Now, the really amusing part. I got pictures of the hay ride, the animal events and even C listening to the bee story and looking at the bees. However, I did not get photographs of the picking of the apples. We were having too much fun doing the picking, that I forgot to take my camera back out of my pocket! So, here are pictures of C making our apple pie the next day. That was her very specific request, that we make a pie with the apples. C making stars with handfuls of hay on the hayrack ride. C feeding baby billygoats very patiently.C waiting to (finally) pick apples!C with her bag of apples, straight from the tree. C putting the apple slices into the mixing bowl and trying a few slices along the way. We discovered that there is something especially tasty about apples right off the tree.
Then she mixed the apples with the seasonings for the pie. It took some doing, but I did manage to convince her not to munch on the now-seasoned apples. Now, it's ready to go into the oven, and she's so proud of it! A few hours later, we all got some tasty bites of deliciousness

First Day of Preschool

Well, dear readers, I've finally reached September with my "catch up" posts. Earlier this month, C made me remember how fast time "flies." She already loves preschool, and her teacher. In the morning, we drop Daddy off at his school, and then we drive to C's. She sings her preschool song, "Yippee yippee yay, I'm going to preschool today!" When we arrive, it's all I can do to make her walk to the building, not run. Here she is on Day 1 of preschool, keeping up our family tradition of taking pictures on the first day of school each year. She was so excited.

Feeling Princessey

C loves playgrounds, so that was our evening activity most nights during the summer. I was really glad that she loves playgrounds, because one night, she played with another girl who looked to be her age, and I introduced myself to the mommy. I made a new friend! Cindy and I have a lot in common, and are having a really good time just 'hanging out," as well as doing things with the girls. Turns out, Cindy scrapbooks too! Over the summer, I went to Archiver's in Kansas City on Friday nights for their ScrapMania event (dinner and scrappin!) so that I could get some social scrapbooking done. After several weeks of trying to find someone to go with me to Archiver's so I wouldn't have to drive alone, F suggested a new plan: have someone over here to scrapbook and he'd make dinner for us. It's a time-saver, gas-saver, and I still get my social scrapping done! Sounds like a winner to me. Well, Cindy was our first s&s (scrap and sup :)) guest. F made steaks for dinner, and cleaned up, and when we were pretty much scrapped out and just visiting, F brought us tea. Cindy's line summed up how I felt about my husband just then: "Wow, you make me feel just like a princess." Granted, with Cindy's hint of a Southern accent, it sounds even more charming. However, F certainly is making me feel like a princess these days. I love having him home.

A moment in time...

About a month ago I left C watching one of her shows and came back a while later. During her watching time, she has a tendency to get up and play while the show runs. I walked into the room to find her dressed up, sitting on the couch with her treasures piled up next to her. I just had to take the picture.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Catching up: Another Favorite

All of last year, we intended (with our friends the Cunninghams) to visit Science City in Union Station. It's one of the few outings that we failed to follow through on. However, C and I were able to forge some new memories with our new friends, the Registers, there! First off, I was impressed by how much there really was for small children to do. I had expected the facility to cater moreso to school-age children as opposed to my little preschooler. I was wrong. The first thing the girls discovered was a huge tree, with stairs so they could "climb". Then they found the music park. Amazing. They ran on the piano, checked out light-reactive chimes, banged on a giant xylophone, played trashcan drums, and activated wind chimes. I think they spent the longest time experimenting with sound out of everything they found. They played with water flow, were mystified by the illusions, monkeyed around in the indoor playground and explored tons more! I don't think they stopped moving during the 2 hours we spent there. In fact, if they hadn't gotten hungry, I don't know that our visit would have been that short! This is definitely going on our list of "repeaters", the outings we'll go on again, and again.

Eastward bound

Our big trip for the summer of 2009 was back East to see Nana and Papa Wong. F, understandably, was a little nostalgic for New Jersey and the sights from his growing-up years. We got in some shopping, of course, as a trip with F is never without a trip to the local mall. Our best outings, however were to the New Jersey Children's museum and the Imagine That! children's museum in nearby (30-45 minute drives) townships. The NJ Children's museum is truly a hidden treasure. We spent the entire day in the facility, with a break to eat lunch. The museum is in a warehouse sized building and while open-concept with very smooth flow from section to section, is distinctly divided into a multitude of thematic learning areas. I was awed by the sheer number of things C got to experience and play at during our visit. She dressed up as a princess in the castle sector, a cowboy in the old west, went fishing in the oceanic, dug for dinosaur bones, flew a heliocoptor, interacted with virtual reality, took care of a house and babies, did a little ballet, went grocery shopping, made music, delivered mail, and served at her own little restaraunt! There was more, but I'm at a loss to remember just now. Imagine That! had just about as many exploration options, all divided by half-walls, so parents could look out over the whole room and observe whatever their children were involved in. That, I really liked.

Returning home to Nana's house after our outings, we had just as good a time just hanging out at home. F was impressed by all the changes Nana and Papa have made to his childhood home, improvements in flow as well as appearance. F's term, "updating" is appropriate, as the house seems much more contemporary to me. We brought along several of C's animal friends and ponies, so she entertained her Nana with them, making use of the ample space for running and dancing.


The other worst part of the Army life

Okay, so deployments and the separation that results is the worst part of being an Army family. The second worst part is PCS season ("Permanent" Change of Station for non-Army readers). What that really means is saying "goodbye" (most likely "see you later") to friends as one or both move away from the post where the friendship has perhaps formed... or rooted...or grown, and likely flourished. The grownups among us know what's going on, and why, but often the children among us do not. If we, the adults don't like the moving-away, I suppose we should understand even moreso why the children don't. This is the first round of PCSing that C has really understood that her friends are leaving. This summer two of her best friends departed as their dads took on new assignments. She was quite the weepy one for several days after, until our trip to see the grandparents distracted her for a while. After we returned home, several weeks went by that required Mommy and Daddy to act as playmates, as we waited for new children to move in so we could meet them. Even now, months later, C mourns the absence of her two good friends, even though she's made some new ones. This situation then, is the proof positive that one can make new friends, but old ones are never replaced. Thank you to Kate and Erin's mommies for helping me keep the girls in touch with one another.

Catching up: Daddy's home!

Due to the security-need for discretion, I refrained from mentioning in my posts from June 08 to June 09 that F was deployed to Iraq during that time. C missed Daddy very much, but we prepared well by having F record himself reading some of her favorite books on DVD, which she didn't watch as much as we expected, but did enjoy when she asked for them. We kept in touch via cards, packages (containing photos and her crafts) letters, phone calls and emails as well as Skype, using the video-call feature. C loved watching Daddy on the computer--so much so that she would sometimes ask to talk to Daddy on the computer at random times, times when he certainly wasn't available to call. We prayed for Daddy every night and she slept with her Daddy-doll from Operation Giveahug. She also made me kiss it goodnight. In May, we prepared a countdown chain in order to help me explain that Daddy was coming home and prepare her for the changes in our household. She jumped up and down with excitement when I would tell her that it was time to cut the link each morning. The day Daddy returned, the welcome-home was at 0200 (yes, in the morning) and I had prepared to get C into jammies and asleep at the hotel well before time to get him, so that I could take her sleeping. That did not work. She stayed awake the whole evening and up to the ceremony, even insisting on wearing a dress for Daddy, not the aforementioned jammies. She hugged her daddy, and once she was in the car with him, only then did she fall asleep. Such determination. We spent a few days in a hotel while F turned in all his gear and had a few final meetings, finally bringing him home 4 days later. Here they are, enjoying playing at home as our summer vacation really started.

Catching up: A favorite place in KC

I've been really quite lazy over the summer about chronicling our adventures. However, now that autumn is here and we're starting our fall outings, I suppose it's time to go over some of the major events from our summer. One of the first things people told me about when we moved to Kansas was the Deanna Rose Children's Farm. We managed to get there a few times last fall, and C enjoyed the animals and activities then, but all she could really do was feed the goats, look at the animals in their pens and climb on a limited amount of the playground equipment. This last spring and summer we made it twice with our friends and the experience was so much more enjoyable. While we still fed the goats and looked at animals in their pens, C could play on more equipment, really ride the pedal tractors and was old enough to ride the ponies. She was also a bit braver about the process of feeding the baby goats and petting them. Still wonderful, these experiences brought about many more smiles than on our previous excursion. If you're ever traveling to the KC area between 1 April and 1 November with a young child, make sure you put the Deanna Rose Children's Farm on your agenda. Admission is free; you pay for the feed for feeding goats and sheep, the pony rides and for treats at the snack bar, of course.



Wednesday, July 29, 2009

C-isms

I love the way little kids maneuver the English language to suit their understandings. Here are a few of the things we've been hearing around our house lately (along with the translation)

Twinkibird (Tweety Bird)
Elegator (Elevator)
I begive you (I forgive you)
Bgraffe (Giraffe)
Pangaroo (Kangaroo)

My favorite thing we've been hearing lately though, is not one of the words that has been reformed, rather a statement heard at meals.

"Mommy, we have to pray!"

When we had a family over for dinner a week or so ago, C and their little girl sat at their own table. While the adults prayed, the girls joined hands and C could be heard: "Dear God. Thank you for food. Thank you for good today. Thank you for thank you for. Amen."

Thursday, July 23, 2009

I know, I know...

Yes, I know that I need to post an update in here. There will be one soon. Maybe later tonight. For now, I'm too tired to write something interesting and insightful...even if I finally do have time to do so. So, I'm promising that an update will be forthcoming, but I'm just not sure when.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Dance Recital...Priceless

C performed in her first dance recital this evening. It's been quite the undertaking, and more expensive a prospect than I truly expected. Dance lessons, costume, recital fees, DVD of the performance, t-shirt, pictures... Oh my. But tonight, it was all worth it. C's class was one of the two youngest to perform, and I thought they stole the show. The theme was "Tropical Journey" and all the groups had costumes and song choices that (sort of) fit into a water or beach idea. C's class were the Mermaids, and they were delightful. All the little girls remembered their parts, and even though I know the teachers were offstage coaching them, it wasn't obvious. Not only did the onstage portion go well, but C handled the backstage wait like a champ. They were back there for 2 hours and parents were asked not to bring any personal items...so I don't know how they were kept busy, but they were still happy when they were all done. I am so proud of her! After the recital, we followed up with a family tradition. When I was little, my sister and I took dance lessons and every year my grandparents would come from out of town to see our recital. Afterwards, they always took us for ice cream at Dairy Queen. So, we did the same. My parents came to watch the recital, and we had dinner at DQ after the show. It's neat seeing it come full circle. Here we are, getting ready and posing in her costume before the show.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

You know she's a Dora addict when... (part 2)

you're singing Dora songs while you walk somewhere and SHE corrects YOU when you get the words wrong. (Also, when she insists on going back so she can hear the song again because she wants to learn the words correctly.)

You know she's a Dora addict when... (part 1)

your 3 year old daughter bugs you for hours to make ice cream, excitedly helps you make it, and but when it comes time to eat it, says "I can't eat my ice cream now...Dora needs me!" even though the episode is on "pause."

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Such a Girl

C is turning into such a "girl". She has discovered jewelry, but thankfully is still happy with the child-like and homemade pieces. In fact, she really enjoys making her own bracelets and necklaces. She even paints some of her own beads! I'm really glad the weather is finally warm enough for the summer dresses we had in the closet. For some reason, all the dresses are either for really cold weather (worn with tights) or really warm weather (tanks, worn with sandals). Nothing in between. Convincing her to wear pants and shirts every day was becoming quite tiresome. Here she is in her "totally C" getup. Mouse ears, dressup skirt, necklaces, purse (with ponies, ballet shoes and toy cell phone" inside) with dressup heels. And yes, she is trying to convince Mommy to put makeup on her when Mommy does makeup in the morning. Do I stand a chance?

Friday, May 15, 2009

Do I Get a Coin?

It's a few days after the 1-year mark, but I'm celebrating one-year being soda-free. Last year at this time I decided to give up sodas, soft-drinks, colas, whatever-you-want-to-call-them. I don't really know what led to the decision, except for noticing that my then-2-year-old was trying to drink my soda and I didn't want her to start the habit yet. I'm sure there were other factors, but I don't really remember them a year later. I gave my neighbors my two 12-packs of my Coke Zero from my pantry and determined that if I was giving away that much money in soda, I was going to follow-through, by-gosh-and-by-golly! Aside from a little Ginger Ale to soothe an upset stomach, I have succeeded. I've switched to tea--both hot and iced--and drink a lot more water than I used to. I did have a sip at an event about a month ago, and ended up pouring the rest of the cup I'd been poured down the drain. The taste no longer appealed!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

What's Daggy wearing?

Our big one-year mark is coming up, so F is sending packages to us to lighten his return-load. Yesterday a package of extra uniforms he isn't going to require there in the meantime arrived. I had to unpack them because the box arrived in not-the-greatest condition. C had to help me, of course... Her reaction was quite amusing.

C: Mommy, is this Daggy's box?
M: Yes, this is Daggy's.
C: What's in it?
M: Daggy's uniforms.
C: What's a uniform?
M: Come see. Mommy has to unpack it.
*C "races" Mommy to the bedroom*
*M opens the box and pulls out uniforms*
C: Oh, these are Daggy's clothes!
M: That's right, Daggy sent home some of his clothes that he doesn't need at work anymore.
C: His clothes can't be at home. He needs them at work! Or he will be naked. That's so silly!
M: No, he has some clothes at work. He just doesn't need these anymore.
C: Oh good. Daggy can't be naked at work. That would be yucky.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Busy doing blogworthy things...

Here it is, the end of February, and I've just realized the last things I posted all took place during Christmas! The past two months have kept us hopping...and then crashing. C and I are finally healthy again after 2 weeks of sharing a particularly annoying cold bug with stuffy head, headaches, fever, sore throat and cough. I am supremely thankful that for once the cold did not turn into an ear infection for little C. Before the bug knocked us down though, we were up and going full speed.

We've started going to the library for story time once a week. C sits still through the stories, but doesn't participate much (even though some of the stories are interactive; the librarian does an amazing job picking stories) until we get to the craft time. She runs to the table and claims her space, grabbing up the markers and materials, raring to go. She's also usually the last one to leave, taking as much time to "make things" as she can. "Making things" is the new theme at home as well. The last package we sent to "Daggy" 
was pretty much just her artwork. I wonder what I'm going to do with it all when he's back here and I don't have anywhere to send it. Actually, I saw a great display idea at a friend's house the other day, and I might have to borrow her brilliance. C does, however, participate very well when watching PBS
 or Disney and they have the characters or "teacher" ask the kids to do things. It's something I plan to mention to her preschool teachers next year. That's right folks, C is starting preschool in the fall. I've heard simply fantastic things from friends whose opinions I respect about the school we've chosen. 
She's learning plenty at home as well. Lately, she's mommy's little helper--wants to help mommy clean, do laundry and even cook. She knows all her capital letters and their sounds, she can count to 12 in the correct order, and even recognizes some of the numbers visually. She's also making progress in holding a writing instrument, drawing recognizable shapes lines, and coloring purposefully. Her coloring pages are less scribble-all-over and more scribble-a-specific-spot. It's really fun to watch her skills emerge.
Speaking of lessons, C's also been taking swimming lessons this spring "semester". She's already passed the Red Cross level 1 and the teachers have passed her through level 2, but her mommy hasn't. I'm not as confident in her skills in the water as her instructor seems to be, so I'm keeping her in level 2 one more month, just to give her a bit more practice with some of the skills before we go to level 3, where there are going to be some "big kids". Apparently, level 3 takes some time, and physical development to get through, and some kids don't pass it until they're 8 or 9. Call me overprotective if you want, but I'm a bit hesitant about putting my little 3 year old in with school-kids. She'll be going that route in April, but for March, I'll let her practice a bit more. 
Dance lessons seem to be following a water theme as well. C's now in an actual class for dance and will be participating in the recital in May. The recital's concept is "Under the Sea," and the costumes all follow suit. C's class will be mermaids, and while I'm quite frankly unimpressed with the costume, the girls are enjoying the idea of being Princess Ariel. I'm hopeful that the costume will look better on the girls than in the picture. 
We've also been on several outings lately. Playhouse Disney Live! came to Topeka and we had the good fortune to get some great seats. C, however, didn't sit down for much of it, she was so excited. I actually got out of the house for a ladies' outing or two. I even went to the Chris Tomlin concert with a friend. We also got fantastic seats for that one. For Valentine's day, I treated C to lunch in a restaurant (one of her favorite treats, as well as mommy's), then went to see Bob the Builder, Live! where again she didn't sit for most of the show because of the excitement, and then we built another "friend" at Build-a-Bear. Very exciting. In a great show of responsibility, when we got home she gave me three of her stuffed animals for our give-away box, saying "I don't have time to play with these anymore, Mommy." Such an aware little girl. With the unseasonably warm weather, we've also gotten to go to the park a bit and I'm impressed by how much she can do on the equipment compared to last year about this time.
Then, we got sick. I just have to say, she's been a trooper, but I'm really glad we're both healthy again and we can get back to the library, swimming, dance class, outings and "making things". .