Ivy loves cactus. I got these to plant outside her window.
As she's always telling us, she's a big boy! Though she loves to wear dresses, and was pretty excited about her new green and pink shoes, she insists that she's a big boy (we're not too worried, because she refers to everyone except me and Jenna and Hilary [who are ladies] as big boys). But, whatever she wants to call herself, she is certainly growing up. She can eat corn on the cob, just like Mommy.
She has really settled into her new daycare class. At first, we told her that there were no suckys in Miss Siglia's class. That ended with her not wanting to go to school. Now, she happily gives her sucky and Geraldine to Miss Ellen, who took over when Miss Siglia went to grad school. She loves Miss Ellen.
We
ride the bike to school together and spot bikers (whizz whizz), joggers
(huff puff), puppies (bow wow, woof woof), sprinklers (splish splash),
and cactus (prickly! don't touch it) while singing Old MacDonald. Then,
she runs to "play with friends outside." It's nice to have her doing so
well, and they think she's smart as a whip.
We
do too. Just today, she wondered if we were going to see Jayson, Laura,
and Gwen at the pool. Then, we did a bit of the alphabet. Then, she
said "A B C Jayson," which punster Josh son of punster John and
son-in-law of punster Carl, thought was pure genius, as was her saying
that the sun had made the slide hot, and then singing "Sunday Monday,
Happy Days." Doesn't she look smart? (Okay, but at least well-dressed,
curly-headed, and happy.)
We
are especially proud that she's really rocking the potty training. Here
is her very first pee pee in the potty.We did a 3-day crash last
weekend, and she was perfect by Sunday. At school, she had 2 accidents
a day until she had 5 on Friday. I was so embarassed, and it was hard
not to be frustrated. But she's gotten better and better this weekend,
and today every pee pee made it into the potty. She didn't even pee
during her nap. She is getting better waiting for the pee pee to come
out, and better at going to the potty when we ask her if she needs to
go (rather than waiting for an accident to start). We hope she
continues to improve.
We went to the park today. No diapers, and no accidents.
We
had a great quick trip to Houston a few weeks ago. We went to the
Museum of Fine Arts. Ivy really loved it. This was a light installation
exhibit, which was very fun. And we climbed stairs, and hopped up and
down on Eames Barcelona replicas, and had a snack by a big horse
statue. Then, we went for dinner at an Italian restaurant, and Ivy had
a fun time staying up in the car. I went back and sat with her and sang
her songs and put my arm around her, and she fell asleep at last. She
is the dearest baby ever.
Beep
beep. No more monkeys jumping on the bed. Ivy had her 2-year checkup.
Boy, vaccines really suck. She had a huge fever for 2 days, and was
fussy and grumpy and miserable. It was just awful -- when I went to
picked her up at daycare, she was just lying in Miss Ellen's arms, with
dead eyes. She came home and just lay in my lap, and then in Josh's,
and then back to me. I hope that her next one (in 2 years) goes very
well, and that this is the last time she has a bad reaction.We're on our way to Iowa on Thursday, and hope that she'll not regress too far. We are really, really looking forward to our vacation. I can't wait for the pictures from that.
School starts in two weeks. I am getting my haircut on Wednesday when we get back, and having pedicures with some friends on Friday. At least my school preparation priorities are in order!
Now, for more photos with captions.
Ivy likes to smile for the camera. We think she looks prettier when she doesn't smile!
Ivy
still loves the guacamole at Abeulo's. She ate the whole order by
herself from this giant spoon. She is a great baby for going out to
dinner with us.
Sophie
gave Ivy this watermelon hat last year. Ivy likes to wear it to the
HEB. Because she's running it's hard to see how cute she looks.
Ivy loves her daddy the most, forever and ever.
I
got to hold baby Daphne. I remember when Ivy fit on my chest. I miss
her being so tiny, but I love her more today than I did a year ago.
Jenna got Ivy this pretty dress for her birthday, and Aunt Heather got her a subscription to Baby Animals. She loves when it comes in the mail, and loves looking at the animals.
Generally,
Ivy doesn't care if she gets dirty, which is both good and bad (she's
not as fussy as some babies, but she also doesn't mind if she's a
filthy pig), but she doesn't like to be wet. We went to Freebirds, and
she spilled her glass of ice water all over herself. That was a big
problem, so she had to wear her daddy's shirt.
Ivy likes to crawl into small spaces, like her wagon under the shelf, or her box of outgrown clothes.
Ivy is a wonderful artist. She uses the watercolors that Claire gave her for her birthday to decorate her bath.
When
she's not painting in the bath, she's swimming. She's gotten amazing.
This week, she started swimming with her head underwater, and making
real forward progress. She also jumps off, hits the bottom, pushes
herself up, spins around, and makes for the side to do it again.
Ivy loves bugs!
