ABC's

This is what Millie did today, all by herself, while I was feeding Reed. I was pretty impressed. I had to talk her through just a few of the letters but for the most part, she did it all on her own. I never did touch the pen.

"Mom, she has a big butt"

Yep, that is what Millie said while we were sitting in Church on Sunday. The lady was sitting right in front of Millie and the chairs are open back so you could see the bottom of the person in front of you. I just said, "Millie, that's not a nice thing to say" and left it at that. But really, Millie did nothing wrong in the eyes of a 3 year old. It was no different then saying..."Mom, she has a purple shirt on", "Mom, that girl has a bow in her hair", "Mom, that cloud looks like a dinosaur"...She was only being observant and frankly, she was not incorrect in her observation. So, how do you explain body image to a 3 year old? How do you explain that it is ok to say "That lady has glasses on" but it is not ok to say "That lady has a big butt"?

Oh and because I have been falling behind, Reed was 7 months about 3 weeks ago so here is his photo by the giraffe.

He is getting up on his hands and knees and rolling all over the place. He is eating squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, green beans, apple sauce, pears and peaches (all homemade by me by the way...). He loves it all.

Our Bonus Room Is Too Small...

...For This




But how can you resist this face?

Poor Spider Man was falling just a little behind in gym class. And when I say falling behind, it just means she was not the best anymore. And she is in a group of 4-5 year olds and she is only 3. But still, it was bugging me that some of the others were able to flip over the bar and Millie was just a little scared. I started looking for bars to buy online and they were over $300. Then Rick said his famous words..."I could build that". So a trip to Home Depot and $12 later, we have our own bar for Millie in the bonus room. Granted, the splintery wood and sharp corners don't make it the safest piece of exercise equipment in the world but by golly, she can flip with the best of them now!

Spider Man meets Spider Man

We went to Indiana over the weekend because Rick had meetings in Indy. While we were there, the Kosair Shrine Circus was in Louisville. This wasn't a huge deal but when I found out Spider Man was going to be there, I could not pass it up. Millie is not in love with Spider Man, she IS Spider Man as far as she is concerned.

She got to talk to him. When I asked her what he said, she said he said "You have me on your shirt". Well, we don't love Spider Man for his literary genius I guess.

She gave him a hug and was so excited, I just loved it!

She also got a lesson in webbing but I think she probably could have taught him a thing or two on that subject.

Reed is continuing to grow and be as silly as ever. He is getting up on his hands a knees and rocking but not crawling yet. He can move forward if he had his head on the floor and just bulldozes forward. It is funny to watch but I have to make him stop so he does not get carpet burn on his forehead.

Finally, I thought I would warn you moms out there who have video monitors. We bought one tonight and were playing with it. When we turned off our camera, the receiver picked up our neighbor's house, and their sweet little boy sitting on his bed reading a book. This image was clear as a bell and the house is not that close. Considering we live in a neighborhood with lots of kids, we flipped to the other channel and got the image of a sweet little baby asleep in a crib. I did not know this child but I know which neighbors have babies and none are very close at all. So basically, anyone could go purchase a receiver and drive up and down a road looking at random children. I did not want this to be my child so our new video monitor is being returned tomorrow. I am also thinking that I will be turning off our audio monitor during the day when we don't need it either.

Don't Blink

In Indiana they always said..."If you don't like the weather, just blink and it will change". Well Tennessee is proving that to be true this week as well. Yesterday it was 60 degrees outside and we were all out enjoying the warm day. Millie had her bike out, played baseball and played soccer.

Reed enjoyed watching Millie partake in all of these activities while chilling in his stroller.

This morning we woke up to heavy rain and around 7am it turned to heavy snow as the temperature continued to drop. When Rick got home, Millie was dressed and ready to go out and play.

While Rick worked on the snowman, I noticed Millie was busy having a nice snack.

At least she politely offer a bite to Rick as well.

Rick finally finished the snowman before Millie ate all the snow.

Father - Daughter Dance

Our Church had their annual Father-Daughter Dance last night hosted by the Men's Club. Millie was very excited about it and I think Rick was pretty proud to be escorting such a beautiful little lady. I was very fortunate that a dear friend let us borrow a dress so that I did not have to buy one for just this one occasion. Needless to say, Millie's closet is not full of frilly little dresses. Millie loved the dress and she even liked the tights, maybe I am letting my prejudice against wearing dresses unfairly limit Millie's fashion freedom. I will have to work on that in the future. Anyway, Rick and Millie headed out to enjoy their evening and shortly after, I got Reed to bed and settled in for a nice relaxing evening. And...shortly after that, Millie and Rick came back. Oh well. Millie said the music was too loud and she did not want to stay. She did dance a mean Chicken Dance and Electric Slide I was informed. She gave me a run down of the refreshments which she approved of and I was thrilled to see that the dress was unharmed and free of stains.

Almost

Nothing major is going on around here right now. There are a lot of "almosts". Reed is staying up on his knees when we lift him up. He rocks a little and then falls over, he thinks it is pretty funny. He is almost getting there on his own and I am sure he will be crawling soon. He also almost has a tooth. I have been prepared for it each day for a week now but it is just not coming through. I guess when I stop watching, it will be there. It is almost time to sign up for school for next year and I am back and forth between keeping Millie where she is or switching her to a private school that I may send her to for Kindergarten. I just can not decide what we should do. It is a very tough choice. If I were back home, I would know without a doubt, but I just don't know much about the different schools around here. I have heard TN schools are not good but is paying $5000 a year really going to get me much more, I just don't know. This is just another thing that will be on my mind for the next year that keeps me from sleeping at night.

Valentine Day Special

My blogs are crossing over here but I wanted to let you all know that a wonderful friend of mine and I are offering a special Valentine Day gift of a heart shaped box of 11 delicious handmade truffles along with a handmade Valentine card. I can customize the card anyway you like. Just e-mail me and let me know if you are interested. I will be in Indiana the first weekend in February and can deliver there as well.

A Snow Day and a New President

Around East Tennessee, it is hard to tell which was more exciting, the fact that there was actually snow to play in or that we watched the inauguration of our first African American President. We managed to balance both activities well, playing in the snow early, coming in for some hot chocolate then settling in to watch CNN for the inauguration. You have to admit, no matter whom you voted for, it was a very exciting event and I wanted to make sure Millie was part of it. Reed was watching too and actually made the sound Dada and Ma for the first time during the inauguration. I think he was trying to say Obama but I am sure we will never know.

Millie's Big Dance Recital

Millie's dance recital was a big hit. I think she and her friend Isabella did a fantastic job. Mammy, G.G. and my sister Laura all came down from Indiana to see it and I don't think they left disappointed. My dad even said he enjoyed it! The squealing happy baby in the background would be Reed, he REALLY enjoyed watching those girls dance around. I also want to point out that this is a class for 3, 4 and I think 5 year olds. Of the 4 girls actually dancing, Millie and Isabella are 3, and I think the the other 2 are 4 and 5 years old so I think our 2 little ones did a really great job.

Tap


Ballet


Free Movement? (Reed is expressing his freedom of speech during this one)


Millie and Isabella getting their medals. Notice how Millie jumps up on the top like a wild woman and Isabella delicately steps up to accept hers like a true ballerina. I think Millie is more suited for gymnastics which we are continuing next week.