Two in March

Tonight Carson engaged me in a traditional round of Happy Birthday to [fill in the blank: Georgia, Pop-Pop, bathtub, you name it].  I told her she had a birthday coming up.  I asked her how old she was, and she said “one.”  I replied, “Carson, you are almost two!”  And you will not believe what came out of her mouth!!  She said, “Two in March!”  Now HOW on earth did she know that?  I’ve been saying it to people a lot lately– at the grocery store, coffee place, etc. where people often ask.  Clearly she’s been listening.

Catching up

I know I’ve been neglecting all of you; without new pictures to post I haven’t been motivated to write.  But there is still much exciting in Carson’s little world.  She continues to learn new words and phrases every day.  I think my favorite is “happa-face.”  This, of course, means “happy face.”  Carson just shouts it for no reason, and then smiles and laughs.  We should all try this little trick.  Who knows– the cure for a hard and stressful day just might be a “happa-face.” 

Carson continues to point out every “S” and “T” she sees wherever we go.  You can imagine her excitement when we pass a Starbucks, as the S and T are right together.  So are they in “St.,” which we pass a lot on the way to and from school.  “S!” she shouts.  “T!”  It makes the ride a lot more fun, and for a second makes me forget that I’m listening to “Where is Thumpkin?” for the 97th time.  Seriously.  The song is about 90 seconds long, so we get to hear it a lot on our 20 minute drive.  Speaking of songs, C likes to sing ”Happy Birthday” to everyone and everything.  Last night we bestowed birthday wishes on the oven at her request.  Since mine and Mutna’s are both coming up very soon, I suppose it’s good practice.  She’s also been asking to open presents.  What’s that about? 

Carson’s hair is almost long enough for pigtails, and I’ve been trying to get them in her hair for days now.  They stayed in for a while over the weekend– I will try to get some pictures of that for you. 

Wiggle

Our neighbor Kolby owns the greatest kids’ store ever, Wiggle.  Wiggle carries fun and unique baby and kids’ clothes and gear, and we love it when we have a new baby or a special occasion to buy for there.  Wiggle also does monogramming, and as soon as I have free time and money I fully intend to have Kolby monogram everything in our house that ain’t tied down or on legs.  I added a link to our Blogroll; if you should find yourself in Decatur you should check it out. 

Kolby has just set up a new Wiggle website, and Carson makes an appearance on the Wiggle blog in some of her Wiggle finest.  Shane can be seen on there, too, although I think his sweater is from Banana Republic.  

Check it out:    http://www.wiggleatlanta.com/blog/. 

Snow Day

We had some snow on Saturday– enough to look pretty and make decent-sized snowballs.  Carson liked the sound of the snow crunching under her feet. 

This weekend we also went to the aquarium and saw the fish.  Carson liked to tell everyone when the fish were swimming “up” and “down”and “forward” and “backward.”  She also enjoyed riding the elevator, of course.  We watched the sea lions play in the snow; they looked a little confused.

In other news, this is going to sound crazy and braggy to boot, but it seems that Carson is trying to read.  She has started correctly identifying letters all over the place, from books to street signs to lettering on windows at stores.  Her favorite letter is S, but she also points out G (from all our Georgia clothes, I assume), C, and E.  When reading books, she points at each individual letter and asks what it is (or says what it is).  It’s pretty cool.   

Remembering Auntie Gladys

It is with heavy hearts that we mourn the loss of Aunt Gladys, who passed away this week at the ripe old age of 90+ (I’ll rely on my mom to get me the precise number!).  Auntie Gladys, as she liked to be called, loved festivity and fun.  She could be counted on to dance at every party.  Aunt G, as we called her, and Uncle Park lived in a great house a block off the beach in Naples for many years.  I spent many great vacations there drinking Coke from the bottle and eating Pringles right from the can.  The house had the most beautiful tropical trees and plants in the backyard.  There were elephant ear leaves the size of a small car.  Aunt G had the most beautiful and diverse art collection, reflecting her time spent in Ethopia.  She loved making art with seashells, and I still recall the huge ones she kept under glass in her “Florida room.”  She also had a practical, frugal side, and I can remember vividly how Aunt G used to rinse out paper towels and hang them to dry for re-use.  She took her Percolator everywhere she went.  Aunt G introduced me to Waldorf salad when I was in 7th grade.  She encouraged me to try all sorts of foods and dishes when we visited, often concocted from a compilation of leftovers.  She introduced us all to Kelly’s Fish House (which was closed for the summer on my last attempt to visit!).  She was a sweet, vibrant little bird of a woman.  I wish Carson could have known her, and I hope Carson has inherited just a little bit of her spirit. 

Right now Gramma and Aunt Gladys are undoubtedly sitting on a celestial porch overlooking the ocean; Aunt Gladys is telling stories of Ethopia to those gathered to listen.  Occasionally Gramma rolls her eyes and tries to correct Aunt Gladys’ accounts.  Aunt Gladys shrugs her off, and keeps flitting back through time and memory as if they were pages in a Christmas toy catalog, reflecting upon each image with wonder and joy.        

Pictures from the weekend

Here are a pictures from the weekend– including a before and after of Davis with his adorable birthday cake.  The pictures of C at the bottom are from Davis’ party and the others are from hanging out at Adams on Sunday.  I wish I’d put a different outfit on her than her Christmas card outfit– I had no idea she was going to pose!  Enjoy!

Happy birthday to Davis, and jelly soup

We spent this afternoon with our friend Davis celebrating his first birthday.  We took the wagon around the corner to Davis’ house (in addition to being our neighbor, Davis’ dad Josh and I work together).  Carson has been practicing the birthday song for 2 weeks, but was too busy playing to sing it when the time came today.  Carson enjoyed eating the ice out of the cooler, bossing the other kids around, and playing in Davis’ big backyard.  She had the honor of receiving the second piece of cake (right after Davis) because she was screaming “cake!” and “mine!” the whole time poor Davis’ mom Sara was trying to cut the cake.  The squeaky wheel gets the grease, I suppose.  The cake was delicious (and homemade).  We had a great time.  Davis’ mom is quite the party planner– you should have seen all the adorable “under the sea” decorations.  Pictures to follow once I can get the Internet working on the upstairs computer…

What else is new with Carson?  When she got up from her no-nap today, the first thing she said was “fruits and vegetables.”  This was, of course, a reference to the plastic foods in her refrigerator.  She likes to put them in the basket and dump them back out and to “cook” with them.  So we went downstairs and “made” soup.  Carson chose to use chicken, french fries, and jelly.  Delicious, yes?  

Sleep on It!

I’m posting the following at Shane’s suggestion…  I haven’t watched the show “Sleep on It” on HGTV, and frankly I think the concept is a little bizarre.  But in any event, the commercial for the show was filmed on Adams Street two doors down from our new house.  We became intrigued a few months ago when a flyer in the mailbox alerted us that we might wake to find “actors performing a Broadway-style dance number in Ms. Mathura’s front yard.”  We missed the excitement, but we immediately recognized the commercial.  You may have been equally puzzled/annoyed by it.  If you go to HGTV.com and watch the entire “music video” as the commercial suggests, you can just make out the side of our house at one point near the end, at the very right of the frame.  It’s not the house next door, but one more down.  Ms. Mathura’s house looks beautiful, by the way! 

Click on http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/pac_ctnt_988/text/0,,HGTV_22056_65994,00.html and play the video “Sleep on It: The Musical.”  Make sure you have your sound turned on!

Pictures

I’m reposting this because I’m not sure the pictures came through correctly the first time.

Thanks to a possible case of conjunctivitis (C’s, not mine, but boy are my eyes itchy), C and I are at home today [Tuesday], and I just won a 1.75 hour battle over a nap.  I’m posting some new pictures… a couple from Sunday afternoon at Adams and of Carson’s clever use of a fork.  Also posted is a picture from this time last year for comparison’s sake (in the pink sweater; note that C still knows how to work the stare!). 

Mondays

It’s the first Monday of the first full work week of January.  If you are like me, you need a caffiene injection, stat!

Hope everyone had a nice weekend.  Carson spent some time on the slide at her new house, and enjoyed a trip to the zoo where we saw the panda bears, the lions, and the elephants, among others.  She wanted to walk and run all over the zoo.  The stroller was just too slow and confining for her!  Happily, the zoo was well-designed with toddlers like C in mind. 

Pictures to follow (none of the zoo, but some of Shane and Carson’s tailgate on Adams Street should get up tonight)…