Wanna come over?

We have a lot of friends that have visited, but this post is for those who haven't yet. Or for those who haven't in a long while... Maybe you think about it, maybe you wish you could. Or maybe you'd just like to know what the guest room looks like.

Our guest room doubles as my craft room. And, really, who wouldn't like to spend their nights sleeping amongst fabrics, notions, yarn, knitting needles, wax crayons, wool roving, ribbon, beads, buttons, paint supplies, fabric paint, carving blocks, and lots and lots of books about making stuff? I admit, I've gladly slept in this room more than once myself.

I haven't posted many pictures about our house here. It's smallish. And oldish. It's a country cottage of sorts... One that needs lots of help. But I get to paint the walls any color I like. And I dream about ripping out counter tops and knocking down walls and replacing flooring. Grown up dreams. Some of them are my favorite dreams.

I have to admit, the bed is often topped with my latest sewing project or school work.


Here is where you sleep... under the maple saplings.


My serger table is currently a holding dock for photo copies of curriculum notes and school books. The bookshelf contains lots of fun reading of the Waldorf/child development/cooking/gardening variety. Baskets of fabric scraps and yarn abound.

Taking a picture of a bathroom is always awkward.


Doesn't this look like fun?!


This is my favorite part. Can't sleep? Got a headache? Need to be inspired? Pick any book here and find the meaning of life...



We can't wait to see you!!

Small town, our town

Where's Waldo?

Don't let that smile fool you...

Bath times are still a struggle. I am constantly thinking of new games, new ways to wash quickly, new ways to hurry it up, new distractions. This night, the camera served a purpose.

Something New = Smiles

That's my thumb!

It was March 29th, 2008. I was sick, on a date with Dave in Corvallis.

We shook hands three times. I forgot to let go. He laughed at me.

Wow!

My Bunny, My Friend

Being sweet...

The Big Girl Knife

Talking to Blueberry Man

Dave and I were hanging out together the other night (On our official date night... though we don't actually go anywhere. It's the time that we dedicate to each other that also seems to single-handedly reveal that we are getting old and we've been together long enough to have to start scheduling time together. (Can life actually be this complicated?)) and we were cracking up over all the silly things Annabelle says. (We are getting old!)

My favorites, though definitely not the funniest, are how she flip flops certain compound words. Namely the words forgot and without. I've grown so used to hearing her say "outwith" and "gotfor" that it no longer even occurs to me that these aren't real words. Phrases like, "Don't gotfor your bag!" and "You gotfor my water?" are just as common as "I want my pita outwith butter only jam!" I realized that night, sitting there with Dave, that one day she'll correct herself and I'll never hear her say those words again... they are such a precious sign of her babyhood that continues to linger.


Annabelle :: Knock, Knock

Me :: Who's there?

Annabelle :: NO! Me tell the joke!

Me :: Okay.

Annabelle :: Knock! Knock! Who's! There!

(dramatic pause during which I hardly dared to breathe)

Annabelle :: Alleeboodee constalullee!!

(hysterical laughing)


Annabelle is adept at making up names for people, for herself, for her imaginary elemental friends, and for all her dolls. The names are often so complex and long that I can't repeat them, let alone remember them. But the reoccurring ones have started to become household names: Blueberry Man, Versti (her friend that she can only talk to on her cell phone), Alleeboodee, and some others. There are several others that leave me guessing at how to spell them. Leekolusiastee? Ballooteesulapila? Somehow she keeps track of all of them, and if one gets forgotten then another is quickly made up on the spot.

Of course, her true imaginary friend, Tiger, is still around and his presence grows stronger as her imagination and communication skills mature. We love Tiger. He seems to be maturing too, and is much less naughty than he used to be. The three of us (Annabelle, Tiger, and I) have had group meetings to talk about being nice to each other, not teasing the cats, indoor versus outdoor play, to stop waking Annabelle up at night to play, and to explain that if Tiger can't be quiet and calm during dinner then he'll be asked to leave. I have not yet had to set a place at the table for Tiger to join us for dinner, but he does join us almost every evening. He also rides with us to daycare two mornings a week, though apparently Mommy Tiger was driving him to daycare in the car ahead of ours the other day.

Annabelle :: Ask me my name.

Dave :: What's your name?

Annabelle :: Blueberry Man.

Dave :: Hello Blueberry Man.

Annabelle :: Ask me where I live.

Dave :: Where do you live, Blueberry Man?

Annabelle :: Cupertino.


Geographical places have also started to enter this realm, and Orange Vegas is now this fantasy place that you can only reach by taking an airplane (Gasp!) and according to Annabelle: "they have lots and lots of cool stuff there. Me want to go. You take me, Mom?" Her use of slang still surprises me, and the word cool is by far the most common. We also occasionally hear the word awesome... and unfortunately she already says OH. MY. GOD. just like it reads. Curbing this new habit of using slang is, well, something I'm not going to get into now.

Annabelle has also become extraordinarily attached and responsive to puppets, particularly her oversized jackrabbit hand puppet she calls Bunny. It's a really interesting experience, being the hand that makes Bunny come to life because Annabelle is fully cognitive of the fact that Bunny is only "alive" when our hand is inside. But once he's alive, the whole world ceases to exist. It is a very real experience for her. She is so focused on Bunny and their conversation that I've been able to slowly integrate Bunny into teaching Annabelle to do (or not do) certain things. Bunny's superpowers are incredible this way, and I really work (almost daily) to cultivate a strong relationship/friendship between Bunny and Annabelle. This probably sounds ridiculous, I know. But Bunny has really helped in ways I could never have imagined. Less surprisingly, Annabelle is able to speak more freely to Bunny and has explained things to him that she couldn't (or wouldn't) tell me - about whom she misses and wants to visit, or what she wants to do that afternoon, or even foods that she wants to eat. She's still processing her hospital experience from last Spring and so that occasionally comes up too. I love being in the background, seeing how sweet she is to this friend of hers...

Annabelle has always been young for her age. She still has a lot of baby left in her for being three and a half (!) and I'm careful to continue to protect her so that lasts as long as possible. Though any time I relish the baby in her too long, a new skill, new word, or a new demand quickly reminds me how big she really is. Three years of including her in my household work is beginning to pay off! Her "help" is truly starting to be helpful. For a long time it was more work to have her help me with laundry, or dishes, or whatnot. But now I can sweep the crumbs into a pile and she'll get the handbroom and sweep them into dustpan by herself and dump the crumbs into the trash! She'll throw her dirty clothes into the laundry (well, if she really wants to wear them again, she seems to know that they'll get cleaner faster if she puts them in the basket), and she is excellent help in the kitchen. We make bread together regularly now, and she loves to cut zucchini or mushrooms or butter when I am cooking dinner. She'll sit at the counter cutting (with her big girl knife!) for a whole hour... chatting away. She sometimes even asks to make certain recipes - I can't tell you how much I love that!

It seems like every stage that Annabelle grows into is my new favorite. Part of me keeps waiting for the time when I wish she was little again, but it hasn't happened yet. And three and a half is the best!

When two loves combine into one...

Climbing. It's new. It's fun. It causes lots of bruises. But the best thing of all? Our town's jungle gym is red. That's right, RED. Which means it was put there just for her. In fact, it actually belongs to her... didn't you know that? Neither did any of the other kids at the playground.

Occasionally she'll try climbing something else: ladders (yawn!) or tree stumps (boooring!) or stairs (you're kidding, right?) Or she'll lay claim to the entire swing set so that she can make them all go at particular intervals and run back and forth to keep them going. Slides are now just a quick way to make it down to start climbing again.

Every few inches higher she'll yell out, "I'm a big girl now!" and then follow it with play-by-play commentary, "I'm going to the tippy-top!" or "Up! Up! UP!" or "I'm THREE! I just had my birthday!" I used to think she was shouting these things to me, but I recently realized she's informing everyone on the playground, including the adults. And if she doesn't get enough in reply, she'll climb down and walk right up to someone (sometimes 5 years old, sometimes 55 years old) and repeat herself until she solicits a comment.

I pretty much love it all. Even the part when I'm gasping internally as she climbs higher and higher and cackles with laughter, showing off by bouncing while only holding on with one hand.

Annabelle is a riot.

Revelation

Tonight I gave Annabelle a bath for the first time since we returned home three weeks ago, so that Dave could take over the bed time ritual. (Usually he does bath time and I am in charge of bed time.) Bath time has a reputation for being tense, and a definite chore for whomever is involved in the cleaning process. Over the summer, in Dave's absence, I got a lot of help from my sister and mom and dad... especially if I was having an exasperating evening.

So tonight, after bathing her, having fun, and sharing lots of giggles tonight, it had not occurred to me how successful of a bath experience it had been until she looked up at me, beaming, with the broadest smile on her face -

Annabelle :: Me do good bath time tonight?

Me :: What?

Annabelle :: Me no hit you!

Me :: No, you didn't hit me.

Annabelle :: And me no yell at you!

Me :: No, you didn't yell at me either.

Annabelle :: And me no hit and yell at you!

Me :: That's right. You did not yell at me or hit me.

Annabelle :: Me hit daddy. And me yell at daddy.

Me :: Annabelle! You hit daddy?

Annabelle :: Yes. And Papa. And Grama. And Sissy. And...

Me ::

Annabelle :: Me do good bath time tonight! Me big girl!

Who's teaching her this stuff?

Annabelle :: Mom. What's your email?

Me (shocked) :: My email?

Annabelle :: Yes. What is it?

Me :: allysun dot xxxxx at xxxxx dot com

(pause)

WHY?

Annabelle :: Because I got you a happy (ie present) on Ebay and I want to keep it a surprise.

Me :: (stunned silence)

So there.

Shopping for groceries a few weeks ago, Annabelle spotted some cereal in a very colorful box detailed with lots of rabbits. It was made primarily of oats, and Annabelle is very allergic to oats...

Annabelle :: I WANT THIS! Buy it for me Momma.

Me :: You want this cereal. It's got such a pretty box. But that cereal is not for your tummy. Mommy is not going to buy you that cereal today, I'm sorry.

Annabelle :: When me big and me have a little girl, you come to the grocery store with us. You watch me buy it for HER!

Happiness is a small town...

I arrived back in our small rural town in the Willamette Valley to find that we have our first grocery store! It's small. Very small. Very very very small. About the size of a large bedroom. But I can buy some groceries locally! And it's organic!

This is no small pleasure!

Then, just a few doors down, I noticed that a local church opened up a teen center - a place for local teenagers to hang out and do what they shall do. Ping pong tables, pool tables, lots of couches, etc. Our town was desperate for something like this!

A little growing up happened here while I was gone. It is nice to be home.

Train trip SoCal style!

A quick jump to San Juan Capistrano, tour of the Mission, snack at The Depot, and a fun ride home again...

Getting ready for the train to blow its horn.

On our way South.

At the church inside the Mission, Annabelle lit a candle very carefully as she whispered with solemn reverence, "Happy Birthday."

We sat in the back pew silently watching until Annabelle said, "I wanna see the man." and then walked down the aisle...

...where she immediately knelt and silently stared at the icons and crucifixion.

We aren't Catholic, but since we seemed to have found ourselves in the middle of a pretty organic Catholic experience I figured we'd take the next step. A big ceramic container labeled "HOLY WATER" was a few feet from the altar. So I gave a little to Annabelle and showed her how to make the sign of the cross. Here she substituted her nose for her forehead.

And she took me literally when I told her to touch her heart. So sweet.

Then she simultaneously slapped her shoulders a few times with each hand.



Later, snacking in an alcove, Annabelle heard the train blow its whistle.

And then she heard it again.

And then it was potty time...

Anyone remember this picture from two years ago? Here's the whole blog post if you are that committed... I was able to cajole Annabelle into repeating the whole trick of walking around the memorial and then jumping out to surprise me. Here she comes...

Rawr! Gotcha Mom!

Walking around downtown.

Showing me her favorite colored crayons. Did anyone doubt they'd be red?

I had this great idea of flattening a couple coins on the train tracks, but it didn't really work. I didn't think through the plan very well... the coins fell off the track after the train rolled over them, and then we had to rush to get on the train, so it wasn't like I was going to dive under the train to grab the coins and THEN board. Maybe next time...

Annabelle made up a game trying to keep her hands on the window. The train would rock and throw her off balance a little bit and her hands would fly up and she'd laugh hysterically. Repeat.

Probably the best photograph I've ever taken. A sort of photographic tribute to Susan Boulet?

Last Playdate of the Summer...

One final hour with her BFF before we head back north...

True love at three years old.

Dad comes to visit

Dave came down for two weekends... with a few days of work in Los Angeles wedged in between. We spent one afternoon with some friends - first the beach, then playing in a park before dinner... A chance to get the husbands together for a family-double-date of sorts. Dave was the self-appointed chief of kid entertainment ::

First, get wet.

Then, fly a kite.

Next, running shoulder rides.

I wonder if this was her first running shoulder ride. I forgot to check. Kind of like with the whole juice episode/experience a couple weeks ago...

I know most of these shots are out of focus. But, seriously, he was running so quickly I could hardly get ANY shots and didn't care if they were blurry or not. Most of them were just empty frames.

Shoulder rides were followed by rolling around and giggles.

Then came Follow The Leader.

Walking crazy! Talking crazy! Be crazy like me girls!

Time for spinning!

Annabelle saw Dave do this and came running as fast as she could...

...for her own jump over!

There are more pictures, but I just want to pause right here to state the obvious: Isn't Dave awesome? I swear, this guy is my hero. How many dads are this kind of dad? I mean, he was dripping with sweat but still continued to come up with more ideas of craziness while the rest of us waited for dinner with hungry tummies. I know this post is not my most creative, nor the most beautiful, but this post is one of the top three that I would choose for Annabelle to see when she's older... to see what her dad was like when she was really little, to see how lucky she is, how much he loved her and other children, how fun and silly and unpretentious he is. I love this man so much!!

~~~ ahem ~~~

Squirmy Wormies inside the restaurant after dinner.

Awe, mommy and munchki.

Hugs...