Some mighty fine programing

Tonight I introduced T to come classic Sesame Street. See (C?), I was trying to sing "Up & Down" to her but I couldn't remember all of the lyrics though Tovina enthusiastically raised her hands up to the ceiling and put them down on the floor whenever the song called for said actions.
Not to be put off by my lack of remembered details, we headed over to my computer where we found this.
Tovina loved it so we watched it 3 times.
Our next big winner was the letter "B". This led to a lot of lip closing, cheek puffing, and bbbb noises.
Realizing that it was time to pull out the big guns, I introduced T to a classic that she has heard sung many a time but had never before seen with her very own eyes. The pinball song which counts 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12!

It was quite the learning experience for her and helped me remember why I loved Sesame Street so much!

Happy bithday Emma

Tovina's cousin Emma had a birthday this weekend. Happy Birthday Emma!

We have learned that having a birthday on Easter really ratchets up the amount of sugar and chocolate that is consumed to an unbelievable, almost mystical level. We also lucked into one of the few days that hasn't included rain. Clearly Emma's importance has been noted by the appropriate authorities. I can only guess that they too appreciate the awe-inspiring level of junk food.*

Emma showed Tovina how to work the swings. This involved some light and easy pushes with gentle rocking

especially good for watching Brendan run around.


Grandpop got into the act while Emma displayed her balancing prowess.
Tovina did try the swing that Emma is on in the picture, but luckily for us, simply moving back and forth was exciting enough and standing on the swing was not necessary. As it is, there was some excitement concerning the slide and climbing up to its exalted location. The swing episode and the egg hunt made for a small break in the swinging...
And then Zaida got roped into doing some more pushing later on.
Clearly, swings are a big hit.

*Healthy food was attempted by Cindy, but it was hard to compete with the overflow of the day. I'm guessing we also did not help matters by showing up with a moving box worth of somewhat less than nutritionally sound offerings - oops.

Chag Pesach samaech!!!!!

I hope everyone else enjoyed Passover too.

Open Faced Peanut Butter Sandwich

The other day (before Passover started of course) T caught me eating a peanut butter sandwich. She's tasted peanut butter before so I wasn't worried about allergies, but still... giving sticky, gooey, slimy peanut butter to a toddler seemed like a dubious idea at best. But the only way I could know for sure was by experimenting - right?

I should have trusted my instincts
But she did enjoy it!

New stuffed animal

Last night we went out for dinner. Towards the end of our meal, while Tovina was fidgeting next to our table at the restaurant, a boy about 6 or 7 years old came over.
He was holding a bumblebear. (Well, what else would you call a stuffed bear that was wearing a bumblebee outfit including an antenna headband?)
"Your baby can have this if she wants," he told me.
"Wha?" I replied intelligently.
"I won it in the game over there and she can have it." He was holding the little animal out to Tovina.
Tovina, convinced of her rightful place in the world as the owner of all cool things, calmly accepted her rightful offering and hugged the bumblebear to her chest while looking at the boy intently.

I had a quick discussion with the boy's dad a few minutes later as T started roaming about the restuarnt with her new acquisition firmly encircled by one arm. It turns out it was all the boy's idea. He was just that kind. I'm very sorry we didn't get his name. Tovina and myself did thank him a few times. Also, a live singer/guitar player started performing so T danced (with the bumblebear) right in front of their table. I like to think of her performance as her own special form of thank you.

One of the dance highlights was when she had one arm around the bumblebear's waist and had the animal's other hand clasped in her other hand. then she turned around in circles. It looked like they were ready to tango! That's my girl!

Pitch training

Michael has a pitch pipe. It was a gift from his brother years and years ago. Recently, Michael unburied the pipe and plays single notes for Tovina. If she is in the right mood, after hearing a note, Tovina will sing it back. Then she reaches for the pipe, puts it to her mouth, and sings the note again.
What I am trying to explain is that she thinks Michael is singing the notes and that the pitch pipe just happens to be in his mouth at the same time. She doesn't realize that he is blowing through the device. Apparently if a person wants to sing a single note for more than a couple seconds, one is suppose to put this strange object to one's mouth. I'm sure T has decided it is just one more oddity in the world those bizarre adults have created around her. Luckily for us, she's decided she's game and is willing to play along.

I'm trying to capture it on video. If I manage to get it right, I'll let you know!

What Type is this blog?

Just took a quiz called Typealyzer. It tells you about the personality of a blog.
"The writing style reflects the persona used by the blogger."

My persona:

ESFP - The Performers

The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves.

The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions.


(It picked a female image all by itself)

Bellingrath Gardens

I mentioned that when we were in Gulf Shores we drove over to Bellingrath Gardens. It was beautiful! Flowers were in bloom, the temperature was perfect, and the company was spectacular :)
Tovina wore her flower hat in honor of the occasion.
We were also trying out a backpack with T to see how it will do in Turkey. Its not clear if she is a fan or not but she did like the view.
She also enjoyed the moving dinner service.

Okay, sneaking in a none Bellingrath pic - here is Grandpop, T, and Daddy just before we got in the car to head back home. We are looking forward to our next trip down!

More about Pip - not Pico (updated blog)

Had a couple more shots of the little dog like creature who is now in his new home.

First, Sheila trying to help him stop shivering.

Then Roxanne looking down from the balcony trying to figure out if that new thing was either a) food or b) a toy. Since she out weighed Pip by about 3:1, it was really her choice. (That would be the other reason Sheila held onto Pip- trying to remove that choice.)

And here are T and Pip almost playing together. What I really think is going on is that Tovina is trying to decide if Pip will fit in the red box the way her other toys do. She likes that red shape shorter because it has a handle that she can carry around and put on her shoulder. It Pip does fit in it then T will have her own personal dog in a purse.

(Just in case you were worried, Pip never had to sit in the red box.)
Update: I just went back and changed Pico's name to Pip. Pip was the dog we brought to Ohio from Texas via gulf shores. Pico was a long hair chihuahua that I had the pleasure of taking care of while in Florida. He was not nearly as adventurous as Pip though also a rescue dog. So sorry for any confusion I may have caused!

Trying wasabi

Tovina had the opportunity to try many a new food while we were in Gulf Shores among them was some wasabi that came with my (mostly) raw tuna.
Here she is taking some off the cracker with her finger and giving it a taste.

And here she is telling us what she thought of it.
Not exactly her fav.
But she did try it again. We were all most intrigued.
In our defense, as she was also eating a plate of raw onions (which she adores - much to the amusement and surprise of our waitress) having some wasabi on the side did not seem like such a stress.
The 13 second version of this adventure is below, but if you wish to see a longer part 1 and 2 they are on YouTube.