Monday With New Shoes

Here is Ginny playing with bubbles with Dada. This is the end of a long, exciting morning at the end of a long, fun weekend. On Saturday, Ginny and Tim cheered me on during my 10-mile running race in Black Earth, WI. They had a great time going out to breakfast (Ginny loved her usual blueberries and eggs), playing outside (she didn't even care that her hands were bright red popsicles), going to a giant shoe store (shoes are tied with books for her first love), and cheering for the runners (she got all excited cheering "Yay, Mama!" as I approached at mile 8, but then was completely heartbroken when I just kept on running :(

Saturday night was a dinner party with Andy, Amala, and almost-3-year-old Gemma. I had never seen Ginny play so well with another kid and have so much fun, too.

Sunday was playing in the snow (yes, we got a little more, though it's all melted now) and reading lots of new library books. She had a wonderful dinner of kale frittata and toast (did you know that frittat is best dipped in toast? Ginny could show you how)

This morning we all 3 went to check out Honeybees Preschool, where Ginny might start going for 2 days a week. She absolutely loved it, and none of us wanted to leave when the time came. At one point a little boy (probably about 4 years old) was sitting on a little chair speaking to the rest of the group, and Ginny went up to him and asked to sit in his lap. Fortunately, he has a little sister Ginny's age, and was very sweet about letting the teacher help Ginny to accomplish this.

Have a wonderful week!

Happy Spring!

Spring is wonderful here in Madison. Ginny gets to go outside and play almost every day. She loves to just walk down the sidewalk, checking out every little thing along the way. She is most interested in (1) other kids, (2) dogs, (3) sticks, leaves, mud, puddles, (4) steps of any sort, (5) bikes, (6) running and "runners". We have also been able to take her on a few bike rides in the past few weeks! Great for all of us! Of course, Ginny's favorite part of biking is the helmet, as you'll see. She loves anything that twists, buckles, or has a lid: the helmet has 2 out of 3. She is getting very good with her fine motor skills when it comes to putting lids on things (even a tiny baby lotion travel bottle) or inserting one end of a buckle into the other. She is still sweet as can be, and now regularly calls for "Mama" from her crib or asks Mama or Dada to sing a "song" (at various times through the day). She can also sing little tunes herself.

As always, if you're reading this, know that we miss you, and wish that we could share Ginny with you more than just by video. Hopefully we will see you soon. Please stay in touch.
The 3 D's

Big Girl Table

Our new table and chairs have arrived! Since their assembly two days ago, Ginny has spent a good deal of time sitting at her new table. She loves to sit and draw with her crayons on her Hello Kitty coloring book (notice the poster in the video). She is really learning her colors and is concerned about the welfare of the crayons (she is somewhat distressed when she finds one that has broken in half or has a very blunt end).
As you can see also in the video, Ginny has really fallen in love with her baby. She even thinks of Baby when Baby's not around: often at mealtime Ginny will grab a pinch of food and start looking and calling for Baby, wanting to share her food with the perpetually hungry (and thirsty) Baby. Besides carrying her around by her neck, Ginny takes very good care of her Baby.

Hugs and Waterparks

Hello to all of our loyal blog followers, and sorry for such a long gap in new videos! We have been busy having fun and doing new things. Ginny has now gone to KidsKare at our local gym a few times. She only stays for an hour and a half or so, and always has a great time. She already has a little fan club among the staff there, who always welcome her warmly. She has definitely caught on to what going to that facility entails for her: being left by Mama or Dada for a while. At first she was so excited just to get down and play with all the different toys and watch all the other kids, but now as soon as we walk in the door she tells me "No....no..." But her best buddy Karen comes and whisks her away, and they always have a great time in the end.
The three of us just got back from a trip to the Kalahari. Quite different from the African version, this Kalahari is a waterpark resort in the Dells. It was awesome. Never thought I'd be a big fan of an indoor waterpark, but up here in the bitter North, it is a great way to spend a couple days. Ginny had a great time, and was completely worn out at the end of both days. She just loved wading in waist-deep water and climbing up and down a little set of stairs that led to some little slides. She wasn't as enamored by the big tube slides we took her on, they were a bit too fast and too long for her. But actually, her favorite part of the whole vacation was just walking around the hotel rooms, checking everything out, doing laps through the bedroom, living room, kitchen (yeah, it was a huge awesome suite!)
So one of Ginny's newest and sweetest new words is "Hug". She asks for hugs and describes her own action often, when giving hugs to all manner of objects. She also got to go on a walk to the park today (!!!!) because it was 36 degrees! (ABOVE zero) She did great managing to slide and walk in the snow with all her bulky gear on. Enjoy the videos!

Dancing Pro

Ginny's bedtime routine now includes a good long dancing session in the living room. Here you will see some of her finest moves. I don't know if they really "go" with the bagpipe music, but Ginny can get down to any tune, so power to her!

Haircut!

Ginny received her second professional haircut today. I think it looks great, and she seems to enjoy not having hair in her face while she's playing. She did great at the beauty shop. From the basket of children's books she chose the only one that actually was not a children's book: Reader's Digest. I think she really goes for size and overall feel, rather than content. She didn't actually read through it during the cut, but sort of clung onto it for dear life, especially when Nicky (the stylist) brought out the spray bottle (can't say why, it was just frightening). But after a few minutes Ginny warmed up and made friends with all the ladies, playing peek-a-boo and blowing kisses and repeating many words they said, to everyone's surprise ("Did she just say 'distraction'?")

Christmas lights!