Tour De Saco

As you may know, I'm training to participate in the Avon 2 Day Walk for Breast Cancer this fall (for more information click Avon link on my list of favorite spots on the web). I'll be walking 26.2 miles over the course of 48 hours in New York City this fall, along with my sister Dianne who was diagnosed with breast cancer last fall. Avon provides a suggested training schedule which I've been following pretty closely. On Friday with the gorgeous temperatures here, Laina joined me for a nice long walk. We left home at 10am and headed into town, stopped at the post office, went to Sportshoe Center to buy some new sneakers for Laina, then over to the bank, on to Shaw's to pick up a few things then we walked over to the playground and then walked home. We were out and about for 2.5 hours and although I don't consider it a real training walk, with all those stops, it did give me a nice long walk for the day. Laina was great company in the stroller. It was the first absolutely beautiful day we've had here reaching the high 70's and I was so concerned with shading Laina from the sun that I didn't think about myself and ended up with a sunburn! Here are a couple of pictures of Laina on our "Tour De Saco".

No doubt she's my daughter...

You probably know that I'm somewhat organized, tidy, and like things to match. Well, my daughter is definitely following in my footsteps. I'm really curious to know whether this is "nature" or "nurture"...Is she so particular about things because its just in her genes, or did she learn this by watching me? Fascinating stuff.

Laina knows to pick out hair clips that match her outfits. She makes sure that her socks match her clothes. She even notices when she and I both happen to match each other. She cleans up her toys when she's done playing with them. At school she encourages her friends to pick up their toys. She goes around the house closing drawers and doors around her to keep things "tidy". But yesterday, this was the best. I picked her up from daycare and apparently she got in a little tussle with her friend Evan over a chair. I think Laina probably wanted the chair and Evan wanted the chair too. In frustration, Evan tried to bite Laina and fortunately he missed biting her skin and instead he bit her shirt and she ended up with a hole in her sleeve. When we got home and she was telling me about the whole thing, she told me she wanted Evan to bite the other sleeve so that she had a hole on the other sleeve too and then she would have matching holes. Too much.

Here's a cute picture of Laina modeling one of my hats.

The world according to a 2 year old

If only life worked the same when you are an adult as it does when you are a toddler. Picture this...

Your boss tells you to start working on a project and its due yesterday and you just look at them and reply "no want to", walk away and start doing something YOU want to do instead.

You tell your husband you want to buy a new car and he tells you he doesn't think you should spend that kind of money and you reply "I want it RIGHT NOW" and you buy it.

Your bills are due and you really need to just sit down and work on the checks but instead you decide you'd rather watch reality TV and you just decree to the world, "my busy".

And of course there's my personal favorite...every day, after someone lovingly prepares your lunch, you get to take a nap (see photo above).

Oh, if only it were as simple when you get older.

A Daddy "Up-Do"

Laina and Daddy were home alone tonight while I was out running some errands. This is what I found when I came home. Daddy's learning the fine art of hair clips. Good work, Daddy.

Gymboree: A Religous Experience

It's Gymbucks time! There's something about this store that just draws me in, mesmerizes me, and brainwashes me into spending way too much money on my little girl. When I go into Gymboree, I have to go alone. I can't go with Laina because I need 100% concentration. It's crazy. There's just something about the store that overcomes me. I went to the mall alone tonight. Joe stayed home with Laina. She asked where I was going and I told her that I was going to Gymboree. Her reply, ever so precious was "you buy stuff for Laina?" Oh, she doesn't know the half of it! While at the mall I decided to pop into other favorite stores such as Bath & Body Works and I tell you...I'd just rather spend my money on Gymboree these days. What has happened to me?

So this time around what does Gymboree do? They go and create a line filled with tropical fish! I swear they do this to mess with me. They just know I love fish - I'm sure of it! My bathroom is decorated in fish, Laina's bedroom is decorated in fish, I have a fish tattooed on my foot for goodness sake! The picture above is my all time current favorite Gymbo outfit (which we are now the proud owners of). I say current favorite outfit because tomorrow they'll go and come out with some other adorable line I can't get enough of. It's going to be a snazzy summer for Ms. Laina.

Spring Fashionista

We stimulated the economy this weekend. It started on Saturday with just Laina & Mommy and we headed off to Kohl's and TJ Maxx to gather up some spring clothes that Laina can wear to school. Then on Sunday Joe, Laina & Mommy headed down to Kittery Outlets to snatch up some fun new Gymboree stuff for Laina's non school days! Here is a picture of Laina this morning before school modeling some of her new spring clothes and sneaks.

So, this morning when I brought Laina to school her little friend Adriana was also sporting some new spring clothing and the exchange between Laina and Adriana was priceless. They both realized they were wearing something new and Laina said "my new shirt...your new shirt" and then Adriana said "my shirt new too" and they kept pointing to and touching each other's new duds. They were such little people showing off their new stuff and complimenting one another. Amazing that this happens at age 2 already!

Pizza - - - pure culinary perfection

The picture says it all. The girl loves pizza and what's not to love, right. It's saucy, cheesy, bready, and just plain yummy. I think Laina would eat it 3 times a day, 7 days a week, if given the chance.

We've signed up for another class! We began our "Music Together" class this week. It meets for 10 weeks in the same location where we take dance so Laina's getting very familiar with the place. This class has about 10 kids and their parents and its all about music. There's singing and the kids can play musical instruments, the teacher plays a keyboard and sings everything. There's a section for free dance where we all just get up and dance around the room. It's very liberating to jump around the room with your 2 year old and not really care who is watching you! Each week someone gets to bring in a favorite song for the "free dance" segment. I have a sneaking suspicion we'll be bringing in "Jenny Jenkins" when it's our turn!