Success!

Ahhhhh, now THAT was a good night's sleep!!!

Helaina's first night in her big girl bed was a success. I checked her several times and all was well. She slept right through the night, actually almost 30 minutes longer than she has been lately. When she awoke she stayed in bed as directed until we went in to get her. As she scurried around the kitchen this morning she kept saying "Mommy, Daddy, I up - get me", with a big grin on her cute little face - she thinks saying that is funny. One more little milestone behind us.

Big girl bed ... finally

Yup, tonight is Helaina's first night in her big girl bed - and she couldn't wait!

I always joked that I'd keep her in her crib until she was 6 years old (if I could!) to prevent her from walking down the hall and into our room at 3:00am for whatever reason. At 3 years and 3 months old, though, it was time - mostly because her toes were just about sticking out the end of her crib. I finally completed refinishing Helaina's headboard and footboard to match the rest of her furniture - the furniture that I had when I was a young girl - and it came out really nice. She had her Tinkerbell pillowcase and her kitty cat sheets and ALL she kept saying while Jim and I were putting it together was "I get in now? I get in now?" She was so very excited. When the moment finally came, she climbed in with a gigantic smile on her face, crawled under the sheets and kept smiling like crazy - absolutely loves it and we haven't heard a peep out of her yet since we put her to bed. We told her that when she gets up tomorrow morning she's not to get out of the bed and that she should call us. She practiced several times saying "Mommy! Daddy! I up!" So precious - now let's see if she follows through with her promise in the morning.

Dragon Boat Festival

So, what do water balloons and ladybug cupcakes mean?

It's Dragon Boat Festival time.

Today was a gorgeous day to celebrate with Helaina's buddies out at Cazenovia Lake. Lots of food, fun, games, face painting, fingernail polish, bubble-blowing, hula hooping and running around for everyone was the order of the day. Here's Helaina's dragon boat I made last year, recycled for use again this year. Next year we'll outfit her with a new one, a bit more jazzed up than the simple model Helaina is sporting!

All ready for the Dragon Boat parade, but facing the wrong way. I don't know how many times I said "Turn around, Helaina - follow Maddie!" Too funny.

Helaina and her buddy, Maddie.

"Wait, where's my water balloon? Mommy filled 50 of them this morning."

Oh yah, one of Helaina's favorite activities lately - the shimmy-shakin' hula hoop groove. She amused so many people today with her style. (She's proudly wearing the medal that all the kids got for running in the dragon boat race. She left it on the entire day. Jim's got video of her running toward the finish line with all the other 5-and-under kids. She had a huge smile on her face the entire time.)

Hand painting for Helaina, not face painting - a striped tiger.

Swinging with Maddie and getting her nails painted. Helaina picked out yellow nail polish.

Corny

Helaina wasn't a corn-on-the-cob fan last year, but she sure is this year.

I don't know if it's the salt, butter or the cute corn holders she hangs on to ...

... but she loves it this summer!

I broke her corn into 2 pieces and after she ate both, she said "more?" No, Helaina - one ear of corn is enough for a 3-year old!

"Happy Pfather Day", said Helaina

Helaina had been practicing saying "Happy Father's Day" for a while now. It's so darn cute the way she says it. She still doesn't make words plural yet, and combine that with the fact that she puts the "p" sound in front of words that start with "f" (not uncommon, according to our speech therapist) and you've got the most adorable "Happy Pfather Day, Daddy" ever! We went out to brunch Sunday morning and Helaina was actually quite good in the restaurant. She wanted to make a mad dash around the dining room every once in a while, but for the most part she stayed seated. One woman even came up to us and commented on how well-behaved Helaina was. I almost choked on my pancake when I heard that! She happened to catch us on a good day and I told her that Helaina "had her moments" - don't we all, the woman replied. How true. The rest of the day was spent visiting with Poppa and playing outside. It was a Happy Pfather Day after all.

Opening presents wrapped in the Sunday comics section. Helaina thinks it's funny to wrap gifts with "noopy" (Snoopy), Garfield and Marmaduke on them.

Helaina's special creation for Daddy. We bought a white t-shirt and some fabric paint. Daddy's custom-made creation has 2 sets of Helaina's hand prints on them, the date and some other writing that I did. It was fun to make. She loved slapping down her hands in the paint and then laying them on the clean white shirt. I kept telling her "Be careful, don't smudge it!" and she would say "No touch, let it dry".

It's official. Jim IS a Daddy because he got his first "world's greatest Dad" gift - an apron to go along with his new bbq grill!

Hula hoopin'

Helaina has recently gotten much better with her hoola hoop (she plays with it every day). Jim and I stared at her in amazement the other day as she actually got the thing going around her middle for about 10 seconds. I laugh hysterically every time. She puts her arms up in the air, stands on her tippy toes, counts "1, 2, 3" and sends the hoop twirling around her. She shakes her hips from side to side in a movement that makes me wonder if she's got a future as a belly dancer. She has the ability to isolate her upper body and get her hips and butt going in a way I've never seen before - in a 3 year old! When not hoola hooping she loves to dance and has 2 very distinct dance moves. You can tell her to "shake your booty" or do the "shimmy shake" and she does 2 different hysterical moves with her butt. It makes me laugh and worries me all at the same time!



Note: Curious George is on TV and it starts at 8:00am. Yes, Helaina is a mover and a shaker from the moment she gets up. That's why she still takes 90 minute naps every day!!

Funny Helaina: This morning at breakfast Helaina was eating her cereal and Jim and I were falling asleep in our toast because Helaina has recently decided that it's wake-up time between 6:00 and 6:30am. Ugh - she used to sleep until at least 7:00am and beyond, but not lately. This morning we heard her singing in her room - I was afraid to look at the clock. Next thing I know Jim says "Oh my God, it's only 6:10!", as we simultaneously groaned. Anyways, at the breakfast table she momentarily stopped eating her cereal, reached over to me, rubbed my arm with her little hand and said "my friend"! I told her she was my friend too. Just too darn adorable for that early in the morning.

Busy weekend - Mom and Dad are exhausted

Now this is one happy child - and elephant too, doesn't it look like Siri is smiling??!!

We attended a private party at the zoo Saturday evening and a good time was had by all. There was a barbeque (burgers, hotdogs, salads, cookies, cotton candy, popcorn and ice cream), a children's band with room to dance (which Helaina loved - never stopped jumping or shaking until the music stopped), a magician, face painting and of course the animals. Helaina normally gets her hand painted instead of her face, but not this time. The two "painters" were dressed up adorably as Minnie Mouse and a clown. Helaina's uncertainty about people-dressed-up-as-critters got the best of her and she didn't want to have her hand painted. I tried my best to convince her that they were just people like Mommy and Daddt dressed up in Halloween costumes, but our stubborn gal stuck to her guns and refused. (We're in the process of planning a vacation to either Hershey Park or Sesame Place and I'm beginning to wonder if Sesame Place might freak her out with all the life-size characters walking around the park!)

We were lucky enough to see one of the female elephant's in her pool! It was a first for us to see one of them swimming and it was an absolute riot. I know that elephant's like water and are great swimmers but it was amazing to see this up close. She was splashing and swimming then she would completely submerge herself under the water - you could tell she was enjoying it. We enjoyed watching too.


"Ok Mom. I posed for this picture so now can I run off and do something else?"

The thunderstorms that were predicted for Sunday never appeared (actually it was the best day of the weekend - sunny, blue sky with a few puffy clouds and very warm). We had an early lunch and headed out to Green Lakes. The water was still cold but it had warmed up quite a bit from the last time we were there on Memorial Day weekend. Helaina had a blast digging in the sand, splashing in the water and playing on the playground.

Unfortunately she had her first "head submerged under water" mishap. She ALWAYS runs into the water and doesn't stop until we stop her. She jumps, splashes and plays with such enthusiasm that it was bound to happen eventually. She especially loves being in the water right up to her neck and even though Jim and I are only inches away from her she can manage to wriggle out of the death grip we try to keep on her. My heart-attack moment happened when we were in shallower water with Jim and I literally inches away from her. She jumped up in the air and must have lost her footing when she landed because she went under right in front of us (I could instantly feel the 50 extra gray hairs just sprout of my head as I saw her go under) . I screamed as Jim grabbed her instantly and pulled her up. She was under the water (just over the top of both of her eyes) for just a second but it scared the crap out of her, as well as me. Easy-going Daddy took it in stride but I was in full panic mode and annoyed with myself that we let it happen when we were right on top of her. She was crying and scared so we went up to the blanket to recover. I don't think she swallowed any water because she didn't cough at all. She got over it quickly and was ready to run back into the deep in a short amount of time. I've told her before that if her head accidentally goes under water that she should keep her mouth and eyes closed and that Daddy or Mommy would pull her right up. Don't know if she remembered that or not in her momentary panic - probably not.

Burying her feet in the sand. She doesn't mind the sand at all (I know some kids hate it) and because she sits in it and plays we usually we take home about a pound of sand in her butt crack!!!!!

Watching the seagulls steal some food from a nearby blanket. I just love that little face so much.

Playing on part of the new playground.

One week old...

Helaina visited her new cousin Anna when she was one week old and finally got to hold her. "Gentle, gentle, gentle..." was what I said about 100 times to Helaina (who doesn't know her own strength). When you ask Helaina what she thinks of Anna, she says "so cute". So cute, I agree.

Just can't stop playing with Anna's hair - it's a hoot - so dark, long, thick and wavy!

The library and the park

I finally took Helaina to our local library and she not only got her library card but a bag full of goodies too. We played on the computer, played with the toys and checked out some books. She didn't quite get the "shhhh, be quiet" thing yet, but most of the kids in the children's room weren't quiet either! (Helaina just came running into the living room, saw the picture of herself sitting at the library computer and said "library"! My smart girl.)

Helaina's favorite park is very close to the library so we headed over for a little run-around time to get tuckered out for a good afternoon nap (it worked). She jumped so much on her favorite bouncy bridge that she had to sit down, rest and take a swig of water.

Snip-its and Moe's

Helaina's first "official" haircut.

We were finally able to convince Helaina that a real haircut at a salon would be fun (especially at Snip-its), that it wasn't going to hurt and that nobody would go near her mouth (which is what this child fears the most - understandably). I have been Helaina's hairdresser since that fatal attempt for a haircut last Spring at a hair salon (it involved lots of screaming, squirming and tears). It was too soon after her palate surgery to let anyone near her head with a scissors! Sinced I absolutely refuse to pay the full $17 price that Snip-its charges for a child's haircut we waited until "$12 Tuesday" (which was still overpriced for trimming a few wispy ends of hair). It was a success, Helaina had fun and most importantly she knows that haircuts are "safe"! And yes, I fell for the $4 photo and "my 1st haircut" border shown above because Helaina smiled so proudly and held up her "lollpop" to show how brave she was!


Ah, so that's how you get a child to look down -- clip a "lollpop" to the apron with a hairclip.


This place was so colorful and had so much activity going on that there's no way a kid wouldn't like it.

Fortunately for us, right next door to Snip-its is Moe's Southwest Grill. And what luck - Tuesday is "kids eat free night" so we scored! Helaina had taco chips that she dunked in salsa and sour cream, a cheese quesidilla that she also dunked, soda and a cookie. Guess we'll be doing a Tuesday haircut and dinner at Moe's every couple of months since a good time was had by all.