Catching Up on Summer Time

 All dressed up for a cowgirl fairy tea party.

 My mom and I set up our sewing factory in the living room this summer.  We made Alice's "Dorothy dress,"  blue gingham and white puffy sleeves, and several pillow case dresses.

 Practice "Over the Rainbow" cupcakes for Alice's Wizard of Oz theme 2nd birthday party.  Yum!

 Alice's Rainbow.  Seriously.  She claimed it as hers.  It lasted a very long time.  Past bed time.  We kept trying to take her in for a bath, but she exclaimed "My rainbow, my rainbow!"

Alice's new play kitchen that we got her for her birthday. 

Alice's Words

I love the way she says water bottle. I don't even know how she makes it sound so cute, but I just melt every time she says it.
When she wants us to come and join her she says "om on" (short for come on), and she holds her little elbow up and waves us toward her with her hand scooping in toward her body. She invites us to sit with her, usually on her favorite place to play her "night-night" game, by saing "here you go" and patting the ground right next to her.
Our little summer Peach loves the water. One July morning she woke me up at 7:00 and immediately asked me to go play in her "simmy pool." Of course she had to put on her "simmy soup" first. She thinks those little swimmy diapers that have a picture of Nemo on the front are really special.

We are noticing that Alice loves watching movies with singing and dancing. She just can't get enough of the Lullaby League and the Lollipop Kids. But the best part is that she is just beginning to try to sing and dance herself. She gets so excited during the Munchkinland scene in Wizard of Oz when the little Lullaby ballerinas come out. Alice will curl her little toes under her and dance around on tippy toes! It's so darling I just can't stand it.
Her favorite song right now is "Happy Birthday." She has been saying something like "Oppy-chi-choo" all summer. I thought it was just something that she made up, but as we started talking about birthdays more we began to see that she has been saying "Happy Birthday!" Now she says it pretty accurately, and she sings it, too! She sings it at the top of her lungs. She loves birthdays. We have been talking about it so long, she probably thinks that her birthday lasts all summer. And why not? We are really celebrating two birthdays every summer. We know how very precious and wonderful it is to have a baby that grows up. Alice's birthdays will always be a very big deal to me. She is my sunshine.

Last Week of One

It’s not natural to sit still that long
We got off to a rough start
You didn’t want to wear clothes
Or shoes
When I stop and think about it I wonder
Why I make you put on your pretty purple dress
Your tiny body so perfect,
Wouldn’t everyone love to see
Your adorable belly button poking out?

The road lulled us into a groove
You read your board books to yourself
Your daddy read Lonesome Dove to me
I steered ever northward over the hills
You learned about tractors

Our time back home was priceless
Laughing and tickling
Rejoicing and eating
Imagining a stolen 3rd birthday
Mourning the last days of summer
Saying goodbye was harder this time

Too soon it was time to wrestle you
Back into your pretty purple dress
And pack you in so safely
You slept well to the hum of the road
Worn out from a week of summer sun
And joyful play

Not natural to sit still that long
The sun high in the sky
Invited us to stretch our legs and fill our bellies
The next tiny dot of a town will do
Across the main street
A gap between two ancient and crumbling buildings
Millions of smooth pebbles carpet the ground
A forgotten gazebo beyond
We let go of your fat little hand

You twirled

You danced and floated in sloppy circles
So much energy trapped in your tiny body
So much happiness in your soul
You savor your last week of summer
Last week of being one.

The Summer of Colors

So it seems like I really went on vacation, right? Looks like I've been really chilling out this summer, right? Awesome, right?
Not so much. I don't know how it happened but suddenly summer is over and I don't remember really relaxing at all. All I remember about it is thinking "As soon as I get these chores scratched off my list I'll sit down and relax. As soon as I get this house clean, unpack the boxes in the garage, organize this bookshelf, build this furniture, paint one more room..."
The chores still aren't all done, house hasn't gotten clean all summer, several house projects are still on the list--I haven't yet sat down, and summer is over!
I am happy that for all the hard work I have done this summer that I have something to show for it. Our house is now very colorful, because I painted every room except one! Furthermore, this is the summer of colors because Alice is learning her colors. "Lellow" and "bool" were the first colors she learned. She has become obsessed with rainbows (as a direct result of falling in love with her "Lollipop," aka Wizard of Oz). She loves her colors. One night we noticed a magnificent rainbow that lasted way past bedtime. Alice just couldn't go in and leave "my rainbow." Now she asks for rainbows all the time. The best we can do is sing Dorothy's song for her.
So I've gotten so very behind on telling you all about Alice. And the worst part is that she is getting smarter and funnier and more fun every single day. I'll try my best to get the highlights of the summer up on the blog and remember all the adorable things she has done and said.
But before I can do that, I have to go make some party decorations for Alice's 2nd Wizard of Oz birthday party coming up in just a few days.

Peach at the Beach Smilebox Scrapbook

Free scrapbook made with Smilebox

Alligators and Rays!

The Way Home