A braid and some breakfast

Vada’s hair got some TLC from G-ma on her trip to see us this weekend. The braids made Vada look 13. *Sigh*

The mother load

Vada got a package of all of her favorite things from Aunt Karma today. Bracelets! Princess stickers! Pink things! It was a big hit. Vada had to FaceTime with me since I was at work to show off her booty. It was exciting stuff.

Near. Far.

Many days when I pick up Vada at daycare she is outside peddling madly around the play yard racing her friends. It’s quite impressive how fast her little legs can peddle!

Fun.

We had fun with Kelly and Zoey this 3 day weekend! We squeezed in swimming, swinging, rock climbing, baking, video games, bubble baths, and playing/giggling!

Counting their coins after dinner at New Seasons to see if they had enough money to buy mini cupcakes.

Decorating our own cupcakes at home.

And a round cake too because it was going to take too long to keep making tiny cupcakes.

Rock climbing!

Love

I went to a preschool orientation for Vada today and I was surprised at how emotional I felt in seeing and hearing about all of the big kid things Vada will be doing in preschool. I am so excited to help her grow through all of these transitions but sad at the same time about how quickly she is growing up. Some things that got to me at the orientation… Vada will be in a mixed age classroom of up to 20 (twenty!) 3 to 5 year olds with 3 preschool teachers. She will sign herself in to class each day (although they said it will probably just be a scribble at first). They do weekly sport programs like swimming, yoga, basketball, and soccer. They go on field trips… on a bus!

Oh, and the only way I can try to influence what she wears is to convince her that we (or teacher Laura) could match. Today was a stretch… But she looks so cute for Valentine’s day!

Dippin’ dots!

For those who have visited or seen pictures of our house you know that most walls are plain white or gray. I have always intended to add some sort of texture or pattern to the entry way wall but I just finally got around to it. For the past several weeks I have been stenciling many, many, many tiny dots on the wall. Vada likes to tell people “we” did it. And she did even take a paint roller to share day at daycare. I am so glad it is finally finished!

Multnomah Falls

My Mom came to visit last weekend and we spent a chilly but sunny morning hiking to the top of Multnomah Falls. Luckily the path is paved as most other trails (and even the field behind our house) are a muddy mess this time of year.

Awesome!

Vada and I went to a last minute book reading tonight by Dallas Clayton. He writes children’s books about dreaming big, love, and giving thanks and is on a book tour to grade schools across the country. As this evening’s event was last minute the turn-out was fairly small and very Portland. Silly music, kids dancing everywhere high on apple juice boxes, other dread-locked moms, and a dog roaming around (I think it was the authors). Anyway I think V had fun – we hung her poster up in her room already. And I thought it was awesome to hear some of my favorite books performed by the author live and up close. If you are curious I think you can read some of his books on his website www.dallasclayton.com.