Easy Rider

Anastasia has been fascinated by Orlando's motorcycles forever. She loves to help him fix them and when one is parked in the back yard, she loves to hop on and pretend to ride.



Orlando has a couple of different helmets. He keeps them near the door, so each day he can pick which he wants to wear on his way out the door. You know, accessories make the man and all.

Anastasia likes that they're there so that she can be a motorcycle girl. Never mind that the helmets are heavy and she can barely see out.



Once she's got her balance, she can go and go and go.



Eventually, she wants a juice box to quench the thirst generated from all that motorcycling.

Thanksgiving with Friends

This weekend, our friends Abby and Nathalie hosted their annual Thanksgiving dinner. Anastasia was super excited for a dinner party at her favorite sitter's house, not least because it meant that she would get to play with Roxy and Boston, their two dogs.



We were the first to arrive, with the creamed spinach Annie helped me make, and Anastasia went straight to work wearing the little dogs out.



Soon, everyone was there, and it was time for Anastasia to find our seats at the table.



Dinner was traditional Thanksgiving fare, with the guests each bringing sides to go along with the turkey deliciously prepared by the hostesses. We started with a spicy pumpkin soup, which Annie loved. Annie also dug the dinner, and she very politely asked to be excused when she'd finished. Her new friend Aaron was happy to join her watching Scooby Doo until the rest of us were ready for dessert.



By the end of the evening, Annie would be calling Aaron her new friend, he even got a hug when we left. When I asked her what her favorite part of the day was, she had two: watching Scooby Doo with Aaron and making Roxy so tired that she fell asleep.

Bedtime Stories

Anastasia loves her bedtime story. If she's misbehaving in the evening, threatening to send her to bed with out a story is enough to get her flying right. Last week I found the "Junie B Jones" book series, about a little girl in kindergarten. I read the first book two or three chapters at a time, and by the end of the week, she was desperate to start the story over again.

Today, I bought a couple more in the series. At bedtime, she picked Junie B Jones has a Monster Under Her Bed. As you might guess, the book begins with one of Junie B's friend suggesting that there's a monster under the bed.

We taught Anastasia a long time ago that she's in charge of all the monsters in our house. She can tell them to go away, and they have to listen. Orlando has reinforced this over the years by being the monster in our bedroom. She loves to scare that monster by tickling it.

So, while we were reading the beginning of the story, I asked Anasatasia if there was a monster under her bed. Her response: "No ... but there is a lot of stuff."

Indeed. Guess there's no room for a monster under there.

Happy Halloween!

Everyone loves Halloween, and our little girl is no exception. This year, the day started with a visit to the ER, which was thankfully short and ended very happily, resolving the pain in time for the neighborhood party at the playground. This is the second year for the party, which is sponsored by our neighborhood association. The party includes snacks, games and a costume parade around the playground.

Our little "butterfly princess" had fun playing and eating cupcakes and candy before lunchtime. Still, she was a little tired from the long painful night, so we left right after the parade and group photo.



We took a bit of a nap after the party so we would be fully rested for trick or treating later. When the time came, she grabbed her favorite flashlight and we were off.



My plan was that we would visit a couple of blocks, and make it home in time for Anastasia to have a little candy and a bath before bedtime. Along the way, we visited Anastasia's friends Fitz and Stuart who had just finished their own trick or treating.



Our neighbors were very generous. Toward the end of the second block, the candy bucket was getting too heavy for her to carry. This was the cue to head back home. Annie picked out two KitKats to enjoy before a bath to wash the weekend away.



A very happy end to a very busy weekend.

Homecoming Injury

Saturday was slated to be a very busy day. We had to forego the John Stuart/Stephen Colbert rally because Maryland's Homecoming game was scheduled at 3:00, and Orlando and I agreed that Anastasia would have more fun tailgating and watching football. After the game, our friend Matt was hosting a cocktail party at his soon to be opened restaurant, then the night was scheduled to end with a going away party our friend Ann who is also one of Anastasia's favorite babysitters.

The Tailgate started about 11:00, with lots of food, and our usual crowd of friends. Nine years ago, when we started going to Maryland football games, Brooke was a one year old baby who'd just started walking. That season, she gave herself a serious knot on the head at a tailgate. She's grown into a very pretty girl who, for a while, took charge of the soundtrack to our party.



Anastasia and Kara enjoyed playing in the cars, building forts and painting each other's faces. Kara got a little creative with her M's, but the result was cute.



Unfortunately, our day's schedule got derailed as we were walking up to the stadium. Anastasia asked for "1-2-3-whee" so, we swung her between us as we've done hundreds of times before. This time, though, she landed in tears as her elbow had pulled into what we later learned is a common childhood injury called "Handmaid's Elbow". She was in agony.

We carried her into the stadium and straight to First Aid. They told us in no uncertain terms that she had an injury that required a Dr. (which they didn't have on staff). Anastasia was quite upset about having to miss the football game, so Orlando took her to say goodbye to Brooke and Kara before we left for the ER. (Though we didn't see it, Maryland routed the Wake Forest Demon Deacons 62-14)

While we waited, we played doctor and Orlando provided her with his own brand of entertainment. This is one way to blow up a balloon, though maybe not the way I would choose.



The doctor came and tried to reset her arm, but was only partially successful. We went home, hoping that given time the tendon would pop out on its own. That didn't happen. Instead, little girl had a very long and unhappy night. Early the next morning, Anastasia and I made another trip to the ER. A different doc took a look, and after carefully considering his options, decided to try to manipulate the elbow one more time. This time, there was a distinct pop as the tendon moved into the right place, and in moments, Anastasia was using her left hand again.



Our plans for Saturday may have gotten scrapped, but an equally busy Sunday was saved.

Fall Coats

Last year, she hated the coat that Myney bought her; she refused to wear it all season. This year, she pulled it out from the back of the coat rack and begged to wear it to show her teacher. It looked amazing with her yelllow crocs.



Then, when Orlando bought her a beautiful new charcoal grey peacoat, she instantly hated it, and only wore it to school under threat of losing her tv privileges.

Once at school, though, her friend Karynn told her she looked like a teacher, which Annie thought was the best compliment she could ever have gotten. After that, she was happy to wear the coat anytime. She even insisted on wearing it to go apple picking.



Guess from now on, we just have to either buy coats a size too big, or find a friend to compliment her in them when we make her wear them.

A restful weekend and musings

With Orlando being home before he starts his new job, we had one more weekend together as a family. Yesterday, the fun took the form of not leaving the house and having an amazing fall dinner of curried butternut squash soup and asparagus salad (thank you, Orlando).

Orlando and I spent a few moments marvelling at how our little girl has grown. Her leg, from knee to toe, is now almost exactly the same length as she was when we brought her home from the hospital. She seemed so big to me then, my baby. Now, I see glimpses of the woman she'll be.

Physical growth isn't the only change we've noticed. She seems to be stepping away from the shyness that was such a fixture of her personality from the day she was born. Annie always took a while to warm up to strangers, and avoided any kind of public attention. She's becoming less risk averse, too.

Today, I took her to watch our friends Ann and Abby take their first lesson in trapeze school. It was great fun to watch, though my fear of heights was making my heart race from the very beginning. The most amazing thing for me was seeing Anastasia inch her way towards the rigging and then begging to be allowed to take a lesson. (They don't accept students under age 5, so I had a relatively easy out there! How likely do you think it is that she'll remember it next year?)

We've also entered the phase of development where she has to share the intricate details of everything she observes. Lately, the phrase I think we hear most often is "and do you know what else ...?" Tonight, I was watching 60 Minutes, featuring a story on Jane Goodall. Anastasia came over, watched for a minute, and said, "mommy, those chimpanzees are really smart. And do you know what else, they talk to each other!" Jane Goodall said so.

Orlando and I know that we are extraordinarily blessed with a child who is at once smart and not overtly devious or mischievous. When she does act out, her reaction to Orlando or me counting to three is instantaneous. But, Myney reminds me that Orlando went through the "terrible twos" at about age 16, and I know that I pushed boundaries of my own in high school--guess we have that to look forward to. Think counting to three will still work then?