A Penny Update

Here's the scoop on Penny's adjustment. For the past 3 weeks we've only gotten 1 daycare report where she was not kind to friends. We still deal with crying at drop-off, but she usually has stopped before we've gotten to the lobby. Much better than before. She still has occasional problems with her "listening ears." That was a problem at Jardin too, and a problem at home. We are working on it. She's stubborn and determined when she wants something or doesn't want to do something. I feel like I'm describing every 3 year old though...

We've joined the nearby rec center and have been going to the indoor pool every weekend. Yesterday Penny said "I'm going to swim by myself" and she did! She can now swim from the stairs to me. I stood about 6 feet away. I hope to get it on camera soon.

And so I don't feel like just a bragging mommy, here's a frustrating story. 2 weeks ago I bought 4 pears at Trader Joe's.  She ate all 4 in less than 48 hours. So I bought a whole bunch because I'd actually like to eat a pear. Well, now she crinkles her nose at them and won't even take a bite! What the heck?! So I'll be eating a lot of pears this week and trying to tempt her back to eating them again.

I do have a few pictures to share:

The first few are from this morning when Penny and I went to the park. She's wearing a sweater I knitted this week. Perfect for our 60 degree weather. She was upset that it wasn't pink. I told her the blue looks great with her eyes and she said "I want pink eyes!" 

Then this evening Chris dug out the bat and ball.  I'm going to sign her up for t-ball; although, I think it is kind of pointless since she hits the majority of the balls chris and I throw.

 Can someone tell me if mouth guards are ever required in softball? She has her mouth this wide pretty much every time she hits the ball!

And the infamous stick-out-the-tongue stance. Both Chris and her Uncle Christopher do this when they are concentrating. I guess it is genetic.

The next couple of photos show a skill I still haven't mastered. She keeps her eye on the ball! I remember being on the Unicorn team at age 6 and closing my eyes shut every time the ball came near me. I was terrified of getting hit by the ball and somehow squeezing my eyes shut made it seem like it couldn't hit me. My mom was the coach...I was not the star player. I liked picking dandelions and watching the game through the holes in my glove. Anyway, onto the next generation...one my mom would be proud to coach...

And she hits a line drive!

Mostly Wordless Wednesday: Molly Projects

This Easter I made a couple projects for Molly. The first was a beret pattern named "Molly" that I bought last year on Ravelry. It was a ton of fun to knit, especially the leaf pattern on the border.

Around the time I was making the hat, Amy pinned a project on Pinterest for legwarmers. http://smashedpeasandcarrots.blogspot.com/2011/03/little-girls-knit-legwarmers-pattern.html I actually thought she was asking me to teach her to knit. Silly me! She wanted me to make them for Molly, which of course, I was happy to do. I will do legwarmers for any little girls out there. They are the best project to do when watching TV. (If you click on the link to the pattern, you'll see another cute little girl named Penelope.)

My lazy Easter post

I love going to Kansas for Easter. We all enjoy it, even if this year it meant Penelope asking at least 3 times a day since February "are we going to Molly and Charlotte's house today? Is it easter yet?" and being very whiny when we showed her how many days were left on the calendar.

I have to say one of my favorite parts about our Easter tradition is I can feel like I do a nice re-cap for all my readers by directing you to hop on over to Amy's blog. http://lifemakesmelaff.blogspot.com/2012/04/its-instagram-ish-easter.html (and yes, Dad, the hop on over is an easter pun)

To entice you to click the link, here are some things you'll read about and see great instagram-ish photos of:

• Penelope's first fun run
• made up words like familiazation
• a Kansas movie experience 
• Peep rice krispie nests (thanks pinterest!)
• an Easter egg hunt
• The great Peep hunter cooking his catch over an open fire
• Easter Egg Dying
• and of course, the annual Easter picture of all the ladies

Amy and Cory--Thank you for a great weekend and a wonderful re-cap post! We'll see you next year!

A small town zoo

Multiple people at my work have been telling me all about the Zollman Zoo at Oxbow Park in Byron, MN. Many said "It isn't Minnesota Zoo by any means, but it is a fun place to spend a couple of hours." Since Sunday was a beautiful day, we decided to venture the 18 miles west to see it.

It is a very cute zoo with all Minnesota animals. Most of them were injured at one time and wouldn't be able to survive in the wild. Somehow though I think the animals got tricked to thinking they are in the circus. The otters put on a great show. Then this porcupine danced to Penelope's ABCs:

Isn't that hilarious? He pretty much danced for anyone who came by his cage.

I couldn't get a good picture of this, but here's the difference of a small zoo vs a metropolitan zoo. The Minnesota Zoo is always educating about animals natural habitats, behaviors and conservation. At the Zollman zoo we arrived at breakfast, so a good time to learn about what bears eat. This bear was eating donuts. Yes, donuts. And not just a plain cake donut, a chocolate covered donut. He did have a pile of fruit but saved that until after the donut. Good to see that all species have their priorities straight when it comes to sugar and fat laden breakfast. I said maybe this is to teach us what the bear would eat at our campsite?

Here's the badger. Now I think he gets a bad rap. He spends his whole day burrowing holes and tunnels in his enclosure. The next morning the zookeeper comes in and breaks up all the holes so he can start over and have something to do today. Now I don't know about you, but if I showed up to work to have my boss undo everything I did the day before I'd probably spit and hiss and run around crazed like a...well, like a badger.

A very puffed up turkey. He seemed really concerned that we were going to steal away one of his many female turkeys.

They have many owls. This guy didn't have an eye. I've never seen an owl move his head around so much. I guess that would be necessary with only one eye. Glad he found a home at this zoo.

They have 2 majestic bald eagles.

Oxbow Park also has a lot of hiking paths and camping. There's some green showing up due to our unseasonably warm spring. We'll have to go back when everything is in bloom.

Always need a stick when going for a hike.

Our constant problem with Penny's jeans. This is why she wears sweats and leggings most of the time.  Tough to teach a 3 year old how to manage a belt when sometimes she just barely makes it to the potty.

Lots of playing with my camera settings. It was cloudy so pretty good lighting for photos.

And it is true that the "You will have a child just like you" curse lives on. When I was little I always stopped walking and whined. I think I was in the 3rd grade when my Uncle Dwight gave me a piggyback ride at the Volksmarch. We refused to pick Penelope up so she finally got up and started walking.