Nursery

Here is our spare bedroom which is about to become a nursery...

It may not look like it from this picture, but this room needs A TON of work before it is ready to be the nursery.  A new window, woodwork, a door and paint are just a few of things we Marc needs to tackle over the next few months.  The good news is that I know exactly how I want it to look when it's done (which took me forever to figure out with Poppy's nursery).  I'll definitely keep you posted with our progress.  But don't expect any progress anytime soon - we're off to Florida for a much needed vacation later this week!  Speaking of which, anytime we mention the word Florida, Poppy immediately says "And we're gonna meet the princesses?"  Hee, hee.

Dance Picture

Quite possibly the world's cutest dance recital picture...

This was taken last week at dance class.  It was quite a production and Poppy didn't really know what to expect.  When it was her turn, her dance teacher was trying to pose her and get her to smile while I was in the background jumping around and waving my arms trying to get her to smile.  I honestly think she thought she was smiling.  And as soon as her turn was over, she ran into my arms exclaiming "I did it mommy!  I looked just like a princess!"

And how cute is her costume?!  Every time we tell her that it looks like Minnie Mouse, she politely corrects us and tells us that it looks like Mickey Mouse.  Silly girl.

Reading

One of Poppy's all time favorite books has always been "Time For Bed" by Mem Fox.  It was at this time last year that we introduced it to her and she loved it so much that we had to read it to her multiple times every night before bed.  After months of it being at the top of her list, it eventually became lost in the shuffle and made its way onto the bookshelf (books on the bookshelf don't get read much, Poppy prefers to have her good books in piles all over the house).  Anyways, months went by and then about 2 weeks ago I pulled it off the shelf and started reading it to her and it was like she found an old lost friend.  Within 24 hours, she had memorized every word in this book, and lately, when she wakes up in the morning, she has been turning her light on and sitting in her rocking chair reading it aloud to herself, instead of coming into our bed to snuggle.  Marc finally caught her with the video camera.  (And I usually sing this book to her, instead of read it to her...)



And speaking of Mem Fox (one of my all time favorite children's authors), the last few nights I have been reading a great book by her called "Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever".  I highly recommend this book to any parent.  It has great advice about doing read alouds, as well as activities and booklists.

Elmo!

Saturday was the much-anticipated Elmo Live! at Shea's theater.  When we woke up on Saturday morning and we told Poppy where we were going, the first thing she said was "And we can get popcorn?!"  A girl after my own heart...

We met up with her daycare buddies, Brendan and Sophia. (the popcorn was a obviously a big hit with everyone)

When all of the characters came out on the stage, she said "Wow, there's a lot of people up there!".

Sitting on daddy's lap, big box of popcorn in her hands, Elmo singing and dancing for her - I'm pretty sure she was in heaven.

We had a perfect lazy Sunday today.  Cinnamon rolls (requested by Poppy) for breakfast, reading the paper while drinking coffee and then we all eventually headed upstairs to do some cleaning.  I was on laundry duty while Marc was on vacuum duty, while Poppy was on 'trying not to make a huge mess while we're cleaning' duty.  This somehow evolved into a game of Poppy hiding in a laundry basket and then convincing Marc to be her horse and drag her around the house.  After a few minutes of Marc pulling her up and down the hallway, he told her that they had to take a break while he vacuumed one of the bedrooms.  She literally waited, just like this, for well over 15 minutes.  Not a peep, other than "I'm waiting for daddy, he's my horsey."

As you can see by the smile on her face, it was well worth the wait...

When Marc finally ran out of energy, we convinced her that she could be a horse and pull Pandy around.  She thought that was pretty cool too...

Monkey see, monkey do...  She was trying so hard to be a big helper.  She would help me fold a pile of laundry, the entire time saying "I fold my own laundry.  All by myself I fold it!" and then as soon as I turned around she would take the entire pile and unfold it and throw it into a heap.  And of course as soon as Marc put the vacuum down she said that she could vacuum her room herself too.

Once our chores were done it was time to get ready for swim class.  Poppy got a new bathing suit and as soon as she put it on, she asked me to take her picture for her.  I agreed, and she immediately began setting up this scene...

She wanted her vacuum cleaner to be in the picture, and when asked what she needed her blankie for, it was because her legs were getting cold.  Duh!

The final product.  "You got my picture mom?  You took my picture for me?"

Then Marc was given the honor of being invited into her picture.  "You want to be in my picture dad?  I read to you."

Which quickly resulted in, "But I can't read this book yet!  Daddy you teach me to read it?"

Swimming class was a ton of fun.  I can't get over how much she loves it.  I even got in the pool myself this week, and I have to admit, it felt good to swim, especially when it's still so cold outside.  After lunch and plenty of napping, we made our first batch of homemade play-doh, practiced our "dance moves" and spent some quality time coloring.  And then the real highlight of my day - going out for ice cream sundaes after dinner.  And now I'm off to watch a bit of the Oscar's before I fall asleep.

Now that's how you do a perfect lazy Sunday!