March 2014—L-Y-L-A R-O-T-T-E-R

Snow at Granny's Feb 12

Snow at  Chace Lake

"Big girl" swing with sweet neighbor Brooklyn

Snow day with Mommy!

Gymboree sticker!

For awhile you have been able to spell your first name but your parents were surprised to hear you also spell your last name aloud! Apparently you learned that at school. As your world grows there will be more and more surprising things you have learned elsewhere…some good and maybe some not as good. Yesterday I took you to the zoo with your school class. It was so sweet to watch you walk along holding hands with one of your best friend Mattie. The time since I last blogged has been full & busy. The scheduled class at UAB mentioned in my last posting didn’t happen because it snowed again! You got to run outside in your snow suit & experience “snow!”. It snowed at our house more than yours & you have enjoyed looking at my “snow video”. You had some extra “home time” with your parents. In contrast we also enjoyed a delightful warm Saturday afternoon playing outside with a big crowd of neighborhood kids. You ran & ran & tried to do cartwheels with an older child & rode on a “razor” scooter & had a great time. The spring weather brought out a neighbor child your age you hadn’t seen in quite awhile. Her mother was amazed you were swinging alone in a “big swing” and you were “potty trained”. I tend you take your “amazingness” for granted & it’s nice be reminded how special it is. We have had some fun time at Gymboree and ate at Taziki & “Egg & I” and even got a cupcake at GiGi’s, which you didn’t enjoy very much. I’m glad you haven’t yet developed an unhealthy “sweet tooth” like I have. Your parents do so much to keep you healthy. My time with you this month has reinforced how wonderful your parents are in many ways, including the hard job of disciplining you rather than giving in when you disobey. Parenting is not easy, even with a wonderful child like you! This month I’ve finally made the decision to set a firm retirement date, July 1, when I will start working only part-time. For a variety of reasons this has been difficult for me to do. But you are one of the major motivators for me to end over 40 years of working fulltime and start “enjoying life” more. Next fall you will go to school 5 days a week instead of just 2 and next month your mom will start working fulltime day shift rather than part-time night shift at UAB Labor & Delivery. It will be good to be with you more without having the pressure of working fulltime as well. One of my favorite things this month was the video I made of you singing “if you’re happy & you know it clap your hands”. You were so cute & funny. I’m looking forward to a lot of hand-clapping in the future!