MY BABY’S SWIMMING!!!!!

So Mother Nature was not as excited to see my baby swim as this mama was, but none the less, HG got to have somewhat of a graduation today. The rain held off until halfway through her last class, so Mrs. Melissa waved the parents on in a bit early and let them see a few moves but not before the bottom fell out of the sky. I can’t believe what a good sport Helen Grace was- I would have been running for the hills! We were able to see her SWIM ALL ON HER OWN, although we didn’t get to see the jump in from the side. We’ll have to see that over the weekend. I am crying major happy tears for my brave little fish! She toughed it out day after day, and most importantly, she is so proud of herself.

 

Toohig Tidbits

Our cats have special spots that when you rub them, they start licking like crazy. HG calls these their ‘lickey bones.’

When she’s stuffed, she says, “I’m full as a wink!” (instead of a ‘tick’)

When she and her daddy were playing with Barbies and her daddy’s doll gave her some ‘tude, HG told him, “You need to change your attitude.”

“It’s yummy in the mouth!!”

“Mommy, I love you more than sugar!!” When I pressed her if she loved me more than sweet tea, she paused and then said, “No- I mean yes.”

She was showing me how to play some of her games on my phone. I blanched at one that seemed hard, and she looked at me very seriously and said, “Mama, you have to try new things.”

At Grandma’s, she was ready to go to the pool at Teddy’s, but Jeanne, Peg, and I were talking in the den. From the back door, we heard her say, “Hey, ladies!!!!”

She saw her first rainbow recently. Granddaddy, Spiffer, HG, and I were meeting John for dinner at Sweet Peppers one night, and it was halfway raining- one of those true ‘the devil’s beating his wife’ kind of times. When we got out of the car at dinner, we looked up and saw a HUGE, full arch rainbow. Stunning! HG was so excited!

Hanging out with the Baldersons Lunching with Courtlyn Hunting spiders at the pool with Isaiah Mary Chris showing Ryves how to play ‘This Little Piggy’ Movie date with Ann Maxwell Silly girlA reward for coming out smiling after a tough swim class on Wednesday: A strawberry cupcake (read icing) and plane watching at the airport with Spiffer & GD Yummm….Seafood Junction….second corn on the cob 

Update on swim lessons:  She had three days of swim class back in late May with Melissa Brown at the Coats’ house, and the last day was disastrous when Melissa made her put her face in the water. {The only correct responses to Mrs. Melissa are ‘yes ma’am’ or ‘I’ll try.’ That has taken some getting used to but is a great life lesson.} We definitely needed more time and exposure, so I signed her up for another week with Melissa in June. HG was NOT excited about going back. She has cried each day on the way there because she’s scared, but she’s dried up the tears and will calmly walk into the backyard on her own. We’ve been reiterating that it’s ok to be scared, that she’s tough and being so brave to try new things, that all we ask is that she does her best, that she’ll have fun playing with her friends in their pools with her new tricks, and that Mrs. Melissa is a mommy too and is like her mommy in the pool. She has come out of each class with a big ole smile on her face and very proud of herself. Thursday, SHE JUMPED OFF THE SIDE OF THE POOL BY HER OWN CHOICE and swam to Mrs, Melissa!!!!! Grandma was there and watching through the gate and about had a heart attack, but we all quizzed HG and she said she chose to do it (was not forced). She has reenacted it for us time after time, and she can’t wait to show us at ‘graduation’ today- that is, if this storm would roll on through! Rain, rain, go away- we want to see our baby fish show off!

Daddies’ Day

Last Sunday, we celebrated the wonderful daddies in our life! We started with brunch at a new spot for us, Bosco’s, in Midtown. The daddies enjoyed the homebrewed beer, and the mamas enjoyed the bellinis and mimosas- a perfect brunch!

Then, the Toohigs hit the pool. Helen Grace is still not interested in putting her face in the water and actually swimming, but she loves to walk in the shallow end and splash everyone (of course). Baby Addison and the Browns were there too, so she was in hog heaven. She stayed in the pool so long that she came home with green tips on her pretty blonde hair! Luckily, Spiffer happened to be at our house for bathtime that night, and she helped me with the homemade, emergency ketchup rub and then lemonade (technically lemon tea since that was the best I could manage) mix rub that we had to use to get her hair golden again. Helen Grace thought it was funny, so we just laughed our way through it! And YES, we have now bought swimmer shampoo for blondes to get us through the rest of the summer.

We are so thankful for a Daddy that never runs out of tickles, hugs, and kisses and is never too proud to bust out into a dance party wherever we feel like one needs to happen. (He will definitely be thought of as the ‘fun’ parent!)

And we are so thankful for a Granddaddy that drops *everything* to do *anything* we need help with and is always available to join baby girl for a princess tea party.

Toohig Tidbits

Enjoying a precious bit of Dinstuhl’s chocolate Her trial run of taekwondo (loved doing it- and was pretty good- but soon realized three nights a week was too much) Visiting with the goats at the vet This pic was taken a second before that white one took a bite out of her dress. That went over poorly. Lunching with the Coats. Emmaline gives the best hugs.Baby Emmett was baptized last weekend, and I am very honored to be his godmother. We celebrated with Yolo and a run around in the park with Callum and Finley. A spontaneous lunch with Bubba and SpifferPool time with Baby Addison and CB Priss pot to the max She’s taken to sleeping with an old picture of me at night. So random, but hey, if it works!

As we cuddled at bedtime last night, I hugged her tight and said, “Mommy is so glad to be your mommy.” And she responded, “And I’m so glad to be your baby girl.” Amen, sister.

Big Girl Bike

Spiffer and Granddaddy surprised baby girl with a big girl bike at their house this week, and you could say it was a hit! She wouldn’t even get off to eat lunch and rode until she was dripping wet with sweat. She made a pretty easy transition from the tricycle to this, although she’s still trying to figure out the brakes. We, of course, had to bring it home with us that night and take it for a spin around the block. It’s so cute to see her so proud of herself!

Teaching her the importance of brakes Finally talked her into coming inside