Last Sunday, after our zoo day, Helen Grace and I headed to the soccer park to cheer on John at his game. By the time the sun set, it was FREEZING, but the girl would not leave. She had a blast running along the sideline, yelling, “Go, Daddy!” and clapping her hands. John said he was startled a time or two when he heard her screaming. At halftime and then after the game, Helen Grace would go running out on the field, and she and John would kick around the ball. Priceless memories.
Sunday afternoon, we were invited to a baby shower at the zoo for our friend, Lauren, and her second baby, a little boy named Thompson. We’ve been friends with Lauren through our FTMs/MOTs group since she was pregnant with her firstborn, Libby.
Jeanne and I have been going to RCIA classes on Sunday mornings at a church near the zoo, so after our class, we met John and HG at the zoo for some pre-baby shower family fun. It’s always a treat to have one of HG’s grandparents with us, and we enjoyed the cool, crisp fall weather that has finally arrived.
Helen Grace thought a ‘baby shower’ was the coolest thing and was really thrilled to get to go with Mama to the party. She and her friends ran around and filled up on cupcakes and cake balls, and then they headed to the rides. She wanted to ride on a spinning, slingshot kind of ride, and we gave it a try. Once we both got over the initial shock of take off, she loved it and squealed with delight as it shot us around and around. Afterward, she hit the playground with her little friends, and the moms enjoyed a chin wag as we watched them run and play.
It was quite a fun and successful day!
Playground fun with Daddy
A quick update on ‘school’…we are three weeks into our Wednesday morning Bible study at Hope Pres, and the nursery couldn’t have gone any easier. She was so excited about being in a ‘big girl’ class- the 3’s- which is at the very end of the hall. As we walk to her new classroom, we pass all the other rooms she’s been in and is so proud that she’s not a baby anymore. On the first day, she literally ran into her class, not even waiting for me to sign her in, and has been so excited about it each week. When I pick her up, she’s too busy playing to be watching for me, so I always have to holler at her that it’s time to go. At this age, they are really able to teach them a lesson that sticks with them, and I love to hear what she learns about Jesus each week. The only hiccup has been that they don’t have diaper changing facilities in this new classroom. Ugh. But they’ve been willing to help by changing her in another room, and we ALL hope this won’t be an issue much longer. I am so thankful that the women of Hope have made her adjustment to nursery and preschool so easy and are fostering a love of school. That makes this mama so happy and so much more at ease!
As far as Maples’ MDO, she’s loving it as well. She hasn’t had a single bad day, although I’m preparing for that to come at some point. They get a daily report card with smiley, straight, or frowny faces for different areas, and she prides herself on telling me each day that she got all smileys. She has gotten a straight face a time or two for bathroom behavior when she hasn’t been easy to change her diaper. {Are you seeing a pattern here?} She is enjoying dance class there on Thursday as well, and every now and then, she’ll show me some of her new moves. They are getting ready to be tumbleweeds in a wild west version of the Nutcracker in November. We are all loving hearing pieces of her school day with new songs. We’ve recently heard a flag song to the tune of “My Fair Lady” that talks about the stripes and stars and ends with “my dear country” with a hand over your heart- so cute! Also, there’s a weather song that’s sung to the tune of “Clementine.” Also, on a non-school day, she’ll mention that she misses Mrs. Maureen. One Tuesday morning at 6:30, she told me she was ready to go to school right then. I said that Mrs. Maureen wasn’t awake yet, and she asked, “Where does Mrs. Maureen sleep in my classroom?” Ha!
She likes to tell me that she wants to be a mommy like me and that she’s a mommy to her kitties and her babies.
She loves to ask for and give others ‘privacy.’ Well, at least she says that…if only she’d give me more than 30 seconds of privacy when I’m in the bathroom!
She finally enjoys brushing her teeth and is obsessed with not getting cavities- like Mommy has. Although, I have to admit, half of the time that she freaks out about brushing her teeth is when she’s in bed and is trying to get out of bedtime.
Her most recent hilarious stall technique at bedtime: “Mama, I LIKE to sleep with my eyes open!” Also, when I’ve tried to leave her before she’s fallen asleep, she has actually pulled out, “Do you not love me, Mama?! Do you not want to be with me?!” Does this level of emotional manipulation really start at three???
She’s gotten into this phase where she wants to sleep on the floor in our room- I’m guessing from napping at MDO?? But after a few minutes of our laying on the floor the other day, she rolled over to me and said, “This isn’t working, Mommy.”
She’ll randomly pop off little blown kisses to me- in the car, passing by, sitting in my lap, as she falls asleep. The sweetest reward of being a mama is getting an unsolicited kiss!
It’s such a surreal experience to hear hauntingly familiar words come out of your child’s mouth and know she only got them from one person…
She’s obsessed with this cat. Luckily, he’s the most laidback cat ever.
We were waaaaayyy overdue with a play date with the Baldersons, so they invited us to check out the monthly puppet story time at Germantown Library this week. If you’ve never been there or to that story time, you must check it out asap! It was fabulously well done, and HG just giggled and danced the whole time. Since we got there a little late, Callum didn’t see HG until story time was over, but when he did see her, he came running and almost knocked her over with a hug. They have really missed each other! He grabbed her by the hand and took her out into the library and showed her the fire truck, pirate ship, and aquarium. Even Finley got in on the fun! We enjoyed catching up with our friends and will definitely be back to story time soon.
We celebrated Lawson’s birthday in doggone style with a super fun paw-ty! Since the boy (and his mama) is crazy about doggies, this was the purr-fect party for him. We loved catching up with some old friends and playing til we were all dog tired. Ok, I’ll stop now with the dog jokes and let you enjoy some pics.
Happy birthday, Lawson!
Love, Your ‘Grace’
Wynn and Sam Carter, Lawson Eldred, HG, and Emory Wren
A year and a half after we moved into our ‘new’ house, I’ve finally gotten Helen Grace’s room pretty close to how I want it to be, although I am still working on a few finishing touches. I can remember so many details that my parents put into my childhood room, and they’ve left such an impression on me of the importance of family heirlooms and other special things. For that reason, I thought it might be nice to document for Helen Grace what her childhood room looked like and the meaning behind certain pieces. And what better day to take pictures than when our cleaning lady has been here! ;) Trust me, it normally looks like a tornado has gone through it.
Welcome! Helen Grace and I share a common theme in our childhood rooms: pink! (although mine was more of a Pepto Bismol pink and hers is more blush) This furniture was mine in graduate school.
