On the move...

A little less than a year ago...10 months ago, to be more specific, we made the decision to pack up all of our belongings and take them on the oh-so-long trek across...........the hall. Yes, that was quite possibly THE easiest move I have ever made in my life, and what made it even better was that we did it on a weekday, so Angelica got to hang out at daycare and play with her friends while we (along with a couple of good friends) did the gruntwork of moving. We got an extra bedroom out of the deal, so that was really nice.

At the time we made that move, Angelica (who was 13 months old then) had only been walking for a few months, was still not capable of climbing on things and only had a vocabulary of about twenty words. Now, at almost 23 months, she can run, jump, climb, yell, tell me to go away, tell me that she loves me, tell me that she hates me, tell me who her best friends are, and is generally a ball of giggly energy that goes flying across the apartment so fast that we call her "the streak". (Especially on the frequent occasions that she does it after stripping!)

And quite frankly, it's not always easy to take her to the park to burn off all of her energy, but I can't just open the door here and let her go, since running in the parking lot isn't necessarily safe.

So began our hunt for the perfect house to rent, and lo and behold, we found one! With a fenced in back yard! And about $300 less per month than we pay now! Although the finding it came about two months too soon, it was a deal we couldn't pass up, and so we jumped on it. And in just about a week's time, we will again pack up all of our belongings, but this time we'll trek them about 10 miles down the road in trucks and cars.

And therein was a dilemma.

Making this move meant that the daycare she attends now...the daycare we love, with her best friends and awesome teachers and her cousins, is no longer on either of our routes to work. There is, however, one that I can see from the front yard of our new house (well, almost...Mapquest says it's 0.4 miles). So we mulled it over and found out the rates of the closer place (way cheaper, too), checked their inspections, and decided to make the move.

I don't know why this always makes me sad, but it does! Tonight I told her teachers that next week will be her last week there, and it was hard, especially since I know that Angelica has really bonded with them, and one teacher has a son who is a week older than Angelica, and they're best friends. (I ask her all the time who her best friend is, and she either picks one of her cousins or her teacher's son.) But I also remind myself that she's turning two in a few weeks, and won't be in the class with these teachers anymore. And she'll make new friends. And she'll still have her cousins.

These parenting decisions are tougher than any decisions I've ever had to make. I sure hope she doesn't wind up hating me for it when she's older!

Not-So-Lazy Saturdays

The weather was still great today, so we met up with some friends in the park this morning for some more fun! We went to the same park that I took Angelica to earlier this week, and she was super excited once again for "the steps" and the gigantic slides.

After the park, we went to lunch, and Angelica discovered that her new favorite food is french fries. We had some left over (along with her chicken tenders) which we re-heated for dinner. When she said she was done, I took the bowl away which resulted in her screaming "Fry fries! My fry fries! Let go Mommy!"

Anyway, since I know pictures are fun, later in the evening we went outside to play with bubbles. And since I love taking photos...I did!

A Conversation About the Park

Since the weather is really nice now, and since it now stays sunny out later in the day (so it's not dark when I leave work), I've been making it a point to take Angelica to the park several times a week after school. I truly believe in encouraging her to be active, and it has the added benefit that when I spend an hour chasing her around a playground, I don't have to work out later on!

Tonight we checked out a local park that I hadn't actually been to before (and really regret not visiting before, because it was a million times better than the one I normally go to AND it's on the way home), and she climbed all over the toddler playground, progressed to the BIG kid playground and proceeded to scare the living daylights out of me by climbing up the big steps to the very top of the play structure. (I don't want her to inherit my fear of heights so I kept my freaking out to a minimum, and just cautioned her to "be careful on the big steps".)

We also spent time chasing ducks (which she loved), staring at the very picturesque lake, watching other kids on the playground (she was fascinated by a little boy about her age who had a Dora bandaid on his elbow), and chasing squirrels up trees (even as we were leaving she kept saying "Squirrel, where are you?? It could be anywhere!"). Finally she asked to go home to "get juice in Minnie Mouse cup and watch Minnie Mouse" so we left.

From time to time I like to ask her questions just to see if she'll answer them. Most of the time it's something I doubt she'll be able to comprehend or answer (like, "Why do you think the sky is blue?" or "What's your favorite animal?", stuff like that), so tonight during her bath (about two hours after returning from the park), I asked her, "What was the best part about being at the park today?"

She looked at me. I could tell her little mind was chugging away. There was a definite, deliberate silence, then finally she piped up and said, "Oh! The steps!"

The one thing I didn't make a big deal about (despite my freaking out), and the one thing I didn't think was a big deal (since she was thrilled with the ducks and the squirrels after all, and the girl climbs on just about everything she can wherever we go) and THAT was the best part for her.

And the best part for me? I had an actual conversation with my 22 1/2 month old daughter.

Angelica's Second Easter

What a great Easter it was! We spent the day before coloring eggs (complete with spilling blue egg dye on our light brown carpet...whoops!), then the next day Angelica woke up, had a "practice" Easter egg hunt at home, opened her Easter basket, and then we headed over to the Lindlaus (my sister's husband's parents...aka my brother-in-law's parents) for some more Easter festivities.

I could recap the whole thing, but pictures speak louder than words. Just for comparison, here are two photos from LAST year:

She was such a baby back then!

Here are a few from this year.

Dying Easter eggs with Daddy:




The blue hand of "doom":


The two eggs she finished (I did the other 9):


One casualty...(notice that 2+9 above does not equal 12!)


Easter morning, opening her Easter basket:


The "practice" Easter egg hunt at home:


Heading over to the Lindlau's house:


Cousin Willy shows her a pinecone:


I just like this one because it shows off her pretty dress:


Heading out on the REAL Easter egg hunt!


Stealing some of Anna's eggs (we stopped her, don't worry!)


Afterward, I did some group pictures for everyone. Here's one that my daughter (kind of) photobombed with a funny face. She's with Anna, Tyler (Willy & Anna's cousin), and Willy:


She did eventually smile though:


Then, my brother in law's mom took a family photo of us! It was nice to get a shot of all of us together for a change, since I'm usually the one behind the camera:


Angelica ate a delicious cookie:


I also took a couple of Anna and Willy:




Angelica got tossed in the air, then had a tantrum when Daddy stopped:




And, my favorite picture of Angelica from the day (and maybe one of my favorites ever):


And that's it for my photo-heavy post. But what a great day!