Fiona and John in the Pool (and Fi Helps Cook)

John joined us for Fiona’s last swimming lesson, allowing me to sit out and take pictures:

 

 

Today Fi and several of her little friends got to do rings in the deep end of the pool. Janette the instructor dove down with them because the pool is eight feet deep at this end.

Fi had no problems (none of the kids did) and is great at holding her breath.

Here is Fi, inching along the wall:

 

Fi likes to jump into the pool:

 

  

I got her some new bathing suits because her old one is getting really stretched out. Her new favorite is the striped one, that we forgot at Janette’s and will pick up on Monday:

At this point, I would say that Fi is definitely a water baby. I signed her up for another two weeks, in the afternoons this time because she starts preschool again next week. She’s made such amazing progress in the just a short time and I don’t want to lose that momentum. Plus, she seems to really love swimming and she has been so happy and well behaved lately, I can’t help but think that swimming has something to do with it.

Speaking of swimming, I love it and went to the pool today with my dad. While I was there, Fi was at my parents’ house, helping my mom make Matza balls:

My mom gave her an apron and let her stir. Fi told me all about it at home. She also declared that she was “chlorine-y”, which is true. She let me wash her hair again tonight, but only because she was able to wear goggles in the bathtub.

Well, that’s all for today. We went to the farmer's market to get some eggs and I realized that I don’t need to buy any produce other than fruit because I got two more zucchinis today, more green beans, a yellow squash, and we still have pounds and pounds of tomatoes. The lettuce is making a comeback and there are more eggplants. If only it was cold enough to reliably grow broccoli and legal to grow yams, we’d be set.

Have a great weekend!

Fi is an Old Soul

Recently, we went to a birthday party. There was a musician at the party and lots of the kids were on the “stage” dancing to the music. Fi, who was eating an apple at the time, asked John “Why are all the children up there dancing?” John said “Fi, they’re just up there having fun. You can go up there too.” So she handed him the apple and joined the other kids. It occurred to me that Fi might not identify herself as being a child or as having the quality of childhood in common with her little friends. I think she thinks that she is just a short person who will someday be taller. Or something like that. I think she is a pretty typical kid, but maybe she doesn’t think she is a kid. I don’t know.

At any rate, here are some photos of her:

Here is another photo of her after getting rings in the pool. It was taken by a friend of mine whose daughter is also in the class.

Here is our veggie haul for today:

 

The zucchini on the left was regular sized two days ago, small even. The melon is our first cantaloupe. There are many more in the garden, but they are not yet ripe. The tomatoes are a mix of roma tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, and Mr. Stripey tomatoes that are like candy, they are so sweet. I think they are my new favorite tomato since the San Marzano haven’t produced in a couple of years and my cooking is different that it was when we did have a lot of those. I am really loving the garden harvest. There is nothing like the quality of homegrown fruits and vegetables. The produce at the supermarket does not come close to comparing, and even the fruits and veggies at the farmer’s market are not quite as good as straight off the vine. I think every year during the winter I forget how good the garden is. The eggplant we got was great, but the plants are on their way out (some creature is eating them) and even the lettuce was tasty. The garden is one of my favorite things about living here, in this house, in this town.

 

I am not a big fan of cantaloupe (I don’t love it, I don’t hate it, sort of indifferent, will eat it if given to me, but don’t ask for it specially), but oh boy was this one good! So sweet and tender. It was delicious. I think Fi and I ate almost half of it right after I sliced it. And speaking of slicing, the knife went through like butter. I may never be able to eat restaurant or supermarket melon again. I guess the plant’s hostile takeover of our garden was worth it. I’m so excited for the rest of the cantaloupes and for the watermelons to ripen. Lots of those growing in our front yard now.

Here are John and Fi in John’s office today:

 

Fi was typing in a word document and couldn’t figure out why she wasn’t getting web pages or photos of tigers when typing their names. We had lunch and visited John for probably the last time this summer. This is our third visit since summer vacation started. The receptionist at the visitor center recognized us when we walked in. Well, she recognized Fi. No one notices the mommy.

Fi is potty training her dolls. Depending on the day, they either all poop in the potty, or they all need their diapers changed every few minutes. In this photo, they are sitting on the toilet, reading their books:

Eventually she gave them something else but I don’t remember what it was and by that time, I put the camera away.

Here is Fi, having a tea party in the sandbox with a little birdy:

Here she is buried under blankets:

Ever since we cut out watching videos on youtube, she is back to putting together puzzles and reading many books every day, or sometimes the same books over and over. And pretending that there are chickens in Chinchi’s room and cows in her room a mommy, a daddy, and a baby). The cows each had their own water bottle that we had to dump out and rinse (because they were getting moldy). We let the cows out last night so they could graze in the backyard, and today Fi gave me some grass to feed them. I guess they are happy back there because I haven’t heard any complaints from them and Fi hasn’t mentioned them much today (other than feeding them the grass).

I can’t believe that preschool starts again next week. Fi and I have spent every day together for last two months. I feel closer to her than I ever have before and I love our little conversations and all the stories and songs she makes up and the farm animals that are roaming around everywhere (note:  just in case, no real farm animals are here, they are all in Fi’s imagination, but I love playing along). She has been so happy the last few weeks and her behavior has been much better than it was a couple of months ago, when I started to think I didn’t like three year olds very much and wondered how I was going to get through this age without tearing my hair out. I’m going to be sad to see her go, but I officially start back to work the following week (I say “officially” because I have already been working and planning, and have met with coworkers), and so all good things must come to an end. Fi’s last two swim lessons are tomorrow and Thursday.

Here are some photos of her taken on my phone, from the fair and from home:

 

My sweet Fi, I hope even if you don’t always remember this summer, that you remember the feeling of excitement and joy you had. I’m glad I have this blog to help me remember it too.

The County Fair

On Monday, we went to the County Fair. Since having Fi, we have been going in the early afternoons after her nap (that used to be earlier in the day). But now that she naps late, we decided to go in the evening and have our dinner there, and also keep her up a little later for the special occasion.

On this particular Monday, she napped earlier, so we were excited to get to the Fair earlier than anticipated, that is until we waited for almost 45 minutes for a shuttle bus to arrive, that then took a wrong turn in the large government center parking lot and let people off in the wrong place, thus taking even longer to come and get us and all the other annoyed patrons waiting in line in front and behind us. Truly, I intend to write a letter to the Fair’s organizers because this is the second year in a row that there have been issues with this particular shuttle stop, and by issues I mean long wait times or shuttles that never show up (a la last year).

Eventually we made it and had a great time. Fi LOVED the rides and we spent most of our time there.

Fi rode the cars, the “dinosaur” ride that was really spinning dragons, the swings, the giant slide, the helicopter ride, a train, a Ferris wheel, and the funhouse! When she was on the train, she kept yelling “I’m on a train! I’m on a train!” I think it’s because at that point, she had eaten quite a bit of ice cream and the sugar mixed with fatigue was starting to make her a little loopy. None-the-less, she had a great time and I had a great time watching her.

We also visited the livestock barn, but as soon as Fi heard the cows mooing and sheep bleating, she got very upset and wanted to leave. She was much happier looking at chicken  and bunnies in cages. However, as of tonight, she claims she likes loud noises (for example, the vacuum). We spent a great deal of time playing tonight. We had a pool that we jumped into and toys we had to fish from the bottom of it, hot pools (jacuzzis) to sit in, whales to swim around, boats to drive (she can reach the pedals), trains and buses to drive, and cows to nurse. Yes, Fi nursed an imaginary cow she named Cowie. Cowie is now napping in our hallway linen closet. On a side note, Fi will occasionally refer to some chickens she has that follow her around. She buckled them into the cart at Costco and became very upset when we forgot to unbuckle them before trying to return the cart. Fi told me to be careful where I walk lest I walk right through the cows’ pen. After about an hour of pretend play, our of nowhere, Fi announced that the “hot pool” is not really a pool, it is a toy box, and the cold pool is a carpet, and we are using silly words when we say they are anything else. It was surreal. All of a sudden, we were back to reality. I really do not understand at all what is going on in her head most of the time, but I think it is really neat and exciting to try to follow along with her. Her imagination is really detailed and seems complex to me. I cannot remember every single thing she said to me tonight, so I summarized, but I can say it was very specific with very vivid details.

Back to the Fair, here are my photos of the occasion.

Riding the cars:

 

 

 

The helicopter ride:

The “dinosaur” ride:

 

Fi on the swings:

 

Chickens and roosters:

 

On the Ferris wheel (and proof I was actually there):

On the little train ride:

My mom paid for some memorial bricks, so lots of people got to walk past these on their way into the fairgrounds:

My parents, Fiona, and I went to the Fair together on the bus, and John met us there later. Here is a group shot:

Obligatory Fair entrance photo with big Ferris wheel in the background:

Speaking of pools, the reason Fi is playing that there is a pool in her room is that she has been doing swimming lessons this week. They are going really well. She cried the first two days, then I got her some goggles and now she loves it. She can’t wait to go back, really likes the instructor, and tries to go off by herself. At the beginning of the week she was very upset about going underwater. Now, she doesn’t want to come up. Her favorite is picking plastic rings off the bottom of the pool and jumping off my lap into the water so she can go underneath by herself. The lessons are at the instructor’s house, in a nice warm pool, and there is also a jacuzzi (hence “hot pool”) that Fi really likes. You can’t take the plastic rings in the jacuzzi, but you can in the hot pool in Fi’s room, because according to her, the person who built the pools “said it was ok. They said.” We also played “Going to the Fair” and riding all the rides with each other and all of Fi’s dolls. Fi buckles everyone in and starts the engines. Right now, there are cows in her room with water bottles in case they get thirsty at night. I made her put away the (Ikea cloth) food she gave them when we cleaned up at the end of the evening. In another bout of reality rearing its ugly head, Fi told me that pennies are not like people and they do not wear hats. They live in wallets that go in your purse. She was referring to a book she has in which a large penny wears a hat. Sometimes I wonder if she thinks we are crazy for going along with some of her imagination games.

Here are some swimming photos. I have video, but I have not uploaded it yet. I only got to use my camera today because my mom came along and stayed in the water with Fi, to keep her from leaping in when the instructor was busy with another child. It’s crazy to me how much Fi has progressed this week with regard to being in the water. So much can change in such a short period of time. It’s exhilarating at times, scary at others. I worry, will I remember this in a few months? Is it just my imagination? Should I take more photos so I don’t forget? Did anyone else see that?!?

  

 

This is Fi picking up rings at the bottom of the pool:

I think the pool is about 4 feet deep at that point.

Anyway, it has been quite the week with the lessons every day, the Fair, going for rides in the Burley Bee (I learned Fi can’t nurse Panda in there because the straps prevent her from lifting her shirt), lots of dinners at home. It’s been a really fun week. Probably the first week home that actually felt like summer vacation, even though summer vacation is almost over and I went to work twice this week and have been doing work all week long.

Here is Fi with Bitty Baby and Eileen. I can’t remember where it was she was taking them, maybe to swim:

 

Not a crime scene, just the babies sleeping on the couch:

I was saddened to hear Fi telling Bitty Baby, as she was changing the doll’s diaper, that she needed to stop pooping in diapers and should do it on the potty. She said, “Stop pooping in diapers. Stop. Stop.” emphatically. It made me feel like a bad mom, even though I never told her to stop pooping in her pull-ups. I think she has internalized the idea that John and I want her to poop on the potty, even though we do not make her do that. Being a parent is hard, but not always for the reasons I thought it would be.

On a more positive note, Fi not only let me wash her hair tonight, she then spent the rest of her bath washing her own hair, filling a little cup with water then pouring it on her head while keeping her eyes closed. I feel like this week has been big in terms of Fi’s development and maturation. Then she told me there was whale in the pool that burped in her face, but it said “Excuse me” so it’s ok. It’s a polite whale.

God, I love that kid!