Haircut!

Anna passed a major milestone in the life of any lady - her first haircut!  Yes, it's hard to believe but it took almost three years to mark this event.  For a few reasons: 1. The child barely had hair a year ago!  2. I was so afraid that her cute curls would be lost for good with a cut. 

However, during the last few weeks the baby fuzz at the ends of her hair was getting out of control and I found a split end...so, I knew the time had come.

Anna was a little nervous when we arrived at the salon, but warmed up once she knew a treat and prize awaited her after the cut.  And, there were toys at the waiting area (who could ask for more?!).

The haircut lasted all of about 5 minutes and my concern over the curls turned out to be unfounded.  In fact, I think her hair seems curlier now with some of the weight gone.

Cowgirl Halloween

Halloween weekend was a big hit.  In keeping with her Toy Story obsession of the year, Anna went as Jessie (but with a nod to Woody by donning a sherrif star and spurs).   Kudos to Gramma Turner for once again creating a fabulous costume.  And thanks to Crystal for the great picture!

We kicked off the weekend by carving our pumpkin.  After much deliberation, Anna opted for a "goofy" face.  She was not interested in helping clean the pumpkin's innards, proclaiming the seeds and strings "disgusting".  She did enjoy helping to poke the template into the pumpkin and was very happy with the grinning end product.

We are lucky to live in a neighborhood with tons of kids and Halloween is one of the best gatherings.  The kids are always so cute in their costumes and they help you remember the magic of simple things - like the promise of candy! 

Don't look for Anna in the above picture - she was too scared of a guy dressed in a King Kong costume to get anywhere close to the action. Turns out Anna wasn't the only Toy Story fan - Buzz's, Woody's, and aliens turned out in abundance. And, there was another Jessie, which resulted in a stand off (good thing this wasn't prom with them showing up in the same dress!) ;).  Thanks for that picture, Susana!

More than one kid pulled the ring on the back of Anna's costume - always eliciting a crabby response from Anna (vs. Woody's friendlier "There's a snake in my boot!" saying).

Trick-or-treating also was a hoot. Anna was in disbelief that people would give her candy just for ringing their doorbell. At the first two houses she was hesitant and insisted I accompany her to the door. By the third house, however, I was instructed to, "Stay on the sidewalk, Mama!"

As always, the night ended with a survey of the goods, which she overall was pleased with. Jason was happy with the abundance of peanut butter cups but I was a bit dismayed by there only being two mini boxes of milk duds. I'll have to put a bug in her ear next year, I guess.

Anna made a candy buffet with the candy we allotted...by this picture, the sugar had kicked in. I think this pretty much sums up the day for her (and us, too).

The Princess and the Pea

Only...instead of the pea being under a pile of mattresses, Anna put it up her nose.  In a moment of dinnertime theatrics she thought it would be hysterical to put a pea in each nostril.  Yes, hilarious.  Especially when the one in her left nostril became stuck and, despite my pleas to stop sticking her finger in her nose, she managed to push it way out of reach. 

A quick web search provided a host of removal options (glad to know my kid isn't the only one who has ever done this).  Oh, and the sites also made me think she was going to die (if it's online, it's true!). 

My first instinct was to grab tweezers and fish it out - pretty much every site said that was the worst idea ever.  Well, she wouldn't have let me anyways and she is now convinced tweezers are a torture device.  Hope she doesn't get a splinter soon...

She doesn't get the concept of blowing her nose so that was out.  In the end we tried:

1. The blue nose bulb

2. Smelling pepper to induce a sneeze (I ended up sneezing)

3. Fake sneezing

4. Holding her right nostril closed while breathing into her mouth

None of that work so we told her to pretend she was a bull snorting.  Voila – flying pea...

The State Fair

Last weekend we ventured to the North Georgia State Fair.  Events like this give you a good taste of local culture, and this one definitely did not disappoint.  It took me back to the outings my family made to the San Antonio Rodeo when I was growing up.  This wasn’t quite the same scale and there were no roping/bull riding events so we didn’t get to see any cowboys swaggering around…we did however get to see Joe Nichols perform for free, which was pretty awesome.

This was Jason’s first time to a southern fair (he claims there is no such thing in New England but I don’t believe him).  He learned the five constants you can apply to any carnival/fair:

1. Carnies really do exist – and they like to talk.
2. Any food can be fried (and it will probably taste better!).
3. You must win at least one cheap stuffed animal for your child. (Anna walked away with a pink & blue polar bear).
4. Baby farm animals are SUPER cute albeit smelly.
5. People really do make a living getting shot out of canons.

The canon thing was new for me, too.  While I’ve seen the likes of Evel Knievel and Super Dave attempt the feat on TV, I’ve never seen it in person.  It did not disappooint – check out the video below and note the ride that is swinging while the canon goes…that man is brave (or stupid).  Probably both…

Anna proclaimed, "It's just like Mickey's house!"

I feel sick just looking at them.

Anna's favorite - the slide! 

1st (4th) Day of School

Anna started preschool this month.  The picture below is from her second week...we don't have one from her first day because she was not in a photo-friendly mood.  Just imagine her with the exact opposite demeanor than this picture and you'll know what she looked like on the first day.

Anyone who talked to Anna before school started would have heard one of these lines:

"School is bad."

"My teachers are bad."

"School is not fun."

"School.  Bad.  Bad.  Bad."

I blame us because we probably built it up so much we made her nervous.  She's always had separation anxiety and I do believe she was genuinely concerned that we would leave her there forever.

However, once she realized she was not being abandoned and she would in fact return home (after her whopping three hours away!), she opened up to the fun of school.  Now she eagerly regales me with tales from her school day, proudly shows off her art (what am I supposed to do with all of it?!?), sings new songs she's learned, and talks about her new friends.  And, she speaks of her teachers with excitement - no longer referring to them as "bad".

Her favorite activity so far is show-n-tell.  She thinks hard about what she wants to take and what she will tell the class about each item.  So far her choices have been her beloved bear Oatmeal (she told the class she uses him as a pillow) and a picture of Tope (according to Anna she said, "Tope is my cat and she talks to me.").  She already has her item for the next opportunity lined up - a shell she got from Papa Odie.

I'm so happy to see her blossoming and adapting to school.  It's a little early to say but I think she's going to enjoy begin a student as she gets older.  Case in point, the other day she came home and sighed, dropped her bag on the floor, and said, "I don't even have homework tonight!  Ugh."  It was one of those moments I wish I had on tape so that I could replay it for her when she gets older and is complaining about her homework.  (For the record, she does not have homework in preschool.  She's watched her friend Hayla complete 1st & 2nd grade homework the last two years and I think she expected to do the same thing.)

Racing Kai

We had the pleasure of seeing our good friends Kelii and Kerry and their son Kai during our trip to Wellfleet. Their visit was MUCH TOO brief, but we had a good time catching up nonetheless. Anna and Kai became fast friends and spent a good part of the morning racing up and down the beach. Kai was hilarious – he loves the movie Cars and car racing in general. You can’t hear it in the video, but each time we said, “On your mark, get set…”, he would be making “vrooming” car noises. Then when we said, “Go!”, he would screech off like a race car. Of course Anna quickly adopted these sounds and the two of them were a sight to watch/listen to.

Beach Bums...Again

We just returned from our annual trip to Wellfleet, Mass., and I can't believe another year has come and gone.  You can relive our 2008 and 2009 adventures...We had beautiful weather all week with the exception of a very weak visit from Hurricane Earl at the start of the trip.  By some stroke of fate our travel plans were timed perfectly and we arrived with no delays the day before Earl struck. 

The thing I love most about our trips to Wellfleet is how little things change there.  The cottage, beach and town seem to be frozen in time and I find it reassuring and refreshing to have that type of constant touchpoint to counteract the quick, quick, quick nature of our everyday lives.  As always, we were "unplugged" from TV for the week, (although I do very much love the invention of the DVR particularly for this week each year...).  Unfortunately our computers and cell phones all work perfectly while we are there.  But, I tried to stay off of both and just relax.

This year we took Anna to the Wellfleet Drive In where much to her pleasure they were showing Toy Story 3.  I hadn't been to a drive in in ages and it was fun pulling in, grabbing some snacks (while trying to not make too big a mess in Fa Fa's truck...we saved the real damage for Grammy's car later in the trip), and sitting back to watch the movie.  We were going to try for the double header, Despicable Me was showing after Toy Story, but we—Jason & I—just couldn't make it through.  It was hard for us to stay up past 9 p.m. all week.  Being outside all day really does take it out of you.

Anna striking a pose - she loved this rock and practiced her jumping skills nonstop during the trip (much to my heart's discontent!).

Popsicles & movies with friends - does it get any better??

Posing with mommy and daddy during morning walks.

And to end, a comparison from last year - my how the little girl has grown (especially the hair!).  Gone are the chubby ankles and wrists and the cheeks are thinner, too.  Why do they grow up??

Oh, and if you are wondering what I meant by us saving the real mess for Grammy's car...Anna, Beverly and I went to Provincetown one morning and enjoyed a nice few hours looking in shops, eating lunch and just taking in the sights and culture of the town.  Our adventure apparently tuckered Anna out and, well, she had an accident while napping in her car seat.  So, Grammy's backseat will never be the same but through the wonder of baking soda and vacuums, we think we got it pretty much back to normal.

I can't wait for next year!