Holiday Time Fun

Having time off this week has been awesome. It's great getting out with the big R. She's so even-tempered and fun to be with. The other evening at the grocery store I had one of the most fun grocery shopping times with a kid, ever. We were just goofing around, but it was highly pleasant. We saw very attractive looking candy and other tempting items, but we had already agreed ahead of time that she would be getting one treat (kiwi, in this case) that was not sugar-laden, and that was it. And just that she remembered it throughout the tempting store...well, that's better than I can do sometimes. What a kid.

On Tuesday Rosalie and I went with friends to see A Year with Frog and Toad, the musical at Seattle Children's Theater. She was a little nervous on the way there because she had not been to that theater before, but she acclimated quickly once there. Through the middle of the second act she caught on to clapping after a song was over. I think before that she was just so mesmerized by the show that it didn't occur to her to clap.

After the show, the actors sat on stage to answer questions and sign programs. Rosalie stood in line for awhile to have her program signed. Then she asked the actor if she could borrow the pen, and signed her own name on the program as well. You know, since that's what we're doing, here.



After she came to show me the program, she got back in line, waited until her turn, and told the actor, "Thank you." That was all.

Yesterday we went with Owain, Jimmy, & Heather to see the gingerbread houses at the Sheraton. If you haven't seen them, they are pretty awesome (sorry no pics; lots going on in there). Architects pair up with chefs to create a mighty enchanted village of confection. This year the theme seemed to be train stations.

We were so excited to be standing in glitzy downtown that we decided to walk around awhile. Outside Westlake Mall they had a holiday carousel set up. So we went for a ride! It's Rosalie's first time on a carousel horse. What a brave kid.



So today, back at home, we built our own village. In the morning, we constructed the houses and started decorations. I remember the last gingerbread house being a pleasant experience, but this was even better. We were cooperating in a way that I didn't even have to muster patience for. She just did her part, and I did mine. And she had the ability to wait--and even nap--until the other houses were dry enough to start decorating.

After nap, Michael came home early and worked with the resident Gingerbread Designer to decorate the rest of the village while I practiced cooking for my culinary school project. They did such a lovely job!





She points out her favorite house.


Also, notice in the picture above that Bear received some winter pajamas for Christmas.

Also, here's a belated rendition of Rosalie singing Jingle Bells, although Jingle Bells could apply to any wintertime fun, right? Not just Christmas?

Flower Girl Writes Letter to Santa

This just in: After weeks of no blog activity whatsoever, a terrible abundance of cuteness has washed over the Livingston/Klatt household.

Last November, Aunt Melanie and (now Uncle)Jason got married, and they asked Rosalie to be the flower girl. I took pictures of her home dress rehearsal before the wedding, and at the wedding itself I deleted all the pictures. It was a devastating error.

I was on the phone with Stacey last night and lamenting the photo loss, when right afterwards I came downstairs only to find that, coincidentally, Rosalie had fashioned a ring out of an old "ring pop" lollypop base and a gift bow:



She told me that I could be the bride. Oh! She wanted to practice being a flower girl again! Me: "Well...would you like to put your dress on, too?" Why yes, she did. Here are some shots of our post-wedding dress rehearsal.








By the way, she did a wonderful job at the actual wedding. She took her job seriously but also smiled at the guests around her as she scattered petals. The ring bearer, also about 3 years old, was slightly less focused, but he made it down the aisle just as adorably. They were great.

Apparently at school she told all her friends that she was marrying people.

Anyway, back to the present: this morning, I asked Rosalie if she wanted to write a letter to Santa. She broke into a joyful smile and ran over and tackled me in a hug. I took that as a yes.

We worked on her letter together. She was interested in writing the letter herself, so she would tell me what she wanted, I would tell her what letters to write down, and she did so. She also illustrated her list.



You are probably thinking, "I wish I had a close up of those pictures she drew." Here you go.



She wrote that she wanted a kitten pillow, books, a game, and markers, especially with a red marker. I love this list.

By the way, the game she wants is "Hoot Owl, Hoot," a "cooperatib" game. So often nowadays she says words accurately, so it's so lovely to have a few kid interpreted words still around--such as "magniks" for the refrigerator. Her pronunciation of the letters L and R are getting so good.

Another slice of fun: She's been into helping us do fairly sophisticated jigsaw puzzles lately. I came home today with a new puzzle with a picture of open paint cans, and I was excited to work on it--she was too. It is really cool that we have, you know, a PERSON here! Someone we like.

Great Pumpkins

This might be a case of a picture's worth a thousand words. Or, at least, six pictures are worth a few dozen words. This was a fun time--the most fun family pumpkin carving yet. We have been re-lighting the jack-o-lanterns in the evenings before bedtime and admiring them; i.e., visiting the pumpkin family.

Binoculars and Birthdays

The "cookies" Rosalie made above also feature googly eyes. I should totally use this idea for my final project at culinary school.


Besides having cutting-edge cooking ideas, Rosalie also has a knack for picking out birthday presents for her friends when she goes to birthday parties. I just ask her, "What do you think so-and-so would like for their birthday?" and she says, "She likes Thomas the Train. We should get her a train." or "He really likes Batman. Let's get something with Batman on it." That level of noticing and remembering is really cool to see, plus it makes shopping at toy stores much easier. Michael and I were talking about it today at lunch, and Rosalie said, "Daddy, what kind of animal do you like?" And Michael said, "I like birds." So Rosalie remarked, "For your second birthday we can get you a bird."

The other day she asked me, "What number will you be on your next birthday?" I told her my upcoming age, and she said, "Wow, that's really tall."

Because Rosalie's really into outer space, Michael started showing her the night sky through binoculars. She loved it, so he got her a child-size pair from work (they have his work logo on them--they go into swag bags. Great marketing idea). She loves them.


Sometimes upside down and backwards is an option.



She also continues to enjoy riding her bike. Here are some shots from a recent trip to the elementary school playground with Daddy.

Politeness

In the area of politeness, we're working on moving from "More mac & cheese please!" (sort of yelled) to a pleasant-voiced, "May I have more mac & cheese, please?" It's going pretty well.

But the real surpriser of the week was when we were not even there to prompt anything. Veronica, Rosalie's teacher told us that Rosalie came up to her and said, "I see you're busy right now. When you're finished, could you come help me?"

You are kidding me. When does anybody do that, let alone 3-year-olds? I like to think of politeness as being, well...thoughtfulness, and respect. Well, that seemed pretty thoughtful and respectful. Go girl!

By the way, notice the "veranda" or "deck" connected to our back door is stained! The three of us stained it together. That was its own kind of exciting (I'll bet you can imagine), but it was also great to do a house project as a family.

First Pun!

Here's Rosalie trying out the newest addition to the costume bin at school. Cute bug!

Rosalie and Michael were walking home from school today and they took a new route, in alleys behind houses in the neighborhood. They had a fun time, but more importantly, Rosalie made her first original joke, or more specifically, her first pun. Rosalie said to Micheal, "When a person is walking down an alleyway and slips on some ice they might call it an OWIE way (not alleyway)."

The pictures on today's blog post are all from her school (Thanks to Nicolie and Veronica!). Berry Patch is such a great school.

New Bike!

Rosalie has never looked more "growm up" than the first moment I saw her test drive her new bike. She is a natural on her bike. Within the first 15 minutes of riding her new bicycle, she was riding on a circle painted on the blacktop at the local elementary school. A small circle. I'm talking precision. She also knows how to "pump" (is this what it's called?)--where she gets her behind off the seat and continues to pedal, to work up some speed or to go up an incline. We're still working on stopping, however, but I think she's getting the hang of it. She's only had one spill so far (see the aforementioned about stopping). Anyway, great fun!

Rosalie's literacy skills continue to blossom. She's starting to work on letters--most specifically, the letter R. The letter R in all possible scenarios. Rainbow striped, with its family, at the playground at night, you name it.

She has stopped needing a nap during the daytime as much, so Nicolie at school recommended that she use that time to quietly work in another room on things like her letters or drawing or quiet crafts. This has been awesome. It also helps that she has not been singing/talking/interrupting the other nappers, too.

One afternoon when she was "napping" (i.e. singing) at home, she was singing a song that she had composed herself. I could not tell what she was saying from downstairs, though. It sounded like "You push it and pull it, you push it and pull it...APPA!" So when I went to get her, I asked. "What's APPA! ...?"

She told me, "I'm using Spanish. 'Appa' means 'apple.' I'm using Spanish." Oh. But then she changed her mind. She told me "It's just a silly word." So I asked her how the rest of the song went. It goes, "The trumpets are coming, the trumpets are coming...APPA!" So is APPA! the sound of the trumpets, you may be wondering? Yes. Imagine you're calling out YOO-HOO! That's what APPA! sounds like. Get it? Personally I think it's brilliant that she came up with a word that sounds like trumpets playing. Fabulous.

As you can see, Rosalie is very interested in Spanish. We speak a little bit at home, and her music teacher at school teaches some, too. She likes to ask me what the Spanish words are for different colors, body parts, etc. But last night, when we were doing our usual silly game of coming up with random rhymes, she announed the word, "GIKE!" What's Gike? "Kind of like a Spanish word for pipe." So as you can see, she's a natural when it comes to Spanish. She can even create Spanish where it previously didn't exist.

When Rosalie had a few days off from Berry Patch, she and I had a few adventures (including getting that bike). One other fun thing we did was go to the Space Needle. She's been before with her school, but it was fun to go just the two of us. We bussed it downtown and walked over to the Needle. They took a free pic of us as we were heading toward the elevator to go up. We were clearly excited to get up and check out the city. It's an amazing view up there, I must say.

July

At school today, Rosalie and friends have been building a rocket ship and, as you can see, awesome helmets. How many times can I say how great that school is?!?! Clearly the big R agrees.

Anyway. Where did that July month go, again? I'm blaming it on a busy summer culinary school schedule--it's been fairly intense.

The following are some pictures from July. Nick and Amy came to visit and Rosalie got to spend time with her awesome cousins! We spent the 4th of July together, and it was a blast (thankfully, not literally). S'mores, kites, sparklers...and Jen and Shae invited us to spend the 4th on Jen's parents' boat again. It's always so fun! Everyone seemed to enjoy it. We're still not doing the stay-up-til-late to watch fireworks. Darkness just comes so dang late up here in Pacific Northwest July.
S'mores:



Kites and fun at Gasworks Park:

Click on this one below to enlarge. I love this. Rosalie's obviously very impressed with Uncle Nick's talents.

Walking home from the Ballard Locks...


Enjoying 4th of July evening on the houseboat...
Here's the dock that is essentially the front doorstep for several houseboats on Lake Union. It's the dock that leads out to Jen's parents' boat. Cool, huh? Love all the plants. Makes it very homey.


And here's a shot taken the other direction, towards the water. That's Jen's parents place on the right, right on the end!


This would be a good time to mention that Jen's parents rock. How cool is it that they welcome all of us into their small (but awesome) home on one of the busiest days on Lake Union?

Nick takes the kids for a ride. Lots of work! Each of the kids had a couple chances to go out on various boats/canoes/motorboats.


Sparkler fun!


Sometimes it takes all your concentration to do sparklers...

...unless you are a seasoned pro.


In other summer news, Rosalie's enjoying her gymnastics class very much. She's getting good at somersaults, and without fail her favorite activity is the trampoline. Can you blame her? There's also a giant pit of blocks made out of foam for the kids to jump into. It's the size of a small swimming pool, that foam pit. So fun. Hard to take pics of that, because she's so far away from my vantage point on the bleachers as I'm watching.


Here are some shots from a recent bday party R attended. She had a great time going to the party with her daddy!