Okay, back to normal posting.

I'm off my soapbox now. Someone else can borrow it if needed!

New Words: Cheese and trees. Okay, a little stretch because both of them are "eeezz" but it is still cute. I'm trying to teach her to say cheese when the camera is out...she already knows how to pose!

New Foods: Lima Beans--she LOVES them almost as much as peas (and that is a lot!). Grapes--took her a little while to finally eat them (they were a little tart) but now she is hooked. Blueberries--holy cow! Tonight was the first night with blueberries and I'm not really sure she ate them, they disappeared so quickly that I think maybe they just evaporated into thin air.

New Tricks: Drinking out of a straw, a real one (skinny, bendable, white with blue and red stripes kind of straw). She did really good, too bad she can't hold the cup without spilling but it does get her to drink her probiotics since she stopped taking them in the sippy cup. The straw helps with the novelty angle.

Where did she learn that?: Mari is in love with Blue's Clues. She will do the little "jazz hands" when they sing "Blue's Clues." I was playing along the other night doing the motions with Steve (she responds to him more than Joe, maybe she likes green better than purple?--if you don't know what I'm talking about, sorry guess you don't have toddlers or a tv). Anyway, when they got to the part about "put it in a notebook" she pointed with one finger to the palm of her other hand (just like Steve drawing a clue!). I was astounded and then she put her hand on her cheek. No big deal until she switched hands and put the other one on her other cheek (just like Steve think, think, thinking!!!). Whoa! What a smartie!

Not so niceness: Mari bit me, through my shirt and still broke the skin. Not a happy mommy! I don't think it will happen again.

Cutest Thing: Mari's friends at school. All the little girls in her class are so cute (all blonde BTW--Mari definitely is unique but only in her class, the rest of the school is pretty diverse!). Several of them need hugs from me before I can take Mari home. They all tell us bye-bye and give Mari hugs. One even cried when I left with Mari today. So sweet. I'm glad she is making friends, I was worried about moving her away from Cousin Madi (daycare-wise I mean).

Mommy Triumph: Braids! Yes, we are braiding. Mari was sitting so still last night, I started playing with her hair and she let me braid it (see picture in the slideshow). It was so easy with her curls. But then I tried to braid again after bath time (and adding products!) but my hands got too fumbly (Mari sat really still again--wow!).

Okay...pictures. This is a short one. I'll try to get the Blue's Clues dance on video for next time around.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com