Piano Recital

After taking lessons for almost a year, I finally agreed to participate in a recital (there have been two others since I started - and I had good reasons not to perform in either of them - but there were no excuses this time). I was last on the list and had four songs to play. My knees were shaking the whole recital in anticipation of when it would be my turn. I played my first two songs pretty easily, but my nerves caught up with me on the third and my hands started shaking so badly I could hardly press down the keys and missed a few notes. Somehow I got through it, and the audience was kind enough to clap (mostly parents of the other performers - who were all about 15 years younger than me and more experienced, except my sister who is only 12 years younger - but also more experienced). Daphne ran up to the front to join me. She was beaming and clapping and that was the best applause I could ask for. However, I also really appreciated having our neighbor there to support me, and of course Steve, and my parents, and sister and brother. I think my dad got a picture of us all at the end, and maybe some video of the performance so I might add that later.

As scary as it was, I'm glad I did it. And I'm glad it's over. I was practicing about 45-60 minutes a day for the week leading up to it! Funny how you can find the time to do something when it really matters to you. Most of the time I barely manage to get in 10 minutes of daily practice. Still, I love that I'm able to take lessons and continue to improve. Even if I am significantly older than most people at my level.

Daphne 18 (19) Months

Daphne is almost 19 months old now, but as no one really considers that a milestone, we'll call this her 18 month update.

here's what happens when you test the laws of gravity on your driveway

(kids, don't try this at home)

Still a lightweight at 21 pounds (5th percentile) she is at least growing the in other direction (almost 4 and 1/2 inches taller in the last six months).

She is very easy-going and happy much of the time. She never cries for long and is easily distracted from whatever she happens to be crying about. I don't think we've had a real tantrum yet.
She eats almost anything - tuna casserole, taco soup, turkey sandwiches, tortillas... But she still surprises me sometimes (developing a sudden aversion to sweet potatoes, which at one point I would have listed among her favorites).  We're having our first struggles with veggies (mostly my fault, for whatever reason I didn't give her any for almost a week and since then she's been a fruitarian). She also only wants to eat what we're eating.

But still, she's pretty adventurous and will try almost anything. Especially if I put it in her little plastic cup (saved from a pack of single serving applesauce cups). I don't know why but everything tastes better to her in that little plastic cup. She will hold it and sit at my feet like a beggar while I'm making dinner and ask for bites of whatever I'm chopping at the moment (cucumber, olives, pineapple, etc.) Also, she discovered her love for pumpkin pie over Thanksgiving and still asks for it. Besides that, her favorite foods are probably cheese and watermelon and raisins.

Daphne likes to color and has held her crayons, pencils and pens the "right" way from the beginning. She must have learned by example because no one ever taught her to do this explicity.

no she didn't draw that horse, I did, because she asked me to. she does that - asks me to draw something and then scribbles all over the top of it and then says "uh oh!"

At first she made big sweeping strokes of color but now she is very careful and deliberate about the little marks she makes. I often write her name on her paper and say each letter as I'm writing it, and she has started to do this too - in her own way. It sounds something like this... "D" (makes a mark) "I" (mark) "P" (mark) "DAFFY!" She can pick out her name written on the page, but I don't know if she would recognize it in a list of other names, as hers is the only name I ever write. I'll have to experiment with this...

She likes to count as she walks down the stairs (one hand holding Mama or Daddy's hand, one hand on the wall or the railing). She gets the numbers right some of the time. She likes to build towers and knock them down. She likes to put on bracelets and necklaces and take them off and put them on someone else. She likes to fill up things and dump them out. She's just constantly busy exploring the way things work.

I asked her to smile. She has a great smile, but this isn't it.

Although she is incredibly active and almost always on the go, she still likes to "read" books and have them read to her. She likes to pull them all off the shelf. And DVDs too. She requests books and movies that she likes the most. (I have relaxed my NO TV NEVER EVER! rule somewhat, but still try to limit it to once or twice a week). The fun thing about watching a movie with her though is that she will cuddle with you. Which has been rare ever since she learned to crawl. She also likes to watch a few youtube videos and can sing along with the first two (phonics song, animal sounds, ten little numbers).

She used to be a wild and crazy dancer, but lately she just runs around in circles when the music is on and occasionally throws in a little twist. Even without music she runs in circles around the living room and directs me to run, walk, skip, jump and crawl with her (though her skipping is more of a bouncy walk on tiptoes than a true skip). She can turn a pretty good somersault, does her own version of leg lifts, push-ups and wallsits. She just might be a personal trainer in a few years...

She started Nursery at church and loves it. We went with her a few weeks to get her used to it and make the transition easier. I don't think she even needed that. From the first day she fit right in, trying to keep up with the big kids and frequently getting knocked down by them. When we dropped her off for the first solo week, I don't think she even noticed that we left (even though we said goodbye) or that we were gone the rest of the time. In fact she didn't even notice when we came back to get her at the end of church. One of the other kids tapped her on the shoulder and pointed us out. At least she had the decency to seem happy to see us and to let us take her home.

She folds her arms for prayers and says "amen!" She likes to hold her own little Book of Mormon when we read scriptures together.

She likes to go shopping and knows the names of the stores we visit most often.

She loves to visit her Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Josh and Aunt Katie (which we do at least a couple times a week). It's always fun to go to Grandma's house and eat watermelon and play with Grandma's toys and order Katie and Josh around. She likes to talk to her other grandparents on the phone and we're excited to visit them next week! She likes to skype with her Aunt Kelsey but we're not sure if she's more excited to see Kelsey on the computer or the dogs at her house.

She likes to dress herself but hasn't quite mastered the art.

She likes bubbles and toddler time at the library. She likes music. She loves animals and is an avid birdwatcher. Also a donkeywatcher (our backyard is on a ledge overlooking a field with four donkeys and occasionally they come up right behind our house. It's kind of a big deal around here.) She likes to visit our neighbors and see their kitties. She gets excited every Wednesday morning when the trash and recycling are picked up by the "truck? truck! cycling! trash! truck!"

She can talk! When she was about 17 months old we made a list of the words she really truly knew - meaning she would say them on her own, without any prompting, and she would use them consistently and appropriately to describe or ask for something. We came up with 117 words! And I'm not exaggerating when I say that has doubled by now, if not tripled. Honestly I don't even think I could make a list because she keeps surprising me with the things she says. About a month ago she started using two-word sentences and now puts three or four words together. Of course a lot of it would be hard to understand if you didn't spend a lot of time with her, but I can decipher most of what she says now - though she does sometimes get excited and babbles on unintelligibly and you can just tell she is trying to say something so important but you have absolutely no idea what it is. Sometimes she'll just let it go but often she'll keep saying a word until you guess what it is supposed to be.

She refers to herself as "me" or "Daffy" and will say things like "helping me" which means "I'm helping you" or "coming me" which means "I'm coming with you" and "holds it me?" which means "can I hold that?" and occasionally in the third person "Daffy awake" and "Daffy jumping". She uses "please" and "thank you" often and is starting to use "excuse me" and "you're welcome."

She likes to take baths AND showers. She might even prefer showers. But she hates the "getting clean" part, either way. She loves to hide. She loves to climb. Both can be scary (either to not be able to find her or to find her in a dangerously high place). She is basically just a tireless, fearless daredevil and she did not get that from me but I love her for it.

She does have a sweet side though. She is always giving hugs and kisses and asking for them. She gets excited every day when Daddy comes home and runs to the door to wait for him as soon as she hears the garage door opening (except on the days she wants to be funny and hide from him). She sleeps with a stuffed animal but doesn't really have a favorite (rotating between 4 or 5 different animals). She likes to be sung and rocked to sleep and plays with my hair while I'm singing. She likes just about everyone she meets. No stranger danger for her. She doesn't mind being held - especially if it is very inconvenient, like when we're grocery shopping and she stands up in the cart until someone holds her. (Yes I know they have seatbelts but she easily slips out of them and the one time I tried to have a power struggle with her about this by saying "I'm not moving the cart until you sit down," some lady came up and said "excuse me, I need some sour cream," which of course I was blocking and therefore I had to move and so Daphne won.) Also when I'm trying to make dinner. And at three in the morning. Sometimes I say no way and let her cry, sometimes I let her sleep in bed with me. I should probably be more consistent. Oh well.

I'm amazed every day by how much and how fast she is learning and growing up. I can't believe how strong her personality is, and how independent she is, and how obvious it is that she has her preferences and opinions and she does her best to make them known. I suppose it's common sense that babies and toddlers are people too and as such are unique individuals, I just didn't expect to see it so clearly at such a young age. I love being her mother even though it's hard and I'm not always the best at it - I guess we are learning and growing together.

Scary Stuff (Halloween)

It's true... I don't know how to chronicle my life anymore without blogging. Scary, I know. And in the spirit of frightening things... here's a flashback to October.

I got a bit carried away with Halloween this year. I'm not sure why because I'm really more of a Christmas person, and now I'm all burned out (more on that later).

So here's what we did for Halloween... Feeling the spirit of it, but not wanting to spend a lot - I tried to get creative. Instead of a $10 ready-made spiderweb, I made my own out of a $2 ball of yarn (which of course I used less than 1/4 of... so really it cost maybe 50 cents? probably even less than that)

I should say 50 cents and 2 blisters. Braiding that much yarn is not good for your hands.

Next we have my tin can lanterns. I wanted to make tons of them and hang them everywhere... but I only made six. And put them on our porch steps. Still fun.

Here are my favorite decorations... spooky window silhouettes made of black posterboard and orange tissue paper. Definitely the most difficult, but I was really pleased with the effect. (Pictures taken from inside the house during the day, they are meant to be seen from outside at night when your lights are on... but still, you get the idea) 

Moving on to our pumpkin. I have yet to carve a jack-o-lantern that I'm truly proud of, but Daphne seemed to think it was good enough...

Maybe even good enough to eat?

And the last thing we decorated was our daughter. And here she is!

 

Steve and I were going to dress up as a cowboy and cowgirl, but never made it to the thrift store for costumes. And though we took her to our church's Halloween party, she didn't really do any trick-or-treating. Just visited the neighbors on either side of us to show off the costume. She doesn't need the candy and we REALLY don't need the candy so it seemed silly to go all over the place collecting it. In fact, we still have a bowl full of dum-dums, since we only got about 10 trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood. That's what I get for buying the cheap stuff...

Hope you didn't mind a little Halloween in December. I don't know for sure what I'm going to do about this blog. For now I'm just trying to catch up before the end of the year.

Time To Say Goodbye...

I am done. I have had several people tell me lately that they follow my blog... when I had no idea. They have all be friends or acquaintances, so it's fine - but it just makes me wonder who else is reading. I've always been a little uncomfortable with the lack of privacy, but I didn't like the "private" blog option any better. So my plan is to send a weekly (or maybe monthly) email update on our family. If you are reading this and would like to be on the list, please let me know!

1,000 Words

We just returned from a quick trip to visit our BFFs in California. Of course I didn't take a single picture, so with each being worth a thousand words, I'll try to capture all the fun and excitement of just one.

We flew in Friday night, on the last flight, so Daphne was a little cranky, but had no overly embarrassing temper tantrums. Just a few moments of her yelling "no, no, no!" progressivly louder, until we found some way to distract her. Luckily we always found a way. I guess we're getting pretty good at baby travel. I think this was Daphne's seventh round-trip flight. Maybe her eighth.

Nick picked us up and took us to their new apartment (in the next building over from where we used to live. It was weird to be so close and realize it didn't feel like home anymore.) We put Daphne to bed after introducing her to their son Konstantin (Daphne just called him "Baby" the whole time, and I mean the whole time. I think she said the word "baby" at least a thousand times a day. If he was in the room she was right there, pointing to him and saying excitedly, "Baby! Baby! Baby!". If he was out of sight she was asking for him, "Baby? Baby? Baby?" It was pretty cute. And she only showed signs of jealousy when I held him.)

We stayed up a little longer just talking, went to bed, had a quiet morning watching TV and hanging out with Jessica and Kostya. Steve and I walked to Safeway to get food for Daphne (I miss being able to walk to the grocery store!) Went to Yanni's for lunch (our favorite Greek cafe. Nothing like it in Washington. Or anywhere else that I know of.)

After Daphne's nap we met up with Tasha and Ibi, friends from Steve's former job, and went to dinner at Claim Jumper's. Good food. Great company. We had fun catching up on each other's lives. Daphne did everything in her power to distract us by grabbing everything she could reach on the table. Even when we finally got a high chair she was still a major attention stealer. But we managed to have a good time anyway.

Sunday was Stake Conference which was kind of unfortunate as we didn't get to see quite so many people from our old ward. But we still saw a few friends and heard maybe half of the talks as Daphne didn't feel the need to sit still and be reverent so we took turns taking her outside. The nice thing is that the Stake Center is in the same parking lot as the Oakland Temple, so on my turn I took Daphne for a walk around the temple grounds and up on the temple terrace overlooking Oakland and the bay. I may have missed out on a good talk, but I appreciated the time to introduce my daughter to the temple and show her the spot where Daddy proposed to Mama.

Jessica made the most amazing lasanga for dinner. Steve's best friend since forever - JD - came over afterwards and we had a good visit with him, which continued as we walked to Nick's parents' house (our former Bishop and his wife) for cookies. It was good timing since JD is moving to Utah soon. We're glad we got to see him while we were there. We were also happy to see the Bishop and his wife - our adopted parents while we were in California.

Monday we tried to go disc golfing, but the kids kept us from leaving as early as we hoped, and it was blazing hot by the time we made it to the park, especially for those of us acclimated to the much cooler Pacific Northwest. So we made it through two holes before calling it quits, sitting in the shade, deciding that was also too hot, and going back to Nick and Jessica's. We went to our favorite Thai restaurant for dinner and it did not disappoint. (We haven't found a great Thai place in Washington either, but I'm sure we're just not looking hard enough.)

Tuesday we went bowling. I DID take some video there, of Daphne rolling the ball down one of those ramp things, but no still shots. It was the first time any of us had bowled in a while but we all had a few good moments. Well, Nick and Jessica had more than a few. And Steve probably would have had more if he hadn't sacrificed half of his turns for Daphne and the rolling ramp thing. As usual, I did respectably well in the first game (118) and got worse and worse in the second (60-something?). Beginner's luck, I guess. But still - it was a good time.

Sadly, we had to go to the airport that night. Our flight home was earlier so Daphne was pretty happy considering she didn't get much of a nap that afternoon. We'll miss our friends but it's good to be home and we all slept soundly in our own beds last night. Although Daphne did wake up asking for "Baby" and has asked for him several times today. Guess it's time to get her one of her own.

(According to the count on Microsoft Word, I only used 898 of my 1,000 words. So I guess this was like most of a picture, but maybe some of it was blocked by a finger on the lens or something like that. Sorry.)

Couch Potato (What Have I Done?)

Disclaimer: If you love Baby Einstein or other shows for little people, you might be offended by some of what I am about to say. Just keep in mind I'm a new, idealistic mother with only one small child, so I can afford to be a little self-righteous. I'm sure in years to come, with the addition of one or two kids, I will be eating my words.

A few weeks ago I got sick. Worst sore throat I've had in years, painful to swallow and impossible to breathe out of my nose - plus I just felt exhausted all the time because I wasn't sleeping well. It lasted about a week, but after the first day I realized I couldn't possibly keep up with Daphne's energy level. I could barely keep my eyes open. So I did something I swore I'd never do. I let the TV become the babysitter.

Every day that week I gave myself a 37 minute break by popping in a Baby Einstein DVD and crashing on the Lovesac with Daphne. I made little comments here and there, but mostly it kept her attention without me getting involved. (I have to admit, I was impressed. These Baby Einstein people really know what they're doing if they can get a 16 month old to sit still for almost 40 minutes. Even longer if I hit "replay" like she always wants me to.)

But I never hit replay because I'm so against TV for toddlers. Actually I'm pretty much against TV in general, regardless of age. (Here comes the soapbox...) I don't care if it's Baby Einstein or Sesame Street or whatever educational justification there is behind it - I just don't think it's necessary and I really don't think it's more beneficial than just spending time playing together. In fact the only reason we had this particular DVD is because someone gave it to us. But there comes a time when you realize you just can't do it all. And for that week - Baby Einstein was a lifesaver.

these pictures are actually pretty inaccurate, she was tired that day - most of the time when she's watching she is bouncing around, dancing, pointing to things on screen and talking and even trying to repeat some of the words

The problem is, now Daphne knows it exists. And she loves it. And she asks for it every day - searching through the DVDs and finding the one with the elephant on it and bringing it to me and pointing to the TV. I only give in about once a week. She hasn't asked for it in a few days now, but that's only because I put it up on a higher shelf where she can't see it. Out of sight, out of mind - I hope.

So how can I deny my daughter something she loves so much? Is it really so bad to let her watch a purely educational show which helps her learn the names of animals around the world? Maybe not. But it comes down to choosing between the good, better and best things available for her. And I just don't see sitting in front of the TV as one of the best things for her. Even if it's very, very tempting sometimes (like the days I'm behind on housework, or when dinner is nowhere near ready and Steve is on his way home...)

Like I said at the beginning, having two or three kids might change my perspective - but for now we're keeping TV time to an absolute minimum.

Wild Blackberries

One of the great things about Washington is that blackberries are free. They grow all over the place. Like dandelions, except they taste better. Our neighbors showed us a good picking spot last week (we got about 4 cups of berries) and we returned there last night (and picked a half gallon more). We've got big plans for making blackberry ice cream, once I buy a good wire mesh strainer. We made ice cream with the first crop as well, and although it was delicious, and Steve didn't seem to mind, I found the seeds a bit distracting. I just couldn't fully enjoy it.

I know what you're thinking. Why don't you make jam? Or a blackberry pie? Well I would, but our neighbors already did that and shared with us each time! So ice cream it is... Not that we're complaining.

Our To Do Lists

Mom's list for Thursday morning...
1. vacuum downstairs
2. complete ab workout
3. empty dishwasher
4. practice for afternoon piano lesson

Daphne's list for Thursday morning...
1. get in the way of the vacuum as much as possible, to keep Mom on her toes.
bonus points for sneaking up behind her and knocking her over, or at least almost knocking her over.
2. sit on Mom's stomach while she tries to do crunches, to help her REALLY strengthen those abs.
bonus points for making her laugh mid-crunch.
3. climb onto and into the dishwasher, to make sure Mom doesn't forget anything.
bonus points for finding something full of water and dumping it on myself.
4. help Mom sharpen her focus during piano practice by hanging on her arms and making as much noise as possible. if this doesn't distract her, cry if you can, or else fake it.
bonus points if you can keep her from ever getting to the piano in the first place.

I'm pleased to report that although Daphne's agenda seems to be formulated to work directly against mine, I successfully completed all but one goal (piano practice). Daphne, however, checked off everything on her list - including the bonus points (hence, no piano practice).

I Don't Wanna Grow Up!

You know what I think is the worst part about being an adult? (aside from paying bills, that is)

Having to set up your own doctor appointments.

I mean, it's bad enough when you're a kid and your mom says "hey you've got a dentist appointment next Tuesday" or "you have to get some shots before school starts". But when you actually have to make the call and request an appointment, as if it was something you wanted to do when of course you'd rather do anything else... it's almost unbearable. Which is why I've put off calling an optometrist for almost six months now.

Unfortunately I'm on my last pair of contacts so I'll have to give in pretty soon. ugh....

Helpful Harvester

We are trying to grow tomatoes and bell peppers in our back yard. I wanted to do a whole vegetable garden but that was unrealistic given the time of year we moved in and all the work that had to be done on the yard to make it garden-ready. So I settled for two tomatoes and one bell pepper. The tomato plants are HUGE now, but the bell pepper is only a couple inches taller than when we picked it up at Home Depot. I don't know if that's normal, but I do know Daphne is NOT helping its chances...

While watering the tomatoes the other day, Daphne ran up to me with a big smile on her face and a little pepper in her hand. She had plucked our largest, though still very unripe, bell pepper. I was disappointed but not too upset, just kinda laughed it off and went back to picking yellow leaves off my tomato plants. Then I heard a crunch. She had bitten right into it! Luckily it was something edible, if not palatable.

 She clearly did not like the taste...

...but kept going back for more.

She hasn't harvested anything else, but of course I've kept a much closer watch on her since then. I've seen the way she looks at those green tomatoes...

"what IS this?!"

Did You Know...? (Hawaii Trip)

Did you know we went to Hawaii? How could you since I never blogged about it... It was like two months ago. Here's what happened, from Daphne's perspective...

 everyday my mom attacked me with sunscreen, it was awful!

 but the humidity curled my hair, which was nice

 I learned to sleep just about anywhere

I attracted the attention of local paparazzi (something about my blue eyes and light hair). of course my parents actually took this picture, but we know of at least two random strangers who took pictures of me as well... what can I say? I look good in a sunhat.

 shave ice is great - even though my parents only get me the unflavored kind. it's too hot to complain about that

 pineapples are interesting

 koi fish are weird

 my mom is nice

 and so is my dad

 I wanted to kiss this pineapple but Mom pulled me away

 hiking to Waimea Falls is easy when you're in a stroller

 the temple grounds are beautiful

 I especially liked the fountain area

 and the benches

 I always fell asleep on the way to the beach

 and as soon as I woke up my parents would dunk me - I hated it!

 ...a lot! (forget what I said about my mom and dad being nice)

but my Auntie Kristen is! she gives me all the mango I want

and bought me my first swimsuit!

so now we're good friends

And now from our perspective... we had a nice visit with Steve's sister (Kristen) and his parents, who were there for the last half of our trip. I really did a bad job of photographing the whole thing - so I don't even have a picture of Daphne with her grandparents. I blame the heat and the humidity. I wish I had better pictures to share! 

Basically we just hung out a lot, went to the beach a few times, had shave ice, went to an amazing Thai food place, walked around the swap meet, went to the Dole Pineapple Plantation and Waimea Valley/Falls, saw the Polynesian Cultural Center's new night show (Daphne LOVED that... we were worried she'd be bored or scared but she was dancing and clapping along, totally mesmerized. We liked it too but didn't dance quite as much.) 

We took walks in the evening when it was cooler and considered it a success that Daphne didn't get sunburnt. We had a nice dinner with some of Kristen's friends... I almost didn't mention it except that I think it might have been Daphne's favorite part of the trip. The three kids played with her and entertained her all night - bringing her toys and singing her songs. Of course she had the doting attention of parents, auntie and grandparents the whole time... but it's just not the same as with other kids.

We were reminded how different vacations are with a baby. Still fun - but not the same. Much less adventurous compared to our previous Hawaii trip (though I can't say I was too disappointed about having an excuse not to go surfing this time... yikes.) We were happy enough to watch Grandpa learn to paddleboard while we sat lazily on the beach. (And when I say "lazily" of course you mothers out there know what I really mean - frantically trying to keep your kid from eating sand, wandering off, getting burnt, etc.)

I hope I remembered everything. This is so much harder without good pictures and when I put it off for two months. All I'm trying to say is we went to Hawaii and it was awesome and you should be jealous. The end.

Oh What A Beautiful Day

Daphne had a pretty full day last Saturday. We drove to Edmonds...

entertaining us in the car

Took the ferry to Bainbridge Island...

 waiting for the ferry

 there it is!

 sunny Seattle skyline

 first time on a boat, not a fan of the wind in her face

Had a picnic lunch and then played at the Bainbridge park and beach...

 discovering her love for Cheetos

 no rest for the weary

 walking on the beach

inspecting the shells

 Took the ferry back to the mainland... (we stayed inside the boat this time, she was much happier)

looking for seagulls
 

begging for handouts

Then drove to Uncle David's for a pool and pizza party...

 I thought for sure she'd fall asleep - you can see in her eyes that she needs to!

 second time ever in a pool

 a little nervous about all the screaming kids - the place was PACKED

almost having fun

And of course what visit to David's would be complete without a Rock Band session? Daphne danced her heart out despite powering through the whole day without a nap.

the family band

She waited until she was absolutely sure the fun was done. And even then she put up a valiant fight. I tried to upload the video of her dozing off on the car ride home - but it hasn't worked after three tries so I guess you'll have to imagine it...

So that was our day! It was so fun to get out and do something different. And nice to have my mom do all the driving. The weather was perfect and Daphne did great (just a bit of crankiness) and even Steve behaved himself... as usual!