Regular Stuff

A lot has been going on here. And not necessarily in a good way. But then, amidst all that stuff, there's this regular stuff, too, which is pretty great:

Viola got this awesome doll bed from our friend Alyssa. It's got a real mattress and pillows and everything. Viola only has one small doll, but she doesn't have any trouble finding things to put in the bed, including herself. I asked her to sit on it instead of laying, afraid she might break it. Right before I took this, she was showing me the owie on her knee, which, despite being acquired by performing an impressive belly flop on some gravel at a housewarming party last weekend, is very minor. Joe claims it is still noteworthy, however as her first official Knee Scrape. Not that she hasn't had plenty of other scrapes elsewhere, most memorably, on her forehead after smacking it on the sidewalk. She had at least 3 of those this winter.

Here we are ready to go to a 4th of July party at little Clarkie's house. It was a ton of fun, and tuckered Viola out so that she slept through the lengthy pyrotechnics display in our neighborhood once darkness fell. Considering that she doesn't usually sleep through the night even when bombs aren't bursting in air, this was quite a treat for the parents. On a related note, we are one week in to a successful night-weaning effort, which is a huge step in everyone getting more sleep. She is taking it like a champ.

We know two little people locally with birthdays in July, and here Viola is enjoying her first popsicle at Sascha's house on his second birthday. This pop was homemade from unsweetened yogurt and blueberries. Viola thought it was the greatest thing ever. (We've been picking and eating blueberries and raspberries in the yard together too, much to her delight. She was unsure of raspberries at first, saying "no, no, no, no" when we picked them, but she likes them now.) The next day, we went to little Lilie's birthday party, which was also a ton of fun. Viola devoured an entire piece of apricot tart and a scoop of homemade ice cream at the party, in addition to her lunch.

A few weeks ago we were making chocolate chip cookies and she was helping out by dumping ingredients in the bowl after they were measured. I saw her putting a chocolate chip closer and closer to her mouth, watching for our reaction. When I told her she could eat it, she did, and she only had one word to say: "moe." And then she learned about cookies too. "Mama, oo-ie, moe" she said to me as I got home from work the next day.

This is July so far: lots of parties, lots of food, some finally warm weather, and lots going on.