"Pretend" shower

I have posted about this before - but we love the pretend play around here. The laundry basket is ideal for a lot of different pretend play. One use I never thought of was for Dalby to "shower" with Bear. This look is very similar to something Dalby and I do a lot. I run bath water, let the tub fill up bath Dalby and then start the shower and let the water drain as I quickly shower, then stop the shower and refill the tub for Dalby to play in while I get dressed in the bathroom. I am not sure it is the best use of water but sure is efficient feeling for me. So Dalby decided that Bear needed to do the same........proof again toddlers observe everything!

Golf - A lesson

We found a golf club and balls for $1. Dalby loves playing golf. She knows her dad goes sometimes and I think she just thinks it is so cool she can get out and do something like her dad. Her swing and grip might need a little work but dad is definitely willing to give a few pointers.....

Family Breakfast

Something we have started to enjoy lately is a weekly weekend breakfast trip to McDonald's. Dalby and Ryan go to get Ryan his coffee and Dalby her pancakes.. Ryan packs Dalby up in the car and they go first thing. They come back and we all enjoy a family breakfast. Dalby has really started to get the drive-thru concept. So much so that she now gets in her red car, pulls up to a cabinet and leans out the window and says, "Coffee pease". She also enjoys her pancakes. The other night she was having trouble sleeping. I went in to comfort her and she asked for pancakes a few times. Ryan explained that he had promised the weekly trip to her at bedtime that night, she just assumed since she was up(at midnight) that it was time for pancakes.......

"Bwoke"

The other day a little boat we have came "unsnapped" and it needed to be manuevered and snapped back together. I tried but had some trouble getting it to pop back into place. I then said to Dalby, "When your dad gets home we can ask him to try and fix it." So that weekend Dad got home and Dalby asked him to fix the boat...which he did. Not too long after that another toy came unsnapped as I was sitting right with Dalby in her kitchen. I offered to fix it and she looked at me and said quite matter-of-factly, "Bwoke, Daddy fic(fix) it" and she ran to find her daddy who promptly fixed the toy. A few weeks go by without any toys "unsnapping", until Dalby and I are driving a few days ago and I here "Uh oh" as we are pulling into the driveway. I go to get Dalby out of the car and we are discussing the toy and she says to me, "Daddy home, bwoke, fic it pease(please)". It appears I am not qualified to fix toys in the house....which is ok by me.

Preschool

Dalby started preschool this year and she and I both love it! Ryan and I couldn't be happier with the school, the teachers and the freedom it gives me. With Ryan's travel schedule it has been a bit tricky over the past few years to have any time during the week to myself. The school is something that Dalby and I both look forward too. She comes home so excited to show us her "work". I forgot to take a picture of her the actual first day of school but this is the picture I took of her right before we went to her school orientation.

More Michigan Visit

A few more treats in Michigan.....the cool pool remodel....with a HUGE baby pool and water park type area that was heaven.......and then Geba letting her lick the mixer for the first time......:)

Late Summer Michigan visit

First, I know I haven't posted in awhile...so we have a bit of catching up to do. At the beginning of August Dalby and I drove back to Michigan for a visit. We did a lot in the week and a half we were in Grosse Pointe. When we arrived we had about an hour before we headed out to an outdoor concert. The band playing was a Jimmy Buffet cover band that is very popular in Grosse Pointe. The concert was held at a place called the Grosse Pointe War Memorial, an old estate donated for community and private events. It happens to be were Ryan and I had our reception and it was the first time I had been back to see the War Memorial since our wedding. It is within walking distance of our house and because of the parking situation we packed Dalby up in the wagon(my dad had completely refinished)and headed to the event. It is a wonderful family concert where people pack picnic dinners, wine and their children and just relax. Dalby had a blast dancing and socializing with all of the family friends. She especially enjoyed two family friends who shared A LOT of M&Ms with her:) The trick was she had to tell them the color of the M&M to eat it. Well for those of you that don't know, everything is pink for Dalby. So the ladies got the biggest laugh out of her, which I think helped her get even more M&Ms. It was a perfect night for a little girl who had sat for 10 hours in a car seat.

Over the weekend Ryan flew in and I went out with the girls to celebrate a friend who is getting married in a week. The next day was a wedding shower and then Ryan flew out for the next week of work. A very quick weekend. However the following weekend Ryan and I got to go out with some friends to a Tigers game. What a fun treat!

The back of the War Memorial. It got much more packed but luckily we got there early for good seats.

The view if you turned around at the War Memorial. This is Lake St. Clair and something I miss seeing in the summer.

"Earning" M&Ms :)

The gang at a pre-game dinner.

What is summer without a visit to the local TCBY? Dalby loves sprinkles.

"Caw wides"

We love "caw wides". We pretend we are going for car rides all the time. Before we had the "real" car I had taken some pictures of places that were our pretend cars. I was going to write about the pretend cars on the blog. I thought I would combine the pretend car rides with the new ride we have at home now!

Pre-Cozy Coupe - Dalby loved to go the "store" for me and get milk, eggs, butter, "chicken fried", bread, "acky"(ice cream), "cukcake"(cupcake). She would get her keys, usually a baby and the baby's drink and her purse and other random items and climb under her easel or any other piece of "covered" furniture(ie the highchair). Many times I also asked for a kiss and a hug before she left. She would then get herself situated, put her seatbelt on and then once she was ready would shout "Bye". Usually in the getting situated process she "got"(forgot or needs to get) something. She would climb out, run and get whatever item she needed and then the conversation started all over again.

Dalby has seen and has riden in other people's Cozy Coupes. She gets a little obsessed over the cars and doesn't like to share the owner's toy. So when our own car arrived we couldn't believe it! We waited for dad to get home from his weekly travels and then we opened the car for assembly. Assembly could not go fast enough.....Dalby carried the steering wheel around and pretended to drive, she also "helped" dad by trying to put the steering wheel in any hole in the car, often standing right over him watching his every move. She also repeated over and over and over again...."Dalby drive", "Dalby turn", "Dalby car" She was so excited, but having a two year old help can be a little counterproductive at times(like when she put the screwdriver in one of the holes in the car and we had to shake the car body to wiggle it out). Needless to say Dad was successful in the assembly of "Dalby car" and she was off and loving it. The car is all over our house. She has a bit of trouble manuevering it right now so she gets out and pushes the car to the rooms we are in at the time. i.e. The other day I went to quickly use the restroom in our small bathroom. I always have company but this time I heard the car following me. I increased my walk, thinking I could beat the car's arrival into the bathroom, but I didn't. So it was the car, myself and Dalby in the tiny bathroom. It was a little tricky to wash my hands and then it took a bit to get the car out of the bathroom. We also go on "walks" with the car. Which means dad or mom pushes Dalby in the car up the sidewalk as she snacks, never letting go of the steering wheel.

Pretend car

The video is about 3:30 minutes and pretty much shows how she gets herself "situated" for the ride.

Catch

I apologize for how dark the video is.....

Picnic

A new cool picnic table that sits next to the big people's table. We have sat outside some with our new table. We tried a lunch, but it is to distracting outside to try and sit and eat right now. Which means we end up not eating our lunch, playing and then when it is time to come inside screaming because we are mad and starving. So we have decided that the picnic table works extremely well for snacks!

Pody Break

I guess it starts early where girls go to the bathroom in pairs....

Both have such charming smiles for the camera....

"Dippy"

Uncle Damon visited a little bit ago. We actually call Uncle Damon, "Dippy" - which makes the whole family laugh. He is a favorite because he is always doing fun things and teaching things only a brother/uncle would think to teach a young child. Uncle Dippy leaves soon again for overseas. We will miss him and see him again in April 2010!

More Happy 2nd Birthday!!!

Pictures from Marin Dalby's many-a-birthday celebrations with some of her gifts(she also got a Cozy Coupe but we are dedicating another post to the car). We had one mini-celebration where we opened a few gifts at our house. Then we drove to Florida and celebrated with the Dalby family. Ryan and I made and decorated the cake. It was a fun task and even more fun to eat. Aunt Anne's birthday is July 5th and she was 22. So each birthday girl got a flip-flop. It worked out perfectly!

Aunt Annie and Dalby preparing to blow out their "2" and "22" flip flopsCool glow necklaces

"You've got mail"

Out on the driveway with her bike and Elmo.

Her vet kit that includes a stethoscope, thermometer, shot(which she uses as a lipstick applicator), animals, etc. All the tools, besides the stethoscope, are used for functions they were never intended to be used as.......The stethoscope came in handy the other day. We took it to our two year check-up. I don't know if that was the key to our successful appointment but it was the first time ever that Dalby did not scream when Dr. Scott checked her ears, mouth, chest, etc.

A day at the zoo

We recently went to the Nashville Zoo. It was a beautiful day and apparently everyone else thought so too because the zoo was PACKED!!! We had a nice time seeing some of the animals and exploring the historic home and farm at the zoo. The nice thing about the zoo is that it isn't so big that you feel like you have to spend the whole day. We saw the elephants, zebras, monkeys, rode the carosaul and called it a day. The only thing I would have done differently was pack a picnic lunch for Ryan and I and not just Dalby. There is a great open area to pop a squat and enjoy a peanut butter sandwich.

Enjoying the carosaul SOOOOO much more then when we were at the zoo last year!