This and that

This is an old picture - I think we went on this outing in March.
The Moms Club had an outing to Coldstone Creamery and the kids got to mix their own mix-ins. Heaven. They were in heaven. I'm not sure that any of them actually had things mixed into their ice cream as it takes quite a bit of muscle power but they all thought they were cool. Amiya picked her old stand-by: mint ice cream with M&Ms and sprinkles. She loves it. And now she asks daily to go to Coldstone again.

More recently, Amiya had her first day of preschool. It's not truly preschool, but camp. At this age, it's all sort of the same mix of coloring, gluing (self, not paper) and reading stories. Contrary to what is indicated in the photo, she was very excited to be going. And on Thursday, after three mornings with Miss Clare she boldly proclaimed that she did not want to go see Grandma next week but instead go back to school to spend more time with Miss Clare. Hmmmmm.

And finally, our little cherub has not ceased to create bead necklaces for anyone who even so much as sneaks a peek at her creations. A very good-natured Daddy is seen here sporting his own custom creation, lovingly made with sticky fingers and many dropped beads finding their way into each and every corner of the kitchen. But let it be known that Daddy is not nearly as good of a sport as Grandma. Grandma wore hers out of the house, Daddy barely made it out of the kitchen.

Kevalin Updates

It's hard to be the younger brother to Amiya. She insists on Kev doing all sorts of things - listening to stories about princesses, singing Baby Beluga over and over again and even wearing her fairy tiara that she made at her friend Kylie's birthday party. He looks thrilled, doesn't he? More like, "Get this thing off of my head because I look like a dolt. Paybacks are hell, Amiya didi, just wait and see."

Kev got a new chair recently. It's called a Bumbo and we love it. Kev can be with us anywhere in the house, sitting by himself and joining in the conversation with his own squeaks and grunts. What's especially nice is that he wants to be at the kitchen table with us when we eat meals, but he will not accept being below table level, so the bouncer is out. With a few less dishes at the table, he can join us with his Bumbo and be with the family.

Have we mentioned that the guy wants to held all the time? And I really do mean all the time. The kid is a little lover, snuggling into necks and armpits and always sleeping with one hand on our face. Check out Vinay's solution:

And finally, Kev has started to notice things like television and movies. It appears that he may be a Clifford fan just like Amiya, not out of choice, but out of necessity. You can't not love Clifford in this house. Today, however, Kev was fascinated with a PBS show about one-stroke painting. The host was making the gaudiest tchockes imaginable which may very well be why our little man was so into it - shock. He was chewing on his fist and astounded at the horror of it all.

Amiya Updates

Amiya is definitely our social butterfly. She constantly, constantly wants to be with her friends and if by some sad state of affairs we have a day with just the three (or four) of us woe is she.

Memorial Day was a perfect day around here. Calm until we were invaded by ankle-biters for a late afternoon cook-out. We were joined by Gabe, Aubrey and Aiden, and Kylie and Avery. (And their parents because we are not that brave.) The kids played in the pool, emptying it cup by cup and probably refilling it warm ounce by warm ounce as I don't think any took bathroom breaks. They threw sand and hid behind a very skinny tree while hiding and seeking. And they generally got as sticky as they could with juice boxes, water-melon, ketchup and popsicles. At the table you see the very watermelon-y Kylie in turquoise with an equally juicy Gabe behind her. Then there's Avery in the pink suit on the right throwing us the Toddler Three gang symbol - the T3s are about to infiltrate area preschools - watch out teachers and two year olds. Amiya is in between scheming how to get her hated watermelon onto Kylie's plate and Aubrey closes up the group with her stunning blonde looks!

Amiya was given a set of Disney Princess hopscotch squares for her birthday and we've finally gotten to them. Playgroup was at our house yesterday and the kids went wild for the game to the point that we had to pack it away. Once they left Amiya made a beeline for the game and hasn't left it since. In its' newest use she sets it up like a laptop computer and types emails to her favorite princesses and to her Daddy. Such love!

You may remember Amiya's contentious relationship with Bear. Well, not only is Bear back in favor and how but he/she has also been given a proper English name: Elly. That's right - Bear is now Elly and Amiya's wrath on she who calls it Bear. We go everywhere with Elly lately, although we have agreed that Elly stays in the car because we don't want to lose her. Elly has become quite an entity and she has a whole family. Elly is aunt to an elephant and wife to a purple Care Bear.

And speaking of wives - Amiya desperately wants to be one. We keep telling her that she can't get married until she is done with college and at least 25. We also tell her that lots of people (including Mommy and Daddy) were very happy without being married. She's not buying it. She's on the hunt for a hubsband so if you're male and between the age of 2 and 37 look out. It doesn't matter if you're family, she tells us all the time she is going to marry Kevalin. I suspect the crux of the matter lies not so much with marital bliss, but rather with the purchasing of a car. Amiya seems to think that when she's married she'll get the car of her choice (a pink VW bug with red stripes and multi-colored polka dots) and can direct her hubsband to purchase her second favorite car (a contervibly). If only she knew that marriage often results in losing the sexy, fun cars and finding oneself behind the wheel of a sedate sedan and a wini-ban (mini-van).
School begins next week. She's ready. I'm ready. That means it should have started this week. She is going to camp next week and the theme is oceans. She met her teacher last week and talks about her a lot. The teacher's name is Ms. Clare and Amiya promptly told her that they have the same name (Amiya Clare) and that it's even spelled the same. Ah, toddler/teacher love. A beautiful thing (although maybe not so much in Florida where teacher/student love is in the news a lot).

I wish I got paid for the use of -, /, () and ! in my blog. I'd be a rich, rich woman.