Advice on cows

On the way home tonight, I received some very sage advice on dealing with cows:

Cara: Do NOT crash into the cows! You gotta BE CAREFUL, Mommy!

Mommy: That's a good plan. I will not crash into the cows.

Cara: The cows would be SAD if you crashed into them. The cows would cry!

Mommy: You're right. They would be sad.

Cara, waggling her finger emphatically: Do NOT crash into the cows! Be careful!

Mommy: Ok! I won't crash into the cows.

Cara: We ride the cows. And the ponies.

Mommy: Really!

Cara: Yup. We ride the cows and pet the ponies. And we go to the zoo. You gotta BE CAREFUL, Mommy!

No cows were harmed in the making of this blog post.

Memorial Day Weekend

We had lots of fun this weekend. Tim's parents have a cabin on Lake Blue Ridge, which is a lovely place to relax and have a mini-vacation in the mountains. Cara was VERY excited and it was all she talked about Thursday and Friday. "I'm going to the mountains!" she kept telling us. And now that we are back, she is just as enthusastically declaring "I am a mountain girl!!" to everyone who would listen. She even says it in the appropriate mountain girl accent.

We took long hikes several days, trying out Daddy's new backpack. To my surprise, we saw a whole slew of little tiny orange lizards (salamanders? newts? I dunno). Cara named them "Orangie" and had to hold every one we saw.

Just to illustrate how much she's grown in a year.... here she is, May 24th, 2009:

And here she is on May 25th 2008:

Look at that hair!

Daddy and Grandpa spent some quality time fishing... but the best fish of the whole trip was caught by... Cara!! She was very pleased with herself and tried to kiss it. I don't have any pictures yet - they are all on Grandpa's camera - but will post once he sends them.

She was very eager to examine the catch of our two fishermen:

Cara's favorite pursuit of the weekend was swinging on the porch. She is OBSESSED with her swing. We had to pry her out of it with a crowbar....

Although a spoonful of brownie mix worked well too : )

:

Cara speaks

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but I don't have any new pictures, so you're getting a thousand words instead.

This morning: "Booboo, Mommy! Put butt-paste on my booboo!" (translation: she wanted Benadryl cream, for insect bites.... which she thinks is diaper rash cream)

When I picked her up from school: "I played outside with Hazel, and Caleb, and Libby, and [in a dramatic, exasperated, 'you're in trouble' tone] Reece Thatcher!" (Reece apparently gets in trouble a lot, and consequently, her name cannot be said in a normal fashion.)

While in the bath: "Mommy, don't peepee in the sink. That is not nice." (I have no clue where this came from. I was not even close to the sink.)

While reading: "This is a moose, and this is a moose, and this is a moose, and this is a...... [long pause for reflection]... not-moose."

Just now, screaming in bed: "Turn the movie off! Turn the movie off!" (Turns out the "movie" is her "soother" music player that attaches to the crib. She had turned it on, but the batteries are starting to go and it sounds a little, well, sick. Now, why she didn't turn it off herself, I don't know. Maybe she was too traumatized.)

Puddle

Cara danced in this puddle until it evaporated. Spun in circles like a ballerina. Stamped her feet and giggled at the splash.

It's lovely to see her get so much joy out of something so simple.

Making faces

We have learned something new: how to make faces at people.

Here she is, wiggling her fingers in mockery of... well.... me:



Finger waggling with the addition of the toungue. She is refining her technique very quickly, you can see.


And now, for the grand finale, we have the amazing "Your-Face-Is-Going-To-Freeze-Like-That-Young-Lady" mouth pull. Quite impressive, I must say.


Fortunately her face did not in fact freeze. Thank goodness.

Flying baby

We just loooooooove the bouncy ball. Especially when Daddy's helping!