Fantastic Fair Fun!

Maliana ~

Holy cow girl! What a pistol you’ve been this past week. Thankfully, it’s gotten better by the end of the week, but whew! You sure gave us a run for our money. Not only have you been acting up at home, but at school, and at speech too…refusing to do what you are told everywhere. After some good talks (and a couple of time outs), things clicked and by the end of the week, you were doing MUCH better. I began thinking about it, and it occurred to me that you have been stepping into some uncharted territory, not only this week but over the past several weeks. Combining speech therapy, taking swim lessons again this year, soon transitioning to a new classroom (officially preschool) at daycare, along with the normal developmental milestones you are reaching…you are going through a lot. All of your behaviors, ranging from fierce independence (bordering on defiance) to insisting on me doing EVERYthing for you (big Mama’s girl this week), makes sense in the context of you growing up and being proud of all the new things you can do while being a little unsure and afraid of it, all at the same time. It’s pretty normal to be a little jumbled during these phases of heavy growth. When I thought of it this way, it became much less exasperating, and much more interesting to watch you figure it all out.

Like I mentioned above, you were back in your Goldfish swimming lessons at our local pool this week. We have Joey and Mrs. Jill again this year and they are amazed at what a difference a year has made for you. You love the water, and are doing great with nearly all the tasks they ask you to do. While you are still not a big fan of going completely underwater, you really are a natural otherwise. Going underwater is a bit scary, especially when the teacher wants us to surprise you by dunking you in the middle of one of their songs (we won’t do that again!) But it’s not getting water up your nose or in your mouth that upsets you; it’s getting water in your eyes, saying “It’s too blurry!” I got you a pair of goggles later in the week, so hopefully they will help us next week in lessons. We’ll see. The only child size goggles I could find came in an entire ‘Cars’ snorkeling set, and you were very excited to try on the whole thing, saying “Thank you Mama! Thank you!”

someone's ready to snorkel!

You even wanted to wear your goggles when I took you on our date Saturday morning to feed the ducks!

Along with having a lot of fun with the pool this week, you have re-discovered your love of John Denver, playing your little acoustic guitar and singing ‘Country Roads’ for me. I got a video of it, and it is great! You actually sang all the words to the chorus, and strummed right along. It was awesome! I’d love to find some music lessons for you…perhaps this winter after soccer is done? You love the guitar and I’d love to see if you have a particular knack for it like I suspect. Also, you have discovered a new J.D. song…’Thank God I’m a Country Boy’. You sit in the back seat and clap right along with a silly little grin on your face…or with a very serious look (I can tell you’re trying to memorize the words). You have started requesting it now, and I think we listened to it between 4 or 5 times on the way to swim lessons the other night. When we pulled in the parking lot, our car was bluegrass jammin’!

After such a long and trying week (for both of us), I was relieved to see Friday roll around. Daddy took you to swim lessons on Friday night (Mama needed some ‘me-time’), and you both had a super time. You played for a long while afterwards in the pool (another couple kids stayed too and you all had a ball), and Daddy said you did terrific during lessons too!

Knowing Daddy was going to take you to lessons solo that night, I decided to take you for a mini-date after school. We headed into the ‘ Ville and went to the library to get you some new puzzles, then walked down the street and found a really great semi-new chocolatier/gelato shop, stopped at the candy store, and then swung back around to Schneider’s Bakery to get some donuts for Saturday morning. Not the healthiest of trips if you consider all that junk food, but we had fun just strolling along the sidewalk, talking about all sorts of things, and even stopping to smell the big flowers they have lining the main drag.

Lately, you’ve been asking me a lot, “Hey Mom, do you remember…?” and then you’ll fill it in with all sorts of stuff. It’s pretty cool that you are beginning to formulate memories now, that maybe you’ll have as you get older. Anyway, on our ‘date’ on Friday, you asked, “Hey Mom, do you remember Daddy’s birthday?” I was a little surprised since it was last October, but responded with, “Yes I do. Do you?” and then, with a slight pause, you wrinkled your nose and shrugged your shoulders and said, “Nah!” Ha ha! Kid, you crack me up!

Saturday morning brought another mini-date for you and I, taking you to feed the ducks at Minerva Park. You had fun, and once all the bread was gone, you still wanted to linger, saying you needed to sit and watch the ducks (and geese) swim. We talked about how their webbed feet are just like the flippers in your new snorkeling set, how to tell the difference between the boy and girl ducks, and we even took a walnut home (after watching the squirrels knock them out of the trees and collect them for winter). You had Daddy crack it open to see what was inside, being fascinated that the squirrels could get them open by just using their teeth and claws. We also noticed a duck with an injured foot (although it didn’t slow him down much), so we talked about how when we’re feeding the ducks, it’s always important to try to get as much bread as you can to the injured ones first. You took this lesson to heart, and really kept trying to track this little guy down to toss him extra pieces.

elevated you on a park bench so you wouldn't get mobbed

After nap on Saturday, we made our annual pilgrimage to the Ohio State Fair with Uncle Forge and Lao Lao. It was hot, but SO much fun!! I was a bit hesitant, but we rode the Skyride and you had a blast! I thought you’d be afraid of the height, but you did fabulous, and it was a great way to see the entire fairgrounds and enjoy the cool breeze all the way up there. We also found a HUGE mix and match candy display in one of the buildings, so while cooling off in the A/C, we let you pick out an assortment of goodies. Despite how hot or tired you might have been, that perked you right up! Another couple of firsts you had this year were playing some of the midway games and riding the rides. Thank goodness we decided to put you in your brown sandals with a slight heel because that made you just tall enough to ride many of the rides in Kiddieland. You especially loved the bumper boats and dump trucks ~ your expressions while on these rides, priceless!

flying high on the Skyride

loading up on your treats

1st ever big kids' ride

thank goodness you wore your heels to give you the extra height you needed!

i love this little wrinkled nose when you smile

completely happy kid

petting zoo; goats were eager for more carrot chips

you were so sweet, walking up to this cow and saying, "hiii" in the tiniest little soothing voice

sweetheart

We decided that instead of us playing games to try to win you something, we’d just let you play the games for kids that were guaranteed a prize. You loved it from beginning to end, from paying for your game to picking out your own prize. It was adorable! The carnies were very sweet to you, with one even giving you an extra dart to make sure you popped a balloon. (Yes, I said dart. They actually agreed to give a 3 year old a dart. Ha ha.) It not only saved us from spending a billion dollars on toys that cost a fraction of the money spent, but it gave you a sense of independence and accomplishment too. You were so proud of yourself!

1st ever prize won yourself, a sword and sheath (and the fishing game behind you)

paying for your own game

if you look closely, the dart is in mid-air!

walking proudly away with your prize, a stuffed lobster

We saw Memaw and Papaw later, who had come to the fair to see Melissa Etheridge in concert. You were so excited when we spotted them, exclaiming, “Hey, I have two grandmas here!” and pointing back and forth from Memaw to Lao Lao.

We finally got you home and in bed that night, all of us exhausted from a long day at the fair. But I have to say, it was one of the best times at the fair that I have had in a very long time.

Sunday was a more relaxed day. Daddy took you to the playground in the morning, where you decided that you wanted a visor, just like him. He definitely got some major ‘Daddy points’ as he drove you to three different stores, trying to find one small enough for your little noggin. Even though one was never found, definitely the effort counts. Later, we attended a reunion picnic with the Garrabrant side of the family (Papaw Rick’s side), enjoyed some yummy food and just played, enjoying the day.

with Lao Lao, Uncle Forge, and Papaw Rick

you and cousin Chloe, sizing each other up

We were going to head to the pool to meet Daddy later, but a storm rolled in as we were leaving so we had to scrap that idea. However, I had already changed you into your bathing suit, so you took the opportunity to create your own water park out of the drinking water jug.

Enay Wanda surprise splashing you ~ you took it like a champ.
Gotta watch that Wanda, she's a sneaky one!

After getting home, you, Daddy and I ate dinner and watched Madagascar for a nice quiet evening at home before the craziness of the week begins. A great, calm and cool finish to a crazy, hot and fun week.

Love,
Mama