Domestic

Never one to miss an opportunity to help, J easily learned how to use the shop vac while we undertook some much-needed home repairs.

And my mother, another one who cannot sit still, teaches J how to wash windows. Should I admit that she does a better job than me?

A Sunday morning, rolling out dough for one of our many baking projects together. J has been baking with me for almost a year and is quite the competent little baker. She can beat, stir, roll, sprinkle, and mash with control.

Harvest Festival, part 2

What's the point of being a 2 year old girl if you don't have a tutu?
Jasmine shopping.


Mom says, "Has she been shopping with you?" I confess, she's seen me sort through a rack or 2.
My winged fairy, stealing the show.

Harvest Festival, part 1

Another lucky weekend for us with beautiful weather and my mom joining us at the Harvest Festival. If you look closely at this picture you'll notice that Jasmine's feet are not touching the ground, a precursor to what turned out to be a seriously bouncy 2 year old.

Getting into the bouncy house took a few tries and finally worked with mama in tow. All it took was the warm up before she was off and running to the races. She had numerous turns all with the same results--fits of giggles and joy.

Here she is enjoying her first bag of potato chips. We all got veggie burgers with a bag of chips. She ate her chips, no burger; mom and I ate burger, no chips. Sigh. So much for the Harvest part of the festival.
Followed by a full bottle of gatorade, a gift from a friend. Yikes.
These events, designed for families, are all new to me. This year we've been venturing out into the new-to-me world of family-oriented fairs and festivals. I can't say that I love these events, but I do love seeing Jasmine enjoying herself and being around other families with small children. I know that this will be part of our ever expanding world and I don' t begrudge any of it. Would I rather be off in the remote wilderness with Jasmine on my back or hiking by my side? Sure, but that's not where we are at right now and to see Jasmine trying new things, being part of this world where families come together to give their children important experiences--I don't mind at all.

I am grateful that, at least for now, Jasmine is equally happy in the forest playing with pine needles and collecting acorns, playing follow the leader and fashioning walking sticks out of handy branches, or asking me to sit next to her on the curb while we collect stones within arms reach.

Our little schoolgirl

The first rains of the season and Jasmine's coat and boots from last year still fit! She requested this hairstyle on her own, I was merely the underling taking orders.

Is she loving school? I instructed Shane to pick her up early from school, since I worry about her being gone from us for so many hours. When he got there she was fully involved in her new band and was jammin' with her new friends. He felt terrible pulling her away, but she paid him back by bouncing off every wall in the house until I came home. She is so worn out when her little head hits the mattress that she sleeps through the night, solid for 11 hours. We'd certainly take 12 but that's not Jasmine's preference.

Preschool

The little one is officially in preschool. After much deliberation--and multiple delays--we said goodbye to our wonderful daycare provider, Jennifer. Jennifer has a home daycare with her own 2 children, her now 3 year old daughter and a 3 month old baby. She never missed a beat with Jasmine and I can only think back to the craziness of our first few months home last year and having the security of knowing that Jasmine was in good hands when I had to go to work. As hard as it was to hand her over to someone else--and worrying that Jasmine might think Jennifer was a better mama then me--I can now see clearly how vital Jennifer was in J's life. Jasmine never made a fuss when we left, took long naps, ate full meals and always showed eagerness and contentment when it was time to go to Jennifer's. Jennifer was affectionate and calm and loved having Jasmine there. And the fact that she was only there 2 days a week made it seem like a playdate.

So why the switch?

Maybe it's selfish of me, but the 35 minute drive to get her there was always hard on me. Our new preschool is 5 minutes from our house. We decided to gradually make the change, so we took Jasmine to school several times before we enrolled her for good. We would stop by to do paperwork or talk to a teacher and let her wander around, so when the day came to leave her, I think she quietly said to herself "It's about time!"

This week was her first official 2 full days at school and now mama has to make a lunch and get her somewhere on time. And just like so many other transitions that we've been through, Jasmine hasn't missed a beat. The teachers are amazed with her and thank US for bringing her in. She eats, sleeps and loves to go to school.

And it's a 5 minute drive...

Grandparents

The world travelers just returned home from Greece 2 days prior, but that didn't stop them from paying us a visit. We met "in town", a 20 minute drive for us and 1 1/2 hours for them. My parents have all become more understanding of the toll it takes on Jasmine and parents to drive several hours for visits. Lucky Jasmine, 2 weekends in a row she had doting grandparents to play with.
She didn't hesitate to crawl into Grandma Marj's lap and secure a lunch seat. Nagypapa's delicious quinoa salad? Not so much.
We hit the playground before AND after lunch.
Nothing like a side-by-side slide to enjoy with you grandfather.
With Shane still working most weekends, Jasmine and I were on the go all weekend long. She could hardly wait to spend Monday at home with him and chill out for the day. That included a 3 1/2 hour nap, something only Baba can accomplish. I'm not sure how 2 parents can have the entirely opposite effect on a child, but in our case, we do. Now that Jasmine is so tuned into the world around her, she knows exactly what each day will hold and she has no complaints.

New shoes

It was long overdue. I have NEVER purchased Jasmine a new pair of shoes. You know, REAL shoes. Little flippy-flops here and there, sure. A cheap pair of fancy red shoes in Chinatown this spring--OK. But you see, Jasmine has 2 fabulous cousins, both girls, both older. And Jasmine's Aunt Kiki INSISTS that her girls wear good shoes. So when Jasmine needs a new pair of shoes, I don't go driving 30 minutes to the mall, I walk out to the garage and dig through boxes.

The time came when Jasmine deserved a pair of honest-to-God, brand-spanking-new shoes. Not just because she's so darn cute. But this kid loves to run--over rocks and tree stumps and big gnarly roots and slippery oak leaves and dry drought-induced California dirt. And sometimes hand-me-down shoes, no matter how great they started off being, can be a little worn out by the time they get to us. So one fine morning last week Jasmine slipped and fell one too many times. Her poor little skinned knees took a final scraping and mama put her running-shoed foot down and said "We're going shopping".

Here, in all their glory, are Jasmine's first pair of carefully selected, professionally fitted running shoes. They tie up. They have traction. They bounce. They call out to us: Run. Jump. Skip. Slide. I can handle it.
We weren't taken any prisoners. We were going for a walk. Zami knows a running-shoed foot. She knows what it means in dog-speak and she will, grudgingly, tail hanging a little lower than normal, indulge Jasmine in walking her to the pond.
Now here's a girl with a purpose. Jasmine's nagymama came for a visit and we headed to our trail.
Playing trail guide, Jasmine is letting us know not to walk in the neigh-neigh poop. Notice the walking stick she is carrying. Just in case.