May 1, 2015 ~ Get Up And Dance With Me!

Heading Out

Tonight Stu took Teagan to their first Father-Daughter dance.  Our school allows the Kindy kids to attend.  So sweet.

The PTA was able to get some students from a local salon to provide free up-do’s for the girls, if they wanted.  Teagan wasn’t sure about it, but decided she did want “fancy hair” and we went over.  She asked for twists, like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz had, but with a pony tail in the back, not on the sides.  I don’t think the stylist we were assigned to really knew how to do Dorothy Twists, but she did something that made Teagan happy.  With a little extra curl to the back.  Teagan asked if I could try to curl her hair too.  We’ll see, I said.  I’ve never had a curling iron.

Ash was very disappointed that she couldn’t go.  That is, once she woke up from the nap she refuses to admit she needs, and realized that she really wasn’t going to be able to go.

Stu had no idea what to expect.  He’s not from the US so is unfamiliar with the entire school system.  I did suggest he wear a tie.

They had a great time.  Teagan was well behaved (Yay!), introduced him to her classmates and the older girls she knew.  Stu said the DJ was probably very popular in the older-second-or-third-wedding circles, some of the music choices were a bit dated.  Dated enough to get the fifth graders to storm out for not playing Uptown Funk or some other requests.

He did play some slow songs, and Teagan and Stu danced.  He spun her, which was the best thing ever.  He bent over and danced at her height.  He picked her up and danced with her at his.  She loved it.

Teagan came home with at least fifty glow necklaces.  They said that she had more, but Stu made them into bracelets that she then traded with the older girls for swag for her classmates.  She didn’t hesitate to walk up to the “cool kids” and show them her bracelets and then offer to trade with them.  They allowed her to join their circle for a bit.  I really wish I could have seen that!  My kid is so awesome.  The smile on her face as she was telling me she traded the bracelets for balloons and leis was just wonderful.

I really can’t wait to be able to chaperone.

 

September 2, 2013 ~ Hooley!

Thrall

Yesterday we went to the Hooley up at my parents.  Yay for Irish festivals, especially a free one, where one of my favorite bands to see live plays.  One of the reasons we made sure to go was so the girls could see some Irish step dancing.  We had missed the local Irish fest this year for one reason or another.  Teagan has always been fascinated with the step dancing.  Up till this year, Ashlin just liked watching.  This year was different, she was completely enthralled.  Even when we couldn’t see the dancers feet, she was hyper focused on the stage, the music, the spectacle.

After a bit, the girls started dancing.  Ashlin was up first, dragging her sister along.  She did her take on the step dancing with some kicks and spins.  Soon enough, her moves evolved into spinning like a dervish and getting dizzy.  Teagan spun too, but her hands moved from being down and stiff armed to up and ballet like.

We were sure to get better seats, and the stage was lower, for the second show.  Even though Ashlin was tired from the heat and lack of nap, she couldn’t stop watching, though she did it from the stroller, until it was time to dance.  Then she had to go up, but this time, she was all “flashdance,” running in place.  Teagan was working on her ballet moves.

Waiting to dance

Both girls weren’t quite ready to leave after the second step dance show, they wanted more.  So, we stayed to see one of the bands, Hair of the Dog.  Both girls stayed on the stage the dancers used while the band played on the “upper” stage behind them.  For the second time that day, Teagan was called out, by the lead singer of the band this time, for “having the map of Ireland on her face.”  Someone had said that earlier in the day, just after the first step dance show.  But it was wild to hear the guy from the band say it over the microphone!  Teagan was surprised, and then pleased, and then shy once she realized he was talking about her!

Map of Ireland on her face

Today, Teagan and I went out to get currants or gooseberry bushes. There weren’t any, so we got some black raspberry bushes instead.

Black Raspberries!

I wasn’t planning on raspberry bushes, but the nursery didn’t have anything else.  And these should give fruit, if only enough to snack on, next year.  The currants should produce a bit more harvest in the first year, even if they go in the ground in the spring, so, hopefully I can find some next year.

Teagan wanted to eat them today, even the tiny dried ones on the old canes.  She’s going to need to learn how to be patient!

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September 1, 3012 ~ Ballet

Teagan at the Hooley. She would walk around in circles with her arms above her head. When we asked her why she was dancing with her arms up in the air over her head, she said it was ballet. Her friend E taught her. She’s practicing before she starts her dance class next week.

Silly sweet kid.

January 3, 2013

Last sunset of 2012

It feels so weird to type 2013!  I haven’t needed to write it before now either.  Crazy to think we’re in the new year already.  Last year really feels like it flew by, a blink of an sleep-deprived eye.

Our New Year’s was a bit of a mixed bag.  On the one hand it was great fun with friends, delicious food, fun games.  Good times.  On the other hand, it sucked, as Stu had to back out of our out of town plans and work.  At first, he was going to follow me and the girls up, but the necessary work took longer than he thought.  It was like before we got married, with him stuck over in the UK and me over here.  We got to text a little and I did call him at midnight, but still.  Not the New Year’s Eve we planned on.

Teagan got almost 1,000 points in her dance

I do have to say the girls were wonderful, and my friends helped a lot with one girl when I needed to be with the other.  They both slept pretty well, until around 5:45, which was awesome after a 2am bedtime for me!  Then the fun started.  One needed to go to the bathroom, the other didn’t want to go, but didn’t want to stay alone.   One wanted to play with a doll house, the other wanted to bang on the windows.  It was so hard to keep them quiet.  I do think we did wake some of the sleeping friends up. :(  We had a TV in the room, but finding something that both of them would like wasn’t easy.  Not at all.  We eventually settled on PBS and some weird kid show, instead of FOX News or TBS or something similar.  I guess the talking cats or tigers or bears or whatever seemed interesting enough for them.

Ashlin didn’t like the song. LOL!

Once people started getting up, we went downstairs, and the girls were off!  Breakfast, milk, books, potty.  They were pretty well behaved though.  When the rest of the kids were up, the Wii got pulled out and the dance party began!  Both girls started dancing along, wanting to actually play, but at first were happy enough just dancing along with the big kids.  Eventually, Teagan was given a wi-mote and they put on that One Direction song.  It wasn’t an easy dance, with four dancers, but she knows the song, and that helps a bit.  She did pretty good, considering she didn’t know what she was doing.  Got almost a thousand points her first go!  She did NOT want to give up the remote.  After a bit it was Ashlin’s turn.  She just liked hitting the buttons and would exit the dance and go to the home screen.  LOL!

The drive home was pretty good too.  Teagan did not need to go to the bathroom, Ashlin didn’t throw up.  Bonus!  I found a kids music show – Elizabeth Mitchell doing Woodie Guthrie songs – on Sirius, and both girls were enthralled.  I’m going to need to find some more Woodie Guthrie songs.  Playing the Riding in my Car song to them this morning, they both started clapping along and rocking to the beat.  Ashlin even repeated “cahhh, caahhh” almost in the right places :)

Next year, New Year’s will be different.  Well, I won’t trust that Stu will be able to follow…  I really missed him.

PS.  DIY projects will follow, Christmas presents, treats, etc can all be shared with a much larger audience.  Though, last night, I started a blanket.  For me.  Well, for the living room…

Crazy Stitch or Brick Stitch…

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June 21, 2012

Teagan had a “graduation” today.  It was actually the Fours who were moving up to Kindergarten from the Threes, but they included her and her friend, as they were the only ones who weren’t truly moving up.

Teagan, who loves hats, didn’t want to wear hers for the ceremony.  Then she didn’t want to sit for the whole time.  When they sang “You Got A Friend In Me,” Teagan was distracted and didn’t remember all the words.  Still, it was very cute, and she was very touched that I got there.  Stu stayed home with Ashlin, who we didn’t think should be out more than needed.

I recorded most of it, and took some pictures, this being one of them.  My little miss just wanted to run, it didn’t matter that it was 100° outside.

Anyway.

Watching her dance and interact with the other kids was much more interesting than the ceremony.  It’s always interesting to see her move, talk , be with other people.  She always seems so much older.  She’s getting so big.

Most of the songs, she ran in a circle or spun around, trying to do the moves that DJ/Singer was doing.  You could see her trying to see what she was supposed to do next, see the brain trying to absorb movements and put them to the rhythm.  But for one song, she started dancing like a big girl, booty bounce and one song had a head bop.

She’s getting so big.

I would like time to slow down, thank you.

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May 12, 2012

It was a beautiful day, so we went to a nearby Renaissance Faire.  Teagan was very uneasy, scared, as we walked in.  She did not talk to anyone, even to compliment them on their nifty shoes or lipstick, as she normally does.  She did not want to walk, but be held by Stu.  He carried her for a bit.  Eventually she got brave enough to walk, glued to his side.  After about 20 minutes, she was fine.  Hugging strangers as they walked by, although she was still a bit uneasy about the maurading knights.  I think she ended up hugging four people over the course of the afternoon.  She likes to make friends.

It was a small faire, only the third year, so not a big event yet. They still had some great food booths – fried pb&j anyone? – and a joust, along with some archery that I don’t remember from the fall faire.

The girls ended up having a blast. Teagan wanted her own fried pb&j sandwich, though was appeased with a few pieces of mine and half a hamburger.  Ashlin clapped for the knights.  Both knights.  She didn’t care who won, she loved watching them charge by on their horses.

Teagan made friends with a family nearby, a 3.5 year old boy and an almost year old girl.  The baby was sleeping, the mom and the boy up by the rope demarking the list.  The dad humored Teagan, chatting with her and thanking her for the spontaneous hug and kiss.

She’s such a sweet girl, I dread having the “stranger danger” talk, that I know we need to have.  We did set ourselves up for the hugs today, though.  Trying to compensate for her fear and trepidation, we told her that everyone was nice. That she didn’t need to fear any one there.  We’ll need to moderate that in the future, I’m sure.

As we were leaving, we passed a group of dancers.  Both girls were interested, Teagan asking to watch, Ashlin doing her happy-kicky-feet and pointing.  Teagan and I sat and watched for a bit, while Stu rolled Ashlin to some almost-shade out of the way and watched too.  As the ladies danced, Teagan started trying to follow along.  It was so cute.  She asked why their bellies were showing, and I explained that they were belly dancers, and that was their dress-up costume. She then pulled up her shirt and danced.

We may need to go to the fall faire to see how both girls do.  Teagan wanted to dress-up, so maybe then we can have her go in her fairy dress, with wings.  And we could bring her dancing sticks.  Why not go all out?

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February 13, 2012 ~ That’s Not My Name

Dancing

Last night while Ashlin and I were in the ER, Stu and Teagan were working off the minutes before bath and bed time.  Teagan asked to dance, so Stu moved the baby cage and fired up the Wii.  Teagan loves the Wii Just Dance.  Stu takes the back dancing position, giving Teagan the run of the front of the room.  With her brand new dancing sticks.*  He lets Teagan pick the songs.  She loves to pick the songs for us to dance to.

She likes “Orange Face,” or Dagomba, and will always ask for that first.  Then they did a little Jackson Five, a little Blondie – Teagan wants green hair now.  Great.  They move on to Vampire Weekend, and Teagan starts to sing along.  (I so wish I was there!)  Then comes the Ting Tings.  Teagan is really getting into it, waving her dancing sticks around.  She starts singing the chorus, or shouting, more like.  A few rounds of “That no my name!  No No my Name!” before she stops dancing.  Teagan turns to Stu and asks, “So, what her name, daddy?”

I so wish I had been there to see that!

 

~~

* She had three days in a row with no accidents, so Stu and I made the ribbon sticks, and gave them to her.  She LOVES them.  That was supposed to have been the entry for yesterday, but well, my poor desiccated baby came first.

Ribbon Sticks

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January 19, 2012

Hair

Ashlin woke up with funny hair again. She is a hair twirler, and must have twirled her way to sleep last night.  I may need to not bathe her on nights before day care days.  That, or actually brush her hair in the morning.

Now that she’s enjoying her baths, I may need to start brushing.

Maybe she won’t cry like her sister does.  Still does.  Sigh.

Focus

She’s absolutely fascinated with the musical table. I just pulled it out from the basement and put in fresh batteries. She’s trying to pull herself up, succeeding sometimes. It’s a bit higher than the fireplace. I give her until Monday to get it down.

I can reach

Tippy toes! She’s trying to reach across the table to play all the music.  But then she dances.  And it’s awesome.

 

July 25, 2011

 Life has been busy!  So much has happened, so many things to update!  I didn’t get too many opportunities to pull out the laptop while Stu’s family was here, so I got behind.  Then, after they left,  I put off coming back here, because I didn’t know where to start.  It got overwhelming.  And each day only made it worse.  So, let’s just do a quick list and get on with it.

• Stu’s mom and sister came over for a visit.  We hadn’t seen them in almost a year.  Of course, they hadn’t been able to see the new one yet, so they just soaked her up.  Teagan really latched on to her “Auntie Em,” and Emily did a great job playing with her.  So cute to see the two of them together.  Emily also did fantastically with Ashlin, once she got over the fear of holding a baby.  She’s quite the baby whisperer.
• Anywhere we went, we needed to take two cars.  Four adults and two kids that need car seats did not allow for quick dashes in one car anywhere.
• We went to the ZOO!  Of course, it ended up being in the middle of the heat wave.  HOT!  Teagan walked almost the entire afternoon, she did not want to ride in the stroller.  By the end of the day she asked Stu for “uppy!”  Stu said that if she was tired, she could ride in the stroller.  Teagan thought for a minute, and then replied “little tired.”  This kid is going to give us trouble.  I’m sure of it.  Ashlin was awake for quite a bit of the day, but eventually fell asleep.
• I made jam with my MIL.  Well, Emily helped a little.  We didn’t get to go berry picking, unfortunately.  But berries were on sale at so many of the stores, we ended up getting a bunch and then made three (!) batches:  one  Strawberry, one Blueberry/Raspberry/Blackberry and one everything.  One jar ended up getting the last drips of all three batches, and oh, so good!  Makes one damn fine peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
• We went to the beach!  Ashlin was awake for a bit of that too – she seems to be more awake now – and Teagan was good.  It was in the middle of the heat wave.  HOT!  Teagan did not want to go in the ocean, but she did eat the sand.
• We went shopping!  So nice to get back to the outlets again.
• Ashlin rolled over, and MIL was there to see it!  Yay, so glad that she got to see a first.  Then she wouldn’t roll for a few days, now anytime you put her on the floor, the first thing she does is roll.
• Ashlin giggles now.  She’s still getting used to doing it, but she’s laughed for me, my sister, Stu and I think my mom.  They’re awesome little laughs, that you need to work for.  The same thing won’t work twice in a row.  I may have gotten some on video though!
• Stu, along with Teagan, Lynne and Emily, surprised me a few days before my birthday (but they day they left) with an ice cream cake and Teagan singing “Happy day day mama!”  So sweet.
• He also  got me an iPad for my birthday.  It’s lovely.  And take-out Thai.  And chocolate.  And champagne.  And three books:

1. Monsters Eat Whiny Children – this made Teagan a bit uncomfortable when I read it to her :)
2. Go the F**k To Sleep.
3. The new Evanovich!

• Oh, and Just Dance for the Wii.  I didn’t think I’d like it, but it is fun.  And a bit of a work out.  Teagan loves it too.  She’ll ask us to dance.  He favorite song is “Who let the dogs out?”  Stu’s favorite is Elvis’ “A little more understanding.”  Teagan refers to him as “Man”
• I spent all of last week trying to clear a clogged duct.  Two days of working on it at home – heat, massage, compressions, nursing, pumping – before seeing a doctor.  Only to have them tell me what I already knew, and to have me do more of the same.  It sucks.  Second doctor visit, she thought it may have progressed to mastitis.  I’m on antibiotics and there doesn’t seem to be any unclogging happening.  So frustrating, it’s been a full week now.  At least the pain is gone, so I can pick up Teagan and Ashlin.  The blinding white pain was not fun at all.  It doesn’t feel good, but it’s not burning pain any more.  The clog hasn’t gotten any bigger, but it hasn’t gotten any smaller.  Midwife said today that if it’s not better by the time I’m done with the round of antibiotics, I will need to get an ultrasound and possibly a surgical consult.  Great.
• Somehow my baby is now three and a half.  Where has all the time gone?  She’s not supposed to grow up this fast!

I guess that’s really all for now…  I’m sure I’ll remember something else tomorrow.  But then that’ll be an entry for tomorrow.

PS.  Updated Things I Never Thought I Would Say

February 26, 2011

Gotta love starting a post and then not getting back to it.  LOL.  There are some good things about the WP iPod app, and some bad..  So, I had started writing about how in the play room most of yesterday there were three songs that Teagan asked for “moar:”

1. Slade – Run Runaway (in today’s WILFing expedition, I hadn’t realized there were bagpipes in it!  LOL!  Teagan has an ear for them, it seems.
2. David Bowie – Changes
3. Leona Naess – Anything

She also got quite into Seven Nations and Hair of the Dog – stopping whatever play she was involved in to dance dance dance.  My little Irish Princess.

As Stu was being a love and putting the desk together yesterday, Teagan and I played in the play room.  At one time, I was crawling around on the floor (yes, doing a breech exercise, LOL!) picking up toys and putting them away.  I ended up going into the open knees chest position.  Teagan came up gave me a kiss, and then mimicked the position next to me.

She also copied Stu.  On one excursion from the play room to the front, we passed Stu lying under the desk, tightening something up.  She bolted into the den and gave him a kiss and then stole a screwdriver.  I herded her back into the front, so we could get her (and me!) something to eat.  The next time I left her, so I could have a bio-break, she went and lay down under the desk, with a screwdriver (backwards).  She’s really a sweet kid, and quick too.