Trains, tea parties and more

Burke Lake Park continues to be a favorite place for Kylie to play. And even though there is lots of mulch around, Kylie has been drawn the the dirt. She likes to sit in it, draw circles around herself with her fingers or with sticks, bury her arms in it and so forth. She ignores everything going on around her. She gets completely absorbed with her imagination and the dirt.

Dirty hands, and face and bottom but I don't mind. Here Kylie is crawling between two rocks at the park.

I amused myself by playing with some different actions on this shot. This one is sunny and fun.

And this one is a vintage action that really shows her uplifted eyebrows and the dirt on her hands.

I love playing with actions when I have the time.

Anyway, the theme at Gymboree last week was transportation. The kiddos ran around packing pretend suitcases, loading them into various vehicles and taking a bus, a train, and a plane to get to Gymbo's house. The train made a particular impression. Kylie has enjoyed pushing two pieces of paper under the closet door (her tickets) and then lining up her dolls in various train configurations. Choo! Choo!

Her Gymboree class in Chantilly was cancelled but there is another class in nearby Woodbridge. We are going to check out the new class at the end of the week.

Kylie has a new tea set that has gotten a whole lotta play.


But her Little Mermaid Ariel/Ursula/Flounder obsession remains.


We had a playdate with Beth's little boy Adam yesterday and it was fabulous. Beth and I got to know a bit about each other while our two little ones shared toys and played. The highlight for Kylie was when she and Adam took turns chasing each other. I took several pictures but I was so excited at seeing them play well together that the pictures were all underlit and blurry. But isn't this one sweet? I look forward to seeing Beth and Adam again.


Here's a few more Kylie-isms to share:
The story: Kylie was humming and talking after we put her to sleep for the night. I went into her room to pat her. But she was sound asleep. She was just talking in her sleep I guess. The next morning she said:
(Kylie-ism) "You woke me up last night Mommy. That was NOT SO SWEET."

The story. After Momma Karen went to work, Kylie walked into our bathroom. A hint of Karen's perfume was in the air.
(Kylie-ism) Kylie said, "I smell Momma in my nose."

Kylie has also started to shrug her shoulders instead of saying, "I don't know". And we are still hearing a lot of "I can't" instead of "I don't want to." The talking clock method is pretty much the only way I can get her to move from one activity to the next or to get her out the door to play.

Yet she remains my darling little girl who makes me smile and laugh all day long. Well..... pretty much all day.