Hmm, maybe she should stay for lunch EVERY day?!

It seems like Ava's first day of "Stay-for-lunch" at Preschool was successful! She was completely pooped when I picked her up...fell asleep in the car on the way home, and even let me carry her in and lay her on the couch-- where she continued to sleep for almost 2 hours!! Considering this is the first time she's napped in almost a year, I'll take it! :-)

Ladies & Gentlemen....we've got a TOOTH!!!!

So after a few weeks now of Gav being a little irritable at nighttime, waking up a bunch after bedtime, not wanting to nap, and just not acting quite like himself, it appears that his first tooth was the culprit. (I found this out the painful way today as I gave him my pinky to suck on and immediately discovered razor-sharp, jagged edge sticking out of his bottom gum!)

Hooray Gav! You are now officially one step closer to the finer things in life like filet mignon, grilled cheeses, and Dove chocolate bars :)

p.s. Amazingly, Gav's rendition of  "I'm getting a tooth, don't feel good, and am having trouble falling asleep" is pictured below... These were taken around midnight last night when we brought him out to the living room after he was fussy for a while in his crib.  Would you EVER look at this baby and think he was cutting his first tooth?! Pretty *unhappy* child we have ;-)


"Hey guys, anything good on? Where's the popcorn?"

I'm Mr. Snowmiser...

So Ava's mid-year winter dance recital-- (which was supposed to take place on December 20th, and had since been rescheduled twice due to snow) --finally happened tonight. (Yay!) Her class danced to "Mr. Snowmiser," from one of those old-school 1970's claymation Christmas movies. Actually, it was a super cute song and dance too!  Per usual, our little ballerina-diva did fantastic. She is unequivocally one of those kids that thrives on attention and loves being onstage, all eyes watching her. She had the biggest smile of all the ballerinas in her ensemble, and once again she knew every single step without fail. Add a beautiful bouquet of pink flowers from Daddy, the perfect ballerina bun (complete with silver glittery hairspray), and a post-performance celebratory dinner at Friendly's, and the night was pure magic for her. Congratulations Aves, you made Mommy & Daddy so proud...again :-)

Talk about wanting to look your best...

Just wanted to share a quick anecdote of my day today.  While I sat in the waiting room of the Dermatologist this morning, a VERY old -- borderline ancient-- woman sauntered in, cane and all, and proceeded to the check-in window.


"Hi, I am here for a 10:45 appointment with Dr. Ellerin," she stated in an upbeat tone.

The receptionist asked for her name and date of birth to check her in, and the woman replied Cynthia something, and that her date of birth was

"One - twenty two - fifteen."

It's not too often these days that you hear someone's birth year as being "fifteen"  -- and so of course I immediately begin doing the math in my head, with the subtle assistance of my fingers as I counted the decades...fifteen, twenty-five, thirty-five...

"OH MY GOD! This woman is NINETY FIVE years old!!!"  I quickly realized, and then hoped to God that I hadn't announced my discovery out loud.

Cynthia proceeded to tell the receptionist that she was here for her 2nd of a 4-part laser skin rejuvenation session.

Wow, I thought to myself....Good for her. Almost a century old and still taking pride in her skin!!

I can only hope that at her age, I'm still vain enough to be driving myself to my skin rejuvenation appointments...in the middle of a blizzard!

Mmmm, whatcha say?

 Daddy & Aves take on one of the latest big hits-- Jason Derulo (featuring Imogen Heap's) Whatcha Say. Once again, please disregard the playroom mess in the background - par for the course when these music videos depend on instantly dropping everything you are doing when a four year old suddenly feels inspired. Also please note the "costumes" that she picked out for both her and Jeff; "Daddy, we need to wear matching white shirts and sideways hats for the show!"

Dear Daddy-- MAYDAY! MAYDAY! Come home from work NOW and save me from this estrogen-fueled nonsense!!!! Love, Gav

In other news, Ava thought it was the most hysterical thing she'd ever seen, and we now have some excellent blackmail photos for when Gav is 16.

Isn't 4 a little young to petition for name change?

Out of the blue, my daughter very bluntly informed me on the way to school this morning that,
 
"When we are in the car, I shall be called Emily. My name is never again Ava while I am in this carseat, so please don't call me that. Got it?"

I contemplated responding with something like:  

"Ok, well if that is the case, then anytime between Fridays at 5pm and Monday mornings, I shall not answer to 'Mommy' nor any requests to wipe a runny nose, cut up a piece of chicken at dinner, bring a cup of water at bedtime, help tie shoes, change poopy diapers, put band-aids on boo-boos, be the time-out police, or wipe a bum. Also, no laundry, cleaning, cooking, household errands, vacuuming, dusting, dishes, or making beds during this time-frame. Got it?"


Lucky for 'Emily,' I am a level-headed Mommy and simply responded with a smile and a nod: 

"Of course, Emily. You got it!"