Travelingjenny

Navigating the hilly terrain of motherhood

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  • Hanging with ‘Mah-my’

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    Tess seems to love Maggie more and more each day, and that sweet dog is becoming increasingly tolerant of her. Tess frequently stands next to Maggie and throws her arm around her neck, and I think Maggie might even enjoy it. It probably helps that we have started letting Tess help feed Maggie, and we give her treats to throw in Maggie’s general direction when she’s been a good dog. Several times this morning, Tess sat down next to Maggie on her dog bed – she actually said “excuse me, Mah-my” a couple of times! – and just hung out for a while. She even brought some of her toys over to Maggie’s bed. It was at this point that the dog started to get a little irritated – apparently she was finding it difficult to get her requisite 22 hours of sleep with all of that racket!

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  • Keeping Curly safe

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    According to Grace, today was “stick-fighting day” at Curly’s school. When she called to check on him, his teacher said he had been hurt, so Gracie rushed to pick him up from school. It turns out that someone had poked him in the eye with a stick, and his eye was bleeding. (I guess that’s the danger of stick-fighting day.) Luckily, his teacher is also a nurse, so she bandaged Curly’s eye and he didn’t have to go to the doctor’s office. Phew!

    Although sheep blankies have an amazing ability to rebound quickly from injuries, Grace decided that Curly needed to wear a helmet to keep him safe during our afternoon activities. Shielded from further harm, Curly spent the rest of the day with his (Grace-made) bike helmet on, riding with Grace on her tricycle, enjoying a walk in the stroller, and swinging on the swing. He even went down the slide (tucked safely inside Gracie’s coat). Hopefully this brave little sheep has learned his lesson, and he’ll remember to wear his new helmet to the next stick-fighting day.

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    {Note: Curly is a sheep with an exciting life. His adventures have been chronicled in a limited-edition picture book (words and photos by travelingjenny), available only in Grace’s personal library.}

  • This takes the cake

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    Just when I thought she couldn’t possibly come up with anything to top the handmade kitty earrings, Grace made her own eyeglasses using a magnifying glass and – you guessed it – scotch tape. And when this proved to be impractical, she made a new, improved version with paper and tape. She wore these “glasses” for almost an hour. Hysterical.

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  • Perhaps they need waders

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    All of the melting snow created a lovely puddle in the middle of our yard. Somehow, Grace’s internal mess-seeker found this amazing gift from nature, and she could not resist the strong pull to play in it. She dragged several toys out from the shed and proceeded to splash around. Of course, Tess had to join in – but first I insisted that both of them put on their rain boots. Yippee! This gave them free rein to stomp and stir and pour. They had great fun, until Tess fell knee-first into the water. I convinced her to keep playing – after all, it’s mud season, and she’s a Mainer – she needs to be tough! When she finally came inside, a half-cup of water poured out of that poor kid’s boot.

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  • Getting ready for ‘mud season’

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    Around here, the month of April is known as ‘mud season.’ I think the reason behind this is obvious. The good news is that Tess has purple rain boots for use in stomping through puddles – and for wearing indoors just for fun (and because they’re purple). The even better news is that the snow in our yard is melting rapidly, and since temperatures are expecting to reach the upper 60s (!!) this week, our yard may actually be clear of snow by May. Now I just have to convince Tess that she no longer needs to wear a hat every time we leave the house.

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  • Brownie thief

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    Tess loves chocolate. And ice cream. So when we had brownie sundaes the other night, as a special treat with Grandma and Grandpa, Tess was quite thrilled. However, she had neglected to save room (seeing as she’s not quite old enough to tune into our meal planning), and proclaimed to be “all done” when in fact there were still a few bites of dessert remaining. So a particular family member, who shall remain nameless (you know who you are!), asked Tess for permission to eat the rest of her dessert. Of course, Tess said no, but when she wasn’t looking, the other brownie lover snuck a few bites. And of course, Tess noticed that her bowl was empty – and she wasn’t happy about it. In fact, she was quite distressed, and it was adorable. She made such a fuss that she was given another helping of brownie sundae, which of course she couldn’t finish. But an important lesson was learned by all – dessert stealing will not go unnoticed in this household (future dinner guests, please make note of this)!

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  • Watercolors

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    Sorry about the lack of posting in the past few days – we’ve been enjoying a very fun visit with Grandma and Grandpa. And my stomach has been too full of dessert to fit behind the keyboard. I will share some stories of their visit with you this week (including more about dessert, because I know you’re curious).

    In the meantime, check out these photos of Tess painting with watercolors for the first time. She loved it, and did a beautiful job, although sometimes it was hard for her to remember the order of things: water, paint, paper (not paint, water, paper) – she really liked stirring her brush around in the water. I think what she loved most, though, was getting to paint just like her big sister – with her very own set of paints.

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  • Stamp attack

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    As I was heading upstairs to put Tess down for her nap, Grace asked, “Is it okay if I stamp my cheek?” I said, “Sure.” I didn’t realize that she actually meant, “Is it okay if I stamp my entire face and my neck?” Next time I’ll be sure to ask more questions before I agree to something.

  • Balancing act

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    As you can see, Tess remains a willing participant in Grace’s shenanigans. She loves the attention from her big sister, and Grace loves having a playmate who lets her get away with just about anything – and that’s good because Grace has some creative ideas!

  • Badges of honor

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    Apparently, the possibilities of fun with scotch tape are endless (who knew?). The other day, Grace made “badges” for all of us out of pipe cleaners and the ever-useful tape. I even proudly wore mine to swim class, and I’ve started a special collection of “jewelry by Grace.” These pieces could be worth big money some day when Grace becomes a famous accessories designer (although hopefully by then she will have graduated to safety pins)!

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