Thursday the 1st Nina had an excellent first visit to the dentist with Jill. She sat in the chair all by herself and opened her mouth “wide like an alligator” for polishing/brushing, flossing, and counting of teeth with the pointy stick. Friday I took Nina to Friday Night Live! with Love Seed Mama Jump and she got to run around with all the other kids.
Saturday we saw Snakehead Run at the Farmer’s Market at Lake Anne Plaza. Felix and his mom were there, and the kids had a great time playing with the instruments that had been set out. That night she was very excited to sleep in her big girl bed. My mom gave us some doll beds her grandfather made and in a weird coincidence (since I hadn’t unpacked them ’til that night), the beds are nearly identical to the new one I built her.
Wednesday the 7th I went to Nina’s medal ceremony at gymnastics, then we had lunch at Wendy’s. Nina finally ate her first burger – guess I just have to get the patties as thin as Wendy’s does. Thursday Nina and I watched the “Pyramid of Light” art installation being assembled on the drain on Lake Thoreau.
Saturday the 10th we were at Frying Pan Park for Annabelle’s birthday party and narrowly averted the rain. Running around, playing with balloons and riding the carousel were all fun, although Nina got her first sunburn (ran low on sunscreen and she got some coloring on her shoulders). For Mother’s Day Nina had her first trip in a kayak, then my mom came over and we had dinner at Tequila Grande.
Saturday May 16th Jill headed to Tennessee for a knitting retreat. It’s the second time I’ve been the single parent for the weekend, so I thought “What’s the harm” when we went to Felix’s house for dinner and didn’t eat ’til 8. The harm was a total meltdown at bedtime, timeouts for both of us, and a final bedtime of 10:45. Sunday was a little better – we went to the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival where she did some art, we got some food and she picked out a toy for bathtime at Dawn Price Baby (a boat), but she peed in her seat on the way to the nearby playground. After I finally got her down for a nap and cleaned up her car seat, I needed to add two fingers of Jameson’s to my Coke Zero. Later she loved her new Supergirl costume, and insisted on keeping it on the rest of the afternoon.
Tuesday the 20th Nina figured out how to climb a chain link fence – hide all your valuables. Thursday night after bathtime, Nina was walking around bow legged wearing nothing but a medal stretched around her legs. I asked her what she was doing and she told me she was a dragon. I told her she was the scariest dragon I’d ever seen.
Monday the 26th we had the Larsens and Norwoods over for Memorial Day and had everyone out on the floating dock after hamburgers and hot dogs. Thursday morning I dropped off my car for service at the new Honda dealership close to my office. They sent a shuttle to pick me up when it was done, and I went downstairs when they called to tell me they were waiting. But no one was there. I called them, and it turns out they sent the driver to my house instead. I wondered if he’ll transport a 2 year old…
Friday the 30th was the only night we could make it to the Herndon Festival, but Nina and I had fun dancing to the BoDeans with friends the Jewells, Lorna and Dave and Susan. The next day was the start of our vacation, a long flight out to Portland and room service after the train to our hotel (the DoubleTree).
