My Little Swimmer

Finally, finally, Selby has taken to the water. And she won't get out. She is loving the pool these days now that she's gotten the hang of being underwater -- and swimming a little bit. She can jump in and swim to me, or the edge. She's got the beginning of a crawl stroke going. She even jumped off the low diving board at Skyline! It's really great for her, and for my anxieties over her falling into a pool. This is the beginning of great things! Here she is on the low dive.

Also, some other fun summer photos of her at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science at the Pirates exhibit and dressed as Spinach (cute, but don't ask), and with her friend Sophia wearing matching bathing suits.

Happy Birthday Grandma and Tom!

Daddy's Little Girl

Selby is so funny. Really, she makes us laugh every day. For Father's Day, I bought this make-your-own mug from Michael's. Selby colored in "I Love You Dad!" and then we inserted it in the mug and covered it with a plastic shell. She called Tom into her room the night before Father's Day to tell him that she made him a mug but it was a surprise and he couldn't see it, as she held it up to him. She then slept with it to protect it. The next day we made him a card and she had me spell out what she wanted to say "You're the Greatest! I Love You! Happy Father's Day" Well, that's not really funny but it's really adorable.

The day before Father's Day we went to the Highland's Street Fair where she played with our friend's two-year-old daughter for most of the afternoon before hitting the kids play area. I was very surprised that she wanted to do the trampoline/bungee thing. We waited in line for about an hour (or what seemed like an hour) while we watched kids jump and somersault. She was completely entertained watching and had no fear about jumping herself. Of course as soon as it was her turn, she realized she had to go potty. But after a bathroom visit, she got strapped in and not only bounced but continually somersaulted! Well worth the $6 and hour wait, pretty much.

Sisters from a Different Mister

Talya and Selby look so much alike, I kept getting them confused. Granted Tayla is smaller, but she's also wearing Selby's old dress. Having fun at Sheri's 50th this weekend.

The Graduate

Strangely enough, I didn't tear up at Selby's pre-k graduation. I smiled a lot and felt immense joy, but was not vaklempt. It did make me think, though, that I vaguely remember my pre-k, or nursery school (at is it was called back in the day) graduation. I remember sitting in a tiny chair with a little cap on. Johnny Biener was there. Jill Katz, too. It's really just a fleeting snippet of a memory, but it might have been my earliest one. So that means that the events in Selby's life going forward from now on might serve as her earliest memories. I guess Tom and I better not screw up from here on.

I just looked at my Hooks Lane Nursery School photo that someone posted on Facebook and remember most of those kids. Although I don't keep in touch with any of them, I do keep up with some of them via their parents or other mutual friends.

Who of the children in Selby's class will she still keep in touch with in grade school, high school and beyond? Here are some photos from her graduation and last day of school, and a group shot of my nursery school class. Try to find me.

Encore, Encore!

The International Bash encore performance.

International Bash

Selby and her class performed a ballet number at her school's annual International Bash. You know you're a parent when you get such great joy at watching your child lamely perform a choreographed dance number. After the performance, Selby and some of her friends did an encore. Of course she wore that tutu all day and then later that night at a Crawfish Party. I had to pry the filthy thing from her smelly body.

Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain

Friday night, tired and not in the mood to go out, Selby and I had a girls night in. We watched one of my all time favorite movies, The Wizard of Oz. I pretty much never watch movies with Selby at home because her movie time is my free time, but on Friday I asked her "Do you know why I'm going to watch this movie with you?" Selby: "Because you're so tired?" Me: "No, because it's one of my favorite movies!" But Tom was working that night and she wasn't that far off. It was really a pleasure to share this cinema moment with her. The next morning when I went in her room, she pretended to be asleep, but was muttering "There's no place like home," with smirk on her face. It made me smile. I can't explain the feeling it brought me to watch this classic with her. It was very similar to the first time we listed to the CD Free to Be You and Me. Can't wait to watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with her (the original, of course)!

The Little Giver

First I want to talk about how much fun I'm having doing arts and craft projects with Selby. It's this whole new side of me that I never knew existed. I've always been a lover of books and theater, but now Selby is bringing out my inner creative artist. Probably the fact that she loves painting and crafting makes me like it more, but it does feel good to create things. We've made mobiles, magnetic picture frames, rings, necklaces, etc. I actually get excited about going to Michael's Craft Store.

Secondly, I want to talk about how amazingly generous Selby is. I don't know where she gets this from but she always (ALWAYS) wants to give her friends and others presents. When she makes something, her first thought is who to give it to. We were making a treasure box out of popsicle sticks the other day and after spending quite a bit of time on it, she immediately wanted to give it to her teachers. Then she started drawing and putting stickers and sparkles on extra sticks and wanted to give them to all the girls in her class. Well, actually she wanted to give a few sticks to her favorite friends but I explained that if we gave it to one or two girls we'd have to give it to all of them. How would she feel if she didn't get a present from Lily but Bela did? She understood immediately and decorated more sticks. I decided they were bookmarks (a better present, I think, than just fancy sticks) and she happily wrote her name and each girl in her class's name on them and we gave them out the next day.

Unrelated to the above, here she is in her beautiful flower dress in our beautiful garden this weekend and one of us at a BBQ.

Makes me smile.

Selby and Snakes and Lizards -- Oh My!

We went to the annual JCC Family Festival yesterday and had a ball and stayed, as usual, until the very end. We saw our friends Eric and Ari, Nancy and Emmett, Rich and Alexandra/William and a few other old BMH friends. We did face painting, animal petting, rocket firing, jumpy castle jumping, train riding and bagel and cream cheese eating (three mini ones!). But the most amazing thing was the snake and iguana petting. Selby was a bit too comfortable petting and squeezing and teasing the gigantic boa constrictor. And then when it came to the giant lizards, she kept cradling them as if they were here dolls. I had to put my foot down when she started kissing the the blue-tongue that was darting in and out of the lizard. Not only was she holding them like a baby (as her dad instructed her to do earlier in the day) but she was giving all the other kids instructions and lessons on holding it, as if she worked for the animal handler. It would've been hilarious if it weren't so disgusting.

Father Daughter Dance: The Money Shots

Shall We Dance?

Last night was the annual DMIS Father Daughter Dance. I admit I was a little jealous. How fun to get dressed up and go dancing with Selby and all the other DMIS moms? I did get some good photos. Unfortunately, the ones below are not them. The good ones are on Tom's camera, which means there's a good chance no one will ever see them again. These are from my iPhone, and they'll do the trick for now.

Unrelated to the Father/Daughter Dance ... Selby brought up the subject of death (as she would say: for real). It went something like this:

Selby: I'm little so I'm not going to die for a VERY long time.
Me: This is true.
Selby: Ammy is old. She's going to die before me.
Me: Yes, Ammy is older than you but I don't think she's going to die for a long time.
Selby: Good.

And then one last Selby nugget. After dinner the other night: "Mommy, I like dessert." Me: "No shit." Kidding, I didn't really say that. But I thought it.

Mama's Day

Before I describe our great mother's day, I have to brag about Selby grasping a concept about age. We were in the car talking about Emerson's birthday...

Selby: He's going to be 5 or 6, right?
Me: He'll be 5
Selby: So he's older than me, right? Because I'm going to be 4 1/2?
Me: Yes
Selby: So, when you had a baby in your belly, Emerson was already born, right?
Me: That's right! You are so smart!

It's a simple concept, but pretty cool that she put it together, right?

Mother's day was great, as expected. Brunch at the Kirk's, prepared by David, to order. Flowers from Tom and a bunch of gifts and cards from Selby. She sort of piled them in front of me in the middle of breakfast and then told me I couldn't open them until everyone was finished eating. Breakfast was followed by swimming with family and then a hike and dinner with Amy. I've said it before but I'll say it again...I really think Mother's Day needs to be more of a week.

Here's princess Selby from the Steele Street School Fair this weekend.

New York, New York

We just returned from a great trip to New York. My mom had Selby to herself for three full days while I attended a journalism conference and did NYC things, like go to the Museum of Modern Art, "do" coffee, and meet friends for dinner. Selby was a natural city girl, riding in cabs, buses and subways and walking the streets of New York. In the subway, she only wanted to hold the pole, and not sit, for some reason -- and then wave and smile to Grandma who was sitting down. She LOVED spending time with her cousins. We were lucky enough to be in town for Sophie's third birthday. She also got to play with Izzie, Jaime and Alexa. Unfortunately, we missed Eric and the other brood of cousins but we're looking forward to seeing them over the summer. Waiting for photos from Grandma since my camera didn't work, but here's a subway and bus stop shot. She's like the happiest public transportation rider ever.

My Intention for the Week/Year

I was reading Meagan Francis's blog The Happiest Mom about setting a parenting intention for the week. She talked about how most of us have the best intentions when it comes to our kids, but sometimes life just gets in the way. She suggested that we all set a simple intention for the week involving being a better parent, or at least that's how I interpreted it. I loved her post because I think just setting one intention for the week helps with mommy guilt overload -- read more, cook healthier food, swim more, bike more, hike more, etc. I'm exhausted just thinking about all the things I should do, but don't do enough. So, right here and now -- my intention for this week, and hopefully one that will last for years -- is to get back to writing regularly in this blog (at least once a week). There I said it. Now I need to stick with it!

So that was my intention and here is the latest Selby news. Where to begin? I'll start with her newish habit of singing, and sometimes dancing, loudly and often alone. She often sings to herself in bed, in the car, in the living room, etc. Sometimes the songs (all Selby originals) are in English, sometimes in Spanish, and often in Spanglish. She is adorable but, I'll admit, not a very good singer. I can't really attest to her songwriting prowess because I'm either laughing too hard, or I just don't understand what she's saying. Check out my little American Idol wannabe.