Raindrops on roses...

As much as I may complain (maybe not on the blog, but at least to my poor mother) about how tough these toddler times are right now (really? can she really push my buttons that much??) Stella, when she's happy, is a joy. I need to learn a few lessons from the way she interacts with the world around her. Gusto. That's the best word to describe it. Gusto.

Some of her favorite things right now...

- reading. Sitting and reading books - and longer books too. Overnight it seemed we went from Miss Itchy pants if the book was longer than 5 minutes to long stories. Thank goodness for the local library because I was getting pretty sick of the pile that we have, even though my mother keeps us well stocked in the book department. (I am going to feel bad if and when my brother ever has kids because Stella sure has gotten quite a few of Mrs. Z's awesome kindergarten books).

- spinning. You know - spinning until you start to walk fun and might just fall down? Spinning is pretty fun this house right now.

- singing. Everything is a song  - I can't understand the words, but Stella sure likes singing. (see below post and the "ode to pizza dough" she does in the middle). My mother kept doing the hand motions to Wheels on the Bus and Monkeys on the bed while she was here, and now those are standbys. She rolls her arms around in a circle and it usually means I had better start singing Wheels on the Bus or there might be trouble. (Did you know that there was a verse, compliments of Steve, that starts with "the oil pump on the bus goes squirt, squirt, squirt.." Nope, I didn't either, but now it's part of our song).

- cooking and dishes. Stella has gotten pretty bossy in the kitchen, actually. She demanded to be taught how to crack eggs for a cake I made this weekend and she did pretty good, actually. In fact, whenver I go to even cut cheese, she grabs for the stool that she stands on to "help" and gets pissy if i don't let her up to see what's going on. After we cook, I can always get her to help me with the dishes, which usually involves her filling up clean cups, measuring spoons, and the like with the dishwater and either actually pouring it back in the sink, or down the front of her shirt. But hey, that's better than playing in the dog's water bowl, which is a close second to doing the dishes. Maybe she'll be a marine biologist? Or a deep sea diver...

- school. Literally, she's been there 3 times now and she's so excited about going. She squealed in utter delight when we rolled into the parking lot. I think she also enjoys carrying her own lunch box. She thinks that's pretty darn cool.

- hikes. If she could say "outside" yet, i think it might be her favorite word. Instead, she grabs at the front door handle with all of her might, hoping she can twist it enough to get it open. This week we hunted for frogs in the woods, played in tide pools at the beach, and watched the gophers shove their cheeks with grass at the dog park. (A big favorite). Steve was able to snap this rare photo of us (rare, because I"m usually behind the camera) in the fading sunset outside the butterfly preserve. I can't complain though. In fact, I guess I'm pretty lucky to have such an adventurous little girl.