100

Today marked the first 100 degree day of the year. Sadly, there will be many more to come. months and months of them.

I went swimming with my dad to celebrate.

the preschool saga continues

My parents have been touring private schools over the past six+ months. There may be no preschool spaces available anywhere until 2029 or so - at which time I will be 20 years old.

My mom visited another school today and, good news, they have space available. The bad news: the school is not fit for children. My mom reported one bad thing after another. Someone should have warned this school that my mom turned the last one down because they didn't have papertowels, or anything for that matter, in the bathroom to dry your hands after washing up.

First off, the school administrator took my mom into the classroom during circle time. It seemed nice enough but the teacher had a cell phone on the floor beside her. The teacher also immediately disrupted circle time to focus on the tour. The children were promptly dismissed to play outside mostly unattended.

In the classroom, my mom noticed that the shelves had very few of the traditional Montessori materials. Instead, there were plastic toys of various sorts; Etch-a-Sketch has its rightful place but it does not belong in the classroom. The teacher tried to explain the sandpaper letters but did not know much about them.

In the snack area, there was a microwave. (I do not eat microwaved food.) There was a piece of cheese on the floor that had dried up and curled. The students wash their own dishes (good) but the teachers rewash them (bad, because this tells the students they didn't do a good enough job).

The bathroom area smelled like urine and didn't have child-sized toilets.

The worst offense: there was a stack of DVDs in the reception area. Do they allow television at the school? My mom requires that my school have a strict media policy.

The school brags about feeding the children only healthy snacks but the kids were eating Chex Mix by the bucket.

There is a pet tarantula in the classroom. I like spiders and would not be afraid of this one but there is nothing to stop me from popping the lid off the tank and away we go.

The list of bad things goes on and on and on.

What was good about the school:

The children seemed happy.

They do yoga daily.

A goat and a pig live on campus and the students care for them.

Enid.

Most people still comment on what a beautiful girl I am. When my mom was at the school, she met a little girl named Enid; she looked exactly like me. Enid followed my mom all during the tour and was quite cuddly.

sandbox

This is me playing in my new sandbox. It provides hours of entertainment. We also have to sweep lots of sand out of the house (more hours of entertainment). I have my own broom and I like to help.

You might wonder why I am wearing pants. Our mornings and evenings have been mercifully cool. By cool, I mean not in the 90s. Some mornings are even in the 70s.

Shark vs. Train

Early in the week, my mom's friend went to a booksigning and got me a signed copy of Shark vs. Train. (The inscription from the author reads "To Atticus, I am rooting for you.") I have been enjoying the story immensely (all day every day) and there is so much to look at and talk about on each page. I favor the shark because it looks like he is crying on most of the pages. Also, he can eat more pie than the train. just like me. And he likes to swim. just like me.

In trying to be better about keeping with Martha Stewart's 10-day rule, my mom asked me to promptly write my thank you card the very day I got my new book. You can see that I tasted my magenta marker after I finished my card.

Here's the real top 10 list. Thank you Kirk Watson:

1. Throw away the labels.
2. Speak plainly and listen carefully.
3. You are not going to meet everyone's concept of perfection. (remember the 84% rule - Senator Watson won with 84% of the vote - that means 16% voted otherwise.)
4. Be biased toward action. There is value in failure but do not be paralyzed by it.
5. Never forget that hope matters.
6. Have a short-term focus with a long-term vision.
7. Know your core values and what your greatest assets are. Be willing to admit weakness.
8. Avoid nit-pickers, naysayers and know-it-alls.
9. Create new constituencies and avoid creating new enemies.
10. Find and focus on the positive. Focus on the power.
10.5... Enjoy what you are doing.

Good thing my dad took notes.

graduation

On Thursday evening, we attended my dad's graduation ceremony. Here are two photos of me and my dad afterward. Wow did I ever look handsome. At the end of the evening, I concluded that it was more challenging for me to sit patiently through the ceremony than it was for my dad to finish his degree.

First off, my mom had to park approximately two miles away from the venue - and she carried me all of the way there because normally they don't allow strollers. You can imagine our dismay when everyone else brought a stroller and parked it in the lobby. The one good thing was that we had a vicious thunderstorm earlier that day so it cooled off to the mid 80s . . . the perfect temperature for carrying 25+ pounds of toddler for two miles!

When we arrived and tried to get seated, I cried and cried and cried that it was too loud. So we ran around outside for a while. We went back inside just in time to listen to the beginning and only the beginning of the beloved Senator Kirk Watson's speech. He offered the graduates a top-ten list of good advice. Since I missed it, my own list is below.

10) Do not watch television.

9) Feed/watch the birds.

8) Visit with your neighbors.

7) Go to yoga class.

6) Drink plenty of water.

5) Read for at least one hour each day.

4) Play outside every minute of the day (when not reading).

3) Eat veggies with every meal.

2) Only eat organic fruits and veggies.

1) Wash your hands frequently.

For the rest of the evening, I pretty much just ran around and played with other bored/restless babies and toddlers until just before it was time for my dad's name to get called.

The ceremony ended at 10:00pm. I fell asleep on the way home but then stayed up most of the night because I was starving; I wasn't interested in dinner before I left and I didn't eat the picnic my mom packed for me.

23 months!?!?

Here is me on my 23rd birthday. (Photo courtesy of PhotoBooth.) It was a mostly unremarkable day. Weather was mild. I played outside. I ate the usual snacks. I am still gorgeous.

Put on your dancing shoes and get ready to celebrate my 2nd birthday. I have already picked out my cake even though I am more of a pie and ice cream kind of guy.

my first taste of hummus

On Friday, my mom served me hummus for the first time. It is a good healthy snack that is high in protein and iron. She supposed that I would like hummus but she has never quite recovered from her pregnancy-induced aversion to the smell of garlic.

I was supposed to eat my hummus with crackers but I thought it was so yummy that I asked for a spoon so I could just scoop it right into my mouth. My mom's explanation that hummus isn't a spoon food forced me to use my fingers. Then I got a spoon!

16 flavors

Since I did not start on solid foods until just before my first birthday, I skipped the whole baby food phase. (We would have made our own baby food anyhow.) However, I have recently become addicted to the HAPPYBABY banana, beet, and blueberry pouches. I call them "flavors" because sometimes my dad will go grocery shopping and think he is doing me a huge favor by buying another variety. I only like the one flavor.

A tragedy occurred recently when the entire world was sold out of my flavors. My mom even has two cases on back order. (By the way, if you furrow your eyebrows just right, I know to say "tragic" and "tragedy." According to the baby books, being able to read facial expressions is yet another clue to my advanced intelligence.)

So, the flavors. Sold out everywhere.

We had to stop at Target on Wednesday to buy California Baby bubble bath for colds and flu because I suddenly got sick. UGH! But my flavors were in stock so we bought them all. 16 pouches!

This is a photo of me on Wednesday night enjoying my bubble bath.

Tuesday

On Tuesday, we woke up to a lovely cool morning. After a yummy breakfast of smoothies, peas, carrots, and cereals, we went outside to wait for my friend Luka to arrive. I was able to wear my yellow jacket one last time. Even though I would prefer to spend every second of the day outside, Luka and I both wanted to play inside. We ate a lot of crackers . . . almost half of a box.

Luka left. And I napped for three hours.

After nap, we went to the playground to enjoy what is really going to be the last tolerable day until at least October. Now when we think back to that morning we went to the playground and complained that it was 82 degrees, it seems stupidly silly. 82 degrees is cool and comfortable now!

The first photo is me listening to music at the playground. We discovered that a well-timed visit to the playground will get you a front-row seat to the soundcheck of whatever band happens to be playing at the Backyard that night. That day it was Arcade Fire. I don't listen to them but they are popular (and Canadian) and they have really big trucks and trailers and buses.

friends

Sadie, otherwise known as the meanest cat in the world, finally made a friend! They sit together for hours each day and stare out the window. oh, to be a kitty.

what a difference a day (or two) makes

We have been suffering through freakishly hot spring weather. Most days, like Saturday, have been in the mid 90s. This means our summer will be miserable. But I have already lived through the hottest Texas summer on record.

Yesterday afternoon, we welcomed an unexpected cold front. The temperature did not even get above 60 today.

The first photo is of me on Saturday helping my dad water the back lawn. I know we should not be wasting water when we are already in an alarm-stage drought and the entire state is on fire. It does no good to water anyhow. I did help myself to a shower.

The second photo is me this evening frolicking in my yard after a delicious dinner of lasagna. My mom was so excited that I finally got to wear my yellow jacket; sadly, it is probably the only time I will ever get to wear it since it will no longer fit once the cool weather is here to stay in November.

We expect another nice day tomorrow with temperatures only reaching the mid 70s. We plan to spend the entire day, from sun up to sun down, in the yard.

My mom also taught me to say "nice temperature" yesterday. That phrase will have very limited use here.