the girl
Chimney Rock, Take 201
Last Sunday we went to Chimney Rock.
Again...
When Dziadek was planning his trip, he'd looked through all the pictures of where we'd been with J (and where she'd bought spoons...) and decided that, having saved up some money, informed us that he wanted to go on one "real" outing, and the rest could be "little spoons." (It sounds better in Polish.) So he came with plans to go on one big trip and instructions to bring home spoons from everywhere he'd been.
Chimney Rock was our first "little spoon."
"Mamus juz tu byla?" he asked.
"Yes, she's been here," we responded.
"Nie musimy kupic lyzeczka, co?"
"No, we don't have to buy her a spoon."
Scrape
Few things hurt as much as a sunburned nose -- a really sunburned nose -- so I can only imagine how L must have felt.
It looked worse the next day.
First Wound
Bumps, scrapes, and scratches -- part of growing up. We tell ourselves, "It's going to happen. She's going to hit her head hard and a knot will rise on the spot, or she'll slip and skin her knee," and we think we're prepared.
Yet when it actually happens, it's something entirely different. For the first second.
In the grass field where everyone parks before catching the bus up to the chimney part of Chimney Rock Park, L was walking, then running, then falling and -- it all flashed before everyone's eyes -- stumbling, falling, and planting her face squarely on a patch of dusty ground.
The results were predictable: instant hysterics, jerky motions, and panic -- and that was mom. L was in a state of screaming that we've never heard.
"Water! Water! Put some water on that rag and give it to me! Quickly!" In Polish, from a panicked mother.
The tears passed quickly enough, but the consequences will hang around for a few days:
Once the girl stopped crying and everyone calmed down, K said, "Don't worry, L. It's just your first scraped nose." Dziadek and I added, almost simultaneously, "And it won't be your last."
Another Sunday in the Park
We went back to Cleveland Park this weekend, with the intention of going to the G'ville zoo. We arrived at 4:00 to find it closes at 4:30 -- an odd time to close a zoo.
Instead, we walked through the park and made our way over to Falls Park.
On the way back, we stopped to swing and play in the sand:
More pictures you-know-where.
Faces and Acrobatics
The Girl makes some of the funniest faces sometimes. This was last week at Reedy River Park.
Shortly after this, she took a tumble.
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The Girl, in Jeans
I’m Ready For My Close-up…
New Family Member
"We need to get a dog. L is growing fast and we should teacher her that she's not the center of the universe," said K. Or something like that.
"Dog equals lots of work and time training, lots of money getting some sort of barrier device installed, lots of time cleaning up accidents, lots of barking, lots of walking at inopportune times, lots of 'lots' we don't have lots of," I responded, only not nearly so cleverly.
We agreed on something of a compromise:
Meet Yet-Unamed.
He's a three-year-old abandoned sweetie who's obviously been around a lot of children: he's as patient with L as any parent could want. Sure, he has his limits -- then he just gets up and walks off...
3/4 of a Year
L turned nine months today. We spent a few moments watching videos of when she was learning to sit and learning to crawl; now, she moves rather quickly, not to mention enjoying things that were impossible a few months ago:
We spent the afternoon wandering around Cleveland Park, and as sometimes happens, I'm in some of the pictures.
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More pictures are at our Flickr account.