My Prince Charming

Tonight Paige saw a couple on TV getting married. She said "I want a prince." Kate said "they're getting married" Paige said "I want to marry a prince." I said "I did". She said "Where is he?" I replied "at the church. It's your daddy" She said "daddy is a prince?" in a dreamy thoughtful tone.

Another funny story about Paige was recently on the way to school so mentioned that there was a hole in her jeans. I quickly looked in the rear view mirror and said "don't put your finger in it, it will get bigger." She said "really? like mommy's or daddy's?" (No, Paige, your finger is not going to get bigger! But as my friend Samantha pointed out, she was just chastising me on my improper English)

Some of the funny things Paige says are:
skin milk, hook instead of hood, Qwinkle, qwinkle, little star, cocky milk, hangermer instead of hambuger, grink instead of drink, Old McDonalds, and my favorite Barbie got Tom instead of Barbie.com!

Paige at the pinewood derby.

One of my favorite things that Paige does is she is always paying me compliments, like "you are so cute and pretty Mom". And she'll want to smell me and tell me how good I smell. She used to be in the habit of licking as a sign of affection, luckily that went by the wayside! (I don't have pets for a reason!) Yesterday she came in the bathroom and said "it smells like curls" I had just been using the hairspray.

Paige surprised us in the fall, just after her third birthday by retelling (reading/memorizing) the book "Go, Dog, Go" It's over 60 pages and she can do it almost verbatim. It wasn't even her favorite book; she hadn't heard it very many times.

Ok, last one! A few monthes ago, out of the blue she said "When I was a monster I lived in a village." What has she been watching/listening to?

3 year olds are so adorable

I love having a 3 year old at our house, Paige says the cutest things as she is trying to figure the world out.

One of the un-cute things she said this week was during a walk with Bradley to the mailbox when she called our neighbor 'fat', Bradley was mortified.

Last week I tried to pass shrimp off as chicken. When I coaxed her to eat it she said "No, that chicken looks like a worm!" I could kind of see her point, so I didn't push it after that.

One night Rick and I were trying to discuss something with the kids around. Years ago we were able to just spell things out, but this time we tried Spanish. That is...what little I can remember from two years of high school Spanish and Rick's Portugesish Spanish. It wasn't much of a conversation, but Paige noticed it was different because she said "what are those weirwd words?"

She often asked me about people she sees that don't fit into sterotypical gender looks for example "why does that man have long hair? or why does that girl have boy hair?, or is that a boy or a girl?

She loves to go to school and primary. If you ask her what day she goes to school she'll tell you Tuewednesday.

Recently she has discovered two new toys that she loves playing with...the leapster that we got when the boys were little and puzzles. She's put the same ones together over and over all by herself (25 pieces).

She is always telling Kate "my (she refers to herself as my) am bigger than you." Kate really is bigger, but not by too much. She is about 3" taller and 4-5# heavier. Paige is the same size Kate was at 5 years old (Paige is 3 1/2).

New Bed!

Well, it was before I was hoping, but sure enough we had some crib hopping. Last week Paige started showing up downstairs about 5 min after we put her down for a nap. After interrogating each family member, in hopes that she really hadn't done it, I finally had her show me how she got out. Yes, unaided, except by a pillow to stand on. So, we had our last night of reading stories in our favorite glider rocker....

and then reluctantly sold it the next day on craiglist. Also got a twin mattress on craiglist. And wa la, Paige got a new room. (We had the bed and bedding in storage). The furniture was mine and also my Mom's when she was young.

Here's her version...

Paige's Playset Venture

At 19 months Paige decided it was time to take on the playset. Clad in her new crocs (that by the way, she will not take off even for naps) she made it up safely.

Down she went...again and again and again and again.. I think we'll be doing this until October.

She's gotten a lot of what she LOVES lately, outdoor time. Thanks for enjoying all those many, many baseball games. In fact, she likes them so much I can't get her in the house when we get home. She sits down on the front steps and pats her little hand so I'll sit down next to her. So cute.

Luckily, being the youngest fan she gets lots of attention from the other moms. She has no problem making new friends and they help entertain her and keep an eye on her. Helpful since the games go for over 2 hours sometimes. I think I'll actually miss going to them as the weather gets nicer. It's a great way to relax outside while the kids play, with something to watch (as well as chatting with other fans/friends).

Paige LOVES....

to try on everyone's shoes (this is her favorite pair, Kate's friend Susie's boots).

to help mommy (stirring eggs; an act of bravery on my part!)

to eat by herself using utensils. Actually the ONLY way she will eat.

to wear bows in her hair. Oh wait, maybe that's my favorite thing. This is her new hairstyle. Everyone has been commenting how grown-up she looks.

to dance to music. She is very proud when she turns on the IPOD all by herself.

to get her own snacks. Pouring a bowl of her favorite cereal, Oatmeal Squares.

to sit in the fridge and turn off the light.

to do everything Mom and Dad do. We had just finished fixing this cabinet when she found a tool and started imitating.

to PLAY!

to go outside. She wants to walk or go on stroller rides at all hours and in any weather. Let's go Mom!

to be Mommy's little helper......and oh what help it is! We love you, Paige.

Not for the Squeemish

Rick said "I took one for the team tonight." after Paige threw-up all over him! Oh the joys of sick children. We've done much laundry, carpet cleaning, medicating, holding.... Rick was later quoted saying "it actually felt pretty good at first, being warm and all."?????

Sick kids are so nice and cuddly though. The silver lining of sickness I guess.

Paige Walks

She's official. We have a walking near accident on our hands at all moments. She has two big bruises on her head already. But it's cute watching her toddle around the house collecting things in her purses or stroller.

Tall Enough?

Those who know our family realize that there is not a lot of height going around. Well, Paige seems to have gotten it all. At her one year old check-up she is still "off the charts for height." (99th%, and dropping to 87% for weight). But apparently it's not enough. The lower drawers are not sufficient to subside her curiosity, she has to get on her tippy toes to explore the top drawer. No reason to start organizing now, they get rearranged everyday!

First Birthday Favorites

I love first birthdays! Even though Paige will never remember it, it was so much fun. I made her a crown cake.

We took a few moments to relax before the Hatch's, my mom, and Jeff came over for soup and salad. She was so excited and didn't even know what was coming.
First she played 'Pat-A-Cake' on her cake.
Then she tasted it realized how fun this really was (but I couldn't keep everyone else away from getting a slice).

After a while so went straight for a lick. She just sucked on it! It was adorable.

There was no shortage of help opening the gifts. She got a stroller walker from Grandma and LOVED it. It was 1 1/2 hours past her bedtime but she wouldn't stop walking with it back and forth across the family room dozens of times. And she wouldn't let anyone near it or she would start squalking.

She has been in heaven with her new found upward mobile freedom since. It only took a few days; now she can turn and maneuvere that thing all over the downstairs enhancing her ability to discover all sorts of new things (yeah for me!).

Happy 1st Birthday Paige. I love first birthdays and I love you. What a sweetie.

New Tricks

I thought I had outsmarted Paige when I contained her in the bathtub while I showered. It didn't take more than the second time before she figured out the water.Slurp, slurp, yum, yum...

Look how she thinks she is! And by the third time she turned the faucet on and drenched herself.Paige is also helpful with laundry,

and baking,

and my favorite....the dishes!

Paige on the Move

Paige looks cute and innocent in this picture, but don't let that fool you, she's become quite a troublemaker!

She learned how to crawl (about a week before she turned 10 months) and she headed straight for the drawers. She also learned how to play peek-a-boo with a blanket, clap her hands for patty-cake, and pull up to standing.

It's Trouble with a capital T. But yet so cute.

And just after having a conversation today with a friend about using tablets instead of granulated dishwasher detergent, who was scooping out my detergent onto the floor tonight?? Guess I'll be buying tablets this week =-)

San Antonio and Sunshine

I can't complain about the gorgeous weather in Seattle lately, but I loved the heat of Texas. Tyson, Paige and I spent a week in sunny San Antonio. We missed having the rest of the family, but we just couldn't afford to take everyone.My brother's graduation turned into a family reunion on my dad's side of the family because he has a sister, Rosie, that lives there. Her two children also live there. My Aunt Kay joined us from Chicago, as well as my dad's brother Greg and his wife Ginny and their daughter Amy and family from Colorado. It was the first get together of it's kind. It was amazing to 'meet' these cousins because I have only met them once 20-25 years ago. The beautiful Japanese Gardens. Paige was more interested in the waterfall than posing for the picture.

El Mercado/The Market. A great place to buy souvenirs and enjoy Mexican eats and treats.

A hike we took, which was plan B since we decided not to go to Shlitterbaun (largest water park in the country), due to a 60% chance of thunderstorms. Didn't see a single cloud all day =-(. It had been thunder storming everyday.

An awesome collection of cacti at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens.

The Riverwalk from our boat tour. A lovely place, wish we could have spent more time there.

And the best part of all... the amusement parks. We did Six Flags first. They had a great collection of rollar coasters. My parents took Paige for the day, so Tyson and I along with Jeff and the Hatches did ride after ride.

The next day was Sea World. Even Paige got to go on a ride. We saw all the big shows and actually my favorite roller coasters were there. There were very few lines at either place so we got to go on rides over and over again without even getting off!

Jeff knew one of the dolphin trainers so we went and talked to her after the show. She took us behind the scenes and gave us a private tour, it was great.

Oh, and Jeff graduated! Congrats. We're proud of you.

We stayed with Jeff, and he drove us around. With free plane tickets we managed to do a week trip for around $200!