Baby at 28 Weeks

Trip to Page Farm

Lara and I really enjoy going to Page Farm for strawberry picking.  They have cows, baby goats, a huge tube slide propped up on hay bales, and the most fun tire swings!  Lara has been in a big-time Daddy mood lately - I took her to the farm last week, and she kept asking when Daddy could come with us.  So on his day off Flynn came with us and spent the morning with his two (3, I guess, since Baby counts!) girls.  Lara's favorite part was going down the tube slide with him.  I'd (briefly) thought about taking her when we went by ourselves - but decided that climbing up hay bales in my 3rd trimester wasn't the most brilliant plan.  So they did the slide together a bunch, and Lara was quite proud of herself for being so brave.

Lara's 3rd BUG-day Party

So this is a lengthy post, but I'm not going to apologize - my girl's 3rd birthday party only comes around once, right?!  Lara still has almost a month before she turns 3, but we decided to throw her party early this year, since I'm not sure I'll be feeling up to it in another month (seriously feeling pregnant these days...but that's another story!).  I asked her what kind of party she wanted to have, and she immediately replied "stinkbug party"....She wants to be a bug scientist when she grows up and knows the names of more beetles than most adults.  That's my girl.  Anyway, the birthday girl gets her way, so a bug party it was (minus actual stinkbugs - I think our guests were probably grateful).

Lara's Menu: Butterfly Pasta, Ants on a Log, Butterfly Fruit, Roly Polys (m & m's), Worms in the Dirt, Stick Insects (stick pretzels), and A Very Hungry Caterpillar Cake...plus the actual food of hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans, and some pretty incredible pork fried rice, made by our friend Ruth Ann.  Yum!

A glimpse at the party chaos...taking pictures with the cake, singing, etc...so fun!

Lara's First Dance Recital

Here's the video and pictures from last week's dance recital.  Lara had THE BEST time.  It was kind of a big time commitment, but by the end I was so glad we did it!  My two favorite moments of the night are captured in the first two videos...The first is the grand finale tap dance with all the classes together.  At one point, Lara broke away from the other girls and started stomping around off to the side.  I guess she got carried away by the music, and wanted to do some interpretive dancing on her own=)  Then at the end, all the girls went on stage to bow and wave, and Lara started jumping around like crazy during her teacher's speech.  Not sure how much promise my girl shows as a ballerina...but she is definitely great at getting the audience's attention!

Waiting with the other ballerinas to go on stage.  She was totally enthralled by the "pink girls" - the older class that's standing in the back.  She kept trying to talk to them, and asked me, "Mommy, are those REAL ballerinas?"  It was pretty cute that she was so starstruck, since that class is only a few years older than her!

The Itsy Bitsy Spider dance, with her class.

Interpretive dancing off in the corner.  We were so proud.

Waving to the crowd at the end - her favorite part!  I think she thought she was famous.

Flowers from Daddy afterward. Sweet!

Below are the videos for the first two dances.  The ones I took at the dress rehearsal turned out better, since the lights were on and we were up closer...but these are cute, too.  The bottom one is of her "solo" sequence, which all the girls did.  She got lots of laughs at the end, when she sat down, spread out her tutu, and beamed at everyone, rather than running off stage like she was supposed to.  They actually had to close the curtain on her, then pick her up and carry her off stage...didn't want to leave the limelight, I guess!

Ballet Recital Dress Rehearsal

Today was the dress rehearsal for Lara's ballet recital.  Just as I anticipated, it was hilarious.  Here's the 2-3 year old class dancing to the itsy bitsy spider.  Lara is front and center - as usual, she's the one who's very enthusiastically dancing to the beat of her own drum.  That's my girl.

This second video is of Lara's "solo" - each girl has to go out by herself and do a little sequence they've been practicing.  She really likes striking a pose at the end.

Lara's favorite part of the dress rehearsal was laughing with the other girls, while they waited outside for their  class' turn to go on stage.

Lining up to tap dance (ie, stomp) out with all the girls.

Part of the itsy bitsy spider dance...they're supposed to be spinning suns here - can't you tell?

Sitting with her class, watching the older girls perform.

My Favorite Spot

This is my favorite spot in our house...and maybe anywhere!  I used to sit in this rocker when I was pregnant with Lara and think about her arrival.  Then I spent countless hours here nursing and rocking her to sleep - and now it's both of our favorite reading/cuddling spot.

Minnie in the Yard

Here's Lara playing around the yard in her current favorite dress - she calls it her Minnie dress, since she thinks she looks like Minnie Mouse in it, and she fights me when I try to take it off.  So if you run into us around town and you notice she's wearing the same outfit for several days straight, just know that it's not my fault=)