the comings and goings of the Baldwin family
Saturday afternoon Dad and I took Sis and Little Sis for an hour of sledding on the east hill of the local golf course. It has become a popular spot for local sledders. We think that perhaps the city should start charging a sledding fee to generate more dollars for the city. Golf in the summer, sledding in the winter…that is until home construction starts on the 15th hole.
I will officially be 3 1/2 years old in less than two weeks. Mom is hoping that this milestone will officially push us into the four-year-old disposition stage. I think that I have run her ragged for the past six months. Everyday she awakes hoping that I will stop making insane demands on her.
Daddy is trying his hardest to turn me into a Daddy’s Girl. He cheerfully gets me chocolate milk when I demand it, he buys me new shoes, he paints my fingernails. Unfortunately, as soon as Mom arrives on the scene, he is, once again, instantly forgotten. Daddy sighs, with a glimmer of hope inside that one day my eyes will be opened.
My days are slowing becoming more busy. I have dance once a week (hence the Nutcracker performance), and I go to pre-school twice a week. I’m assured at least two days a month playing at a friend’s house while Mom attends the elementary and junior high PTA Board Meetings. Add to that errands, chauffeuring siblings, and other play dates, and my life is pretty busy for a little 3-year-old. Mom is still patiently awaiting 1st Grade. City-wide celebration.
I am still the apple of everybody’s eye and have mastered the techniques that will get me what I want and need. If one says “No,” there are still four others to wear down. But I am a funny girl and provide much humor to the family throughout the day. Life would definitely be boring without me.
Little Sis is in a local dance company’s Nutcracker performance this year, along with her big sister, Sis. She is a Gumdrop in Cast A.
We had dress rehearsal on Thursday night. She was to arrive at 5:45 pm at the high school. We put her make-up on, we curled her hair, we got her costume ready. As we were getting to leave, the snowstorm decided to make it’s debut. It was snowing heavily and the roads were slick.
We made it to the high school without sliding into another car or off the road, endured gale-force winds as we tried to make our way indoors, and changed Little Sis out of her street clothes and into her Gumdrop costume.
For all of that we got what you see above. Maybe a minute of rehearsal. We were then told that they were finished and we could take them home. I completely understand that the production is big with lots of dancers, but for a mother it was a bit of an exasperating moment. I wasn’t even given any time to sit back and relax.
By the way, Little Sis is front row, furthest left. It took me a while to figure out which one she was since all the little girls look virtually alike, except for Little Sis’s friend, Magan, who is three Gumdrops to the right of her. Dark hair does have it’s advantages.
I don’t know–maybe I’m used to over-achieving Scottsdale, Arizona–but I swear that parents stayed for at least 1/2 hour, if not longer, when I attended Christmas or “Holiday” pre-school programs for my older children.
I think we parents–in this video–were all a little surprised when the teacher announced that the children were finished after just one song. All I know is that Little Sis could easily have handled multiple songs. She sings a repertoire of songs, by memory, all day long.
Sorry that I didn’t get Brooklyn in the “musical number” footage. I should have positioned myself behind the teacher to get all the children in my view.
I was able to talk Little Sis into singing the other day while we were driving. She sings the classic Mary Had a Little Lamb and adds her own twist in Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeep. I captured a voice note on my phone and converted to play here.
Little Sis’s cousin is a talented photographer with a great deal of creativity. She sees things that I overlook.
Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma…do you get the point?
If watching 4 minutes of whining and crying becomes too taxing for you, then you can feel comforted by the fact that I did not tape the entire 30 minutes of whining and crying that began from the time I forced Little Sis from “my” bed to the shower until she was ready to go downstairs for some breakfast after getting ready for church as demonstrated in the movie.
This is a typical day with Little Sis if her needs are not met in the manner that she deems appropriate by none other than “Momma.”
Little Sis had her first official “friends only” birthday party. It was along the lines of a Princess theme. All the guests were instructed to come dressed as Princesses…or Princes, respectively. Sis and cousins helped. Davis was there to escort Porter, so as a result Junior hung around.
The kids made crowns, colored royal pictures, played Kiss the Frog, and had Princess stories read to them. No one really ate their cake…I forgot that you make cupcakes for 3-year-olds. Plus, I forgot that you have 3-year-old parties for only 1 1/2 hours, not two. We were easily done with everything in one hour. That’s what happens when it’s been eight years… 
.
While making the video, Little Sis would watch it and wail “I want to go to my birthday party!” She is definitely three.
P.S. All the banging in the background is from the framers in the basement, directly below where we were.
I took the children (including Junior, Bud, Sis, Little Sis, cousins and Dana (Meredith’s sister)) to the local Amusement Park on Tuesday. It was a miserably hot day. The sun was a real scorcher. There wasn’t much of a breeze, and no afternoon thunderstorm like is typical on a hot July day. Sis opted to stay with me and Little Sis, as opposed to the older kids, knowing that by doing so she would not have to ride the Roller Coaster, Colossus, Jet Star II, or the new Wicked. She was safe with Little Sis.
Meredith and Carter arrived later in the afternoon and joined us for some rides, including Rattlesnake Rapids. We all got soaked. We should have rode that when we first arrived.
I also took pictures of Little Sis on her very first amusement park rides, which she loved.
Her favorite rides were the LadyBug Pop and the Dinosaur Drop. She giggled throughout, and raised her arms high each time we dropped. Mom’s stomach dropped too. I’m getting old.
I took some video with my Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX07 digital camera. The quality is actually pretty darn good. Some of the shots are a bit far away, but oh well. You haven’t got much time to put thought into how you’re going to record. The rides aren’t that long.
Meredith took Carter and Little Sis home fairly early (7:30 p.m.), which allowed Sis to ride some more “scary” rides…like The Bat .
Mom and Dad thought that I would be the hardest to please on this vacation, but they were proven wrong. I had the greatest time of anyone. I loved riding on all of the transportation…the buses, the cable car, the taxis, the Bart, the airplane, the boat, the escalators, the elevators, and the stroller when I was very tired. The only thing I did not like was the rental. It was too much like home.
It was so much fun for me to see new sights every day, all day long. I didn’t have naps during the day, so I was exhausted by the end of each day. The first night I fell asleep on the cable car and then later that night in my stroller. I didn’t wake up during the bus ride or the walk home. I barely made a move when transfered to my double bed. When I awoke the next morning I was in a good mood and ready for another day of high adventure. Actually that was true whenever I awoke in the same room or bed with Mom.
On Sunday I walked all the way from Union Square to the crossroad of Washington and Taylor streets. But then that was pretty typical of the entire visit. My little legs were so worked. I bet that my muscles have bulked as a result.
The morning after we arrived home I was disappointed to be back in my home with nothing to do but watch Dora and Diego. I more or less drove my Mom crazy the entire week because life had become, once again, slow and boring. I think that when I get older I will definitely become an adventurer!
Click on a photo below for a larger view…
Click on a picture above for a larger view
Little Sis had her very first dentist check-up on Thursday with the rest of the clan. She did allow the dentist to look inside her mouth. However, in order for the hygeniest to “quickly” clean Little Sis’s teeth she had to promise Little Sis a balloon when she was finished. Notice how Little Sis crosses her legs on the chair…exactly like Mom does. Thankfully there were no signs of any cavities. Little Sis decided to pay it forward with Bud and hold his hand while his teeth were checked.
It was a breezy Saturday morning on March 10th. I had to take Bud over to a Boy Scout Pow Wow early. Little Sis was awake and wanted to join me on the drive. I thought how much fun it would be to fly a kite. Little Sis and I went over to Wal-Mart and picked up a Dora the Explorer kite for Little Sis and a cool blue Navy Thunderbird airplane kite for me.
When we returned home, Sis heard of our plan and wanted to join us. Dora was a great little kite. Of course I had to buy extra string to get the kite up as high as possible. Dora soared to 200 feet with ease. The cool blue Navy Thunderbird airplane kite went to 300 feet.
Great times. Enjoy the movie.
We purchased an elliptical so Mom and I could work out in the cold winter months. However, now that the unit is just sitting there, Little Sis has adopted it as if it were her own. It’s so fun to watch her. She’s really a coordinated child. She has to put all her weight on one side of her body to get the wheel started. She then races off and starts breathing heavy. While she can’t see all the little lights on the upper deck, she knows she’s getting a good workout when she starts to huff and puff.
This year I have grown into such a big girl…although I still wear diapers and drink from a bottle. Oh well. Mom’s too old to do anything about it. Hopefully, I’ll be out of diapers and off the bottle by the time I enter Kindergarten.
I still get lots of attention, and I still demand lots of attention. I yell “Mom!” all day every day. It makes me mad when she doesn’t come to my every beck and call. It really irritates me when she won’t get out of her computer chair when I pull on her arm. Who does she think she is anyway?
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