Love Fest of Family and Friends

Time keeps on slipping into the future, and we are sadly lagging in our blog entries. Where to begin? At Easter we had the Van Howe side and close friends over for dinner. The girls had a blast dressing up for church, hunting for eggs in the back yard, and just being together. We look forward to more time with Grandma and the Van Howe's of Davenport, when we take a long weekend in June at a condo in the Dells. It will be our first time braving the Dells during the summer. Wish us luck and perspective!


Scott turned 40 and Jerry visited us at the start and close of their father-son trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame. It was a once in a lifetime trip and they both were beaming upon their return.

Godmother/Auntie Lori paid us a visit and showered us with attention and energy. Grandma hung out too and we enjoyed Ainsley and Lori's first trip to the Lincoln Park Zoo. Lori and I also spent a day downtown; the whole family took in the Botanical Gardens in Glencoe; she helped us with some outdoor projects and watched Ainsley so we could go out for a nice dinner; and we all enjoyed and braved the odd May weather.

Ainsley will begin preschool at Concordia's Early Childhood Education Center in the fall, and it's nearly all she can talk about. She is gleeful about turning three in July, and we have regular conversations about her b-day party themes -- from snowmen to zebras and fairies to princesses and Pinkalicious. She is a girl with ideas and vision. Some Ainsley moments:

• After telling her she must work on her listening and not dart down the sidewalk or out the back door without speaking with a grown up first, she responds with a kiss and "Did the kiss make you feel better about yelling, momma?" To which I say, "I am not yelling, I am serious about you being safe." Ainsley: "Okay, I'll try to listen better." -- cue Ainsley grin.

• Common vocabulary these days, "Did you imagine that....." as well as "I have an idea. I suggest we...."

• To stall bed time, she now asks "one last question" and these usually include questions like, "How does hair stay on your head?" and "How do walls stay up?" And "why don't fans fall down?" She must know that even these can stump her mom.
  

• She continues to enjoy making up songs, changing words, and requesting certain artists and play lists. Some of her favorites include the dance song, "Dynamite" as well as "Kookaburra" and "Puffer bellies." She really grooves to puffer bellies, running around shaking her body when the tempo picks up, cracking up and yelling "toot toot."

• We've enjoyed visits with friends Sachi, Alex, and Poloma and we are thrilled to have old friends back in town-- Nallely, David and Alex Gass.

• She also gets a kick out of poop jokes...which I thought didn't start until close to age 5...She'll say "poop on your hair," or "water poop, wait, water doesn't poop" and also make up various poop knock-knock jokes. I blame the book our French friends gave us, where a mole is trying to figure out who pooped on his head -- Silly French!

Like so many of you, we are ready for the weather to mellow and enjoy a warm summer of outdoor activities. We are particularly excited about having our niece Molly out for a week in July. Not only will it be lots of fun, but I know she will be a super helper.