ballet girls

Erika came over to play the other day. What's funny about Katie and Erika is that they play all the time and they actually enjoy arguing with each other over toys. We've gotten used to this and kind of just let them be. Here they are being ballerinas. Katie's instructing Erika how she does ballet in her class.

Swimming Lessons!

Katie started taking swimming lessons. She's doing great except for the fact she doesn't want to put her eyes under water. But she's blowing bubbles more - that's a start.

Katie made it all the way to the 6 foot end of the pool with Sherri and the noodle!

Dandelions

I have to credit the NYC parks department for keeping their grass weed free. Sunday really was Katie's first dandelion experience. But I have lot of memories of picking dandelions with Elizabeth so it's kind of funny that my urban child has missed out on this so far. Yes, we thought they were pretty flowers too.

The other day I asked Katie if she might want to be called Kate when she's a grown up and not Katie. "No, I want to be Katie forever. Can you be Mommy forever."

Hippo sandbox

Yesterday Peter and I went to our friends' daughter's Bat Mitzvah and Katie and Ania went to Hippo. They played with our friends Sara and Ariel there and Sara sent me this photo. I love getting photos of what Katie's doing when I'm not there (Ania and Kelli are both great at this too). I thought this one was particularly funny because from the angle, it looks almost like they're on a climbing wall.

Dear Dima and Dipa

Katie dictated a letter to me while we were out for dinner the other night. What I think was so cute about this letter is that she has a very good grasp of her feelings and the ability to explain them with words. She explains that "we had a bad day because I cried because I wanted to do what I wanted to do." And "we had a good day because we went to the museum."

"The map to branzino"

Our sophisticated daughter went out for dinner 3 nights in a row this weekend - and each night she wanted fish. So Peter, being the greater fish lover, ordered fish each night and Katie really would have eaten all of it. The first two nights he had branzino, a European seabass. Katie thought this was the coolest name and before we went out for dinner on Sunday, decided that one of the drawings she had done recently was a "map to branzino." In this map, "branzino" was the restaurant and I was really impressed that Katie knew that both where we are and where we are going are supposed to be on a map (thank you Dora the Explorer for this one). We had dinner with Donna and Jon and Daniel and Ethan. We ate outside, which is a great thing to do in NYC on a warm night. Peter and I both ordered fish and it was my turn to have branzino (coincidence, I swear). Well my branzino wasn't good enough, Katie only wanted Daddy's fish. I don't know why Daddy's fish tastes better.

Again, I have to admire Daniel and Ethan - they're teenagers and could very easily ignore a 3-year-old girl. But they are really wonderful with her. Katie was particularly smitten with Ethan this time and was thrilled when he drew her a picture. She did ballet for him.

Sunny Sunday in the park

We spent Sunday with Anna and her parents and her grandparents at Hippo playground and then went to the boat basin for lunch. It was a sunny, beautiful day and the girls had a blast. Above, they're walking by the Hudson back from the boat basin. They picked dandelions and thought they were beautiful flowers. You have love little girls' perspectives.

Anna and Katie were strolling to lunch next to each other and Katie said "I love you Anna." And Anna replied, "I love pirate ships."
The girls in the hippo sandbox

Katie playing hopscotch. She learned this from Rina on Wednesday.

Katie and Anna sharing the bouncy panda at Hippo. There's a bouncy horse and a squirrel, but the panda is Katie's favorite.

Sunny day with Rina

Katie and I spent last Wendnesday with our friends Beth and Rina and baby Nate. Katie was so happy to play with Rina because "Rina's very nice and she shares." The girls, who are about 8 months apart, got along great and had wonderful time playing with the sand table and chalk on the driveway. Katie was also happy to be reunited with her Minnie Mouse whom Rina has been caring for since Katie left her at Nate's Bris. "Mickey's going to be so happy to see Minnie," she told me.

Cheers!

We spent a lot of time with Oma yesterday. As you probably know, Friday is our usual Oma visiting day. The nursing home was having a barbeque so we stayed, although it meant being there for 2 hours. Oma is less talkative than she has been. The first thing I do when we visit is make sure that her hearing aids are in and that they have working batteries. Checked both of these on Friday, but it didn't help our conversation at all. I try to draw Oma into conversation, with little luck. What I liked about Friday is that Katie tried to draw Oma into conversation. By the end of our visit she was saying, "Are you done with your lunch Oma? What kind of ice cream do you want?'

Here they are doing cheers with their juice glasses. Katie had apple juice and Oma had tomato juice, to which she adds lots of pepper. Today Katie had a pretend picnic and added lots of pepper to whatever she "ate."

"Mommy, I love you!"

Katie's been sharing a lot of love the past few days. We're not sure why, but she's suddenly been saying "Mommy, I love you" all the time. It's sweet, of course, but I'm beginning to wonder if this is sort of a reflexive action to a thought she had or if she's feeling guilty about something. I try not to explore Katie's subconscious and rationale for things too much and I try to just think of her as wonderful as the happy, bright, funny child she is.

Of course this is one reason she should feel a little guilty. On Monday I was on the phone with my friend Donna when I went into the bedroom to look up a phone number for her. I came out to find that Katie had drawn big circles on her door. It's washable marker, but washable marker doesn't come off paint very well. It's really the first time that I can think of that she did something I'm sure she knew she wasn't supposed to.

Playdate attire

Last Thursday, Katie had double-header playdates with Ania. This is what Katie felt was appropriate playdate attire for the day. A dress-up dress over her outfit and a hat and purse.

By the time she had gotten back from the playdates, she had taken off the t-shirt underneath and just wore the dress. And yes, this is a dress that's meant for dress-up, not for real wearing (you can tell by the velcro in back).
Here she is in our playroom on the "rollercoaster" (thumb in mouth means she's tired, with so many playdates, it was a no nap day).
And "fixing" the playroom house with her friend Nicholas.

Central Park

We went to Central Park on Saturday. Walking to the carousel through the park, we passed a lot of what is called "Manhattan schist," the bedrock that allows all the skyscrapers to be built in Manhattan. Katie, being Katie, wanted to climb the rocks. She thought it was so much fun and spent the rest of the walk in the park looking for places on which she could climb. Katie said that the carousel was her favorite part of the day, but no pictures this time. She sat on a white horse that was a little too far in.

Katie got very excited when she saw the children's zoo from Fifth Ave and wanted to feed the goats. So here she is feeding the goats. Yet another Katie feeding a goat picture. Sorry, can't help myself. We watched the sea lions and the seals be fed. And we saw the polar bear swimming this time, not sleeping. And here's Katie as a bunny in the children's zoo.

Celebrating Dance!

Doesn't everyone celebrate a dance by going out for barbecue? We went with Dima & Dipa to Hill Country for dinner. Here's Katie eating a rib and of course she loved the cornbread.

Katie Ballerina

It was so adorable!!! Katie, on stage, as a dancing fish. My ballet-obsessed daughter got to perform on stage at her first recital (I think they technically called it the spring dance). It was the cutest thing. And Katie loved it!!! She loved being on stage and I have to say she followed pretty well.

All week she's been looking forward to her dance performance. She woke up each morning and said, "is it Sunday?" Yesterday she even told me, "Mommy, I feel so sorry for Meadow. She can't come to my dance performance. Dogs aren't allowed to go. She's going to be so sad." I don't know what was cuter about this, that she was showing empathy for Meadow or that she thought Meadow would actually care.

Anyway, the spring dance was mercifully short - I had imagined felling bad having my parents and Ania sit through a boring endless performance. It was all so cute. The theme was "down by the waterside" and each class was another water-related creature (mermaids, penguins, swans, etc.). Katie and her class were great fish, including a few swimming and diving moves.


The lighting was bad and, as I said, it was short, so thanks to Ania for taking some of these pictures - between the two of us some came out. At the top is Katie with her ballet teacher Liz and her classmate Charlotte. And above, you can see how they looked on stage. Katie on the right, the last yellow fish in front.

After the performance with Anna. Katie was so excited to get flowers from Ania and Anna. We gave her an Alice doll, from Angelina Ballerina. In case you haven't seen it for yourself, Angelina Ballerina is the current favorite of Katie's books.

Katie's adoring audience (minus Ania taking the picture)

And Katie and Ania. In case it's not already obvious the love that Katie and Ania share - Ania came from Queens to see Katie perform for 2 minutes on stage and we couldn't get her to join us for dinner. Ania loves ballet, both the preschool and the professional kind.

Katie and Daddy walking home in the rain.

The Optimist

One day, about a month ago, we played with a boy named Ben. Katie did not come back from the playdate feeling too positive about Ben because Ben was going through a phase where he didn't share. I explained to Katie that all kids seem to go through this phase and she, herself, had a very bad time last summer with this very issue.

Last week, I suggested that we make another playdate with Ben. "That's a great idea Mommy. Maybe Ben will be nice this time. Maybe he'll share."

I think Katie is just an optimist. I don't know how or why (and why question such good fortune?), but Katie thinks that everything new is exciting and will be fun. And everything is her favorite. Tonight, I made fajitas for dinner. "Fajitas- my favorite!" Katie has such an amazing joie de vivre that it's really inspiring. In some ways, Katie's joy in living everyday is enviable too. I wish I could be that excited to put sprinkles on cupcakes or make up a new dance. But I think it's one of the reasons we have kids, to remember the pleasures of the little things in life.

For Mother's Day, we took Katie to the Aquarium on Coney Island. ("We went all the way to Brooklyn!" she reported). We walked on the boardwalk and went to Nathan's so Peter could get an original hot dog (Katie and I had chicken fingers). We saw the ocean (but too cold and windy to go on the beach). We went to the NY Aquarium and saw the fish and the walruses and the otters and the various jelly fish. Katie loved the show with the sea lion. And then we met the rest of my extended family for dinner in NJ, my parents, my sisters and brother-in-law, nephews, and my niece Robin. "Barbeque - my favorite! Coleslaw - my favorite! Brisket - my favorite!"

Driving back to the city, I asked Katie what she liked best about the day. My optimistic daughter who finds fun in the little things said "Going potty with Robin."

The Coney Island Boardwalk

The NY Aquarium - very different from when I was last there in 1982!

Playing Mommy and Baby

Katie had a playdate with "my new friend Anna" last week. Anna taught her a game that Katie has become very fond of "Mommy and Baby." It's a perfect game for Katie because she can either be a baby (which she loves) or provide the narrative and direction as the Mommy - running commentary is her specialty! She creatively turned the dress up clothes box into a pretend crib.

Katie and Anna know each other from ballet class. It was really fun to hear them come out of class today and talk about the dances they did. "I did a happy dance and Anna did a frustrated dance. She also did a penguin dance and I did a pretty dance." I told them it's so great that they can express emotions through dance. I think that went over their heads.

Puppies - the ongoing quest

Katie is a kid who didn't get attached to things immediately, more over time. Her choice of security objects is a pink puppy. Actually, 6 pink puppies, all the same with different color collars. As evidence that the association with color and gender is learned, only 2 of Katie's pink puppies are girl (Sister and Mommy Puppy), the rest are boys. These, for the record, are Brother, Daddy, Little Boy, and Cousin Fred. Why Cousin Fred? We don't know. She says the Berenstain Bears (the inspiration for Sister and Brother - her favorites). Sometimes he's just "Cousin."

Anyway, we brought a puppy to NJ on Saturday, a special occasion because they usually don't leave the house. Aunt Rachel looks at it and says it's going bald and we need new puppies. Well I bought 6 of them because she got attached to them and now they've been discontinued. But the 6 are going bald, so we've started the ebay searches and are outbidded. It's the kind of animal, because it's been discontinued, that may show up at Marshall's, Century 21, etc. If anyone sees one or comes across one, please buy and we will happily repay.

Puppy looks the the above - plush, not too furry, she does not have a satin tummy (that's a previous discontinued one - Katie has 2 of those named Max and Ruby. They are not real puppies in her mind). It's also not standing up on four paws, it's lying on its belly. Puppy doesn't have a tear on her paw, as shown because she's "extinct." She's Gund "My First Puppy" #5766 and her sewn in collar say "My First Puppy."

What's funny about puppy, is that the first time I saw her (I was pregnant and shopping with my mom), I knew my baby would love it. I asked my mom to buy it in the gender appropriate color when he or she was born. I just didn't know the extent that Katie would love it - that she would rub her tail bare and even use it as "phone" to call her friends. You can see how much she loves them in this post, where she sleeps with them all around her.

A really fun day!

So not only did Katie have the pony ride and the petting zoo, but there was also an inflatable bouncy maze and giant slide - both of which she loved. She had a little trouble on the giant slide so Peter went up and down with her. The fun day at the park was followed by pizza at a little place in our neighborhood, then a concert by one of Katie's favorites: Audra Rox! Then we had gelato and sobet at the Ciao Bella store, went to a playground in Central Park, then a street fair, then dinner at Asiakan. Katie specifically requested that we go out for dinner there. I love my little NYC foodie who wanted orange juice and shumai. What a great NYC day!

A petting zoo at the playground

The Hippo fair also had a petting zoo, where the big swings usually are. Here's Peter and Katie admiring the cow. The cow mooed a lot and Katie was a little surprised. The only animal she actually pet was a lamb.

A Manhattan Pony Ride!

On Sunday, Hippo Playground had their annual spring fair. Katie got to take her very first pony ride. The pony's name was Rainbow and Katie thought this ride was really great. There was something kind of neat about watching my urban daughter ride a pony in Riverside Park, overlooking the Hudson River (and the West Side Highway). Peter joked that this was just like horseback riding in Texas. There's a well-known family picture of my dad's mother sitting on a pony in the Bronx when she was about Katie's age.

Our funny girl

As I've mentioned before, when I describe events and places on the blog, I miss out on a lot of the regular (and often amusing) Katieness. She's been particularly funny lately. She's very into language lately and realizing that people speak different languages. She can count to 10 in Spanish and spends a lot of time counting letters or tiles or just to herself. We're teaching her to count in French and Ania is teaching her to count in Polish. She recognizes that Dora and her friend Sophia both speak Spanish. And she's very into giberish at the moment, something we're finding annoying and we call it speaking "Katieish."

Katie's also very social - in case it's not obvious. We stopped by this garden yesterday and there was another little girl around her age and they immediately made friends and ran around with each other. At her friend Erika's house last week, Katie told me "Mommy, you go in the kitchen with all the other mommies."

And her phrasing is amusing - her pajama pant legs are "leg sleeves." And she told Peter this morning "I'm not happy at you." Yesterday she told me "I'm not happy at you Mommy because you told me I can't watch tv. You should let me watch tv when I want." I explained to her that we can't watch tv all the time and it's my job to say when it's okay. That didn't go over too well, but eventually she changed the subject.

Yesterday, we spent a good portion of the afternoon at our friend Donna's house, just hanging out. We brought Meadow because she gets along with Donna's dog Kobi. Katie spent the entire time playing with Meadow. She brought her tennis balls and bones. It was really cute and something she doesn't do at home. Meadow loved the attention, but sure enough when the girls are back at home, Katie's is back to "Meadow's bothering me/Meadow's licking me/Mommy play with me, not Meadow."