81. Two!

The week of Bea's birthday was full of parties. Some of them were in honor of Beatrice and some of them were neighborhood parties, but they all meant the same thing to Bea: "Happy Bir-day to you, BeaBea!"



Swinging at her official birthday party:

Cake #1:

Bubbles with Dada:

Opening presents (Kenny and Lizzy--apparently Alice and I have the same hair!):

The petting zoo at Action Wildlife, a really strange zoo in Goshen, CT. (It is full of animals stuffed and living.) http://www.actionwildlife.org/

Playing in the toddler playground at Action Wildlife:

On a walk (and collecting rocks) at the White Memorial in Litchfield, CT on her actual birthday:

Cake #2 at Grandma Fox and Grandpa Griff's house:

Her final birthday celebration, at playgroup. Grandma Mary (who visited for the week!) was with us:

The movies are courtesy of Grandma Mary, also known as "You" or "Marie!":

In the above clip, Bea is playing one of her new favorite games, "Are you a mama?". She will point to people (including herself) and things and ask either, "Are you a mama?" or, "Are you a baby?". In response, I will answer on behalf of myself, the couch, the cats, whatever, with, "Yes, I'm a mama," or, "No, I'm a coffee mug," etc...

Blowing out candles (not really) at her birthday party:

80. Building with cheese

And counting, too...

79. Happy Easter

The Easter Bunny brought Bea plastic eggs filled (partially) with raisins and chocolate chips. She went nuts for the chocolate chips and never really took a nap today, poor thing.

78. March and very early April

Sorry for the unexpected hiatus! I am behind on all my Bea record keeping. I suppose I have been too busy with actual Bea keeping. Since my last post we've had a bunch of great visits--a trip to Brooklyn, a week-long visit with Grandma Mary in Bethel, and this past weekend a visit from Rosemary and her parents. We've also begun swim classes. And we took a trip to the emergency room, although that was because I was being extra cautious, not because we really needed to go. Bea took a header in the playground, scraping her face on a tree stump. Since she bonked her head, I figured I'd play it safe. She is healing up nicely. The following is a photo and video recap of the recent (and not-so-recent) activities.


Pretending to take a nap, playing chase, and wearing cats as hats with Sawyer, in Brooklyn:

Swimming (Grandma Mary took the photo through a window, which is why it is all hazy):

Sharing a smile with Grandma Mary:

Two movies of Bea engaged in her 2nd favorite activity (her first is collecting rocks)--dancing & playing her recorder to/with Pet Sounds:

Shortly after her fall, and now--hardly a mark left:



Playing with Rosemary, Jason, and my old circus train:

Rocking with Rosie:

Ladies who lunch:

77. Rock-a-bye apple?

Bea gathered/organized another fantastic/strange creation today. I was washing dishes in the kitchen and she dragged it in to show me.

Those are apple slices, a piece of quesadilla, a purple shaker-egg, and a button.

Once I had the camera out, she wanted me to keep taking photos of her.

Here she is smiling, then frowning, for the camera.

76. Hunter/gatherer

Bea likes to play with crayons. She is a magpie, so likes any collection of trinkets. She usually approaches crayons as a collection of trinkets rather than drawing implements. She likes to peel off their paper, break them into bits, and carry them around in specifically chosen groups. She also likes to play with things she can reach in the pantry. Usually this means jars of spices. The other day I was working in the kitchen and she was playing with crayons and spices. At one point, I noticed a little still life she had composed on the edge of the kitchen table, matching one crayon with the jar of chili powder, and another with the cloves. (I moved the group to higher ground, where I photographed it, so I could save it until Dale got home from work.)

I still think it is kind of crazy. I love that not only do the colors match, but the crayons are each the same size and pointing in the same direction.

One problem with her interest in collecting trinkets is that it has encouraged an interest in climbing--onto desks, onto the kitchen table, and now onto the dining room table (which is used more as a desk and less as a place to eat). This video is from earlier today. She's trouble.

75. Happy Birthday, Grandma Mary!

What a difference a year (and hair) makes!