Baby I'm a star...

Ballet

Today was Monkey's first day in ballet class. (originally we called it "gym with music" as she had decided she "hated" ballet...OK, um, insane one... you don't even know what ballet IS!)

Needless to say, she loved it.

I'm not sure she is EVER going to take that tutu off....(that's her new friend on the left)

Dance Party with Grandma!!!!!!!! WHOOHOOO

Grandma brought some serious bling when she came to visit us. Specifically, jelly rings that blink!

Perfect jewelry for a dance party! (that funny shiny thingy on my finger is a blinking ring....)



(can you tell there is a recent theme in our life? I think we may need to sign Monkey up for some dance classes soon.....else all she ever learns is the white man's overbite, and the lawn mower! ha)

Bodies in motion

Monkey went to a birthday party (in a Sukkah - how fun was that!) the other night.

I tried SO HARD to get a non-blurry photo of the dancing and joyful madness when they played musical chairs. I kept deleting the ones I didn't like.....

And then I realized that the blurry ones were actually better!

Here they are dancing (like pogo sticks):


And here they are playing musical chairs:


I know, I got dizzy too!

The dam's about to break...

Banana

Please (as her outstretched hand reaches for my cell phone, or her paci)

Emma

Hadley

Dance (accompanied with two fingers pointing in the air and much butt wiggling)

Dog

Apple

Elmo (of course! he's her love....)

Meow meow (meaning kitty cat)

Bark

Ollie (as she hugs our saintly cat)

Apple

Bottle

Bath (as she runs streaking through the house dragging her pink towel....)

Nose (with a pointed finger, in case we didn't get it...)

I love you (oh, wow. I do NOT care that she was just repeating us. She said it!)

These are just a few of the things she's said in the past few days. The water is spilling over the dam! Here comes an avalanche of language!

....a dish best served cold

I spoke with 'Andpa** the other night. I told him about Monkey dancing to country music, and how this music made my ears bleed and the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

And what did he do? He laughed. Hard. And said something about how I deserved this.....

I'm guessing he waited 30+ years to be able to laugh at me for this one. Thanks, dad. Um, want to tell me what else I'm in for???? Puh-leeeeze??????

** P.S. 'Andpa is my dad, Monkey's grandpa....and that moniker is due to the "g" and the "r" falling off of a tshirt someone from his work made him....GPMM&B might be full of smart lawyers, but they aren't the best at iron-on letters! heh.

Nashville Star

Monkey likes to dance.

And damn, if she doesn't do the best white man's overbite I have ever seen!

Almost makes me want to buy a videorecorder, so that I can torture her by showing home videos to her dates 16 years in the future....or just provide hours of entertainment to her inebriated friends. (kind of like the time we were in the basement of Splude's parents' house, and found the slide reel full of shots of Splude in her rhythmic gymnastic stage of life. heh. and no, I wasn't the one that started that - I blame Freak. call me and yell at me if you want for that, baby, but you KNOW you found those slides!)

Ahem. Back to Monkey.

I find the dancing irresitable. Except there is one wee problem. Monkey likes to get her freak on to.......country music.

Oh. My. Bleeding. Ears.

Dad put the "Americana" channel on (channel 647 on Time Warner), and she danced!! And danced! And spun, and giggled, and danced!

Oy. Too bad Auntie L and Uncle J moved from Austin, TX. We could have blamed it on them.

Phew, I'm exhausted

Monkey is officially a kid. A scabby-kneed, sand-eating, thrilled-to-be-alive kid. Wow is she fun.

And her dad and me? We're tired!

This weekend we:

• Drove to the middle of CT to an amusement park that time forgot - it was so cheesy, it was awesome. I've even got photos of Monkey behind the "muscle man" cutout....
• Let Monkey dance to a DJ (company picnic at aforementioned amusement park) that played - by far - the worst/best collection of music I've heard since I was at a wedding that involved copious drinkin' and dancin'....and let's just say that Monkey likes to shake her thang to such tunes as "Baby Got Back" and "Push It."
• Let Monkey run and run and - whoops! she just skinned both knees - on asphalt.
• Watched Monkey inhale no less than 6 slices of watermelon. By herself. Look ma, no bib! Messy.
• Put Monkey into her swimsuit and let her run through the sprinklers in Riverside Park....in October. Global warming......it's freakishly hot here.
• Watched Monkey eat sand. Sandboxes, they're the next "hot" diet in town....
• Generally had so much fun we wore ourselves out.

Thankfully, my beloved Yankees weren't too exhausted and won last night, forcing game 4 in the American League Division Series!! Huzzah! Go Yankees!!!! (yes, I'm watching the game tonight. don't call, I won't answer.......)