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Rhythm pulses through her veins. Melodies fill her brain. Her days are filled with music and dancing. A day without dancing isn’t a day worth living as far as she is concerned. She is a musical soul.
Dancing to her favorite Dragon song 
There isn’t any one type of music that she gravitates towards, although a good beat does seems to help. The only requirement for making the list is that the song speaks to her and makes her want to dance. If she can’t not dance to a song it will become an instant favorite and very quickly makes its way onto her iPod. Her favorites range from Gwen Stefani’s The Sweet Escape, to Adele’s Rolling in the Deep, to Forbidden Friendship from the How to Train Your Dragon Soundtrack, to OneRepublic’s All the Right Moves, to Led Zeppelin’s Bron-Y-Aur Stomp, to Eminem’s Like Toy Soldiers.
Her musical tastes are beautifully eclectic. And, there is just no swaying her opinion, no matter how hard her daddy tries You can’t convince her she doesn’t like a song once she has developed a taste for it and you can’t convince her that she likes a song that hasn’t spoken to her. She usually knows the very first time she hears a song whether it is a keeper or not. There is no telling what her next favorite is going to be either, she will hear a song on the radio or in a movie or something, it makes her want to dance and is an instant new favorite.
I love her love for music. I love how she sings to her self a random times throughout the day and will just start dancing to some tune playing in her head. I’m pretty sure there is always a song playing in her head.
I can already see the love pass between them when they look at each. I can already see the inside jokes they will have. I can already see the tag team approach they will create to cause trouble for their parents. I can already see a lifetime of friendship. These two seriously adore each other.
Maya has been waiting and waiting for the day when Anna would be able to play with her, and although Anna still just mostly watches her play, Maya loves these moments. She is patient with her and teaches her. She loves to read her stories, she loves to make her laugh and she loves to talk to her about her princess and pony toys. As Anna gets bigger they are playing more and more together. These two are going to cause a lot of trouble together, can’t you just see it!
Maya can make Anna laugh better than anyone. Sometimes all she has to do is look at her and Anna will burst into giggles Anna, in turn, can make Maya giggle. They get each other going, it is so fun to watch. They compliment each other. Maya the performer and chatty one, Anna the observer and quiet one. They will have each other’s backs, I love that. My two beautiful girls. Best sisters, best friends.
Penguin Parade at the St. Louis Zoo.
Every Sunday afternoon during the months of January and February (weather permitting, of course) the penguins at the St. Louis Zoo take a little stroll. It is an enrichment activity for the penguins. A chance to see something different, stretch their legs and put on quite the show for those brave enough to hit up the zoo on a chilly winter day. The trainers and a few rangers, to help control the crowd, lead the penguins out of the exit of the penguin and puffin cove and take them on a short little walk along the pedestrian path back to the entrance to the penguin and puffin cove. Zoo visitors line the “parade” route and watch as the king and gentoo penguins enjoy their little stroll. It is an activity I’ve always wanted to do but just have never gotten around to.
This past weekend we finally made it to the zoo for the penguin parade. It was so fun to watch those little guys strolling along. They were so curious and interested in the people watching them. A few of the gentoo penguins were even curious enough to go right up to couple of people. Maya got a big kick out of it and can’t wait to share the experience with her classmates this week when they learn about penguins at school.
Since the penguins aren’t big fans of warm temperatures they only take their little stroll if the temperatures are below 50 degrees so it is a bit chilly. As long as you bundle up you should be good. They don’t stay out for long. As I was watching all the people who had gathered for the parade I couldn’t decided who was enjoying the penguins more the grown ups or the kids
If you live in St. Louis or happen to be in our city on a Sunday during the months of January or February this is a great event you don’t want to miss. Remember to bundle up.
Our pets are a part of our family. Often times they are our babies before we have actual babies. They are often our children’s first friend, and the bond they form together is a strong and beautiful one. Sadly, a child’s first experience with loss often comes when the family pet dies. Talking to your children about the loss of their beloved friend can be difficult, especially when your child is experiencing death and grief for the first time. The age of the child is going to play a big role in how they perceive the loss, handle the grief and how best to talk to them about the death of a pet.
With two aging kitties in our household, age 14 and 13, and a little girl who grows increasingly attached to her kitty buddies every day, this is a topic I have worried about, researched and considered quite a bit. Last week one of our kitties became very ill and at one point it was looking like the end may be very near. Luckily, her condition has improved and it looks like she’ll be around for a little bit longer. As I was back and forth to the vet and busy administering the medication necessary to hopefully improve Miss Laura’s condition I couldn’t stop thinking about how I was going to talk to Maya about all of it. I tried to play over the conversations in my head many times. We talked to her about the fact that Laura was very sick but I didn’t mention the “D” word because I didn’t want to unnecessarily worry her until we knew for sure what was going on. I did, however, do a lot of research so I would be a little more prepared if/when the time comes.
How a child handles the loss of their pet friend is going to vary, just as how we adults handle loss varies. Some children may not appear to be affected and carry on much as usual, this is particularly true for children too young to really understand death. It is normal for children to cry, have changes in mood, appetite, and behavior after the loss of a pet. It is normal for children to ask a lot of questions and even sometimes wonder if something they did caused their pet to die. Children don’t generally understand the permanence of death until around age 7 or so and children younger than that may continue to ask when the pet is going to come back. The most important thing you can do for your child as they grieve for their pet friend is to be there for them, to cuddle with them, talk to them and listen to them. Talking about how they feel and letting them ask as many questions as they need to is very important.
One of the big worries for many parents is how best to explain death and what happens after a pet dies. How to talk to your child about this is going to depend on their age and your beliefs. The best thing you can do is tailor your conversations to your child’s age and understanding of death and to your beliefs as a family. Your child’s questions will be a big help in determining what they understand will help lead the conversation in a good direction for them.
I found several websites in my research last week that provide great information about how children display and deal with grief and how best to help them through their grief.
- The Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement
- The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- Family Corner.com
Anna celebrated her half birthday over the weekend. That’s right, my baby girl is already 6 months old. It feels like she just joined our family but at the same time I can’t remember life without her.
6 Month Stats:
Weight: 14lbs 15oz (28th percentile)
Height: 25 3/4 inches (50th percentile)
Head Circumference: 16 1/2 inches ( 34th percentile)
I cannot even begin to find the words to tell you how absolutely incredible Anna is. If you were to send up an order for the perfect baby it is quite possible you would end up with Anna. She is just so good and so happy all the time. The girl loves her sleep and takes at least 2 really good naps every day and sleeps 11-12 hours straight at night. She radiates peace and joy. It doesn’t really matter what she is doing she is pretty much always content and happy (unless you keep her up past her bedtime, of course!). She brings out the best in people. You can’t help but smile in her presence, as a smile lights up her whole face and she babbles or squeals or giggles away. Her sister is completely enamored with her and she with her sister. Watching the two of them interact is often the highlight of my day, they are so cute together.
Anna has “grown up” a lot this past month. She has become quite the skilled little baby. She is sitting for short periods on her own and every time she practices sitting she seems to get better and better at it. Toys are her new best friends, she definitely has her favorites, but she hasn’t met a toy she doesn’t like yet She can reach for things so well now and pass toys back and forth between her hands. It is so cute to watch her hand movements becoming so much more deliberate and controlled. Gone are the days of just swiping at things, now if she see something she wants she doesn’t whatever she can to get it. Her tummy time is becoming more fun since she can pull things towards herself to play with now and has so much more head control. Her “talking” abilities have really grown this month too. We are hearing more consonant sounds like ba, ma, etc. and she is learning to blow raspberries and make funny sounds with her mouth.
Breastfeeding is still going really well. She eats on demand, usually every 2-3 hours, during the day and, as I mentioned early, is going about 12ish hours at night. We just started solids and though she isn’t a big fan we’ll keep trying. She did enjoy the bananas she had last week but wasn’t too fussy on the squash or peas. I’m guessing she is going to more a fruit girl like her big sister.
I love this age. It is so fun to watch them grow and change as they begin to more aware of the world around them and develop a desire to explore their little world. I know this next month is going to see a lot of changes again. It will be interesting to see what she is like as she turns 7 months old.
Love you bunches my beautiful baby girl