Oops, there went an entire month without a post! It’s already getting cold outside and last time I posted was full-on pool season. Where does the time go? (And how many times do I say that on this blog?) Here are a few pics of our last month or so…

Dough time at our favorite pizzeria

She prefers Yelapa Thomas’ salt (the one on the left)

M’s with her left hand

M’s with her right hand

Another way to use the chalk

The stroller still puts her to sleep (especially handy when she protests nap time)

Beating on the drums

So much fun

Working hard

Working on her life timeline for her Birthday celebration at school

Happy girl

Birthday cards!

I think she is happy about her new sweater

Baby dolls and dinosaur!

Overjoyed with babies, purse, and airplane!

Getting on her school “float” in local parade

The end of the parade

That was fun!

Feeding one of her baby dolls

Dress up dolls

Coloring books

Camera shy

Caught a smile

We’ve been up to all of our usual activities. Aaron has been traveling quite a bit for work, and I have been doing a lot more work, which is much easier now that Mia is in school. Mia absolutely loves her school and so do we. Here are a few random comments from me, to go with these pics:

• One of our favorite restaurants is a pizzeria, locally owned by good friends and serving fabulous food. Fortunately, they also hand out pizza dough to kids and encourage them to have fun with the flour. Mia quite enjoys it and no one even minds the mess.
• Random Yelapa connection: A Yelapan friend sells hand harvested sea salt and we always buy some. We always run out way too soon (darn, now we have to go back!) and we just ran out when I took the above photo. Since December 2013, Mia has ONLY seen us use the Yelapa salt. So the other day, while she was helping me cook, she saw me pick up the blue container and asked what it was. I said it was salt and she emphatically says, “Mama, that’s NOT salt!”. So I had to get a pic and share it with Thomas.
• Mia loves her easel. Chalk board on one side and paper on the other. Really there is a wipe-board, too, but we haven’t gone there yet. At her school, they teach cursive first…before print. Mia is still trying to decide which hand she prefers to write with.
• She protests at nap time on occasion and I go for the stroller. Works every time. Sometimes we bring friends. And I always get a good walk in.
• We all like music. Drums are almost indestructible. Much more so than the banjo or guitar, so there you have it. And aren’t those sunglasses adorable?
• Her school does a lovely “birthday circle” celebration, where they allow parents to join in. We create/build a photo timeline of her life to share with her classmates. This is worthy of a separate post…such a beautiful acknowledgement of life and our circles around the sun, in the most respectful and awe-inspiring manner.
• Mia’s easel is often a platform for one of her favorite games: I will tell you EXACTLY what to do/draw and when/where to do so. In this episode, I drew our Yelapa house and our New Mexico house. She approved.
• Someone had a birthday!!  She was thrilled with presents and cards. And on the day of her birthday: a parade! She got to ride on a “float” or hayride sort of thing in a local parade.
• Coloring books rock. I recently bought two varieties because I was torn between the “boy” and the “girl” versions. We try to offer both and let her choose. What can I say besides the obvious: dinosaurs look really good with purple toenails!
• She continues to play and learn and grow every day. We can only hope to emulate.