dear milo

happy birthday, my darling boy.  there are no more babies who live in my house.  you have grown and changed so much this year - you have started potty training, drinking from a real cup (you used a glass one this evening), and putting together real sentences and thoughts.  when you find out new information, you say "oh".  when you ask what something is and you are told, you say "ok".  you know the differences between, and excitedly point out ambulances, the sweeper, ice cream trucks, fire engines, police cars, garbage trucks, dump trucks, bulldozers, buses, school buses, and mail trucks.  you have opinions about which shirt you would like to wear.  you love seeing the "little guys" at 14th street.  you are an incredible dancer.  you can count to 12 (and will sometimes follow it up with ha, ha, ha, ha - a la the count). you know the words to tons of songs, including "sweet baby james".  you love to read.  you are so funny - on our way into baby school this morning, we ran into one of your teachers, and when you wouldn't tell her what was in the bag that we had just picked up, she guessed carrots (it was donuts).  you wouldn't say a word to her, but when we got to your teachers, when they asked you what you were carrying, you gave them a wicked smile and said "carrots".  on our way home today, when i asked you whether you were a big boy or a little boy, you told me "baby.  no, noodle.  no, dog"  then discussed your dog traits for the rest of the way home.  i have loved commuting with you, though i know that's coming to an end.  i have loved our bottle, snuggle and lullaby time, though that's probably winding down as well (at least the bottle part).  your fierce independence but total devotion to penny warm my heart.  the glimpses of the man you're going to become poking through your baby cheeks give me a thrill.  i love you so much, and i am excited for all of the big changes that this year will hold - preschool, big bed...  happy second birthday, little dude.  you're my favorite noodle.

shark girl!

penny complained all through breakfast on tuesday that her bottom front teeth were hurting.  we all stuck our fingers in her mouth to try to move any of her teeth around, but there was nothing doing.  we kept checking to see if there was any food caught in between that might be irritating her gums, and i asked her whether she had bumped her chin or anything durig all of her leaping and twirling at story ballet camp. nope.
this morning (thursday) as we were finishing up our breakfast, penny's eyes suddenly got HUGE and she exclaimed "I can feel my big tooth!"  she ran around the table to show me - and, you guys, penny may actually be a shark.

according to her, this tooth was not there when she went to sleep last night, but it was almost the size of one of her mini teeth this morning.  she is SO EXCITED.  her teeth are still not wiggly at all, but the internet has informed us that they could fall out in a matter of hours.  or weeks.  also, it's hard to see in the photo, but her gum is inflamed next to the one adult tooth - she's probably getting two at once, and it wouldn't surprise me at all if she had two adult teeth by the end of the day.
time to alert the tooth fairy!

a day of firsts!

today was penny's first day of camp

as well as her first official violin lesson!  she did very well at both - she has friends and counselors from last year, and is excited to be kicking off camp with a week of mini-musicals.  this week is "let's go fly a kite" based (very loosely, if last year is any indication) on Mary Poppins.  we have a violin teacher coming to the house once a week, right now penny is learning how to stand and hold the violin - i'm sure her year of tumbling is helping with her control and strength.

today milo started his transition into toddler twos!  for the first time ever, he walked on their morning walk, rather than taking the mega stroller:

he'll spend a little more time each day there until friday, when i'll start dropping him off in that room for good.  the teacher says she's going to potty train him!  both kids are so big!

we spent part of this holiday weekend celebrating papa dan's 70th birthday - on the train home today, the announcement said "this is a coney island bound f train".  milo said "i like it train", then when he was starting to settle down to sleep, he said to me "i like it music".

First day/last day of First Grade!