mary claire the artist.

mary claire's latest obsession is coloring. one of the first things she does in the morning is walk over to the drawer that holds the art supplies, point, and say "color". i have found the best method for allowing her to color is to tape a piece of paper to the floor. that way it doesn't slide around and i don't have to worry with trying to get her to sit at the table. of course if she is coloring, mommy has to color too. she will point to her paper and tell me what she wants me to draw. most often requested are tree, flower, bug, pig, and quack quack (aka duck). the funniest part is when she "accidentally" colors on the floor or elsewhere. she will grab a hand towel from the kitchen, try to wipe it up, and tell herself "no-no". luckily we use washable crayons so it comes off easily. she is also starting to be able to identify some colors. her favorite one to label is black for some reason. i'm just pleased to see that she is already enjoying something 'artsy'.

beach and more.

hello all. i thought i would give a brief summary of our past week... as usual, mary claire and i spent many an afternoon at the ymca. they have a wonderful pool as well as a child development center that mary claire just loves. the best thing about it, in my opinion, is that it gives mc an opportunity to interact with children of all ages, which is great since the majority of her time is spent at home with me.

i have recently started letting mary claire assist me in the kitchen with little things like stirring or sprinkling in some spices. she really seems to be enjoying it. i think this christmas i want to buy her one of those miniature kitchens so we can cook side by side. i can even get her to put on oven mitts, just like mommy, when i am putting things in the oven (don't worry, i don't let her actually get anywhere near it).

we also started a compost pile and began working on a vegetable and herb garden. we are starting everything from seed, with the exception of basil, oregano, and rosemary. i'm keeping my fingers crossed that we will be able to enjoy the fruits of our labor early next spring.

on sunday, we took a trip to cocoa beach, which is about an hour and fifteen minute drive. i am fairly certain that mary claire views the beach as an all you can eat buffet of sand, shells, and salt water. we do our best to keep her from swallowing the sand and shells, but it is virtually impossible to keep her from constantly licking the salt water off her little fingers. she absolutely loves the ocean! i actually wish she exhibited a little fear instead of running full speed to the water every chance she gets. nevertheless, we love living close enough to make day trips to the beach!