More photos of May

So these are really just cropped black-and-white versions of different shots from the same set as the last entry. But I thought you might like to see them.






I know I'v ebeen lax about posting lately so what can I say about May to make up for it? May has begun using multiple-word phrases. "Big truck!" and "Big doggy!" and "Big bus! Bye bye big bus!" favorites among them. She quite clearly asks "What is that?" And she asks it a lot! She likes to say "no, no, no, no!" even when she doesn't mean it. She still uses signs often, which effectively doubles her vocabulary.

She regularly helps us unload the dishwasher. When I ask her to, she'll open the silverware drawer and then piece by piece, take spoons and forks to the drawer and throw them in. (It's well over her head, hence the throwing.) She puts things in the garbage and the dirty clothes hamper when asked to. Usually. Sometimes she mixes them up or sometimes she gets over enthused about it and I find my sneakers in the bottom of the hamper. She can follow most simple instructions like, "Go push the swing," or "Bring the Grumpy Caterpillar book to Mommy, please."

She loves books. Endlessly.

She's quite fearless around large dogs. I've taught her to stop and let me ask, "Is your doggy friendly? May we pet your doggy?" before approaching a dog, but she will happily deign to pat the canine on his flank. Small dogs, however, and butterflies, make her run in the other direction.

She loves the swings lately, which she calls "Whee!" for the noises you make. She's also become very enamored of riding on things. We've got a tiny little fire truck that's clearly not meant for riding that she scoots around on all the time. She also likes to try to put on clothes and can get very frustrated if she can't figure it out, which is most of the time. She can get hats on, however, and even on the hottest days last week, she would often pull a knit cap on over her curls.

Her hair has lately become a problematic length. The CindyLou Who-style ponytail in the front doesn't quite capture the curls on her left side, which flutter out and looks weirdly asymmetrical. I've managed proper pigtails, with all her hair up off her neck once or twice, but she knows how to pull those out when she gets frustrated with them. Barrettes are a lost cause. I'm hoping soon it will be long enough to put into one ponytail.

She has several small friends. There's Elijah (Dan and Viv's son) and Cynthia (Jen and Matt's daughter) in our Wednesday morning playgroup. There's Jake and his grandmother Nancy. We often see Marlena and Madeline and Maille around the neighborhood and I keep thinking that they should be a girl group together in a few decades because of their names: Call them The Four Ems or M-Cubed or something.

She likes her doll, Blue, and I plan to make her a special doll for Christmas. Of her many stuffed toys, she's often seen with Brunneous, Night-Night Bunny (he's a knuckleballer for the Sox), Kevin the Squirrel, and Rasta Bunny. She sings to them: Tick Tock, Twinkle Twinkle, and Open Shut Them being her favorite songs.

She can identify her nose, ears, eyes, mouth, head, hair, elbow, feet and hands, knee, belly button, bottom, leg, and chin. She knows a grackle from a sparrow from a pigeon. She knows bunnies, squirrels, turtles, snakes, and chickens, not to mention pigs, cows, sheep, goats, and horses. She knows a truck from a tractor from a bus. She knows monkeys and balloons and butterflies (as long as they are on a page -- as I said, in real life she runs from them). All children under three are "babies!" and all children over three are (little girls) (said in sign). She points out when people are wearing hats or shoes and gets very excited over Red Sox caps or shirts.

She can walk up stairs by herself and easily walks several miles a day. She can pick up a full glass of water without spilling it and is moments away from figuring out how to drink from it. She eats everything darned thing but often asks for (and gets) cheese, apples, crackers, and milk. Turkey, avocado, Shredded Wheat, and grapes are big favorites and we just discovered that she loves fresh cantaloupe. Well, who doesn't, right?

Okay, that's enough for right now. I've got to go preheat the oven and glaze my bread. (It's cool enough to bake! Yay!) I hope this helps with your May fix for a while.