My own little 'Lympian'

This summer has been all about the Olympics, or as Ella would say the "Lympics" and our house has been no exception. My husband could spend all day, everyday watching whatever sport is on (handball, ping pong, race walking- yes, that is a legit sport in the Olympics), and Ella has started to follow suit. While we get her lotioned, and brushed, and diapered, and dressed after her bath at night, she usually watches a show to keep her sitting and distracted. Lately, we will ask her if she wants to watch one of her shows or the Olympics, and sometimes she says, "Lympics- I want to watch swimming." While she will watch other sports, swimming seems to be her favorite. She is fascinated by how quickly those men and women can race down the length of the pool, "really fast like an otter," and how they wear goggles and go "all the way under water." She likes to jump on the bed naked and yell, "USA! USA!" as if it really means something to her.

Swimming as her sport of choice is not really random. She has spent a lot of time in the pool this summer figuring out the whole swimming thing for herself. Recently, we went shopping for flotation devices and I let her pick the one she wanted to wear. It is a pink number with one floaty in the back and one in the front that are attached between her legs. From the minute we bought it, she has been asking to wear it in the pool, "so I don't sink."

The thing that amazes me most about this girl is how physically adept she is. As with rolling over, crawling, and walking, she pretty much learned how to swim in a week. Our neighbors who have a pool went away and gave us full reign of the backyard, so Ella B was in their pool everyday, two hours a day, for five days straight. In that time, she went from asking me to hold her, to telling me to let go of her, to learning to kick her legs, to learning how to swim away from me, saying, "Bye! I'm going to New York City!" She also likes to jump into the pool from the ladder and tells me to "move back, Mom. No, farther!"

Because I was never an athlete, I am constantly in awe of  her fearlessness, her determination, and her understanding of how to use her body to learn something. I know she is only two, but I think all these traits are the mark of a true athlete. I'm certain that sports will come easily to her, and I'm looking forward to standing on the sidelines and cheering her on- my wide eyes full of admiration and wonder. 

Summer Olympics 2028, here we come!

The Whole Wide World

Major adventure number two of the summer was a girls only mini-vacation to Cape Cod. One of my girlfriends from work has a house in Dennisport, so Amy, Ella, and I headed up there last week to enjoy a few days of girls only fun. I, of course, was petrified to be on vacation with my little two going on sixteen ball of toddlerness, but I went anyway. I decided today actually that the theme for this summer is "Embrace the Disaster." There was really no chance that Cape Cod was going to go perfectly. I was with a two-year-old, without my husband, and in an unfamiliar place. Because Ella was such a difficult baby and we were forced to put her on a really strict routine about where and when she slept, she has become accustomed to that routine and doesn't do well with change. She likes her crib, her bath tub, her stuff, and her space, so there were bound to be some tantrums and tears.

There were definitely some difficulties along the way. She cried pretty hard the first night when I put her down to sleep, but it only lasted about fifteen minutes. She wouldn't nap in the pack n' play, but she did sleep for a good two hours in the car. There were some bratty moments here and there, but there was also this glorious thing called "the beach." Everyone knows that I am not a beach person (reference any picture available of my translucent skin). I have always found it to be pretty hot and sandy and boring, and I wasn't really looking forward to spending three days lounging on the shore. Of course, once you have a child, there's never really any lounging anyway, which turned out to be a good thing for us. I realized that while I don't really like being a grown-up on the beach, I do still like being a kid on one. It turns out that building sand castles, giving Ella mermaid legs, collecting shells, and running from "sharks" (a.k.a Amy) in the water is just as much fun now as it was when I was a kid, maybe even more so because now I get to see the glint of fun and excitement in her eyes as well.

One moment in particular that I will remember was when we swam out "really deep" as Ella would say and turned to look back at the shore. She held out her arm in a very grown-up sweeping motion and said, "The whole wide world." I don't know where she got that phrase, or what she meant by it, but it felt like an important moment to me. It felt like she was telling me, "Pay attention, Mom. This is a good moment. Be here with me right now and breathe it in." And I did. I let everything else go, and I relished the sun on my face, the water all around, and the little girl with her arms around my neck, and I was so glad to be seeing the "whole wide world" with her.

A special thanks also to Amy and Ali for making that trip happen, and for being so patient with my little one. She can't wait for her next "bacation."

At the lake with Auntie Caca

A few weeks ago, Ella B and I were lucky enough to spend the day with my best friend in the whole wide world, Jessica, who left the hustle and bustle of the city to spend a relaxing day in the country with two of her favorite girls. Eventually, Ella began affectionately referring to her as "Caca" which seemed to be just about the best idea ever, as far as I was concerned. We brought Auntie Caca to the lake and the playground and had a totally awesome day playing in the water and sliding down the big swirly slide. Here are some highlights:

The ladies in their bikinis (sidenote: Jessica's bathing suit had little skulls dangling from the strings and Ella kept calling them "babies"- kinda creepy)

Enjoying the cool water with a noodle nearby

Doing a little digging

Not a care in the world, especially since her bathing suit comes with a modesty skirt to hide those problem areas.

And one last kiss before I go...

Play dates, pools, and corn on the cob

Summer continues over at the Bonaldo house. Over the weekend we picked up our new grill and I haven’t turned on the stove since. Okay, that’s not true, but you get the idea. On Sunday, Nene and Pop Pop came over for a little barbecue and Beezer enjoyed her first corn on the cob. I guess that means she’s a real kid now. I also went to a craft fair in Milford with my mom and Kristy and we bought this really cute bird house that is all set up out in the yard, so if there are any robins out there who read my blog, we have a beautiful house all ready for you to move in to. Just sayin'.

The past two days have been full of play dates and pools. Yesterday, we were lucky enough to host a little get together with the lovely Miss Loreli Elizabeth and her equally lovely mother, Christina. Ella B was kind enough to take a two hour nap so I could visit with the gals sans toddler, attention-seeking behavior and then woke up happy as a peach and super excited to see the “baby, baby, baby.” We blew some bubbles, played in our “pool” (okay, it’s a lobster pot, but Ella B doesn’t know that), and I did my best to keep Beezer’s fingers out of Loreli’s eyeballs. So, basically it was a great visit for everyone and I was so excited I forgot to take any pictures of Loreli for posterity or the blog. Sorry.

Next, we ventured over to Jessica’s house for some pool time. We swam, we played with rubber duckies, or “quack quacks” as Beezer calls them, ate some cheese and crackers, and met a really awesome Portuguese water dog named Body.

Today we had a little play date with Gina and Bella. Well, we mostly had a play date with Gina as Bella and Ella do not realize that synchronizing their napping schedules would make things a lot more convenient for their mothers. Actually, it probably worked out for the best because two fifteen-month-old girls arguing over baby dolls can only go on for so long before something’s gotta give (namely, mine and Gina’s patience). But it sure is cute to see those little girls together, especially when they kissed each other goodbye. So adorable! I felt like quite the oddball with all the Italian blood running through that house today. So many tan legs, I felt translucent!

And yes, this was the best picture I could get of them. Those little monsters never stand still! At least you can see how adorable Bella's outfit is.

So, the week is shaping up nicely. Thanks to all my ladies for making it a good one so far! And a special thanks to my mother who dropped off a real baby pool today. So, Christina, you can stop laughing at me now.