Update

Here are some photos from the last two weeks:

 Little monster:

This was the very last bottle of wine from the case Tim and I collected on our drive through Walla Walla when we moved to Pennsylvania in 2005.  This bottle sat in our scorching hot first apartment for so many years that we thought for sure it would be foul.  I expected us both to take a sip, grimace and pour it out- but it was fantastic! The end of an era...

For the last week, Oly has only taken this tutu off to sleep.

Burgers:

Ready for school (told you about the tutu!)

It's hard to see the tutu in this picture since she's buckled into her car seat, but this is what she wore to co-op one morning.

"Mama, can I dig in the dirt?" I made her take her tutu off for this activity.

Tonight: Papa is away on a business trip and Oly has a stomach bug.  Here she is getting ready to sleep in my bed. Reading Madeline with 6 different stuffed animals and a pot- I'm praying she does not throw up in my bed.

And here she is 6 minutes ago, finally fast asleep, hopefully for the whole night. (I edited the photo by amping up the exposure so you can actually see her.)

Miscellany

Here is Oly's second time writing her name all by herself!

I'm really glad I'm not afraid of birds because this happened two days ago:

In her bath, Oly likes to play this game where she pretends to cut her feet and toes up and then serves them to me and her for dinner.  Is there anyone reading this who hasn't dreamed of eating her little toes?  Too perfect.

All In One Day

The revolution starts now.  Occupy Oly's bedroom, because we're attempting to do away with naps.  She has been sleeping a solid 3 hours every afternoon for years, but for the last few weeks the great naps have gone along with sleeping terribly at night.  So we're turning it upside down and staying busy ALL DAY to keep awake.  This was yesterday, day two of our experiment:

Driving to Wilmington, Delaware first thing in the morning to the Children's Museum, which has wonderful exhibits if you get there early before bigger kids come push and shove everyone under 4.

Learning about currents and ways to move water:



Learning about money and commerce in the Bank exhibit.  Here she is earning capitol at the lemonade stand:  "Mama, your lemonade costs 5 pounds."



Learning about geothermal piping to help heat and cool a home:



Here she is working on a computer game to teach older kids price consciousness using percentages off- but she just practiced using a mouse for about 15 minutes, I was extremely impressed:



Eating our pizza lunch in the car:



Driving home she fought the nap:



But the nap won.  I let her sleep for 8 minutes:



...until we tried out a new library! We're going on a tour of every Delaware County library, determined to check out at least one thing from each just to keep life interesting.
Here she is "reading a book to Piglet.  Now Piglet, you sit and listen":



Puppets:



and THEN we went to the park, because it's been 55 degrees here for a week.



We did all that in one day!  We were gone from 8:30 am until 4:30 pm, a full work day for some.  She slept through the night though, so we're keeping it up.  But I'm exhausted!

Sleeping Beauty

Somebody thinks she's too good for naps, then falls asleep right before dinner in random places.

Blue's Petfinder Profile

http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/22095692

Update:
Just received an e-mail from the SPCA, Blue's already been adopted!

See Ya, Blue Dog

We sent Ol' Blue back to the SPCA for that super special puppy surgery before he gets adopted by another loving family.  As Amy predicted, as soon as he got comfortable with us in our home he turned BAD.  Fairly normal puppy-level bad, i.e. chewing on the curtains.  Which would have been tolerated if it had not been for Oly and my nasty colds turning into double ear infections (for O) and a sinus infection with a touch of bronchitis (for Mama).  Being sick meant we were stuck inside even during the 60 degree weather and Blue was stuck inside with us.  Being bad.

Not to mention his sickness, which we were all worried was Parvo Virus but instead turned out to be "a sick tummy".  That technical diagnosis was arrived at after a trip to the emergency vet at midnight, 5 prescription medications, and feeding him boiled chicken and rice for days.  

Do not worry about little Blue, (who Oly always called Pupperone) because when I brought him to the shelter yesterday and was waiting 10 minutes to fill out some paperwork no less than 4 families asked when he'd be available for adoption after being fixed.  He'll be chewing on someone else's curtains in no time!  Since all of you, our lovely readers, will miss him much more than we will, I'll post his petfinder profile as soon as it's up.  If someone doesn't snag him at the shelter before it's even listed!

Ready To Go Outside

Punishment

What does Blue get for peeing in Oly's room?
A private concert at top volume while stuck inside his crate.