Oh, sweet deceipt

Last summer, I spent almost every nice afternoon outside with Allie, one of my best friends, who lives on the next block. We'd often go for walks, wagon rides and trips to the park, and every so often would get to see the Music Truck -- a big white truck with beautiful pictures on the side that circles our neighborhood, playing whimsical tunes.

Allie's mom always told us to wave as it drove by. And so we did.

Only the thing is that sometime between last summer and this spring, someone filled me in on the fact that the Music Truck DISPENSES ICE CREAM. Maybe it was Dora. Maybe it was the kids at school. Mom and Dad don't know for sure, and I ain't talkin'.

With the cat out of the bag, Mom promised me that the next time the Music Ice Cream Truck drove by our house, I could pick out an ice cream. Anything I wanted! And I talked about it for a week straight.

Alas, two days ago the Ice Cream Truck FINALLY came. With Allie by my side, her mom had only a few seconds to finally divulge the truth. "Allie," she blurted out in a guilt-ridden tone of voice, "Mommy's been lying to you! That truck doesn't just play music -- it sells ice cream!"

Well Allie hardly had any time for shock, surprise or disappointment. There was ice cream to be had! And Popi treated me and Allie to a Dora ice cream and Sponge Bob ice cream, respectively.

Deception is a lot easier to swallow when it comes on a stick.

Good nature

We decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather on the last day of Grandma and Popi's visit to hang out with a little plant life at the Morton Arboretum.

Rowan must have been captivated by all of the beautiful trees and flowers, because she spent the better part of an hour-and-a-half happily sitting in the stroller...which happens about never. Lucky for us, too, because had she decided to explore the arboretum via her walk-crawl hybrid form of mobility, we may have had to ask one of the groundskeepers to hose her down before putting her back in the car.

Not to mention, many of the activities were physically challenging for me, making them somewhere between treacherous and impossible for Rowan. Which means she would have insisted on doing them. And we all know how much she hates to take "no" for an answer.

With so many things to climb on/in/over/through, it was only sheer exhaustion that made it possible to get me back in the car at the end of our visit.

While I could detail my various adventures crossing rope bridges, pumping water and drinking chocolate milk in a treehouse, the photos really speak for themselves.

The Zoo: Part Two

Today seemed like a fine day to groom a goat. To look at llamas. To mingle with monkeys.

And with Grandma and Popi in town -- and weather that was vaguely suggestive of spring -- there was no better time for my first visit to the Brookfield Zoo. After all, it was my Grandma and Popi that took me to the zoo (Lincoln Park) for the very first time almost three years ago.

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And some more good pictures from today's visit...

I was elated to see that all zoos appear to have ming-go-rounds.

This goat seemed pleased with my grooming techniques.

I discovered I make a better goat-feeding supervisor than goat feeder.

Everything I know about interpersonal skills I learned from Kai Lan

Today I would like to take a couple minutes to vent about my frustrations in trying to teach some basic manners to today's youth. Namely Rowan.

I've spent much valuable time (some of it in time-out) reflecting on the value of sharing. My mom talks a lot about it. Ni Hao: Kai Lan (basically the Chinese version of Dora) spends a lot of time preaching about it, too.

Unfortunately, Rowan seems largely unfamiliar with the concept.

This morning, over a jam session with the Tinkerbell guitar, I tried to school her in the ways of playing nicely with others by taking turns.

She didn't seem open to that sort of thing, so I compromised by suggesting that we both play together. Another practice Kai Lan strongly encourages.

When I encountered resistance yet again, I remembered that episode of Kai Lan in which she told us that we must use our words (not our hands) to let other people know how we are feeling.

Unfortunately, my approach of patience and peace was futile. Unphased by my struggles, Rowan took advantage of my declaration of defeat to strum the strings and sing a song.

I am optimistic that Kai Lan will address the issue of bothersome little sisters in the near future.

Home improvement

It's been a quiet week here, which is usually a good thing. Except for the fact that it gives me little fodder for the blog. There have been only little developments of late, none of which were interesting enough to constitute their very own entry.

For instance, every morning now I throw a tantrum over the fact that I am not allowed to get dressed before breakfast. Picking out my outfit is one of the highlights of my day; hence, the reason I relentlessly lobby to do it before other trivial tasks, like getting a clean pull-up or eating. It is of note that the outfits I select are often not appropriate for current weather conditions or anyone with "traditional" taste in apparel, which then leads to the inevitable second tantrum of the day.

I've also grown obsessed with doling out time-outs to inanimate objects -- mostly my baby dolls and figurines. But today I declared a time-out to be in order for the stair that gave me a good bump in the bum when I tripped trying to sit down so that Mom could tie my shoe. I abandoned the cause after declaring that the stair in question was, in fact, "very stuck," making it impossible to send it to the corner.

In other time-out news, I schooled my Mom in why it is always a good idea to tell a 3-year-old that she is getting a time-out only after she's been removed from the bathtub. I don't think you realize just how much water a tub really holds until half of it is on the bathroom floor.

As I was contemplating how none of these minor events was interesting enough to discuss at length, it occurred to me that there have been several small home-improvement projects of late that somehow or other link back to me.

For instance, you may remember a couple of years ago when I finally got my very own work space. As a sign of the times, that table that Mom and Dad bought for a little girl just got converted to a table for a big kid. (And, of course, the big kid's little sister.) My mom's kinda misty-eyed about the whole thing, but I'm excited to finally have a place to sit down. As you may have guessed, I find only the pink chairs to be usable.

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My very first fingerpainting received a place of honor on the wall. While it was done last summer, I say, Better late than never!

And I've been lending a hand to my dad in the garage with various assembly projects. On Tuesday, it was a new ladder for the basement egress window. Today, storage shelves for toys.

As you can see, my assistance in the flashlight-handling department was an integral part of the operation.

Vegetation elation

Yesterday, Papa and Yaya took me and Rowan to the Garfield Park Conservatory for a little time to commune with nature.

I gave it two thumbs up perhaps for no other reason than it had a slide. A slide SO BIG that I needed an escort up for the first ride...just to make sure it wasn't more excitement than a kid my size could handle.

It was not. I tested it approximately 30 times to validate my findings.

And because I am big into being a "helper," I was quite thrilled when the park let me lend a hand in misting their plants. I learned they need water to grow.

Which got me to thinking...if we keep giving Rowan baths every day, why is it that she's still so short??

The applesauce of my eye

It seemed like a good idea at the time...until someone got an eyeful of applesauce.

Moving forward, I imagine Rowan will be utilizing her signature technique for eating yogurt, which is to pour it on the tray and then eat it by the fistful.

While Mom is hopeful that providing her with opportunities to become an independent eater will pay off one day, a headful of hair matted down with yogurt and applesauce suggests that day is not soon.

Lunch bunch

After school today, I hit up one of the local lunch spots for an impromptu group lunch with some of my friends from class. We brought our moms along, too, because they seemed hungry.

In order to ensure that we'd have enough time to enjoy the video-game room (the fact that the games weren't plugged in phased no one), run around the restaurant holding hands and occasionally let out a scream sure to annoy the patrons not dining with pint-sized companions, we kept the actual eating of lunch to a minimum.

Thrillseeker

No longer content to ride the baby swing, Rowan has set her sights on outdoor activities intended for the more mature crowd.

Makes keeping her shoes on seem like the least of our worries.