Tidbits: Toddler love and a link or three.

For Tami, here is a better shot of the mural. I haven't worked on it in several months, and I really should- I find that even though I have very little experience painting, it is very freeing, and makes me happy. I need to do more of it, how else will I get better?

Also, if you haven't met Lemondrop yet, you may want to head over and check her out. Tami is her creator, and the kids and I love to see new bits of Lemondrop's story every week. If you have littles, they will love the illustrations. My tweens are hooked!

I took a 2 hour nap yesterday, so was awake till about 2 this morning. It's all the Birthday Girl's fault, really. Miz Booshay posted links to the current Dancing with the Stars show, and I went over to YouTube to check them out. 2 hours later, and I had watched a LOT of ballroom dances featuring Mario Lopez. I can see why you folks with tv reception and cable could get sucked into this show. Good thing we don't do tv- probably a good thing Netflix doesn't have DWTS.

I had the most wonderful time with my borrowed toddler today. While his mama, TBPTOTP (The Best Piano Teacher on the Planet) and Piano Girl worked for 3+ hours downstairs, we did puzzles, and played trains, and read, and read, and read some more. We played our special games, the "I like/do you like" game, the "woof/meow/oink" game, and sang lots of nursery rhymes. Once a preschool teacher, always a preschool teacher. He calls me nanny (my 3rd person name for myself) now, and is just so sweet. And if all that wasn't enough, get this- every week, I sing him lullabies and rock him to sleep, then lay him down for his nap. I know he is way old for this, and I am the only person who puts him down for nigh-nights like this, but hey- he will grow up soon enough, and his mama lets me spoil and enjoy him this way. Anyway, I always say, "Goodnight, Abe. I love you. See you next week." as I lay him down, whether he is asleep or not. Today, he was really tired, but fidgety, so after about 20 songs,I lay him down awake, and said my usual. He snuggled down into his crib, and said, "I love you too.". Now if that just wasn't enough to keep me glowing all the rest of the day, I don't know what else would.

Edited to add this pic of Abe. It isn't the best, but he moves constantly- I took over 20 photos of him yesterday, and this is the only one that even sorta came out- but it is cute- notice his Thomas cap, and James the red engine- classic Abe accoutrements.

I have more I could update you on, but we are headed out the door to pick the Papa Dude up from the airport. I took tons of photos at the fair, and have some art to upload too, will try to be better at posting in the next couple of days- been fighting some bug, and actually sleeping!
TTFN,
LB