Seussical the Musical

Kitty informed me recently that she's outgrown her blog nickname and doesn't want me to call her Kitty anymore.

You know what I've outgrown? My baby growing up! 

So now what? Well...she came up with a different name.

I will now be referring to my firstborn as Zelda. That's Princess Zelda to you.

I'm not sure how I feel about it.  But I will respect my Kitty's wishes.

Starting now.

Zelda's best friend from school convinced her to participate in a theater camp with the Jonesborough Repertory Theater.  They would be performing Seussical the Musical. I wasn't sure how this adventure would play out since she had to be coerced into doing it AND she's never done theater of any kind.  But I was excited for her.  On the first day of class they had to audition for parts, both by singing and reciting lines from the script.  After her first audition she told me that she had bombed when she became nervous and forgot the words to her song.  But she was delighted to report that she felt quite confident about her speaking audition.  All that remained was to wait for parts to be assigned.

And guess what?

Zelda was granted the role of Cat in the Hat! A main role! She was elated.  I was elated.  Everyone was elated.  

She diligently studied her script and had Michael make a CD of the songs so she could practice her singing and dancing.  She listened to the music while she showered.  She danced late at night when she should have been in bed.  She took it all very seriously. I was proud.

The day of the show finally arrived.  I must admit that my expectations weren't high.  They are a bunch of 5th-7th graders, afterall.

Boy, was I wrong!  They did such a fantastic job! I watched my baby up there on stage and beamed with pride.  Her teacher from school and the girls from church even came to watch her perform.  It was sweet.  Zelda made a gaggle of new friends and had a wonderful experience.  It was so wonderful that she's already signed up for another camp this summer. 

We celebrated her success with Bottlecaps and dinner at the Olive Garden.

She's now talking about joining the Drama Club in middle school this fall.  

It looks like I have myself an actress. 

Congratulations to my Cat in the Hat!

9 Months

Baby had her 9 month check-up recently.  Does that seem possible?

Not really.

But here we are.  And in the 9 months since she was born, I've only jettisoned 10 pounds of the 45 I gained during pregnancy.  

Sigh.

No matter.  I have an adorably adorable baby to show for it.  It's a good trade.

Baby had a perfect meeting with the Dr. at her check-up. Well, she screamed like a cockatoo when he tried to listen to her heart, but other than that - completely perfect.  

Here is how Baby measured up:

Weight: 20 big ones - 76th percentile

Height: 24 inches - 58th percentile

Head circumference: 17 inches - 29th percentile

At 9 months, Baby is scooting around but not crawling.  She can get up into the crawling position, but just rocks back and forth and gets upset that she's not moving. She mostly gets to destinations by lying on her stomach and pushing herself backwards.  It's effective enough for her to find trouble.  All the time.

She is still waking up in the night around 2 or 3 despite our best efforts to squash this habit.  But overall, she is pure joy.  She is happy, laughs easily, and loves to be held.  She is trying more solid foods and is a good eater.  She loves yogurt but isn't crazy about avocado.  Come on! Someone in this family needs to appreciate avocado with me.

We've enjoyed 9 wonderful months with her.

We sure love Baby!    

St. Patty's

On St. Patrick's Day eve I was feeling like I wanted to sit around and cry.  My niece had just gone home that morning, and Kitty was off to her musical practice.  Perfect time to sit around and cry.

But then we were invited to a St. Patrick's day festival and I thought maybe that might be better than sobbing all day.  Maybe.

Alright. We ended up having a dandy time.  Kitty was able to run around like a maniac with her friend, and I enjoyed strolling through the sunshine.

Kitty and Mykey even tried their hand at some Highland games.  Mykey commented afterwards that he was certain he had injured his shoulder tossing the giant boulder.  He was trying to impress the woman teaching him and overexerted himself.  The guy forgets he's nearly 50. And why doesn't he ever try to impress me?!

No matter.  It was a fun afternoon.  The next day we celebrated with steak and green mashed potatoes.  Only I forgot to put the food coloring in the potatoes so...

And I didn't put enough green color in the vanilla pudding so it was sickly looking.  Hey, get off my back!  My husband is nearly 50.

No matter.  It was a delicious meal and a relaxing day all around.  

Happy St. Patrick's day!   

Spring Break

When we lived in Oregon, we would usually have visitors for Spring Break.  When we moved to the other side of the moon, I knew our attendance numbers would decrease.

And then there was a Spring Break Miracle.

My niece called and asked if she and her husband could come to our house for Spring Break.  I was giddy.  I was shocked.  I may have peed in my pants a little.  (or a lot)  Even better, their break aligned perfectly with Kitty's.  

A miracle indeed!  

The week flew by like an inconsiderate jerk and I found myself teary-eyed when they departed. I loved the added conversation and the extra bodies milling about the house.  I loved the late nights and laughter. I loved every bit. It was heaven for me.

And we had so much fun. So much! 

We went for a casual Sunday stroll.

And built a paper airplane launcher.

We had delicious ramen.

And went to Dolly Parton's Stampede.  Kitty was chosen to do a rope trick during the show!

We played in the hotel arcade and earned ten million tickets.

And visited Dollywood, of course.  I even had the chance to ride a big'ol roller coaster! (My neck was not pleased afterwards but it was worth it)

We hit up the aquarium.

And had a zorbing experience.  Well, I didn't have a zorbing experience.  Much like the Wicked Witch of the West, I melt in water.  

We walked through a magical light show in the trees.

And stopped by the Relic Room to poke around.

We successfully escaped a fierce headhunting tribe in the Amazon rainforest.

And ate donuts and pretzels at the best place in the universe.

The week was perfect in everyway.  

Man, I love miracles!

Bee's Knees

Kitty's school recently installed a book vending machine.  As a passionate reader, you can imagine the excitement Kitty felt about this addition.  The only way to extract a book from the machine is to earn an award called the Bee's Knees, and a corresponding token from your teacher. The teachers each decide when a behavior or achievement deserves a token.

Kitty mentioned a few times that she really wanted a Bee's Knees award.  Several weeks passed, and I worried she would never visit the holy land.  And then...

Success!

She earned a perfect score on an important assessment and that award was hers!

Kitty was excited about her vending machine selection.

Although I feel that all vending machines should contain chocolate and only chocolate, I'm a proud mama nonetheless.

Congratulations to Kitty!