Ballet at the Shell

New Ballet Ensemble's Family Night was at the Levitt Shell again this year and was full of great stuff. Flamenco, hip hop, and plenty of ballet. Most of the young classes followed the outline of Le carnaval des animaux—Mer's class were the kangaroos. 

The Family Night show is always a bit long, and the little ones (okay, and some of the grown ups) sometimes get a bit squirmy. But the school wants the young ones to have the opportunity to really watch all the older children. Hattie, Meredith, and Elizabeth loved it. 

The Future

Mer: So, I can't decide if I should be a teacher or a doctor.
Chris: Maybe a scientist? I think you should be a scientist.
Madi: Hey guys. Or, she could be Super Girl.

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Madeline at 3

I'm tardy with this birthday post. Maybe because she's the second? Maybe because Madeline, by nature, isn't easily summed up in a birthday post.  


If I had to choose a few things to help describe Madi at 3, I would probably start with snugglepot. This is a noun that (as far as I can tell) Madeline invented to describe a cozy spot where cuddling could--and should--take place. She piles up blankets and pillows and asks us to get into the snugglepot with her. (We do.)


So, obviously, the affection in this child is not waning. She'll hug and kiss whatever she can reach, grabbing a knee or elbow for a quick kiss in the middle of a game or activity. Honestly, she's kind of like a doting parent in the way she just can't quit with the affection. And I have to tell you, it's a strange but lovely experience to be comforted by a three year old.


But as she'll tell you, she's a teaser, too. She loves to joke and trick. Since she was still in the womb, we've participated in a UT medical study. They're tracking mothers' habits and children's diets and doing yearly surveys and tests. A few weeks ago we went in for third year tests and during that time she did a lot of different activities--but there were 3 times that the tester returned to a poster with crayons on it. The tester pointed to individual crayons and asked Madi to name them--she got them right each time. On the third try, Madeline kept a straight face, pretended to think deeply, and switched each pair of colors as she answered the tester. She never let on that she was joking til she had done it 8 times. She wins staring contests too. Easily.





What else? She consistently reminds me not to pop my knuckles. She's a pretty picky eater--passionate only about candy and yogurt. She can count to 28, so Aunt Beth and I are breathing a sigh of relief that she may have escaped our math genes. She's working on her M's and A's, and writes lots of letter-like objects with great focus. She is greeted at school by cries of "Maddy-poo!" from her friends -- this is the name she has asked them to call her. Adults are not allowed to use the moniker, and are admonished if they try. 


Her imaginary friend (not as ever present as Meredith's friends Hanas and Jonas, but hanging around quite a bit lately) is Alice. Sometimes pronounced Alisk. Never yet pronounced correctly by me. 


That's our girl. Complicatedly perfect. 

Birthday breakfast. 4/11/12. Third birthday. 

Easter Goodness

First, for the record, what an amazing spring. A real, true spring -- not the short, startling slide into immediate summer that we sometimes get. We've had egg hunts in the heat, egg hunts in rain boots, and one gorgeous Easter morning.

Backyard egg hunt after a monsoon.


Our sweet neighbors, Ramona and Milo, came over for the egg hunt.

Then we went to their house and met the hens!


The merging of the Sugg and Lareau clans was the creation of an egg dying dynasty. We ALL take our egg dying very seriously. Aunt Beth and I (with help from the girls and Papa) dyed 60 eggs and could happily have done another 60.

Serious work.

Happy eggs.

Happy girls. Happy Easter!

Budding Activists

No Words for This One...

Our First Appalachian Hike

I say our first, because I have a dream that some day we'll hike the Appalachian Trail together. I fully recognize that this dream may require significant modification, as in, "Some day we'll hike 1/58th of the Appalachian Trail together." But it's my dream and I love it. There is almost no limit to my love for hiking. I once tried to climb a fourteener in CO while suffering from altitude sickness and as-yet-undiagnosed pneumonia. I still have mostly good memories of that excursion. But I digress...

While in North Carolina we hiked a trail or two off the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was gorgeous and glorious. Meredith was a total pro, leading the way and reporting back to us on her walkie-talkie. Madeline was truly expert at sitting on shoulders, and actually did do some fairly significant hiking for someone who hasn't yet hit 3 feet.

Mountain moss.

Land's End vest model. Seriously. Who is this kid?

Camera balanced on top of a large boulder pic.

"One must read all signs, beginning in the parking lot." Chris Lareau

Beacon Point.

Appalachian mountains.