The Savannah Jazz Festival is one of the 5,921 reasons I love living in Savannah. Every September, musicians offer free concerts in Forsyth Park, which quickly fills with lawn chairs, blankets and picnic baskets.
Yesterday, Lee, Camille, Boo and I took our blanket and basket and found a shady spot to enjoy the music. The sky was a perfect blue, the bands were quite good, and it was so nice to share all of this with some of my favorite people. Camille turned a lot of heads, looking quite adorable in her new UGA cheerleading uniform (I’m don’t even want to talk about the game, though). Right away, she started dancing to the music, bouncing up and down on our picnic blanket.
I think she loved having a picnic and being able to graze on food while sitting in the grass, and not being restrained in a high chair. She had another very important “first,” too. Her first boiled peanut.
Initially, she didn’t seem sure about the soft, salty delicacy. But I think she liked the novelty of eating them out of the shell, and soon she was popping them in her mouth two by two. I LOVE boiled peanuts, and this southern mama was proud – just like I was when Camille had her first bite of cheese grits.
It was a really fun evening, and reminded me how lucky we are to raise our child in a place like this, where she can be exposed to good music, good weather, good people and good boiled peanuts all in one night.
I’m addicted to the booty. It’s true.
Camille knows how to whisper – I’ve heard her do it plenty of times before. But whispering on command is another issue.
Last night, we were late for the Wednesday night dinner at church, and were only halfway through our meals when the program began. Usually, she’d already be up in the nursery by then, but I really wanted her to finish eating. So we asked her to be quiet. We asked her to whisper. She held her index finger up to her mouth, and acknowledged our request by saying, “Shhhh….” So far so good.
Then, as the minister began sharing upcoming church events, she shouted out, “OINK! OINK! OINK! I’M A PIG!”
We quieted her down by shoveling some more food in her mouth while trying not to laugh out loud. Then as people began discussing prayer concerns, she launched into her best Barney song. “I LOVE YOU! YOU LOVE ME!” At least it was an appropriate tune.
I don’t know if it’s because they’re a little older, because they go to school together, or a combination of the two – but the interactions between Camille and Elsie have grown increasingly more fun! I think they’ve always gotten along, but only now does it really seem they are focused on each other and not just engaging in parallel play. We met up at the park this afternoon for a play date that stretched into a Mexican food dinner date, and the two were so silly together.
The other day, Camille rode this merry-go-round for the first time and was a bit timid. She wanted off after the first revolution. Wonder why she’s smiling so big this time?
Because who couldn’t laugh at these antics?
At the restaurant, they spent the whole time laughing at each other, showing each other the food in their mouths, and carrying on conversations we could only sometimes understand. They were quite entertaining to watch.
And I just love this pic of my biker chicks on the playground motorcycle! Such cuties. Watch out world, here they come.
Lee and I used to love entertaining company, but most of our entertaining over the last two years has been aimed at a certain little girl named Camille. We’re very grateful for that, although she is more impressed by paper plates with fun patterns than by our wedding china.
And although we’ve had people over for dinner since her arrival, they’ve been family or close friends we didn’t have work so hard to impress. Or they’ve been friends with their own toddlers and were just happy for a hot dog they didn’t have to cook themselves.
But we finally dove back into the world of entertaining last night, and I’m happy to report that we can still pull it off. A couple had us over to their house a few weeks before Camille’s birth, and we’d yet to return the favor. We figured two years was long enough, so we had them over last night.
We washed the dust off the china, got out the chargers, the linen napkins and rings, filled a crystal pitcher with water and fresh cut limes, opened a bottle wine, and even remembered to put out appetizers. Camille was a JEWEL and behaved like quite a lady – although I’m glad we made the choice to eat our adult meal after she went to bed.
We really enjoyed it, although I don’t need to do it again any time soon – there are still too many pieces of crystal in our sink waiting to be hand-washed. But the food was good, the company was even better, and it was nice to know we can still host a decent dinner party!
Hello sweet girl, and Happy 26 month birthday! We’ve had a really good month – lots of visits with friends and family, starting a new preschool, trips to the library and Oatland Island for story time, and several beach outings too.
I think you really like your new preschool, which feels a lot more like preschool than daycare. I’ve enjoyed watching you catch on to all the new rules and routines. Every morning, the first thing you do is go get a mat and roll it out on the floor. Then you get one toy off the shelf (your “work” as they call it), and you sit on the mat and play with it independently. It all feels so structured and grown up, but I was amazed that by the second day you already knew what was expected of you. “Mille go get mat,” you told me as we walked in the door.
And you often have a little help from one of your girl friends, Miss Elsie. You two are ADORABLE together. You both seem excited to see each other, and Elsie always jumps up to help you. This morning, she was pulling your mat out of the basket before you’d even cleared the doorway. “Camille’s mat! Camille’s mat! Right here!” She even got your “work” for you and brought it over. It’s fun to watch you develop friendships, and I always feel better about leaving you at school when I know you’re in good company.
This month your language has continued to grow at a wonderful clip, and I find myself amazed by the things you’ll say, and the things you’ll sing! You’d already been working on the Barney song, but this month have added “Twinkle Little Star,” and “ABCs” to the list. You may not hit each word (or letter), but you get most of them, and I think it’s the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.
You first sang Twinkle Little Star on our road trip back from Tennessee a couple of weeks ago. There we were, in the McDonald’s bathroom, changing a diaper. And out of nowhere, you launched into the song. My mouth dropped at your accuracy, especially since we hadn’t really been working on it, and I’d never really heard you attempt it before. Once we got back in the car, you shared your new song with Daddy too, and we managed to catch a recording of it on his phone.
(To listen, click the play button in the middle of the cassette)
This week, the weather finally got cooler (I know it’s just a tease
though), and we took advantage of the breezes by walking to our
neighborhood playground after dinner. You’re really into climbing these
days, and we got some video of you practicing this new skill. I love
how much you chatter along as we play, even spontaneously deciding to
count to 10 for us.
Playground Fun from Ginger on Vimeo.
Little girl, we really have been having a lot of fun. You’re old enough
to enjoy lots of outings and activities, but still young enough to want
to crawl up in my lap and cuddle. You still think Mama and Daddy hung
the moon, and we’re certain the world revolves around you. You’re quick
to give hugs, and in fact, one of your new teachers told me you are one
of the most loving girls she’s ever met. You’re quick to affirm too,
and every morning you say to me, “Mama looks so cute!” Tonight, you
watched as I spooned the dinner leftovers into a dish, and said, “Good
job Mama! Good job!” And I grabbed you and held you tight. Sometimes,
you’re just so sweet I’m afraid I might implode. I love you so much, angel. So very much.
We just tried a new recipe that’s a keeper because it’s pretty easy, tastes fresh and light, and can be shared with Camille. I say “shared,” because although she was not a fan of all the ingredients in these Baja Fish Tacos, she DEVOURED the fish. So we’ll definitely make this again, because Mama and Daddy feel like they get a grown-up meal, and if we add some fruit and a small side order of veggies for Camille, she’s happy too.
The perfect craft project for Game Day:
A felt hair bow for Miss Camille. A little rough around the edges, but it was fun to make. I still can’t believe she doesn’t have a cheerleading uniform yet this year, but we’ll take care of that next week. She can already say, “Go Dawgs, Sic’ em, Woof Woof!” but (of course), not usually on command.
GO DAWGS!
I don’t pretend to have a lot of training or even much basic knowledge when it comes to sewing. I can thread my machine and press the foot pedal, and that’s about it. But I do enjoy being crafty from time to time, and an opportunity presented itself when Erin and Jones were here a few weeks ago.
We were at The Jumping Bean with Camille, and noticed a mother discreetly breastfeeding her baby beneath a blanket. But this wasn’t just a regular blanket – it had a handy neck strap to keep it in place.
Let me make one thing clear. I think mamas should feel free to feed their babies whenever and wherever, and I don’t think they should have to hide behind blankets if they don’t want to. However, I just couldn’t ever get comfortable breastfeeding Camille in public. When she was little, I’d use a blanket, although it wasn’t easy to get her in place without the blanket sliding down at some point. As she got older, even if I managed to get a blanket in place she’d often pull it down during feedings to be sure she didn’t miss anything going on in the outside world.
So the neck strap seemed ingenius, because it was simple and would keep the blanket in place. Erin struck up a conversation and the mom told her the blanket had been sewn by her sister. A quick inspection of the blanket showed that it was a pretty simple project.
So here is Erin, making a nursing cover on my sewing machine. And it really was pretty simple.
And although I have no personal need for a nursing blanket any more, I have a friend with a new baby and thought it might be helpful. So I stitched together this pink one.
All you really do is sew a rectangle for the blanket, then hem the fabric for the neck strap and attach the velcro.
Since Erin sewed her first one, she’s done a few more and discovered ways to make it even simpler. Instead of hemming the neck strap (which did get a little tedious), she used ribbon. Smarty.
Now if only breastfeeding itself were that simple.
We’re settling back in after a much needed visit to see the Grands in Tennessee. Camille had more fun than ought to be legal, playing with her grandparents, jumping on the bed, and DRIVING the golf cart. Yeah, I said driving (in Granddaddy’s lap).
She loves the playroom they finished for her before she was even born. Here she is with Granddaddy looking at books.
I loved playing with her up there because most of the toys were my childhood toys. Can I just say how much I still love Mapletown? They were a series of animal families, and I had the Rabbits and the Mice. All the old furniture in their plastic house felt so familiar, like a well-loved and well-worn shirt that you just could never part with. And to watch her delight in them – that was a real treat.
We also got to meet a friend’s adorable new baby, Norah, and Camille was her first official “play date.” Camille was especially interested in this bottle feeding, and had to make sure her Baby Maya didn’t feel left out.
Camille still wasn’t too thrilled with me holding another baby, but would allow Granddaddy to hold Norah as long as he still had room in his lap for Camille.
We miss Nana and Granddaddy already.
