Dress up

I recently introduced Jane to a box of princess dress up clothes that I acquired at a consignment sale this spring. Definitely some of the best bargain bucks I've spent so far! Her favorite part is the shoes, most of which are mini versions of high heels. Her observation of this strange, impractical shoe was, "They have bumps on them. They're kind of wobbly." Nevertheless, she loves to click clack up and down the hallway.
Disclaimer: I do not think that little girls have to play exclusively with dolls and be inundated with pink princess paraphernalia. In fact, Jane has spent most of her life playing with gender neutral or even "boy" things. But this spring she started showing an interest in the Disney princesses, whom she met through her new big girl underwear. (There are no gender neutral underwear options.) So, seeing as how she has a strong foundation on the non-girly side of the spectrum, I decided it was OK to get a few more princess items. I must admit, it was pretty sweet watching her dress up as Snow White, and then find her picture in the princess book.

How come I don't have a bunch of cute animals helping me
clean my room?

Don't worry, she still loves playing with her tool box, helicopter and various gadgety toys, even if she likes wearing high heels and singing "Be Our Guest."
Ok, now I feel like I have to give a disclaimer on my disclaimer: I don't think girly toys are bad. I just want Jane to know that she can grow up to do anything, regardless of gender stereotypes, so I guess I'm just overly sensitive about locking her onto a girls only path. It probably has a lot to do with the years I spent attending and teaching at an all girls prep school, where they are empowering women to go out into the world and be just as good as the guys. I didn't realize quite how much it had rubbed off on me until I started writing this post!

No shoes

This week the weather has really warmed up, so we broke out the baby pool. Shortly after Jane got in she said, "I don't need shoes in my pool. I just need feet." So true, Jane, so true. Here's to a wonderful, barefoot summer, right around the corner!

Maggie likes the pool, too. She kept trying to lie down in it, but there were too many toys, and a child, in the way.

Other random tidbits:
Richard has begun (and almost completed since this picture) putting the roof on the shop.

After a rainy afternoon, we looked outside and caught sight of this AMAZING rainbow. You could see every color and it stretched across the whole horizon.

Jane LOVES to swing. When we go to the park, it is her favorite part, even though we have one in our own backyard.

"Swing a lot of times?"

At a birthday party last week, Jane was so intent on getting every drop out of her CapriSun, that she drank the last half using this attractive posture. I'm not sure it helped, but she definitely drained it.