21 months and miscellaneous

Jane turned 21 months old this week! That fact is not particularly noteworthy (and I intend to stop counting months when she turns two years old) but it seemed like the best way to tie together these recent pictures and observations.

Jane went on her first bike ride last weekend! She helped pick out this awesome super hero bike helmet, which I might have influenced a tad bit in order to avoid having to buy the pink and purple daisies. This one is way cooler.

She had fun riding with Daddy until she finished her Fig Newton. Without that pleasant distraction, she became acutely aware of the fact that the top of her bike seat kept pushing the back of her helmet up so it fell over her eyes in the front. Not fun.

Another weekend adventure we had was our neighborhood's annual "Fall in the Hall," which was a sweet little community fair of sorts, complete with fire engines, police horses, a guy making balloon animals and such, local honey, and an antique train. Pretty cool for a sleepy little neighborhood.

Sitting on an antique train, listening to bluegrass music,
and wearing a fire chief sticker.

In spite of all those attractions,
Jane's favorite part was playing in the dirt.

Here is a picture I snagged this morning of my typical view at the breakfast table. Tee hee.

Speaking of meals, Jane is learning to drink from a "real" cup (with supervision and a bib).

Got Smoothie?

One last thing for this random post: Jane has invented an odd little game of sorts where she walks around with her eyes closed and runs into things on purpose. It is quite hilarious to watch. She'll face some kind of object (sofa, chair, etc.) then close her eyes and slowly walk towards it until she bumps into it. I just love all the ways she finds to entertain herself, even it they are a bit strange.

*Playing in the dirt photo credit to Anna. Thanks!

Daddy's shoesies

I loved watching Jane trying with such determination to put on Richard's shoes this morning. I kept thinking she was going to settle for one being on backwards, but nope...

While we're on the subject of Daddies... aw.

First day of "school"

Jane had her first day of "school" today! Until now, she had never been left with a non-grandparent caregiver besides going to the nursery at church. So Mother's Day Out twice a week is a big step for us! She got to meet her teachers at the open house last week, so we talked about them a lot over the weekend to prepare her. I gave her a heads up that Mommy would be going bye-bye for a little bit (or "libby bit" as Jane says), so when we arrived at school she got a little anxious and whimpery. To my surprise, though, she just sort of bucked up and braced for the inevitable. She asked for Lovie, then went and got a ball and didn't even cry when I said bye! This was quite shocking considering that merely walking toward the nursery at church brings on a fit of tears and clinging. What a big girl we have now!

I only snagged a few quick pics with my phone before school...

Slightly anxious...

What's that I see?!

An elevator! Oh, boy, I LOVE buttons!
This is going to be a good day.

And look how happy she was after her big day! (Notice the outfit change? That was due to drinking a little too much water during snack time. I did not intend for her to wear crop pants with socks and shoes... not that it matters...)

First artwork from school...Aw. 

Want to hear what little Jane had to say about her first day? Apparently she was as excited about nap time as I was. I couldn't believe it when her teacher said she slept for an hour on a mat in a room with seven other kids. Woo!

New house

Well, we did it! After three and a half years in our old city four square, we have passed the torch onto a new family. We are sad to leave our old neighborhood and wonderful neighbors, but mostly we are excited to begin a new adventure. Our new house was built in 1962 and has not received a single update. Amazingly, it is in pretty good shape, so we are looking forward to just settling in. We'll see how long we last before swinging a sledge hammer and pulling out the nail gun. Stay tuned...

For now, here are some shots from our last days in the city

Last time waking up in her old room...
Mommy got sentimental and had to take a picture.

It's OK, Nickel, you'll like our new house just fine.

A box!

More boxes!

First and last family photo on our old stoop.

Bye, house!

This picture pretty much sums up our new gem of a sixties ranch house.

Yes, a pink oven. There is also a pink stovetop and sink in the kitchen, pink walls, a bathroom entirely clad in pink tile with matching tub and sink, and a second bath that is 100% tic-tac green...and we love it!

Jane approves of our new grocery store because they have these shopping carts (which are surprisingly difficult to maneuver). It was her first time to ride in the "baby vroom" so she thinks our new Kroger is pretty awesome.

This last picture is random but I didn't think it warranted its own post. I just think it's funny that Jane wanted to put blocks on the cat. Nickel gets an A+ in Toddler Tolerance. (Although, the part of the course where Jane was trying to pick Nickel up by grabbing two handfuls of fur was a little rocky.)

Sun and sand in Destin

Well, July seems to have become travel month for the Cowan family! After our journey to the Pacific Northwest, we made a short stop back in Tennessee before heading south to Destin, Florida. Jane was at such a great age for the beach this year. (Click here to see the change from last year!)

She loved the sand and the water, which was a relief because otherwise it would have been a long week. The first evening we arrived, we headed down to the beach to stretch our legs and get our feet wet (another great opportunity to use the word "literally"... see previous post). As soon as we got to the fluffy sand, Jane started falling backwards and rolling around in it, as if it were a giant air mattress. Still in her clothes, we took her to the edge of the water to dip her toes in, but after a few minutes Jane somehow managed to get completely soaked.  Here's a little compilation from our first evening on the beach:

The rest of the week was equally fun with plenty of sun and a nice breeze to cool us off.

Why are we learning about shapes on vacation?
Because your parents are teachers. Now, which one is the circle?

First koozie experience

See the yellow plane? That was a HUGE hit with Jane.
"Lello bane!" she exclaimed every time it flew by (about every half hour).

All clean and dressed for the evening... legs getting a little sandy...

... and now for the hair.
(That made for a total of three baths this day.)

Here's Daddy on the same beach at the same age as Jane!

Check out the pictures at the end of this old post to see Richard and Jane at the same age last year.

As much as Jane liked the beach, the pool was definitely her favorite. The activity she enjoyed most was sitting on the edge of the baby pool and then leaning forward until she plopped into the water. Then she would plow forward across the baby pool and belly flop back under water. She learned pretty quickly how to tilt her chin up and get her head out of the water, which made it much less stressful for us! She was having a ball and was so much fun to watch. Here's a little clip of her graceful entry into the water:

This slightly cheesy walking-away-footprints-in-the-sand shot seems like a good one to end on:

Mukilteo

That's right... Muck-il-TEE-o. It's a little town on the coast of Washington state, about thirty miles north of Seattle. Last month Richard and I braved our first cross-country flight with Jane to visit my dad and stepmom, Juli. It was a long time being cooped up on a plane, but definitely worth a great visit! (Also, we lucked into a bulkhead row on our two longest flights... highly recommended! We just put a blanket on the floor and made a little play area for Jane. She had to be in our laps during take off and landing, of course, which a flight attendant rudely reminded us when she said "Y'all need to hold onto yo baby!")

Anyway, it was so refreshing being out on the cool and breezy Pacific Coast. I definitely sympathize with the locals who are a bit tired of the clouds and rain, but I think the sunny days with bright blue skies and a high of 78 might almost be worth it! It was kind of nice having to break out the fleece jacket when we're used to sweating through tank tops.

Ok, I'm getting to the pictures... Of course I forgot, as usual, to take pictures of anyone besides Jane, but we had a wonderful time visiting with my dad and Juli. Also not pictured below are Juli's incredible dinners. She is somewhat of a gourmet cook and amazed us every time we sat down to eat. She even figured out a way to make French toast fancy! Yum...

Ooo, I did find one non-Jane picture! These are miniature little succulent ground covers in Juli's gravel driveway. You can walk and drive on them, and that actually helps spread them. Aren't they amazing?

Here is a picture of Jane holding a picture of me that my dad had... Do we pass the look-alike test?

One of the best parts about Muliteo is Lighthouse Park, which is a beautiful community recreation space down by the water. Here we are on the beach in our sweaters... weird for us Southerners, eh? Jane was unphased by the rocky shore and freezing cold water. What a tough little girl!

Can you see the ferry coming in to dock on the right? The ferries are a quintessential part of Puget Sound, since a lot of people live on islands and work on the mainland.

Here is Jane on her first ferry ride. One of our favorite things to do when we visit my dad is take a ferry across the sound to get ice cream. (Of course I would pay to cross a large body of water just to get ice cream!)

Windy sunset (see hair). 

Another awesome part of our time out west was taking a side trip to visit our dear friends, the McDonald's. They were our neighbors in Nashville for several years before moving back to their home state of Washington. Here are some highlights from that visit:

Jane's first photograph (entertaining herself with the digital camera on our drive to the McD's).

Trying to take a nap in the car. Usually Lovie and Paci are all it takes, but not this time. Is that a look of defiance?

Jane and three-year-old Sam were so sweet playing together. It was fun watching Jane "live" and play with another kid for a few days.

Ok, this is AMAZING... Check out the size of these bubbles! Our friends have this giant bubble wand that is super cool. Don't you want one?!

(Awesome pictures courtesy of Hannah)

We also went cherry picking. The trees were amazingly fruitful, literally! (I love getting to use that word in a legit way.) Seriously though, the trees were only about five feet tall and covered with cherries. De-lish!

Our last view of one of our favorite Washington landmarks, Mount Rainier.

This one's for you, Dad!