An adventure with Blakeley

When she arrived I grabbed the camera to send Great Grandad photos of her wearing one of his many gifts. He prints out photos of the children and proudly places them on the wall of his office. Dinosaur Train Rummikub was in surprise box today. She placed Stegosaurus on the table and carefully placed each Stegosaurus card at his feet.

We headed straight to the Hello Kitty store in the Mall and she was absolutely the best 3 year old I have shopped with in my life. She 'oohed and aahed' and, 'oh, Gigi!' constantly, but her little hands rarely picked

things off of the shelf. We narrowed our favorites (many!) and exited the store with the Hello Kitty lunch box, a fruit / sandwich container and hairbrush. As I told you, except for the L. A. boutique prices of all, I would have purchased the Hello Kitty iPhone 4 cover for you!

Our lunch was an interesting test of wills. I headed for the exit, planning to eat at home, but she begged to eat at the Mall. We marched through the craziness of the Food Court and stopped at Chick Fil A. She was adamant that was a no-go. The Chinese place had an appealing Panda logo, steamed rice, plain chicken and simply prepared vegetables. She was pleased, and after we stood in a long line and got to the table she glowered, refusing to touch the food. I cheerfully ate my lunch, keeping bites of chicken, rice and veggies in front of her. I had to wave the white flag when a family arrived near us and each child was grasping a Chick Fil A bag. We purchased a kids meal and she ate like there was no tomorrow. I told her that even adults change their mind and her body was happy to have such a good lunch.

We rode the escalators, up and down, up and down, and the elevator. She is so smart; asking what makes the elevator go up, and because it is open configuration, she was able to watch the piston beneath push it up into the air and lower it.

She found a shiny penny on the ground, and we went to Lamme's to let her buy one candy with her money. She selected a chocolate, of course, and loved the white bag with the lamb on it.

Playing 'opposites' in the car was really fun. She could quickly provide an opposite and also begin a new concept offering challenge words to me. Empty/ full. Loud / quiet. Wet / dry. It went on and on.

Can't wait to hear what she leverages to wear to Preschool. As she was changing back into the clothes she wore here, I voiced that this would be a comfortable outfit to wear to school. To sit in circle and play on the

playground. She firmly told me no, she would not wear it to school, and her teacher would look at it and say it was not a pretty outfit. Hold on, Sarah!