A Helpless Nearly Four-Year-Old

She is REGRESSING. Is it all for attention? Is she developing new phobias?

She wants an escort everytime she goes to the bathroom. We question her to find out why, and the explanations vary, but are all far-fetched. She is afraid of the radiator pipe. She 's afraid the beds will vroom out of the bedroom and get her because they don't like girls that aren't beds (this is the most often-used reason). Huh???

She explains every night that she cannot go to sleep "without a parent." She would get a lot further if she used the I- cannot- go- to- sleep- without- my- beloved- mommy-dear approach.

Often, she tells Daddy she cannot eat her vegetables unless he helps her eat them. When he feeds her, the whole bowl disappears.

There is one area in which she is fiercely independent - her dress. Ugh. This is where Mommy would be happy if she were to remain little forever. She has some lovely clothes. With them, she creates some pretty dreadful ensembles. She believes they are beautiful. She always picks a bow to match - but often leaves it behind for her favorite pink polka-dotted one.

Peter Pan

After church, Daddy and Gigi went to see the Cincinnati Ballet production of Peter Pan. Throughout the production, Genevieve kept saying "I want to be on stage. I want to be Tinker Bell!" She also wondered why none of the actors were talking. It was her first ballet. At the intermission, she saw her library friend Adele and our cousin Jody Magee and her daughter Erin (Genevieve's 2nd cousin). For a not quite 4 year old, she was an excellent audience!

When she arrived home Mommy asked, "How was the ballet?" Gigi shrugged and responded very flippantly, "Daddy can tell you." Nice. She did offer- up details later. Her favorites were The alligator, and Tinklebell (no surprise there). It really bothered her that there was no talking -- and that she was not part of the production.

"Aunt" Kuh Enters a New Decade

We celebrated far-away Aunt Kuh's birthday with a little pizza party with Aunts Kristen and Liz, and cousins Lily and Alex. There were even icecream sandwiches for kids who ate their cauliflower and pizza! Surprisingly, tonight that was the Volz kids - NOT Genevieve. She ate her cauliflower, but not her pizza!

At school, Genevieve enjoyed exchanging valentines with her classmates and teachers. The class made heart-shaped bread.

The Girls can ROCK!

This morning Genevieve attended her third Justin Roberts concert with Leela, Lily, and Alex. She also saw Leeza and Grace and many new friends. We had a bit of a shaky start. There were many tears, and no grown-up could really tell why. Perhaps because Lily's attention was divided?

Once the music began, everything changed. Our little rocker rushed the stage straight-away, dancing her heart out. See the little girls on their feet? The crowd of dancers grew as the show went on. By the end a little girl circle and a big girl circle merged to form a giant, jumping ring-around the rosy of sorts.

After the show, we attended an art show at the North Minster Presbyterian Church to enjoy a lunch catered by friends Paul and Melody. In the kids area, Gigi got to biold sculptures and paint.

Lost AND Found

Today we went sledding again at what Gigi refers to as "The Temple of Love" park (aka Mount Storm Park). Daddy, Gigi, Rye, his brother Denham, and their mommy Andrea drove together. Gigi insisted on bringing her nubbly plastic football -- even though Daddy warned her that it would probably get lost and toys aren't necessary when you go sled riding. As predicted, when Andrea dropped us off at home, the football was left behind at the park (SURPRISE!). Genevieve didn't seem to be bothered, "We can pick it up at the lost and found at church with the Hello Kitty I left there". What? How simple the mind of a 3 year old works. As luck would have it, 6 hours later after Mommy returned home, I drove back to the park and the ball was laying under a picnic table.

Happy Groundhog Day!

Girl Day!

Yes, we love Daddy dearly - but, we love it when he takes a trip too. Today Gigi and Mommy got up early and went to church for the Super Bowl service, which is always fun. We then had a special girls-only breakfast at "the pink yogurt" restaurant.

In the afternoon, we finally went to see a movie Aunt Ceci recommended months ago - Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Genevieve took her (toy) Chihuahua, Every Gigi Rainbow (a name which I never dreamed would stick, but one year later, still has). Both were dressed in a tutu with matching bows.

We finished up the girl-day with a visit to Grammy's. We had dinner at the cafe with Grammy and Aunt Muffy. Aunt Muffy and Grammy gave Gigi two gifts - a pink and purple Groovy Girl named Bella, and a ballerina magnetic dress-up doll which Genevieve named Inga. She had fun creating outfits.