Ok, So Sometimes, There Is News In Cima

But why can't it be good?

We officially no longer have a post office. Which, in reality, means there really isn't a Cima anymore either. The postmistress was also the store keep. No post office, no postmistress, no postmistress, no store keep, no store.

They've already installed an outdoor bank of mail boxes, like you'd see at a strip mall or apartment complex. That will be our new "post office". I'm crushed. You can't really visit at a bunch of mail boxes on a pole right next to the road. It's just not the same.

Who Loves Her Veggies?

Darcy and I hit the farmers' market on Friday before leaving Simi the next day. We bought lovely asparagus (which Darcy gobbled by the spear last night for dinner), the World's Largest Artichoke, some beets, and berries. Oh, and extremely fragrant lemons, too. Darcy had a moment of theft that the vendor wouldn't let me pay for. While admiring the artichokes, she noticed the baskets of brussels sprouts next to them. She said, "I want to try," and reached out and took one, and proceeded to start nibbling. I told her that I could cook it for her supper but she looked at it so longingly that I told her she could eat it just like it was. So she did. One great big bite:

Darcy's Haircut (With Bonus Quiz)

Darcy and I just arrived back from Simi Valley, after escaping there for a week while Michael was out of town for a NPS training. More stories will follow, including one about the Joshua tree heartbreak upon arrival at Cima House and the saga of Thomas the Train, but for now, here's the story of Darcy's "first" haircut.

Now, officially, Darcy has had a few haircuts. Duane did the very, very first honors, when she had only sparse frizzy fuzz that needed taming in order to make her look like she had SOME hair. Granny Mimi gave her a cut during a badly received "spa time" in which I had hoped to trim hair and nails, of both finger and toe variety. I've since trimmed up her hair a couple times in the bath, which is the only time she's absorbed enough to allow it.

But Darcy is going to be a flower girl next month and her curls were getting way, way out of control, so we hit Lollicut, a specialty kids' salon. She looked at pictures online and agreed that she would be willing to get her hair cut if she got to sit in "a truck!"

Darcy wasn't super-fond of the hair spritzing step. She eventually put her hands completely under the cape. It was a choice between being able to drive or having dry hands. She chose dry hands. It ended up being all good because when I told her she had to hold her head very still so Heather could comb it, she held up one caped hand and put it on the side of her head very seriously so her head would stop moving around. It would still have been a cute move without the cape, but the cape definitely added a little flair.

Here is the finished cut. Plenty of curls, tighter than ever with the extra weight trimmed off. Heather is attempting to put in a tiny rubber band so Darcy can have a ribbon in her hair.

Here's the ribbon getting it's finishing touches. She kept it in until bed time, which surprised me a little. All in all, it was a very successful experience and well worth the money to have even cuts all around and a minimum of fussing.

Bonus quiz: Can you spot the octagon in one of these pictures? In the middle of the cut, Darcy suddenly said, "I see an octagon." Everything stopped for a few seconds while we all thought, "Did she just say she sees an octagon?" But, yes, that's what she said and after a moment, she told us what was octagon-shaped. I'm not telling you the answer -- if a two-and-a-half-year-old can find it, so can you.

A Trip To The Dunes

Yesterday afternoon, we met Miles and Amy at Kelso Dunes for a little sand play. There are a couple good videos that I'll try to post at some point, but they take time to process. In the meantime, here are Darcy and Miles heading up a very small dune at their own pace/s.

Darcy thought the Dunes were a good place for few clothes and requested that her shirt go away. She's taking a short break here from running up and down the dunes, knocking over sand castles, and making sand angels.

Potty Update: You Know You Care

I know, I know! You've all been breathlessly awaiting the next installment of our ongoing potty adventures. I don't want to disappoint, so here are the latest developments.

Yesterday, we went to Las Vegas, ran errands, went to a not-quite-as-planned play date/Meetup, and drove back to Cima, all while wearing panties and using various public facilities like one very big girl. Or, like Adam, if you are in the mind of Darcy. This time, when I suggested a diaper for the drive home, she refused, and we stopped in Primm for potty time and the purchase of much-desired milk.

And then today, even more potty news! I know that y'all can't believe your luck that I could have two potty stories for you in one day, but I do. So far, in her potty use, Darcy has been largely passive. She wants to wear panties -- again, like Adam -- and she's been willing to put up with having to use the potty in exchange. In fairness, she's really good at peeing on command, so clearly she's all ready for this; she just doesn't usually tell us that she needs to go -- we ask or insist, depending on her mood. But today, she was wearing a pull-up in the morning because our laundering of panties hasn't completely kept up with the need for panties. So although I had asked her if she needed the potty a couple times, I wasn't pushing.

And then the clouds parted (it flurried this morning -- there really were clouds), the sun shone on our girl, and she announced that she needed to use the potty! She proceeded to pee like a (very small) race horse, so the signalling system worked as designed. All very good.

In other news ... um, we live in Cima, so there's no other news. Sorry!

Easter!

We'll call this Darcy's first Easter, being that she was too young to appreciate it for the past two springs. The Easter Bunny visited with this "basket" of goodies. The first leg of the hunt started with a clue:

Good Easter, Darcy Jo
A hunting you will go
To find your Easter haul
Look next at your Earth Ball
-- Easter Bunny

Michael/Daddy helped with the reading of the clues. Darcy's already figured this one out and is looking toward the bookshelf for the next object of interest.

Night Rabbits! What other book would an Easter Bunny want to read?

Ok -- I know where the Easter treasure is!

Found it!

Darcy did well with her clues and really, really enjoys the end result. She has a variety of bug and Easter shaped chocolates, which she's been treating just like any other toy she has. She ate one Easter egg, which was dark chocolate with caramel filling. I think it's safe to say that she liked it. A lot. We're going to attempt to color eggs when Michael comes home from work. It was just a little crazy to try to do it this morning. Darcy had a rough night of sleep and made up for it by sleeping in. We woke her up to have Easter breakfast and find her basket with Michael. She's usually cranky when woken up, but when we mentioned French toast and "bacon" for breakfast, she smiled a little and said, "I love those". And got up.

Happy Easter, everyone!

Darcy Sings The County Fair

The picture has nothing to do with this post, just to be clear. I felt there should be an image, but we left the camera in the car by mistake yesterday during our trip to the Clark County Fair. So instead you get to see post-bath curls. They're impressive.

The Clark County Fair is surprisingly far from us -- and from Clark County's main population center, Las Vegas. It's in Logandale, about fifty miles north of LV, which made it well over a hundred miles for us each way. We hemmed and hawed about going, but it ended up being a good thing that we did because Darcy had a lot of fun. And said so, frequently.

The ride home was pretty much a solid hour of fair recapping stream of consciousness. It went something like this (all Darcy, even when it sounds like a conversation):

"You rode the ferris wheel and the merry-go-round and the carousel. A merry-go-round is a kind of carousel. With rockets. You rode three rockets like Adam. Adam loves rockets. We went on the ferris wheel. Oh, it was so much fun! And we ate noodles and drank lemonades. Two lemonades. One was frozen. Cold! You drank that frozen one when they were doing stick-its. And you rode on a pony and saw two trains. A big train and a little train. A teeny tiny train. And you went in the barn. What did you do in the barn? You dug in the sand with kids. And planted with a shovel. There were pigs. And roosters. And we saw a tortoise and gave it a happy hug and walked near him."

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. For an hour. She had fun. She also sang her way through the events. She sang -- unprompted -- Old McDonald Had a Farm in the small animal barn and while riding Honey the pony. She then sang Rocketship Run (and Adam/Laurie Berkner Band song) while riding the rockets. Over and over and over, because she rode the rockets three times. They were a big hit.

She was, as always, a big hit with people who noticed what she was saying/singing. On the way out, she cut across the entry way and said goodbye to three wooden pigs, a cardboard cow, and a bunch of sunflowers. As in, went over and said, "Goodbye, pigs. Goodbye, cow. Goodbye, sunflowers." The ticket-takers did a double-take and then laughed and all said goodbye to her.