Snow Darcy!

One to three inches? Hah! We laugh at that! Darcy finds all-fours a good way to get about in the snow.

Wild Friends

Well, our snow didn't start last night as promised, but did finally arrive around 8:45 this morning. Darcy has already played in it for well over an hour. She had fun, and that was even before it started sticking.

Darcy's well asleep now, but someone else came to play in our snow!! We have had a few coyote sightings over the past couple months. There's also been scat in the yard every once in a while, too. But our coyote friend has always come and gone too quickly to get a picture. Not today! I made several short videos of him/her looking for rabbits or ground squirrels (I assume, since there was a pounce involved at one point). They were all taken out the living room window. Luckily, the blinds were already up so Darcy could watch the snow fall.

I love our wild friends! Sorry the quality's not a bit better, but our connection sometimes times out if I try to upload too many plain ol' photos at one time, so I thought I'd be safe.

Happy Belated Halloween!

So, this post isn't really about Halloween, but it's a picture that I'd already resized, so this is what you get. I need to get a post up about our trip to Tucson for Jenna's wedding. Darcy danced late into the night (ok, not exactly, but it had been dark for a while). She had fun. This picture was taken after the frog costume got just too hot for a girl to wear at the playground.

This post is really about checkups and snow. Darcy had her two-year checkup today (yes, a month late; life gets in the way sometimes). She's staying on track for her weight and height gains. She's in the low-middle percentiles for both, and still has a larger-than-normal head circumference, although I don't see that. But the low-middle sizes does explain why quite a few 24 month/2T size clothes are still too big for her.

She didn't exactly love the doctor's visit. In fact, she has NEVER been that upset/loud/clingy before. Not once ever. She was climbing me as if I was the only thing that could save her. And that was just while I was trying to change her diaper in an exam room that wasn't even the one we were going to be in for the appointment. It didn't get better.

Tomorrow will make her forget all of that, I think. We are supposed to get SNOW, and maybe lots of it! The prediction is for 6-12 inches at our elevation, with the snow starting late tonight and continuing on through Monday night. I'm glad Darcy and I don't have any pressing engagements tomorrow, 'cause I'll be glad to stay put. I hope to get some good photos of Darcy and the Joshua trees in snow. It will be my first time seeing these odd plants snow-covered! I'm just sorry that I didn't get Santa hats at the dollar store for them ... that was my plan!

Portland

We all headed to Vancouver, WA and Portland, OR the day after election day. Darcy, as you can see, loved being on the airplane. We loved that our flight was not very full, so they were able to give us a row of three seats. Darcy sat still and quiet the whole way. Hardly moved a muscle.

Portland was a good place for Darcy. We had a great view of airplanes coming into the airport from our hotel across the river. She had a great time playing at the Children's Museum. A week after we were there, she woke up in a very talkative mood. I listened to her babble for a while through the monitor. She was talking about things she liked, mostly. And then she said, "Darcy play with trains on bus with kid Bennett. I love Bennett." And it's true. She played with a boy named Bennet on the "bus" at the Children's Museum. She had carried a bunch of trains in there with her. Her memory is scary.

We also went to this waterfall, a little outside the city. It was raining and a little cool, but it was a beautiful drive and the falls were gorgeous.

Here are Darcy and Michael on the bridge that can be seen in the first picture between the upper and lower falls. I stepped out onto the bridge briefly. It was high up. I didn't need to be there.

The next day, we hit the zoo before Michael took Darcy and I to the airport. This sealion "kissed" people standing at this corner of the viewing area. Darcy loved watching it, but didn't really want to get too close. Michael got kissed.

Darcy watched.

We also had a wonderful visit with my cousin, Tina. Darcy was, perhaps, most particularly impressed by Tina's housemates' pets. Mimi, a white cat, jumped into our car when we first parked in front of the house. The dog, Roxanne, was very excited to meet new people, but Darcy preferred the cat inside -- Sapphire. We're still hearing about her. Darcy followed her upstairs. Looked for her in Tina's closet (she was right, even though we all told her she wasn't in there). Followed her back downstairs. Then we went out to eat at a vegan-friendly restaurant where we all had very tasty sandwiches. Mine was full of roasted asparagus and carmelized onions. After dinner, we went to a supermarket to get diapers and all ended up chatting with our checker about how excited we are about Obama's election.

All in all, we had a good time. Our flight to Burbank on the trip home was very full, so I had Darcy on my lap. That was quite interesting. Even though I'm not thrilled about having to buy three seats from now on, I am very glad that Darcy will have her very own car seat to sit and sleep in when we head to New York for Christmas.

Happy Birthday to Darcy!

Ok, so I'm a few days late, but Darcy had her Happy Birthday last Thursday and is now two years old. She's a little unclear on the age concept, but she definitely knows all about birthday parties now. Her requirements were HB hats, HB balloons, HB cake, HB candles, HB song. Presents weren't part of her birthday vocabulary, but, of course, they are now.

One of the highlights, in Darcy's words, was "all those cousins". Although Michael was unfortunately absent from the party because he was still in Portland, Darcy's Western cousins (from left to right) Henry (aka Hank), Alfred, Celaya, and Harry were all there. Granny Mimi (Betty) hosted, with a menu of pizza and birthday cake. Darcy was very impressed when everyone sang Happy Birthday to her and again when Grandma and Grandad (Kathy and Dave) called and sang it again over speaker phone.

Alfred helped open all the presents because Darcy was busy playing with a helicopter. She has since been enjoying the gifts. Cima House is suddenly a little more hazardous for walking.

Thanks to all who attended and sent birthday greetings from afar! Her first birthday was the day the movers came to pack up our house in King Salmon, so this was her first and only real birthday celebration and she really enjoyed the process.

I'll get some pictures of our trip to Vancouver, WA/Portland uploaded soon. We had a great trip in a beautiful part of the world, but we're very, very happy to be home now.

Our New President

Hail to the (new) chief! Here's President-Elect Obama three days before the election, at the rally we went to in Henderson, NV. Yay, Nevada, for going blue this election! Darcy not only knows Barack Obama when she sees him, she even recognizes his logo, based on her reaction to a photo of the Obama cupcakes a friend of mine made for election night. She's expressed a desire to see our new President at Cima house, instead of outside. We'll extend an open invitation.

This guy was being heavily photographed while everyone waited for Obama's arrival at the event. In case it's not quite evident, the shirt reads, "Meet the Fuckers" (a play on the movie title, "Meet the Fockers", for non-pop-culture watchers).

Go Obama!

Ok, so I think Darcy is starting to stir, so I'll make this quick. We got emails from the Obama campaign on Thursday saying that he was going to be in Henderson on Saturday morning. Even though Michael has not spent a whole day at home in almost a month, we decided to go. We got to the site early enough (6:40 am!) to be able to avoid shuttles. It was an amazing crowd and Obama was still energetic and enthusiastic, even after all these months on the road. Darcy got photographed by a few strangers who thought she looked so cute in her "Kids for Obama" t-shirt.

Darcy was a little freaked out by being in the middle of the crowd, so I took her to the opposite end of the football field once things really got going. I still had a good view of Obama and could hear everything; Darcy got to run around with other crowd-shy toddlers. Michael stayed closer to the stage and got some good pictures of Obama speaking, but I haven't run those through Photoshop yet to make them easily uploadable.

Go vote!