Pictures

There are approximately 115 new pictures up on flickr. Check them out when you have a chance.

No Pants, Please

Lena is now officially girly. For the last few weeks she has refused to wear pants, only dresses. Some mornings we have managed to wrestle her into pants and take her to school, but by the time I picked her up, she was either pantsless or in one of the school's extra dresses.

I don't mind this as much as Jason. I remember being in kindergarten and only wearing dresses (fancy ones if possible) but once I turned 6 I never wanted to wear a dress again. EVER. I don't even like to wear them now. I figure once she realizes that dresses make running around more difficult she'll be back in pants.

Now if I could only figure out how to get her to stop referring to herself as Princess.....

Mean Girls

Lena had her first run in with "popular" kids today. I took her to the park to run out some of her wiggles ( I do this most days). Usually she runs ahead of me so she can have just that much more time on the slide. Today, however, she clung to my side and sat with me while we ate apples and chocolate milk (her new favorite). There were about 4 kids, 3 girls and 1 boy, already running around on the giant pirate ship that Lena usually flies to. She sat next to me, watching them, sometimes laughing at their antics, but mostly watching. Finally, she decided to join them. She ran up to the ship yelling, "hey, hey!" and some version of "I'm Lena." The girls (who were a little bit older) looked at her and immediately told her she couldn't play with them. Now, Lena's a tough kid and can stand up for herself so I don't like getting too involved with playground politics, but I have never wanted to smack a kid so badly. This little girl, lets call her Tiffany, had a smug, self important demeanor that will serve her well in high school so long as she stays skinny. Lena, for her part, didn't skip a beat. She played along side them for a while. They ignored her or shot her dirty looks. Finally, Tiffany told her to go away. Lena looked at her, stepped back a little, leaned forward, and ROARED! Tiffany, clearly confused by this reaction, walked off with her gaggle of blondes to play on the swings. Lena remained on the pirate ship and seemed happy to spin the wheel and go down the slide on her own. I couldn't have been prouder of her if she'd won a Nobel prize. I realize she will have many more run-ins with many different Tiffany's, and not all of them will go as well, but I hope she always feels confident enough to roar, no matter the Tiffany.