Day and Night and Afternoons at the Movies

Esme has reached that age where she can sit and watch an entire movie.  Not the Godfather mind you but something a little lighter like Tangled.  At first all she wanted to watch was Toy Story 3 but she has graduated now to Tangled and she would watch it all day every day if I let her.

This brings up a conundrum for me as a parent.  I never wanted to be one of those parents that let's the TV babysit/raise their child yet I can see why it is so appealing.  When the show is on I can actually get some things done around the house!  And I must admit that watching her watch the show is kind of cute.  She is too young to get he jokes but she smiles and dances and makes faces along with the story line.  So my compromise on this issue is to try my best to watch it with her so that we are together, having some quality bonding time, luckily Esme is a great snuggler...even though you would never guess it from this video.

Esme at the Children's Museum

A few weeks ago Esme and I decided to take a trip down to the children's museum.  It was a lot of fun and Esme had a great time.  She especially loved spending time in the big Semi-Truck that they had and the smaller car that was outside the museum.  For some reason she love's to get behind the wheel of any car that she can find...could that spell trouble later on in life?  We will have to wait and see...

Nana and Esme

A week or two ago my mother came up to stay with Esme and I for a week.  As you can tell by the video this was pre-haircut.  One night while she was here I came home to find this scene.  It struck me for a couple of reasons.  One, I find it very meaningful when Esme bonds with the people that I love.  It means that she loves them and in return she is getting some of the same love that I receive from those individuals.

Two, when your child interacts with your parents it is hard not to see a glimpse of your own childhood, the part that you can't remember but can now see replayed in person.  It is kind of like a little time machine that takes you back to your own youth.

And three, I am the youngest in my family.  My mother was 40 years old when she had me and because of this I have grown up with the worry that my children wouldn't know her the way that I knew her.  I was worried that she would be gone before they could have an interaction such as this one.  Of course Esme probably won't remember this little story time moment when she is 30 but she will be able to watch it and she will always know that her Nana loves her.

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

It felt pretty weird to be in Seattle for Labor Day Weekend.  It has been several years since I was at home and not on the Big Horn River in Montana.  But since we weren't able to go fishing, Esme and I tried to make the most of our time.  Next year we will be on the river again for sure!  So here are some of our highlights.

Since we couldn't be on the Big Horn catching fish I decided that we should do that next best thing, go see some fish.  On Saturday, Kay, Jane, Esme and I all went down to the Seattle waterfront to check out the aquarium.  Esme loves' fish.  She always stops on the pages in our books that have pictures of fishes.

We had a nice Sunday relaxing then today we went and washed the car. This is Esme waiting patiently for our turn.  She was giving the pink bear hugs and lightly tapping it on the back, which I thought was very cute.

Then we went swimming, Esme loves the water!

And we finished the day at a BBQ with friends were Esme ran around like a mad woman with all the kids....sorry, I didn't snap any pictures of that.

All in all it was a pretty good Labor Day Weekend!