A Little Curley Goes a Long Way: 02.2011

Thursday, February 24, 2011

My sister's sheep need your help!

They need your vote. If you don't vote, my sister's sheep may end up with someone else, and how could you live with yourself if that happened? Do you really want to have that on your conscience?

This is really not a joke, although I can hear some of you chuckling. My sister Leslie may be a bit of a black sheep herself, but I think it helps her identify with the animals. And it will make her a GREAT shepherd. She has entered a contest to win a small flock of sheep (or goats.) She has been reading and learning all about shepherding and has even secured some land and a barn where she can raise them. She is just about ready, now all she needs is her sheep... and she can get them with your help!

You can read more about the contest and giveaway if you click here.

Or you can just click here to go straight to her video.

Or if you are in a big hurry, you can just click here to go straight to the voting. (2 seconds!)

Vote for Leslie Cooper. I know she will really appreciate it if all you have time to do it vote... but you will enjoy the video if you have time. Its less than 4 minutes.

These are the pics of Leah taken back in the fall that I said I would post then forgot about. She can't wait for her Aunt Leslie to get her sheep!!

Monday, February 21, 2011

Ski WP

I learned to ski in Winter Park, CO at age 10. Kevin learned to ski in WP at age 27. And in less than one year Leah will be eligible to go to ski school there as well! Can you believe they let 3-year-olds snow ski? They do! On actual skis, on the actual mountain! Before I had a kid I would have said that is nuts, but now I can't wait to let her get out there and see if she likes it! It is my all-time favorite activity/hobby and I wonder if she will love it like I do? We'll have to wait and see!

My in-laws invited us on this trip. GranStan drove his car packed with essentials like puzzles, food for 8 people for a week, Leah's portable crib and our giant suitcase full of ski clothes that we didn't want to pay to check on the plane. (Thank you!!) And we (Curley's and Giggle) flew to Denver. For days before Leah was repeating "I go on airplane. I go to Colla-RAH-toe. I see GranStan in Colla-RAH-toe."

The temperatures were hard to believe. -15 (yes, negative) at the base when we woke up one day with a wind chill factor of -32 (yes... minus 32!)

On our way!

On the plane... when she began hearing voices...

Giggle was sitting in the row behind us. They checked on each other frequently. I love this picture of them holding hands. :)

First time to wear head phones. ("Beauty and the Beast" for this flight.)

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

look at her grow...2 year check-up

Am I a closet germaphobe? Am I a germaphobe in denial? Or is what I'm feeling normal? Someone please tell me!

I've never been neurotic about germs, you can't be if you want to be a good nurse. You just have to be sensible. But since Leah has been of the age to climb on jungle gyms, use public toilets and build with the giant germy building blocks at the doctor's office I have developed what I fear are some neurotic tendencies... characterized by a distinct "cringe" and some obsessive thoughts.

Its when I know that she is inevitably going to touch a disgusting object that is most definitely a microbial amusement park and there is either a) not enough time to give a good attempt at cleaning it OR b) it is a ridiculously large object or space and cleaning what 0.05% of surface area that I could would surely just be a waste of a perfectly good wipe, since the 50 square inches I got to before she did wouldn't have been the area with the BAD germs anyway.

Such is the case with the mountainous pile of giant building blocks in the doctor's office waiting room. Let's not pretend that anyone actually comes out there and cleans them... EVER. And let's also not pretend that the separate waiting room they have for "sick" kids actually matters much since often a child is shedding virus from their snotty little noses long before any symptoms appear. Our pediatrician's office is great, but I'm just not deluding myself.

I would like to just NOT watch her playing too closely so as not to witness any hand to eye, nose or mouth contact while she's building or doing whatever... but that would make me a pretty sorry mom, so I just watch and cringe. You know... maybe the docs have just found a good business model. :)

For the 2-year check up we got a great report. We are exceedingly thankful for the health of this little girl.

Baby doll needed a bottle right in the middle of reading the Thomas the Train book that Leah spotted as soon as we got in the exam room. (Another cringe moment... how do you clean off a 30 page book without seeming like a nut case?)

Height: 32 3/4 inches (40th)

Weight: 22 lbs 8.5 oz (20th)

Head: Full of big brains that soak up scads of stuff every second!

Baby Doll needed a diaper change after her bottle and then she and Leah both got shots... (oh...the...drama...) and then little round bandaids on their thighs. The instant the bandaids were in place, Leah dried her tears and said "Look at my bandaid! I feel much better mommy." The nurse was cracking up.

She meets all of her 2 year old milestones except for jumping with 2 feet... still haven't gotten that. (So weird! But it still entertains us so its alright for now.) She is particulary good at:

wanting own way
asserting self by saying "no" (though we passed simple no's a long time ago, now she wants the opposite of WHATEVER you are doing, no matter what it is)
going back to baby behavior (loves to be held, rocked and hushed like a baby... and I don't mind this game one bit!)
likes to imitate others
claims everything is "mine"
may have an imiginary playmate (or 3 now living in her belly button that play, watch tv shows, cook and eat in there)
constantly in motion, runs, climbs and walks on tip-toes
may have trouble settling down at bedtime.... this was like a switch that flipped and all of the sudden she says "one more song please mommy" about a hundred times each night.

PS - apparently I did not learn how to spell germaphobe in microbiology, and the spell checker on blogger only gave me these 3 corrective options... camphor, homophobia and gumbo. Really?

Monday, February 14, 2011

95

Today my Grandpa turned 95! He is our very favorite Valentine! He is so beloved in our family and words really can't describe my admiration for him.

Here he is at his birthday party yesterday. Yes, he ALWAYS looks this spiffy! I know of ONE day in his life that he wore shorts.

4 out of his 5 GREAT grandchildren were in attendance at his party... I attempted to get a picture of all of them. I didn't bother clearing all the stuff off the stairs because I was certain all I would get would be pictures like this... Who knew that we would get a sweet, smiley picture like this? Or even better... Like this? Are those the 4 best grins you've ever seen? (Leah-2.0, Bronwyn-5, Cooper-2.5, Ryan Elizabeth-2.1 )

Happy Birthday Grandpa! Keep 'em comin!