Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes!

Well...2 out of 4 isn't bad:)...I should be sleeping, but I keep thinking of Frank (the Da-Da!) being so many miles away and how hard that has to be for him. I know we miss him terribly here at home, but at least we are at home. We can only imagine how hard it is for him to be not at home. He calls often to hear little stories and get updates or to hear Rachel's voice, but she usually just stares at the phone grinning from ear to ear:)...oh, how she loves her Da-Da...

So...tonight when he called (twice) we were outside hanging with two of our favorite neighbors and did not answer. I finally called him back at about 9:40, yep...Rachel was up way past her bedtime:). And because of the phone conversation, diaper changing, jammies, playing in the sink washing face, hands and feet, and a couple of bedtime stories...Mommy missed tonight's episode of Dark Blue. Oh, well...more important things to do!

Okay...back to phone conversation...had a little something to tell the Da-Da tonight:)...So...even though it has been one of the hottest weeks of the year here I decided to try to start a new DAILY occurrance...a walk! Yes, you read that correctly...must walk EVERY single day...45 minutes to one hour depending how many hills are involved...so far there are three! Then I hope to move to "two a days"! (August is traditionally "two a day" month, right:)...Rachel needs the time outdoors and I am loving (and desperately need!) the energy I am already feeling from the walks. I tend to procrastinate with walking because I feel bad that I cannot take Rachel and Sheena. (at least that's the exucse I'm using for now) Sheena's face breaks my heart when she sees us leaving. She just is not a good leash walker and never really has been. She has lots of good moments on the leash, but not when a stroller is right next to her. It's just her personality. We even saw her teacher in her doggy 101 training class give up on her after a few tries. What are you gonna do...we love her anyway:)...

So, Rachel and I are on our nice, long, sweaty walk...well, Mommy was sweating...baby looked quite comfortable:). At one point, I asked her to help push or at least pull me up the hill...she laughed at me! Seriously laughed at me! So, about halfway through I realized I was thinking about things and not really talking to her. Yesterday I talked about the trees, bushes, sky, mountains, flowers, road, cars, mailboxes etc...She even got to touch some soft leaves and some prickly pine trees. But today, I was unusually quiet for some reason. (Lots on my mind I guess) She may have been breathing a sigh of relief for the peace and quiet, but who knows:)...So, feeling a little guilty for not interacting with my child I started talking:)...I asked her about the trees. She immediately looked up and pointed at a tall one near us:). Proud Mommy Moment:). Then I started singing "Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes" ...thus the title of the post today:)...and I asked her where her head was...she put both hands on the top of her head...next came nose...no problem...finger on nose (on not in, yay!), then tongue...good (that's a fun one)...ears...she touched the right one...eye...touches the right one...toes...thinks for a sec then pulls her foot up and touches her toes:)...this is new as of last week...more proud beams from Mommy and lots of "I'm so proud of you, Rachel"...she seemed pretty proud of herself too! Then I said..."Wiggle your fingers, yeah-yeah..." a song from her Sing-Along Stage...and she did!!! Just like that! A first:)...she just held up her right hand and wiggled her fingers. I couldn't believe it...Super Proud Mommy Moment:)! I was so excited, so I asked three more times...two of which she responded to and and the third...well, I think she was tired of me asking:)... so just need to work on shoulders and knees and we're all set! Oh, she knows belly button too, but I usually get the most accurate response when there is not two layers of clothing covering it up. Hope you enjoy the post, Da-Da...just for you...and sharing a picture from yesterday and today...thought I took lots more but these are all I got:)...

All she wants to do is WALK!

Look how proud she looks...

Ready for Music Class to begin at Gymboree.

Boy, she loved that drum today!