The weekend before last brought such nice weather and I was tasked with occupying our daughter so Shannon could get some serious school work done.  It was a joy for me, as I just spent the past 3 weeks away from everyone in California.  We went down to our private beach for some initial rearranging work and a swim, where I came up with the perfect Faye activity.

I scrounged up what containers I could find along with some water and food coloring and wala, a homemade “science kit” is born!

Using what I call the tongue-intensity metric, you can see this activity is about a 7 or 8.

This led to hours of fun entertainment, for Faye and her parents.  She explains it best, so I’ve included this short video.

It turned out to be a real fun weekend for all of us.  Just what I needed after some time away from the family.  My daddy-daughter day went so well, I offered another one up to Shannon so she could have another productive study session.  It gave me a perfect excuse to head to Jacksonville to visit the temple I call the bike shop, since it is not far from the closest Toys R Us.  Faye even test-drove a few of the kids bikes in the shop (and several more at Toys R Us).

As you can see, Toys R Us was an adventure in itself, and I was able to spoil my own daughter for a change with some Cold Stone Creamery ice cream.

Did you expect her to pick something other than blue ice cream?

Faye and I enjoyed our Halloween Day.  We started the day with a parade during her pre-school class to the PX (base department store) across the street and back.  She was so excited to have a visit with me during her day, and I thought the whole thing was adorable.

Later in the day, Faye helped me bake some challah and some other yummies for dinner and after.  She always loves helping in the kitchen.

Finally, after a nice dinner, we headed out in our stroller.  It was pretty dark on our street and there were very few kids out, so we just visited the neighbors we know.  With so little kids around, Faye got hand fulls of candy at every stop.  It was pretty late when we got to about the 5th house, and Faye said she was done.  With that, we headed home to look at what she got, try one piece, and head to bed.  Thankfully, the excitement and energy exerted during the day canceled out the sugar and she fell asleep pretty easily.  All in all, a great day!

Check out our photo gallery for more photos!

Some of the highlights so far have been a trip to the pumpkin patch and a visit from Faye’s Uncle David and David’s girlfriend Kelly.  We also enjoyed visiting the Ocoee River, host to the whitewater events of the Centennial 1996 Summer Olympics, to watch the whitewater rafters and kayakers.

Faye helped Grandma wash her car yesterday, and ended up washing herself and Grandma too.  There are more photos from this event – that literally turned into a bath for Faye – in the gallery.  We should be back in town by Friday when we will start planning for Faye’s third birthday and getting ever so close to the mid-way point of Jason’s deployment.

Faye really loves her bike.  She’s not quite big enough for her big-wheels, but the red-rider tricycle is a perfect fit.  When we first got it, she would make it about a half a block and call it quits.  Evidently the learning curve is steep, because a couple weeks ago she started riding like a pro.  Now she rides for our entire walk (a half-mile or so) with no problem.  She can be a speed demon on that thing now too.

Last week, she wanted to wear her sunglasses on the ride and it made for some very cute pictures.  She’s very proud of herself on her bike.  So are we.

The second photo is from Faye’s first ballet lesson.  She had such a good time and did such a wonderful job.  She was so well behaved and followed all of the teachers instructions.  The parents all have to leave the room, but we get to watch them through a 2-way mirror.  It’s so neat to see her do stuff on her own.  She was very proud of herself too and told us all about what she did.  There are a ton of pictures in the gallery.  I apologize for the quality of the photos.  I was shooting in low light through a tinted mirror, so I did the best I could.

If she continues to do well and enjoy the class, this will be a regular thing for her (the ballet, that is, not marching with a pack).

I’m not usually the impulse buyer of the family, but we were in Target today and I spotted these adorable kid galoshes.  I could not resist.  Plus there is some practicality built in.  Faye doesn’t really have any “get dirty” shoes, so daddy sometimes gets yelled at for dragging our daughter out in the mud in her nice shoes.  Now she can splash in all the puddles and wade in all the mud she wants (which is a lot).

We all had fun out in the yard today.  The thunderstorms in the morning made for a cool and comfortable afternoon with the requisite mud for the new purchase.  There is a bit of a learning curve walking with galoshes, but Faye did pretty well.  She loves being outside and today was no exception.  She even wanted to stay outside with me and pick weeds instead of cooking dinner with Shannon.  She loves specific tasks, and she can actually pull weeds pretty well.  My master plan is coming together nicely!

There are a bunch of cute pictures of her in the gallery.  She’s always been a sweetheart, but since I’ve been back from my 3-week detachment she’s been breaking records in sweetness.  I don’t think I could love this little girl any more.

Many of you have heard me complain about Faye’s disinterest in food and flat-out refusal to eat most things.  She wouldn’t touch meat, potatoes (even fries), rice, or pasta, and no veggies.  So what did she eat?  Cereal and bread and jars of pureed fruits.  Meal times were exhausting and upsetting for all of us.

Faye has had little interest in food from the beginning, but recently it had gotten bad.  I felt so bad for her, not liking anything, that I would fret over every meal and end up offering her cereal and jars of baby food all day.  It felt very wrong, but I didn’t know what else to do.

Finally, I called my good friend and pediatrician, Melanie.  After a long discussion, I realized I was encouraging Faye’s likes and dislikes of food by fretting so much over her and making such a big deal out of eating.  In my efforts to keep her nourished I was enabling her to drive me nuts.  So we started offering her what we eat for dinner (no alternatives) and a variety of lunches and snacks that she had previously “hated”.  I also quit fretting so much (at least in front of her).  Much to my surprise, Faye began to try new things and has even liked a few of them.

At the top of this post is my favorite surprise of all.  Faye ate that entire carrot stick, and asked for more!  I gave her a little peanut butter to dip it in, and she loved it.  Faye is still quite picky, but she is trying new things and meal times are more pleasant for all of us.

We bought the train prior to Chanukah, but didn’t want to give it to her until we had a table to put it on.  Some places want $100 or so for a table, so I broke out the tools and built something for a fraction of that.

Faye went to visit Shannon’s parents over the weekend, and I put the finishing touches on the miniature city.  They got back late last night while I was on duty, so we covered it with a sheet until I could come home in the morning and see her reaction.  As expected, we got a couple “oh boys!” out of her.  It’s really a neat set.  I think Daddy might enjoy playing with it as much as Faye will.

There are more photos in the gallery for those that want to see them.

It’s great that Faye can be more involved in the holidays now that she’s a little older.  She helps daddy light the candles and says “amen” after each prayer.  She really wowed me the other night when she actually said “shema” all on her own.  Each night before she goes to bed we kiss the mezzuzah on her door and say the Shema.  A couple nights ago, before Shannon even said anything, Faye spurts out “shema” (the word, not the whole prayer) all on her own.  It was a wonderful moment for me.

Of course since daddy wears a kippa when he says the blessings over the candles, Miss Faye has to do the same thing (hence the American flag kippa).  I know it’s not the norm, but she looks so cute with it on and gets so excited to wear one like her daddy.  You can see more pictures here.

More photos in the photo gallery