Happy Month 31, Helen.

Helen,

You bring a smile and great energy to everything you do, and that lights up the whole house. Your dad commented this past month that it was impossible to not be happy in your presence. And I agree! On his recent visit, Grandpa "Rod-o-nee" pointed out that rarely do you walk somewhere. Instead, you prefer a sort of hybrid running, skipping method of locomotion.



You continue to LOVE babies, so much so that many people comment to me how you look ready to be a big sister. But I quickly point out that you are definitely the baby of the family, and being displaced would not be a good thing in your mind. Almost always, they nod agreement. (And the saying "it takes one to know one" definitely applies here!)

You have tremendous upper body strength. The only time Mrs. Perine, my gym teacher throughout elementary school, ever took note of me was the day we had to climb the peg board. The peg board is a wooden board with about 40 peg holes, and you climb it by hanging from pegs and moving them up one notch at a time. I could climb up and down the peg board faster than anyone in the class. She had me demonstrate this ridiculously useless skill to the older grades one day. Perhaps you are planning on being a peg board star yourself. I have to say, not once in my life has this skill been useful, but I still remember feeling pretty good in gym class, if only for a day.



For Mother's Day, you and Grandma built me a planter. This photograph is the only proof that it once had four legs. Now, it sports three, as it has since being placed on the windowsill.



You love all things fancy, including plastic champagne glasses. Looking back at this picture, it's not clear to me you were drinking the non-alcoholic stuff. KIDDING. I am not that lax of a parent!



You still talk non-stop. I remind you regularly that I can only listen to one person at a time, so everyone has to take turns. You have another solution. Wear everyone around you down until no one else tries to interrupt your verbal hegemony. Whatever works, I suppose.

The most impressive thing you have accomplished this month is that you can go the occasional afternoon without a nap. You make up for it by sleeping late the next day. I find this awesome on both counts. This ability allowed us to attend the Washington National Cathedral's Flower Mart one Friday afternoon. I'm sure it was less crowded then than it would have been on Saturday. It had a ferris wheel. That was child-sized. So you and Connor could ride it without me. Yay! You and Connor enjoyed switching seats when it was at the peak. Your mischievous grins made me laugh. We also got to go sailing one afternoon. I feel like we have turned a corner in the world of parenting and scheduling. Thank you.

You remain a master at saying "cheese" whenever a camera approaches. Oh, Helen, if I could bottle your joy and sell it I would be a rich lady.



Love,
Mommy