Snow in Late March!

It's snowing like crazy at chez moi! I can't believe that it's almost April and I'm going to have to dress D in layers of clothing when we run our errands later today.

Snap!

It's beautiful, but totally unexpected.

The Owl Says "Hoot!"

I'm working at my desk and there is an owl outside making a racket! Hoot-Hoot! How cool!

I think it's this guy, the Barred Owl. Either that or it's a Spotted Owl.

(Later)

Upon further research it probably is a Barred owl which is now common in the Pacific Northwest and is a "generalist" which means it eats anything that moves, including competing Spotted Owls. There are turf wars going on outside my door that I'm not even aware of. Poor Spotted owls : (

More recently, Forsman and his colleagues have also been documenting the invasion of the barred owl into the Pacific Northwest. "For the last thirty years we've been trying to come up with ways of protecting the spotted owl," says Forsman, "and now all of a sudden, this huge monkey wrench gets thrown into the works. In the past, we could assume that what we were seeing in terms of habitat would help us to understand what was happening with the spotted owl. Now we don't know if spotted owls aren't there because there is no habitat for them or because of the barred owls."

"The barred owl is a generalist, so it'll eat almost anything," says Tom Hamer, a consulting biologist who has studied the interaction of the two owls in the northern Cascade Range of Washington State. "It will eat flying squirrels and snowshoe hares, which the spotted owl also eats. But the barred owl will also hunt trout and amphibians in small streams and eat anything else that crosses its path, including grouse." Because the barred owl is such an adaptable hunter, it can live off a home range of only about 1,600 acres in the northern Cascades.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1134/is_2_108/ai_54032987

1-Year Check-up

We took D in for her 1-year check up and she is still in the 50th percentile for height and weight. Her head is still above average, which is hilarious because some of her shirts can be a little tight.

She started saying "hi" yesterday out of the blue. I woke her up from her afternoon nap and said "hi" to her and she politely responded.

Her first word was "Duck" although the "ck" is a little hard for her. It sounds more like "Duh" but she points at her pink, rubber duck. She also calls her green frog "Duh" so I'm working on "frog" with her.

We are also working on:

• Socks
• Shoes
• Dog
• Muppet
• Book
• Breakfast
• Eat

She has "Mama" and "Dada" nailed and we turn sappy when she utters these beloved words.

I haven't mentioned yet that she kicks a soccer ball quite naturally. She keeps the ball right in front of her and uses her feet to get it out when it's stuck. She is borrowing nanny's orange size 2 soccer ball and grandpa Jeff and Granny Elaine gave her a PINK size 3 for her birthday. Ohhh man... her birthday. She has plenty of toys now, and clothing...

She's crazy for books. She likes peek-a-boo and touch-and-feel books the best. I need to update Dahlia's Library (linked the blog page) because it will be fun in ten years to see how many she has.

Tomorrow is Easter. I bought transparent eggs that look like chicks and have little feet. Since we're not giving her sugar, I put some of her favorite dry treats inside; like Cheerios and crunchy baby food.

We are having Easter Brunch and she'll wear a very nice green, spring-type dress that she got for her birthday.

I hope everyone has a great Easter!

On the Run

Suddenly Dahlia is on the move and is paying attention to things and people.

She wants to watch others, especially kids. Everything is new and fascinating, even the grocery store. And so off we go!

I am the "rebellious" suburban mom who didn't put D into swimming lessons, reading hour, baby boot camp and potty training at age 10 months, like some of my contemporaries. I didn't know I was an anti-establishment bad ass until I noticed the raised eyebrows.

D suddenly wants to tumble, roll and run! I feel like I need a padded room for her to do just that. Neighborhood mothers take note; last weekend we went to the local Gymboree to check it out. I felt silly walking in, asking about entertainment for a 1-year-old, but sure enough, we had already missed a "stage."

Gymboree has movement, art and music classes. The least expensive class costs $220 and lasts 8 weeks. Do the math to learn it costs $30 a pop for our tumblin' tot to have a little playtime. Yes, it's expensive-ish, but she would get to socialize in a safe place and no, we didn't sign her up (yet).

Today I took Dahlia to Whole Foods. When I grocery shop, I go to QFC, but I wanted to have an "experience." I forgot to bring the stroller, so I put her in the cart and snapped on her little seat belt. She is on full alert in the store, so I have to keep one hand on her so she doesn't twist 360 degrees.

She drew attention. A little boy, age seven or so, tried diligently to engage her in conversation. She just watched him like he was an animal in the zoo. "What is this strange specimen and why is he touching my feet?"

After Whole Paycheck, we went to the public library to check out (ha ha) the children's section, get a vibe for the place and find out when the children's reading hour is. Just like Gymboree, it's right around D's first nap. A kid's nap schedule is nothing to be reckoned with, so we will have to wait until the stars align.

If I get really desperate, I may have no choice but to take her to crossroads mall to socialize. It's filthy dirty.