Dance

More Christmas

Vi had fun reading and playing with pop.

Sorry other family members! Didn't take many pics! ;(

Remembering Grandpa

It has been one year since Rich's dad assumed his place in the celestial hereafter. We miss him dearly and think of him constantly. Our hope is that we always keep his memory alive by sharing stories of his love and kindness. We are so blessed to have our families near so we can share these stories often.

Freddy would be so proud of his grand-girls and their joyous spirits and giving hearts.

We love you, Freddy. It's very encouraging to know one day we will all be together again.

Christmas 2009

Christmas in Buffalo scheduled for a late Jan time-frame.

More pictures to come!

Almost 3...

So, talking with Vi at one point today we started to discuss her birthday party (in March). She decided that she wants to have presents atop her birthday cake. OK, I think I can pull that off...

As we were talking about her party I experienced a pang of sadness because she's going to be 3 (I know it's still three months away - but still!). Little Viley is growing up fast.

There are so many things I love about this stage of toddlerhood, and I thought I should list some things that she's doing now so we can remember her as a 2 yr old!

- She can't quite pronounce 'th' in the words "Mother", "Brother", etc. It comes out as "Fairy Godmudder", "Efan (Ethan) is Mal's brudder". You get the point. It's pretty cute.

- Vi loves the idea of being a princess. I have had severe disdain for this concept since I was in high school. They make her happy so I've learned to accept and embrace Disney princesses. The genuine excitement and passion she exhibits when she is wearing princess dress-up is priceless. Now if I can just get her to understand that not every moment of every day needs to be filled with dress-up, princess loving bliss...

- Vi loves her Grandmas (and Grandpas ;). When she talks about them she refers to both of them as "MY Grandma", and if she happens to be playing with a toy or reading a book they lovingly purchased for her she invariably points out "Grandma gave me this" before she proceeds with her play.

- Vi is in love with music and she has taken to singing to herself at random moments throughout the day. I wish I had an audio clip to insert here so you could hear her. It's adorable. "Old McDonald had a farm..."

- When I get Vi from her nap she usually says something funny like "Hi, Mommy Queen, it's dark in here!" or "Oh, it's you Mommy froggy" the moment I walk in the room.

- Lately, every thing's a "competition". No - for real; "See Daddy? it's a little competition." while pointing to a drawing she just created. Or, looking out the window of a restaurant, "Oh, there's a competition." pointing to a car in the parking lot.

- Vi scolds her stuffed animals ALL day long and I REALLY hope she isn't completely mimicking me...it typically goes something like this: "You know what? do you want a little spanking? what? you don't? then LISTEN to what I'm talking about! OK - good job. BUT DON'T BE BOSSY! It's a little competition." oye

- We discovered that she knows letters by their sounds whilst listening to her play a computer game - she has a good audio memory so I think that's how she picked it up.

- Hannah (the cat) went to live at a new house almost a year ago...last week Vi said that when we move into our new house that Hannah will be there ;(

- Watching Syracuse football and basketball with Daddy has become a new tradition. She lays on his chest and they do fist pumps together. I think Rich has a sports watching buddy and I think he's pretty excited about it. ;)

- Vi has been spending two days a week at TT and Uncle Scott's house. I am so grateful to them for opening their home and embracing the opportunity to spend time with Vi. She doesn't bat an eyelash when I mention that she is going to their house, and she talks about Abel and Satchmo with a twinkle in her eye. That makes my heart happy. I wish all of our family lived closer, but I'm also thankful they don't live farther away.

OK - that's it for now. I'll probably get more emotional as her birthday gets closer...consider yourself warned.

Digging through the archives - found this gem:

Travels with Charlie

This is Vi's buddy, Charlie.

It is well known that our roads are dangerous.

Charlie is one trusty travel companion.

Violet was (obviously) frightened during a recent hayride, and

Charlie held her hand tightly to protect her from the scarecrows.

Stokoe Farms with Abel

A few weeks ago, Abel and TT joined us for a visit to Stokoe Farm. It was a beautiful fall day. The kind of day when a light sweater is needed and sufficient. We enjoyed the day sliding down monstrous slides, watching piglets escape from their pen, getting lost in the corn maze, eating warm donuts and dancing to the sounds of the singing chickens. Vi hardly stopped smiling all day - mostly because Abel was by her side.

Dear Readers, Please don't hate me...

I'm using facebook as our "look-at-what-we've-been-up-to" site and have obviously, painfully abandoned vi's blog. My autumn resolution is to pick it up again. wish us luck! ;)

A few pics from a walk today. Vi and I shared an apple muffin at a local coffee shoppe. After Vi had successfully introduced hannah the (stuffed) cat to every patron in the shoppe, we set off on an adventure. Very few would consider a walk down a neighborhood street an adventure, but if you have spent any time with a 2 year old you understand. We had a wonderful time counting pumpkins, throwing fallen leaves into the air and gathering sticks (her new favorite). Oye.

Look at this kid. how could you not love that face.

she loves this beach

CapeCod 09 from Rich Downie on Vimeo.

Perspective

Although our lives rest in the palm of a loving God - it's sometimes hard to remember how much we are blessed.

Whilst reading Violet books at the library today, I was softly prompted to remember...

When I was quite young, and quite small for my size,
I met an old man in the Desert of Drize.
And he sang me a song I will never forget.
At least, well, I haven't forgotten it yet.

He sat in a terribly prickly place,
But he sang with a sunny sweet smile on his face:

When you think things are bad,
when you feel sour and blue,
when you start to get mad,
You should do what I do!

Just tell yourself, Duckie,
You're really quite lucky.
some people are much more...
oh, muchly, much-much more...
unlucky than you.

Thank you, Dr. Suess.

Latest & Greatest

Viley-who
TT - thanks for the dress requested first EVERY morning.

Sleepy after lilac festival

Dancing at the lilac festival

One cool cat.

Rabbit food

In the middle of her bowl of oatmeal this morning, Vi asked for a carrot. "um, ok." came my reply. So I peeled a carrot and handed it over. She finished her oatmeal and then happily ran around the rest of the morning with her carrot in one hand, nibbling as she went.

Too cute to correct

Vi says a few words incorrectly. Every time she says them I smile and I'm selfishly not willing to give up those little moments. ;) The word listed first is correct and the second is Vi's interpretation:
1. Oatmeal = Email (Figuratively she's right on the money...we both consume "email" for breakfast)
2. Coins = monies (pronounced "MONEYEZZZ") (Me: Vi, how many coins are there? Can you count them? Vi: 1...2...4..6 moniens!)
3. Mine = mines (as in, "that's mines Hannah, that's mines milk, that's mines slide, that's mines veggie tales, that's mines birthday cake, that's mines...yadayadayada")
4. Milk = Nilk (OK, so I have tried to correct this one MULTIPLE times and she's said it this way for so long that I find myself saying it sometimes)
5. Ice cream = Eye cream (i think this one is just based on the fact that ice cream is difficult to enunciate and yes, I need a little bit of both of these right now)

60 second post

1. Vi has taken to carrying her Veggie Tales DVD holder around with her. It's really strange. She loves the asparagus.
2. I asked her if she had a dream yesterday and she nodded and said, "Yes, Pop-pop."
3. After receiving 2 shots and a toe prick at her 2 yr apt today she announced, "Doctor. FUN!" on our way out of the office. And yes, she had a rice cake in her hand.
4. I have an awesome babysitter who put together one of Vi's birthday presents today. She must know it would have never gotten done without her help. ;)
5. Vi now runs and hides in the guest room when it's time to change her diaper, change her clothes, put her PJ's on, eat her breakfast, take a nap, go to the store, or clean up her toys. There is NOTHING in there for her to play with and when I come to get her she is standing next to the nightstand doing NOTHING. Interesting.
6. I am convinced there are two types of people who shop at pittsford wegmans. Those who ignore everyone else because they are a part of the beautiful people club and those who compliment froggy boots. I prefer the latter - Vi prefers to be ignored.

dos años

Untitled from Rich Downie on Vimeo.

A few pics...sorry i've been such a blog slacker

Grandpa

We've been through a lot this past month. Rich's father passed away after battling a disease for many years.

It's such a blessing to have memories of Violet with her Grandpa. He would have so much joy watching her play and laugh and he always enjoyed pointing out all of her antics. After Fred was moved to an assisted living home, Violet always looked for him and would point to Grandpa's chair when visiting Syracuse.

We miss him painfully. We are so grateful for the time we did have with him. He was an authentic, caring, funny and generous man. I think Vi has more than his eye color, she has his humorous spirit and that undeniable twinkle in her eye. Truly, I think they were kindred spirits and if given the opportunity, would have probably formed a very strong bond similar to my Grandpa and me.

Each night when Vi is saying her prayers, she says, "God bless Grandpa in heaven." I can picture Freddie smirking at her and patting her little head. We can't wait to tell her stories about her Grandpa and how much he loved her.

Uncle Scott, is that you??? hehe