2 and a half

First piece of gum

Your first piece of gum is a big deal. It's a rite of passage of sorts, or so it seems.

For her 4th birthday Audrey got to chew her first piece - I believe it was Wrigley's Spearmint but am not sure. It wasn't a full piece, just half. And she chewed it so long that I'm sure she must have forgotten that gum doesn't dissolve like candy does. Clearly her her goal was two-fold: to show everyone she was chewing gum and to savor the experience of growing up. Another milestone achieved. By the time she deposited the tasteless rubbery glob into the trash it was bed time.

I've been trying to lay the groundwork to restrict gum-chewing on a regular basis - after all, stepping onto a glob of the stuff or finding some underneath the table is supposed to happen at places like carnivals and baseball games and parks, only. I don't want it to happen in our household. Nor do I want to find it embedded in rugs or couches. She chewed another piece today which means so far I've failed to restrict usage - right now I can only hope she'll be responsible about it.

That's the pleasure and the plight of being a parent - watching your kids revel in new opportunities and privileges, and worrying about what they will bring.

Happy Birthday Audrey!

I'm late, I admit it. Audrey's birthday was April 3. Not late for telling her Happy Birthday, mind you. I'm not that sort of dad. But late for saying it here.

The great thing about birthdays is that, within reason, you can say Happy Birthday belatedly. Like I'm doing now. "Happy Birthday Audrey!"

Tonight, when I returned home from work, she announced, "Daddy, I just turned 3!" To which I responded, "I know - I was there! Happy Birthday!"

Here are the ingredients for a fantasticamous 3-year-old birthday party:

1. A bouncy castle. Yes - we did the bouncy castle thing, and even did it inside our house. Fortunately our basement was *just* large enough for a downsized version of what we were going to do outside (we had a late season snow day). Undoubtedly it was the biggest hit of any party we've ever thrown, including adult parties we've thrown (or at least those we can remember at this point).

2. A red wagon. Inspired by the one her cousin Trever has, Audrey loves this red wagon. She can ride around in it for hours. Ok, minutes. But several minutes before she gets bored. And it even has a canopy with UV protective fabric.

3. A Learning Tower. This thing gets great reviews and Audrey loves it already. Imagine your 3-year-old likes to help you cook in the kitchen (admittedly a messy endeavor) and you're constantly having to pull one of the kitchen chairs up to the counter and perpetually worried your child will slip off while you're momentarily not paying attention. The Learning Tower takes care of all this - it's safe, stable, adjustable, movable and multi-purpose. Look into one.

4. Bubble machine. How can you forget bubbles? Kid's love 'em and they don't make (much) of a mess. Unless you get the one from Target, that is, which tends to spill a bunch. But when you get it positioned correctly it cranks out more bubbles than Audrey can poke a finger at.

And of course, lots of love. She's the greatest and I can't believe she's growing up so fast.