Don't eat that

We've been enjoying the mild April weather, spending time with Elise in the backyard just about daily. She likes wandering around, looking at trees, lounging in the hammock, listening to birds ... and eating ant hills.
Yeah, ant hills.
I understand the whole explore-with-your-mouth developmental stage, but can't there be some limits? Oh, sure, we can whisk her away from one tantalizing ant mound, but she'll find another, guaranteed.
Does it really matter? It's just dirt, right? Still.
A bit of ant hill dirt may the least of our concerns, though, and I'm beginning to wonder, based on outdoor warnings for kids, how the heck I lived this long.
Is it safe for your child to walk on the grass? Sure, the experts say, unless you use some type of fertilizer that's full of triboloetyatrazene, or some other chemical that upon contact turns a five-fingered-hand into a fleshy nub.
I may be new at this parenting thing, but I did know it's wise to get fertilizer that is at least somewhat kid-friendly, which is to say I will be paying a lot for something that doesn't work.
That is not our biggest problem, though. According to one of Anni's parenting magazines, there is a toxic danger lurking in -- or should I saw lumped in -- the grass in our backyard.
You know what it is? It's raccoon poop. Yeah, there was a small article devoted to the danger of raccoon crap, on the basis that it contains some chemical compound harmful to people -- if people eat it.
The article even provided a step-by-step description of how to remove it from the grass and to sanitize the grass. I'm not kidding. The article actually suggested pouring a pot of boiling water on the grass where the raccoon crap was. Because that's normal behavior.
So, there you have it. A good parent should conduct a sweep of the yard to search for toxins -- various forms of fertilizer, I guess -- before allowing the little one to roam free.
I'm not too worried about the raccoon threat. In fact, I'll bet the woodchucks that have taken up residence in our yard would scare off the raccoons.
If that doesn't work, the fox I saw strolling through the yard last year may be back this summer.
And with that, I think it's time to send Elise outside to play.

Full belly, but work to do

I guess she was practicing for her summer lawn-mowing responsibilities.
And why is she not wearing a shirt? Well, if you must know, she spit up lasagna and a pea on her shirt a few minutes earlier.

Blue skies. Water. Tasty rocks.

We visit Anni's family in Duluth a few times a year. If it was guaranteed that the weather would be as nice all year as it was last Saturday, I would move there.
We were in Duluth last weekend for Anni's grandfather's funeral, but had some time to go down to Lake Superior. We did nothing but relax, stare at the lake and watch Elise eat rocks.
The sky was blue, the lake had a steely blue tint, the sun was shining and it was warm. You can't get it much better. Oh, but wait, it got better: We went to the malt shop afterward.
I've posted lots of photos, and that's because I'm still appreciating the fact that with the warm weather, we're back to taking photos outside, where there is plenty of light. (You can only photograph a child in a living room so many times.)
Anyway, on to the photos:

Anni's friend Jerolyn let us stay with her, which I now think was just a ploy so she and Elise could bond.

Who invented peek-a-boo, anyway?

Yeah, you can look, but we're not going down there.

This is our daughter. She eats rocks.

There is less and less of this each day, as Elise is quickly learning it's more fun to walk on her own.

She was mad. We probably had taken a rock away.

No, you cannot walk into the lake yet.

Just trying to figure out if she could eat this one.

Remember this

Anni usually brings Elise home from school, in part because thankfully for us they spend the day one door away from each other.
However, I might have to change that routine, based on what happened the other day. It lasted just a few moments, but it doesn't get much better than this:
I picked up Elise from school. I walked in the room and watched as she quietly was looking out the window.
Eventually, she turned around, saw me and recognized me. She smiled, squeaked and babbled and walked to me from across the room.
She will still do that as a teenager, right?

She's a good egg.

A little late? Yeah, but there has been a lot going on, so I'm just now getting around to posting some photos from Easter. It was a good day.
Elise nearly made it through the entire church service (Presbyterian, so no three-hour vigils). We had a light brunch with my parents and then went to Jenee's to be with Anni's family -- and to spend part of the day outside.

She's in a love-hate relationship with grass right now.


She found most of her eggs with little assistance...

...but had a little assistant for some of them.

I am generally opposed to dressing her up with holiday-themed head stuff, but you have to pick your battles.

Hey, watch this

We all have odd talents, don't we?

She is ours

Thirteen months after we took Elise home from the hospital for the first time, we finally can claim her as solely ours.
No, there was no parental rights dispute.
I only mean we can claim her because we finally paid off the hospital bill.
So with a final check of $65 to wipe away the balance, the hospital -- as good as its staff was -- no longer has a financial stake in the little lady.

First pudding experience

It's kind of like how I look after a bowl of chocolate ice cream. She at least uses a bib.