"Go baseballs!!!!"

That's her mantra for this evening. We went to Christmas in July with the Round Rock Express. She had a blast and actually just watched most of the game happily in the seats. Of course, we left at the 7th inning stretch as she was looking a little dazed and starting to prefer sitting with her face away from the game and her ears covered. She took 3 walks with daddy - water, snow (turns out it was foam so she didn't get to play in it), and cotton candy (which she NEEDED).

She liked watching the ball the most. We couldn't get her to clap or cheer much, though. She would yell "nice catch" and "almost got it" at semi-appropriate times. The folks around us seemed to mostly enjoy her. One woman seemed disappointed that we didn't direct her to cheer for the team instead of the ball - pah!

We talked about the men in blue - the umpires - and how Uncle D was one, but not there. She thought that was cool, as if he wasn't cool enough already.

On the way out, she picked out one of those little wooden bats that they sell - in pink, the girly side comes out. She tried repeatedly to get me to buy her a ball because she needed one to hit, but I convinced her that I'd buy her a softer one (instead of the pink baseball she wanted).
On the drive home, she kept telling us that she was going to play lots of baseball games. Yeah, I think she's hooked for good.

Shameless non-RC plug

On July 29, hundreds of bloggers from around the world will put their endurance to the test for charity, blogging every 30 minutes for 24 hours straight. This is the Sixth Annual International Blogathon, an event that creates a worldwide community for a day, serves up fascinating content, and most importantly, raises tens of thousands of dollars for dozens of charities. Bloggers choose the charity and collect sponsorships. At the end of the event, those sponsors fulfill their pledges directly with the charity.

It's not too late to sign up if you'd like to blog! You can also help by sponsoring a blogger, just check out the List of Bloggers at the site. Stay up late, make a difference.

Our good friend, Caryn, is blogging for American Cancer Society (one near and dear to my heart for SO many reasons). If you have a moment, stop by and sponsor someone blogging for a charity you care about. If you want to sponsor her, her blog is linked in the title.

Bargaining 101

Kity's neighbors were having a garage sale that started tonight. They had a Razr scooter out on the lawn. Chrys came to the sudden realization that we were about to have 2 kids and 1 scooter. Since kid #1 LOVES the scooter, this could be a really bad scenario when kid #2 is big enough to want to ride one. He went over to ask the price - $8 - while RC and I went inside.

He came back and we decided that we only paid about $5 for the one we bought in Japan and weren't willing to go higher. He hates bargaining. I told him to give me a $5 bill. I hand the $5 to RC.

RC and I go over. We find the scooter. It's not in great shape, but it's not bad.

Me (pointing at scooter): "RC is that what you were asking about?"
RC: "I was asking about da scooter."
Me: "Do you want a scooter?"
RC: "I needa scooter" (We're working on want vs. need...right now, she NEEDS everything)
Me: "But RC, you only have $5 saved up."
RC (sadly, holding out her $5): "I onwy have $5"
Women running the sale (3 of 'em): "Oh, honey, that's ok. $5 is plenty."

They proceed to work with RC to trade the $5 bill for the scooter. She rides it out of the driveway, beaming, back over to Kity's house where I get chastised for "swindling the neighbors". What can I say, the kid's a natural.

Movie girl

This girl loves movies.

We took her to see Cars the other day. She got a little fidgety in the middle. Chrys took her to the bathroom and she was fine when she got back.

At home, she loves to watch Monsters, Inc and Robots. When she was sick the other day, we cycled through Shrek, too, and that was a moderate hit. She doesn't seem to have as much patience with the traditional Disney flicks (Lady and the Tramp, Little Mermaid) as the Pixar ones. I don't know if she likes the stories better or the animation.

They keep her attention and she asks for them regularly. I let her watch one on occasion when one of us isn't feeling well.

They're also good for getting some time to journal...

Buttons

Grandma G sent RC a new sweater (that she made). She meant for it to be a bit big, but it fits really nicely now. It's a little large, but nothing drastic. RC *loves* this sweater. She puts it on almost every day. I think she's most fascinated by the buttons.

It has large wooden toggle buttons. She can button them. She is crazy proud of herself.

Fireworks

Ryanne loved the 4th of July. Apparently fireworks aren't illegal in our MUD/city/county so everyone in our little cul-de-sac was out setting them off. It was quite a sight. They were doing quite a few aerials, too. I wouldn't have minded as much if they were doing them more in the middle, or even in front of their house. The fact that they were about 10 feet in front of my driveway (and two old cars - Hellybuny's and Chrys') bothered me a bit.

We went back out a bit later and watched the big show that the MUD put on. Ryanne liked those, too. At one point, she cuddled in to my side with her hands over her ears, but she had a huge grin on her face so I don't think it really bothered her. Everyone kept asking if it was too loud so I guess she decided it was expected.

She got to bed quite late that night. As we were getting her ready, she kept telling me that she and Sully's Boo (from Monsters, Inc) were going to go make fireworks and then go outside and make them BOOM! It was pretty funny. She was exhausted, but happy. She also told me that next year, she was going to show them to baby brother and help him not be scared. I thought that was sweet.

Since then, she keeps asking to see more fireworks. It's hard to make her understand that it will be New Year's, if not the next 4th, before she sees more. Too bad she can't read a calendar yet.

Haircuts

OK, the picture's for Auntie ALM. This was the before shot on her second hair cut.

Her first hair cut... I'm sorry... hair "fix" was in early April. We took her to one of those kid's cut places and they insist that it not be called a cut because then the child might decide that they can 'cut' their own hair with the scissors once they learn to cut. Plus, cut is apparently frightening and should be avoided. Ryanne didn't know what to make of it.

We told the lady it was the first cut and I explained that she had some split ends that were matting and I wanted to get rid of them. I was adamant that I didn't want bangs. She said she'd do layers and took off maybe an inch of hair. It wasn't enough to get rid of the split ends. Worse yet, we now had two large mats of hair in the morning. It just looked funky, but it was a little better. She got a tattoo when she was done and we have a little certificate for her first cut and some locks of hair in a plastic baggie.

The one from this shot was about a week ago. I took her to the normal salon around the corner from our new house. I explained that this was her second hair cut. I also said that I had no familiarity with curly hair, but whatever was done on the first cut wasn't working out. She asked what they had done and I said it was supposed to be layers, but that they had pulled the hair straight back and cut vertically. She said that could look nice, but wasn't a good cut for RC's hair. She fixed the layers so they actually layer and the curls actually flow through the layers. I asked her to take off some length since it was getting hot. She cut it loosely to below RC's shoulders so when it dries and curls, it's about shoulder length. She rounded out the transition from bangs to length so it frames her face a bit better. She didn't trim her bangs.

When she was done, she did a little bang fountain on RC's head that RC actually didn't pull out (unlike every attempt I've made to get her bangs out of her face). RC has since decided that she likes having her bangs out of her face and lets me pull it back every morning. I really like the cut. I think it looks tamer and it's certainly easier to comb and work with. Best part was that we walked in with no appointment and were done in 15 minutes.