Winter Has Thawed

Aeowyn,

Our little girl, the winter is now over for 2014-2015 and Spring is almost here in early March.  It's been soooo long since I wrote your last blog entry, actually last July to be exact. So much has happened since then, it's really hard to catalog here.  So here is 8 months in short:

1) We had a great summer!  Favorite time was going to the St. Michael's house on the water, where we swam int he pool, took boat rides on the bay and also tried (without any luck) to catch fish. You loved playing the sand!  We also visit your great-great grandfather's lighthouse!

2) You started a new school. September brought catholic school uniforms!  You love your new school and your teachers love you. You go to school so excited and your best friend is Kendal.  Today I dropped you off in fact and Kendal yells out to you -- "today is our ice skating lessons"!  You're almost done learning your alphabet and can almost count to 20.  Language wise, you still like to say "thems"...  like -- "thems better be good or thems going to be in trouble".

3) Mommy, mommy, mommy!  You LOVE your mommy so much -- it's so awesome to see.  You actually look a like like mommy -- you love playing with her make-up, playing with her bengals, and love your finger nail polish.  You right now have this phase where when you wake up, you want mommy to dress you.  You also are a fan of being fed by mommy too!  

4) Play time: You love playing with your brothers -- you all play games like freeze tag or hide-in-seek, and when lucky -- you grab an ipad and even have figured out how to play minecraft.  Favorite shows right now -- my little pony, anything to do with ponies, and ninjago (probably because of your brothers)

5) Halloween -- you dressed up as a -- you guessed it -- a princess!  The one from Frozen -- the dress was really cool and lit up (like a blue color).  We went over to Pooja aunties house and had a great time trick or treating -- you were running with the boys from door to door and had so much candy, daddy had to help you carry it home.

6) Thanksgiving -- great fun at our house -- we had everyone over -- and had way too much to eat!   Most of our family was there, including Ammuma and Thaha!

7) Christmas-- total awesomeness!  Everyone came over to our house again this year -- Ammuma and Thaha and Grandma and Grandpa.  Sadhana chechi was there but Savitha Chechi couldn't make it this year.  But we had so much fun opening presents and spending time with family. If I get some time, I will post up pictures  from Christmas.

8) Winter -- so that brings us current.  This was the year of snow sports. You got to start skiing this year and you were like a duck in water!  It started by us going to Wintergreen, where we rented a one room apartment and did ski school that weekend.  You were so good that you were doing down green slopes by yourself!  We then went to ski liberty and did more skiing and ski school -- where you were soooo good my little girl!  On top of that, Jan and Feb brought a lot of snow again.  So we would sled down our back hill (and try not to hit the tree at the bottom of the hill), have snow ball fights, and eat marshmallows over the fire.  We had one snow day on a Sat and all of our friends came over and we played all day together (sooo fun -- you played with Bella and Reina).  Finally, we went to the farm this past weekend, where it started to warm up -- but the snow was on the ground and so we dug out three snow caves, had a snow ball fight and skated on the pond at the farm.  Most pictures are from that time -- the top was from wintergreen.

I've said this many times and I must say it again -- your mom and I are so proud of you Aeowyn and the little girl you have become. You are so incredibly sweet, thoughtful, well spoken, kind, helpful, confident and loving. These are all qualities that make you so unique and will serve you well in life.  It's a pleasure to be your father and to watch our lives unfold together.  I will try to be more diligent here and write in a few more months to check back in!  Until then, our lives continue to move forward with what seems like increasing velocity!  Let's both hold on, enjoy every moment and have fun!  We love you Aeowyn!

I love you because...

Aeowyn, my little girl, I thought I'd take a moment to write you a note.  I received 4 really awesome gifts in my life -- they started with my wife, then Rohin, then Talin and ended with you.  Of all the things I have done and will do in my life, being your daddy (and to the other little ones), is my greatest accomplishment.  I'm so incredibly proud of the little girl that you have become and will become.  It reminds me of how short our life really is here -- as I bound over 40 and see how you all are now 4, 5 and 6.  The older you get, the faster time seems to go by.  My inclination, as I suspect yours will be one day, is to try to grab on and hold on.  But that doesn't seem to work too well -- so the better strategy is to take hold and enjoy the ride.  I love watching you all grow -- and every year is better than the next.  I try to not worry about the day you all will leave our nest here at Providence meadow, but know that day will come one day.  We'll cross that bridge when it comes.

So I thought I'd write a list of things I love about you:

• I love your heart and soul -- you're so caring and giving and caring.  You sometimes put your hand on my face and it has a way of melting away any worries I might have had that day
• I love hearing you sing the little songs that you do.  You're such an awesome singer
• I love your smiles -- you have this big toothy grin that is so cute
• I love your Pooh Pooh and Pee Pee -- you have the panache to say these two things at the worst possible time -- like at restaurants - and really loud.  But it's so cute
• I love playing ponies with you in your bed -- we both make horse voices and play games like having the unicorns make rainbows with a (bling noises)
• I love your sense of style -- you totally get that from your mommy. You love your dresses and love painting your nails
• I love how giving you are -- you're always so willing things to others and to share.  
• I love the way you say "sure" -- it comes out like "shuar" and it sounds so cute
• I love watching your love of life and happiness -- you're always so happy and it's so heart warming to see and makes me feel good as your daddy
• Simply put, I love everything about you Aeowyen -- my little Chana

Happy 4th Birthday & Spring!

Aeowyn my little princess, happy 4^th birthday to you.  I cannot believe that you are already 4 years old.  A couple of thoughts and then onto the birthday story for the year. 

First, you’re such a wonderful little girl – your mommy and daddy love you so much. One cute thing that you say often is “I love you mommy” or “I love you daddy”.  You’re so adorable!  You love to paint and could spend hours doing that or painting your nails with mommy.  You’re actually pretty good at it for your age and can get them pretty well painted.  You have a thing right now for unicorns and own three of them – one of them is purple and is your favorite. When I asked what you named her, you said Sandhya.  You love playing pretend unicorns at night with daddy.  You LOVE your mommy so much and told her that she is your sister recently.  You still love couscous as your favorite food along with pasta (with nothing on it) but you’re so tall – you’d think you ate all the time.  One of your favorite things are dresses – you not have a collection of little princess dresses in your costume and you love getting up and picking out which dress you are going to wear for the day – it’s so cute.

This summer is shaping up to be sooooo fun!  It’s such a delight to spend time with you.  So recently, we had you big 4^th birthday party at the house.  Mommy did an incredible job of planning and really lived vicariously through your eyes honey.  You won’t know what that word means until much later –but I could see in her eyes, the excitement of a 4 year old as she planned out every detail of your party and the excitement you both shared in talking about the party.  Ok – so the party was a pink and purple themed tea party. We set it up on the back top deck overlooking the meadow and had pink table clothes, with pink plates, little tea sip cups, cookies in little containers, flowers, balloons, and all!  (insert picture).  We also catered mac and chees, chicken Florentine and Italian chicken for the adults.  Mommy had a big princess bouncy in the backyard that you love so much, you tore your princess dress you were wearing in the first hour and we had to change you into your pixie costume.  We drove the little gators, and the other kids played on the zip line and slack line. But you know, the funny thing was that what you loved the most – was to be pushed on the swings.  It was so cute.  You’ll find in life that you wish you could hold onto perfect moments and time – and watching you that day was one of them.  If I could somehow keep you as my little 4 year old daughter for eternity – I think I would be awfully tempted.  You’re such a wonderfully warm, loving little girl – just like your mommy.  We had so much fun at your party honey and you LOVED opening up the presents. Especially, you love some new dresses that your best friend Anaika gave you and you love a porcelain tea set from mommy and daddy and your paints.  I almost forgot –at your party, you had Anaika, Tamie and Sophia, Rohin, Talin, Bella, Reina, and Anaika – among others who I think I forgot.

We did so many other things this year too.  We went on a a trip with grandma and grandpa to Warrenton.  We started in Middleburg and ate a little inn for lunch and met uncle Dow and your cousin Violet.  We then drove out to two wineries where you all played until the rain came in.  We then went down to the house located on a incredible farm  -- it was part of an old estate.  Our house was built in 1875 as the tennant house (and it was big) and the original houses, which we didn’t stay in, was built in 1728.  It was such an unusual house on a working farm – but was so beautiaful.  You all loved to explore the house and all the little nooks.  The view was incredible.  We especially loved sitting in the “zebra” room, an inside patio with 180 degree views of pasture and forest.  Mommy and daddy would sit there with grandma and grandpa and you all in the evenings while you all would play.  On this patio, it was said tha the Dutchess of York and JFK even sat for tea.  The house had incredible designs of wagon wheels and grist mills, a design of the late Ms. Windmill who lived there (who loved horses).  We explored the farm – you all loved the chicken.  You actually even found a snake Aeowyn!  The second day we went to Ticonderoga farms where you all played your hearts out on the slide and the bamboo maze and then came home, had a great dinner and off to sleep and left the next morning.

Now we’re into your 4^th year and many big changes ahead.  First, we’re going to have an awesome summer together and have some neat trips planned to the Eastern Shore of MD.  Then in the fall, you will switch classes to pre-school over at St. Lukes in Mclean.

I’m so excited for your Aeowyn my love and it is one of the greatest pleasures in my life to be your daddy and watch you grow up into such an incredibly special little lady.   You're so sweet and kind.  One of your favorite things to do is to play ponies where we pretend the ponies are talking with each other or playing with each other.  Daddy has so much fun with that!  You love to dress up in princess dresses and are always so appreciative when you are given something.  One of your favorite things to do in the whole wide world is to be pushed on the swings!  It's going to be a sad day when you tell us you no longer need to be pushed!  You also still love to be fed -- and I have to admit that mommy and daddy secretly love that because you're our little baby!

Food wise -- you love Cous Cous, pasta (without anything on it), vegetables and not much of a meat eater -- you like fish and chicken though.

Height wise -- you're really tall for your age.  You recently also got your hair cut short, as your request.  You're independent and confident as a little girl and it's amazing to watch you Aeowyn.  As your parents, we watch you with incredible pride.  You're just simply an incredible little girl.  We love you and I'll update soon!

Welcome to 2014

Chuna my little cutie pie -- you are turning out to be such a wonderful little girl.  I'm so sorry that I have not captured as many stories as I should have over these past 6 months.  You have really grown so fast my little baby.  You're very tall for you age and are quite the conversationalist and mini fashionista at a very young age. 

So onto the blog catch-up. I'll start with our india trip.  We left in June to go for three weeks to india and the Maldives.  We got to meet your family from mom's side of the family -- which was lovely.  We stayed in Kochin first and had fun visiting Ammuma's sisiters and aunties.  It was so fun getting to know them.  We also took time and went to do some adventurous things like going to a river and helping to wash elephants -- which was so fun.  But you didn't want to pet the elephant, as they were big and wet.  You kept talking about how the elephants were smelly. 

We also went to a resort where they took us on a boat to view the backwaters of India and viewing how people live in rural areas.  You all got to look at fish and see how they live -- and even saw what old Kerala homes look like.  You even got to the drive the boat after seeing your brothers drive.  The funny part was when the captain tried to steer -- you would try to slap away his hands.  The next part of the trip, we went to the Maldives and landed on a little strip of land in the middle of the Indian Ocean.  We hoped a boat and you all loved being on the boat as it took us to our resort.  The resort was lovely and served western food -- so you all refueled up again.  You had a blast playing on the beach, in the ocean and the pool.  Our little house was only 20 ft. from the water's edge -- it was stunning.  After 4 days of sun and fun, we tralved to Trivandrum and stayed at Thatha's house.  We visited some more friends and family and then went down to Kovalam for 2 days.  Our hotel was unremarkable and it was cold and wet the first day, but the second day we went to visit a Taj resort and the pool was awesome -- you and Rohin and Talin spent the day climbing the little island in the pool and jumping in.  We would have your life jacket on and you would just float around the pool.  It was so fun.

When we got back, we ended up coming back to a messy house as it was under construction. We finally finished the work in December. 

Xmas was also fun, we had all our family with us.  For Xmas, you had lots of great presents from Santa Clause, including your own bright red little motorized truck, a set of dolls that represent all disney princesses an a dress up trunk.  You asked your brother to write your xmas list for you.  Xmas day brought lots and lots of presents, which you loved.  I think you changed your dress about 10 times that day.  Speaking of, you really love your dresses and make-up.  You love going to mommy's closet and digging through her make-up bag.  You are very notrious for leaving lipstick kisses on walls, doors, hands.  But I have to say, you are such a loveable girl.  You love to give mommy an daddy hugs and kisses and love your mommy tucking you into bed at night.  

Daddy and mommy are so proud of you Aeowyn.  You are such a good girl, so sweet and a very hard worker.  Even your teachers talk about what a pleasure it is having you in their class.  It's a pleasure being your daddy Aeowyn and mommy and daddy love you so much!

End of Spring 2013

Aoewyn -- you continue to really develop into such a kind and sweet little girl.  I have to acknowledge that as a parent, with three kids, it's hard to keep up to the same level as when I had only one child and then two children!  So when you're reading this years later -- know that I apologize for this -- but it's so hard to write as often as I would have liked and you would have deserved.  Generally, you continue to grow in your knowledge and personality.  You're such a kind and sweet little girl.  You love your clothes and like to pick out what you are going to wear in a day.  You’ve really gotten into make-up – following in your mom’s footsteps.  This involves grabbing tubes of lipstick and applying it over and over again (remarkably accurate actually).  You also love to wear mommy’s necklaces now and wear one almost every day.  Just recently, daddy bought mommy a mother’s day necklace and you wanted to wear it so badly!  You love to cuddle on mommy and daddy's lap and still are a big fan of the princess gowns that we have bought for you.  Your favorite TV show is “sofia the first” – and you told us the other day that when you grow up you want to be a princess.  You’re truly the princess of our family and we are so fortunate to have you as our daughter. 

When you get upset -- you says "X has hurt my feelings", whether X is mommy, daddy, Rohin or Talin.  But you forgive quickly!  You definitely do not like being forced to do things -- so we try to work to help you want to do things on your own.  One of the things you like to do yourself is to pick out your own clothes.  You can even change yourself now.  I’m astounded at just how fast you learn things Aeowyn.  For your age, you are very advanced.  In your language, your expressions – it’s really fantastic.  Your teacher is amazed as well and noted how you could work with putting a rainbow puzzle together all by yourself, which is incredibly difficult to do. 

In terms of funny stories – of course you fetish with lipstick and with nail polish gets you in trouble.  Lots of tubes of lipstick on things – shirts, floors, etc…  Recently, you spilled nail polish on the carpet – so we have a nice bright red spot on our tan carpet (soon to be replaced).  Of course, you can paint your own toe nails and finger nails – which you love to do.  You also seem to not like pony tails and just want your hear out of your eyes. 

At night time, you love to ask mommy to sit down for a couple of minutes – which is the new ritual after reading books and prayer time.  Also Aeowyn, you’re already starting to learn to swim and go into the pool with daddy – so amazing!  One other cute story is your little doll (blonde princess).  You call her your darling and talk about how you are going to share things for her or give her things.

Another fun thing that we did recently was to visit Hershey park with some of our friends.  We drove up on a Saturday night and checked into a hotel (Hershey lodge). We had such a great time.  We checked-in and then went over to the park and rode the carousel, balloon ride, a bee ride, a mini-carousel (multiple times – your favorite), a truck ride and then also you rode with mommy in the race car ride.  After a really fun day in the park, we went back to the hotel and crashed.  The next morning we went out for lunch and then went over to the chocolate factory. You really loved the ride that explained how chocolate is made and then we went to a 4D movie, which was a detective story.  You and Talin didn’t like it so much and for days have talked about how the bad man sprayed us with chocolate! 

We love you and look forward to you turning 3 – when we travel to india!!!

Pooh Pooh De Potty

Aeowyn -- it's been almost two months since we wrote another blog post -- it's been so crazy busy this fall.  We have so much to blog about.  So let's jump in.  First, I have to talk about pooh pooh de potty.  You're really doing quite well in toilet training now and pretty much are done with #1 accidents but for some reason, #2 is a different story.  So you always love to talk about going "pooh pooh de potty", which quite honestly makes you sound Italian.  Daddy gets a big kick out of this.  Of course, when you #2 in your pants, daddy says it's "pooh pooh de pantalones".  The funniest part is that you like to argue about this and like to say how you didn't do it in your pants.  Anyhow -- it makes for really funny discussions.  we're very proud though how you're doing on potty training honey.  You even make it through the night without an accident many nights, which is pretty amazing.

In other news, school is tough, tough, tough.  You apparently have a great time in school and do a great job according to your teachers, but the ramp up to getting you to school is pretty awful.  You cry so much in the morning -- it's like torture.  You gear yourself up in the morning and say "no teachers" and even sometimes throw a fit by not getting changed without a gigantic fight.  Very strange situation -- we're working through this with you, which pretty much involves not talking about school in order to reduce the anxiety - but apparently when you are there -- you love it!  Quick update -- right before Thanksgiving this seemed to be resolved and no you have no problem going to school -- yeaaa!

So onto the trips.  Since we last wrote, we have been on two majors trips.  One was an impromptu trip up to Cape May New Jersey in the middle of September and the other was a trip down to Orlando, over to Palm Beach for a small boat cruise to the Grand Bahamas and back.  I'll start with the Cape May trip.  So we had rented out a top condo unit in a place called the Merry Widow in Cape May -- it was an old victorian. You three munchkins loved to run up the five levels to the very top.  It was very cute with two bedrooms, a little kitchen, living area and balcony.  On the first day, we went to the beach and you and your brothers had so much fun.   You would do modified hand stands with you head in the sand and all of you loved the sand and played in the tire tracks before we could even make our way to the ocean.  As we walked down the ocean, it was just magical watching you all play.  You went down Aeowyn and were a little concerned with the ocean and would run away when the water would surge forward.  Talin and Rohin were a little more interested in the water -- but you and mommy played up on the beach running around and making sand castles.  After dinner that night, everyone crashed and we spent the whole day on the beach.  You played sand castles and had mommy run out and fill up your water containers and used the sand buckets.  Talin too played with you.  Rohin was down with daddy for quite some time in the surf jumping waves and then they too joined you up a the beach blanket.  In the afternoon, we went to a really neat place that was setup like an old ice cream store and sat down and had HUGE ice cream sundaes.  We did some shopping too, except we had a pooh pooh du pantalones situation which caused some chaos. The next day we came on home -- so it was a short trip but so amazing.

Next up, a couple of weeks later, we took our Orlando trip.  So Ammuma, Thatha, Savitha Chechi, Sadhana Chechi, Mommy, Daddy, Rohin, Talin and you all took an airplane from Ronald Reagan airport to Orlando.  On the plane ride, you rode next to mommy and were a very good girl.  You watched TV and played with the ipad for most of the time while daddy and the boys sat together further back in the airplane.  We got our car rental (a van) and then got checked into an apartment with a small kitchenette, pull out sofa bed and one queen sized bed.  The first night, we pretty much all fell asleep quickly while daddy went our and got some groceries.  The next day, we all packed up and drove over to Disney World.  we pulled into the parking lot and then waited in line to get on the train to take us to the magic kingdom.  We then got to the entrance of the park and put everybody in strollers and headed on inside.  It was about 87 that day, so it was pretty hot and you and the boys weren't big fans of the heat.  However, that faded away on main street when we saw a big parade with all of the Disney characters.  We followed the parade up to the magic kingdom and then headed over to the fantasy section of the park where we rode the Peter Pan ride.  The lines were pretty long unfortunately -- but once we got in -- you, Rohin and Talin loved the ride as we soared through the Peter Pan story.  Afterwards, we went and ate lunch and then headed over to the racetrack over in the future world.  Unfortunately, you weren't quite tall enough for that ride and so you stayed with Ammuma and watched.  Finally, we went over to adventureland and climbed through the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse.  Unfortunately, after that -- you were getting tired as was Rohin and Talin so mommy and daddy took you all back to the apartment for naps while everyone else stayed at the park.  You, Rohin and Talin all took naps and then we went out to dinner at a Joe's Crabhouse -- which was awesome.  They actually had a playground attached to the restaurants, which you loved to play with the stones. We then picked up everyone back at Disney world and all slept soundly that night.

The next day, we all just relaxed and swam, swam and swam in the pool that was in our apartment complex. You loved swimming and play with Rohin and Talin in the pool and running to the kiddie pool to play some variant of the fireman Sam show.  After relaxing this day, we headed over to Islands of Adventure and had a wonderful time.  we started off in Dr. Seuss land, where you and the boys ran through the maze area to explore and rode a couple of rides, including the Cat and the Hat.  We then headed through the Harry Potter land, but couldn't ride anything because you all were too little.  we then walked through Jurrasic park and played in the rope playground for a while before heading over to toon town and Super Hero town.  We all had our picture taken with Popeye and Olive.  It was such a fun day -- we even got to see Spiderman and other superheros in Superhero land.  With that part of trip done, we spent one more night and then headed over to Palm Beach where we took a boat over to Grand Bahamas for two nights.  In essence, the boat was nice, but the room was small -- we had all four of us in a 25 X 15 room -- with two bunks and then three of us in a queen bed.  You slept in one of the bunks on the way over and had a great time.  We ate pizza at their little on board restaurant and arrived to the island the next morning.  After a quick taxi cab ride (without any car seats!), we arrived at the Grand Lucaya, which was a very pretty resort.  We spent the next two days playing on the beach building sand castles (which you loved) and also swimming in the pool before coming home and catching our flight home.  It was such a memorable trip.

After coming back home, we settled in for a few weeks and daddy had a conference in Reston.  One night, mommy brought you over to the conference and all of you ran through the halls when you saw Daddy. We went up to the room that night and watched TV and played in the room.

One more big event was Thanksgiving, which we just celebrated.  We had our family and friends come over to the house for two days and had 10 more people living with us for a couple days.  You got to sleep in your bed while the boys slept in the tent in our bedroom.  You had so much fun playing with Avaya and Layla outside in the cars -- with 5 of you at one point in one of the little gators.  that night, we cooked up a turkey and ammumama cooked up the sides and we had a great feast!  You played upstairs with everyone and it was such a memorable evening.  The next day, we went to ticonderoga farms and then finished off our left overs.

Aeowyn -- now that we are reaching the end of 2012, I'm going to consolidate the blogs so I don't have to write the same events 3X as we go forward and to focus more on writing things directly about your development, thoughts and advice as you get older.  These two years have passed so fast and you're such a wonderful little girl.  Just this past week we had a parent teacher conference and they talked about how you put 110% of yourself into what you do.  That's so true and we're so very proud of you. Happy Thanksgiving honey.

Summer and Potty Training!

Summer is coming to a close my darling little girl -- but it's been so much fun. I'll talk more about that shortly.  but first -- let's talk about you!  You're just incredible baby girl.  You are so big now and have definitely crossed into toddler-hood.  You can now pretty talk to the point where we understand everything (almost that you say).  Recently -- I couldn't believe it when you said 'my pants are falling down'.  I didn't know that you could even string words like that together.  You're also potty training right now and doing a fantastic job of it!  By in large #2 is in the potty and we're getting there with #1.  So soon, all of the babies are going to out of diapers in the house!  You get very excited about this -- as do we and we hand out chocolate chips to celebrate.

In terms of likes -- you love the swing set outside.  we recently updated the swing from a baby swing to a full regular swing.  That's worked great and it's one of your favorite things to do outside.  You love riding the gator and have so much with that.  You ride in our lap and sometimes like to pretend like you're driving.  You also love the creek honey and love to play in the water.  Your new found passion is water squirt guns and you enjoy squirting mommy and daddy's toes.  In other news, you're an amazing sponge of knowledge Aeowyn -- you love to read your books and still are madly in love with Sesame Street.  we've been reading a new Sesame Street book about going back to school in order to get you ready to go in a couple weeks.  I think you're definitely ready. You already know many of your colors, can count pretty much up to 10 and know many of your A,B,Cs.  You call Sesame Street your babies.  Pink is definitely still your color of choice -- and you love your pink blankets.  You're also very helpful about the house and love to help us in the kitchen to wash dishes.  I think you could actually do that for hours on end.  You're also a very good artist honey and love to color.  You can sit there and color for the longest time -- it's really amazing to see your concentration for a two year old.

Summer has been just great this year.  Over the summer, we went to Masanutten with many of our family friends,  we went to the farm and you also went on a trip with mommy, Usha auntie, Nisha auntie to New York to visit Savitha auntie.  Summer has been filled with trips to Great Falls park, Smithsonian parks, Sport bounce and children museums. I'd need to write about 20 pages to talk about all of these experiences and am sorry that I didn't keep up with the blogs this summer.  I promise we'll do better this fall.

You're also fiercely independent Aeowyn.  You love to do things on your end and love to run around the house without clothes on.  You pick out your own shirts and pants now and even brush your own teeth at night.  You are very much all about mommy right now.  You play the same game as the boys about wanting mommy to put you at bed at night instead of daddy -- and howl in protest if daddy puts you to bed -- but soon get excited about rocking in the chair, singing our good night song:

"Time to go to sheepy sheepy sheep... time to go to sheepy sheepy sheep.  time to go to sheepy sheep -- it's time to go to sheep.  Mommy and daddy love you very much, mommy and daddy love you very much, mommy and daddy love you so much it's time to go to sheep"

Mommy and daddy are so proud of you Aeowyn!  We cannot believe that you're starting school already. It's come too soon -- but you're going to be simply incredible!  We love you!