Somebody's a Big Deal!

Back when my niece, Gracie, was six months old, I accompanied my sister and sister-in-law to the boutique at the mall to get her ears pierced. She was sooooo good; she didn't even cry until they'd done the second ear. So when last night during dinner at my parents' house my sister invited me along to get Bella's ears pierced and thought I might like to have Anja's done at the same time, I went along with only a teensy bit of reluctance. And after a long time of stalling and hemming and hawing over it, after listening to Bella scream her little lungs out and then recover within three minutes, I sat myself down in the chair with Anja in my lap and the result was this:

Isn't she too cute!? And here's a picture of the other side:

In this one you can also see her super adorable fall outfit that she wore today because the forecast high is only 73 and it's not supposed to hit that until way later this afternoon. Sorry for all the squinting; we were on a walk and the sun was in her eyes. She's trying to smile for the camera though. And that friendly plastic thing you see in her hand is actually her new toothbrush! I bought it at the store yesterday so I could start brushing her teeth, but she doesn't seem so interested in oral hygiene as she does in just clutching the toothbrush and carrying it with her everywhere. She is so weird. Who needs a mitten when you've got a toothbrush?

Speaking of mitten, it's lost. It got lost shortly after I made that post about it. We left it on the bathroom floor while we took the dog out to go potty and when we came back it was gone. That means my jerk of a cat, Theodore, got a hold of it and who knows when or where it'll turn up. I felt bad about it until Toothbrush was introduced.

Here are more pictures for your viewing pleasure:

The grandchildren (Aurelio and Anja) with Figgy and Grandmama at GlobalFest

Happy Anja hanging out at her daddy's office

Bella, just before her piercing!

Martin at GlobalFest

Gracie, about four and a half years after her own ear piercing experience!

Back to last night's adventure--it was really a lot of fun, after I got over the parental terror of having holes gunned through my baby's earlobes. The babies WERE very good, even if they did get a tad (okay, a lot) more upset by it than Gracie did. The crowd was my mom, Grace, Sarah, Bella, Anja and me. All the girls! My dad stayed home with the boys (yikes!) while we went out to do this. I had called Martin and asked what he thought. I knew he'd think it was a fine idea because we've been talking about it for a long time. And last night was the perfect time to do it because if he had been in town I would've made him come along with us and then we both would've chickened out together. As it was, I had my sister pressuring me to just do it, and I'm SO glad I did. I really would've regretted not doing it. Because I would still WANT to do it, but I'd be that extra little bit scared after seeing it done again on Bellie-Bellie. Afterward we got cookies at that cookie place in the mall and Anja LOVES being at the mall, so pretty much as soon as we left the boutique she was immediately cheered up. And she loves cookies too.

This morning we got a good early walk, setting out at around 8:30. I was totally craving a McCord's breakfast sandwich, so I bypassed the Farmers Market and went straight there--but they were closed!!! Evidently they don't open until 9:00. Bummer! I was too hungry to wait, so I went back to the Farmers Market and got an apple cinnamon scone from Great Harvest and shared it with Anja while we walked up to campus just for the fun of it. It was such a gorgeous morning for a walk! So cool and mostly cloudy, although it sunnied up by the time we were coming home, so I put Anja's shade over her stroller and she fell asleep.

She woke up as soon as we got home so we hung out for a little bit then drove out to CC to visit her grandmother and show off her new bling. Anja met two of Mrs. Schap's classes (they were very taken with her, even the boys) and one teacher we'd never met before, along with a few we already knew. When we got home she went down for her afternoon nap and she's been sleeping since then, which is good because her naps have been terrible for the past few days.

I was invited to my parents' house again tonight for lentil soup, so Anja and I will go up for that, but we'll contribute a loaf of Asiago bread and a jar of dipping sauce from Panera. I'd been drooling over those items since the weekend, but of course I can't eat a whole loaf of bread by myself! So tonight will be a good, cold night to share. The low tonight is in the 40's!!!!!!!! Hooray for Fall!