Nursery, showers and hygiene

Annika is 18 months!!! She went to nursery for the first time this past Sunday, and hallejuiah! She loved it! I knew she would, but she can be tricky. I read and listened in Sunday School and kept wondering what I was forgetting. Aaah!

I've started swimming or going to a water exercise class in the mornings (5:30 am!) and come home and need to shower, but John is usually getting ready to leave, and Annika is just getting up. (Or in this morning's case, was up at 5:30.) After our morning of fun, I decided that I needed to shower, so I put some toys on the bathroom floor and made sure everything else was Annika-proof. I got in the shower and she tried to follow me. I knew she wouldn't like it, but she was determined. Finally, I got her undressed and plopped her down and, of course, little trickster, she loved it. She played and splashed and spluttered when the water got her in the face. She wanted to be picked up twice, but was otherwise fine. Seeing as how her baths have gotten more and more difficult lately, I may employ this method more frequently. It also makes me go faster!

Now, for the hygiene part:



Annika and a friend preparing for fun! When they were gathering their treasures, it honestly looked like an easter egg hunt. Kind of.

Here is Annika and the same friend telling hippo jokes:



Annika, posing, with what she really thinks is a winning smile:



At Cannon Beach



I'm a good mom, so despite the outcome, I feed her one of her favorites:





That's all for now. I'll try to be more reliable with the pictures.