catching up on september

This month has been a bird. Flown right by. Here we are at the end of September and I'm finally posting a bunch of photos and stories that I have been meaning to get to. I guess I chose sleep instead. (I think I'm still catching up on my sleep from the last few months -- can't seem to get enough this week.)

Early in the month, the Noted ladies I released an album with in the spring did another concert in our series around Huron County. I think this one was our best yet. I got to open the night with a song I've wanted to cover ever since I heard it -- a trio by the Wailin Jennys called "One Voice". Thanks, Dolly and Linda (that is, Sarah and Jenna)! Since I was completely oblivious that my picture was being taken during one of my solo pieces, I was a little surprised to see my picture and a write up in the paper that week. (And particularly surprised to see it on the "Canning" page. What does that mean?)

We enrolled our little dancer in dance classes this month. I giggle most of the way through this introduction to ballet, tap, jazz and acro with a class full of girls that are so cute you just want to eat them up! Maia's definitely at the young end of the class, having just turned three. That just combined with the fact that she loves to observe people (over doing said activity herself) makes her pretty entertaining to watch. She has a perma-smile for the whole 45 minutes. Good thing this stage isn't about proficiency -- just fun!

Speaking of development, Maia has begun to draw those fantastic totally-out-of-proportion little people with the big eyes and the stick legs and arms. Sometimes they are even adorned with hair. Here are a couple of my favourites.

Some of you will be relieved to know that I took Miss Maia for her first haircut with a real hairdresser this week. (Go ahead, breathe that sigh of relief.) She cried bitterly at first because I think she thought "Mrs. Christine" (her friend's mom, which I thought I had explained) was going to be "Auntie Christine". So she was too disappointed initially to climb into the chair. But after playing with the toy hairdresser station in the salon while I had a trim, she came around and was as excited as she had been before we arrived. What kid doesn't love looking at herself in the mirror at great length? Here she is as proud as a peacock.

Peacocks. Yeah, I'll take that segue. Peacocks -- roaming around everywhere at Storybook Gardens. My parents met up there with our little clan last Friday. She loved it. Her favourite part? Befriending a little boy named Owen and going down the slide with him again and again. How do I know this? Because if at the end of every day, when I ask what her favourite part was, she answers Dora-style (ie. loud and quick, thinking about the answer as she starts to talk), "MY favourite part waaassss...." and surprises me most of the time with what she enjoyed most about that day. It's a fun little exercise to get into the head of my toddler.

Now I think I'm caught up on much of the month. At least the month in pictures!

I leave you with a couple pictures of the girls playing on our bed...