Maybe my daughter didn’t exactly inherit her busy nature… from our list of activities during one year alone, it’s safe to say it may be part “nurture”, too! Here’s 2015 in review:
January
Generally this is not one of my favorite months of the year, and being that I was in grad school again, I think I was pretty busy with that, plus work. But, I kept the little one busy with Bounce open gym, a Kids N’Stuff hands-on museum, an indoor playground, and a water park.
February
We had plenty of snow last February. M built her first snowman, had her first (very slow) snowmobile ride, and I went with her to her class Valentine’s party. M had her two-year-old photos done with an easel and paint, and potty training officially began. With my (then) girlfriend, we went on a trip to NYC and New Hampshire, and had a great time! M especially liked the subway “choo choo”s, and the Staten Island Ferry.
March
M turned two! I got all “pinterest mom” on her birthday party with a Nemo theme, and her half-sister A joined us, along with lots of other family and friends. We visited hands-on museum #2 and an aquarium. We went to water park #2. I ended the relationship I was in, under too much motherhood stress.
April
We visited M’s half sister A, we celebrated Easter with an egg hunt at the local college and an Easter basket at home. We visited a cow farm, and planned our vacation to Germany. We had fun at a playground with my cousin and her kiddo. I was full of sorrow to learn about the earthquake in Nepal, but luckily all my relatives were safe.
May
M’s passport came! I took M and her sister A to the zoo, and it was a disaster. We went back to the zoo a week later with friends and had a much better time. We visited zoo #2 and went back to hands-on museum #1. We had our yearly Memorial Day cemetery visit to the ancestors, and had to get the neighbor boys’ help with a humongous snapping turtle that came up to our stoop!
June
We visited a peony garden and went on a nature walk at the local nature center. M started really taking her job as a frog and turtle catcher seriously, it’s all she wanted to do! We went to a lake beach and splash pad and visited a farmer’s market. Our neighbors helped us put up a lovely tree swing. We visited a dear family friend who played with M in the rain, but the next day M had terrible bronchitis and her breathing became so labored she ended up in the hospital for breathing treatments. I then came down with the sickness. Gay marriage was legalized! M finished music classes. We ended the month with a visit with three of Mariah’s five siblings, and her great-grandparents.
July
I turned 31 with a nice cook-out on the lake! A few days later we had more guests on the lake and fireworks for Fourth of July. We enjoyed even more fireworks at a local park, and even my grandma was there to watch. We took a trip to Germany to see our cousins and some of the south-western countryside, M’s very first trip abroad! We came back and played with the neighbor’s grandson and went to our first country fair. Then we discovered a local splash pad and public pool! I turned down an offer to try to adopt M’s baby brother inner-state.
August
August started with more playgrounds, and the pronouncement that my dear child was officially potty-trained during the day! I spent a good deal of time considering whether or not to put her into a Montessori school. We spent a lot of time with my sister and niece, and swimming in the evening in our backyard (lake). We celebrated one year of official adoption, and visited our good family friend where we swam in her pool. We hit the beach with some new friends, and saw some old-fashioned tractors at the local country Rust ‘N Dust event. M’s fits became horrific so I began looking for an early childhood specialist to help me out. I laid my biological daughter’s remains to rest, after over two years of keeping her ashes in my room. We attended a co-worker’s baby shower, and visited zoo #2 again!
September
We had a playdate at our house with a little friend, and officially enrolled M in the Montessori school. We took final swims, boat rides, and fed ducks. M started her new school, and also got a new doctor and a new diet. We joined the local organic food co-op and a cowshare. I shaved the side of my head. We had fun at the Family Fall Funfest and the Renaissance Festival. We ended the month with a trip to Toronto to visit a fellow blogger!
October
I continued making progress as a parent, and dropped M to half days at school. Her behavior calmed down a lot. We went to another fall festival, and two apple orchards. I solidified my belief in unschooling, or at least free-schooling. We went to a dinosaur event where M was scared silly, we painted pumpkins with my niece, and M rode a bicycle (with training wheels) for the first time. I cooked my first ever successful daal bhaat. We checked out every dinosaur book in the library system. We visited orchard #3 and a corn maze. We also went on a goblin walk at the local nature center! Finally, we trick-or-treated at the local college and with my sister and niece in their neighborhood. We were supposed to spend the night but the Halloween candy made my kid way too crazy to sleep for 24 hours!
November
We started this month by going dairy-free for two weeks and giving M iodine supplements to help her thyroid. This was also the end of bottles and milk, essentially M “weaned” this month! Our cousins from NJ came for a week, and we all had fun at hands-on museum #3, as well as at local parks, jumping in leaves and chasing ghosts. I got two flat tires and M was very interested in the process of fixing them. She was able to practice it herself at hands-on museum #1. We enjoyed more parks and visits with my sister and niece, and a visit to zoo #3! We kicked off the Christmas season with a parade downtown and were stuck at home after a snowstorm and my car going into a ditch. We decorated our tree and celebrated Thanksgiving at home, with much grumbling done by me about all the work it takes to eat ONE MEAL. M saw her first movie in the theater.
December
The last month of the year was a great one! We spent time in Vermont with my best friend and her son, hitting up a museum and a farm. Back at home, M attended her first Christmas party down the road, and also had another one at her school! We went to a huge Christmas lights display, reindeer, and two trains, visited Santa with my niece, and celebrated Christmas with my sister and niece at a waterpark, a mega-Christmas store, and then home with Chinese food and presents. Christmas Eve came along with my grandma going into the hospital, but also with a movie and hot cocoa. Christmas morning was a success, and we had Christmas again in the hospital a few days later with my grandma and other relatives. Tonight is New Year’s Eve, and we got our energy out a a bounce place, ate dinner, and M is now enjoying a bath with all her dinosaurs. No staying up late for us (well, maybe until 9:00 or so), but it was a great day all the same!
Here’s to hoping that 2016 will be just as full of health for us and our loved ones, fun activities and events, travel, and love!
Mother of All Things 