First, presents! Fiona received Barbie clothes (she wanted separates because her girls only had gowns), a boogie board, goggles, a sun hat, a jump rope, and chocolates. She was very gracious receiving her gifts, though she did note the absence of an American Girl doll. In due time, my pet, in due time.
Next: the zoo!
Music: Taylor Swift. Brian puts on "1989" every time he and Fiona play Sorry!, which is whenever they're both around during Rowan's nap. Fiona protests, "Dada puts it on, not me!" She's become more interested in different kinds of music -- usually when we're going to be in the car for a while, I'll put my phone on shuffle and we'll happily listen to everything from "Call Me Maybe" to Ray Charles "What I Say." The other day Rowan whined when a Wilco song came on, but Fiona said she liked it. Very cool.
Books: Fiona's love affair with books has only increased since she started to read. Read! It's extraordinary. She's quite capable at figuring out written words. We still make weekly pilgrimages to the library, where she selects a combination of picture books and chapter books. Current favorites include the Rainbow Fairies series (of which she recently received a slew from cousin Lauren) and the American Girl doll stories about Addy, a black girl growing up during the Civil War era. Fiona also likes for us to read graphic novels to her -- My Little Pony, various fables, Ninjarella (a ninja-Cinderella story where the girl becomes the prince's bodyguard, not his wife), Super Friends, and others.
Writing: Fiona writes a lot, spelling phonetically, writing stories about weddings and princesses. She has journals, but largely she pilfers the printer for clean white sheets of paper. She's discovering her own mispronunciations in some instances -- she thought the word "dwarf" was pronounced "dorth" and spelled it accordingly. She thought the "F word" was "Fro up" (throw up).
Toys: Princess dolls (of which she got, what, another dozen?, from cousin Lauren) and Barbies continue to get a lot of love, though she did give a few away recently. Fiona's China doll, Debut, ended up in a lot of Fiona's drawings of her favorite toys for school. She's been asking for an American Girl doll for some time.
Activities: Fiona got a set of 64 markers that is pretty awesome, if I do say so myself, and she writes and draws with them almost daily. Her drawings have become more and more detailed -- fleshed out fingers, rainbow clothes. Lately she's taken to copying the Fairy book jacket images, breaking down the images into clothes, hair, shoes, accessories. She pulled some fairy wings out of the dress-up box the other day and drew them.
Camp has been going swimmingly -- literally. Mondays at the pool have done wonders for her water confidence, though I do insist that she wears a life vest. (At Aunt Kate's house last weekend, Fiona did a little doggy-paddling on her own!) Wednesdays she loves trips to the water parks, and on Fridays, I mean, how could you not love a trip to the movie theater complete with popcorn, gummy snacks, and lemonade? She's made a friend or two there, but still mostly hangs with the buddy she knew from before.
TV: Oh, TV. It's a drug and she's a fiend. Wild Kratts, Barbie movies, My Little Pony. Pretty much anything will do. We get DVDs from the library and Netflix is our primary source for shows.
Personality: Fiona has an average of one cry a day. I count on it. She's less hard on herself than she used to be, coping well with mistakes when drawing or writing. Still, little things can upset her, and Rowan knows how to press her buttons. Fatigue and hunger also don't help. But meals have become much more pleasant. Fiona is starting to understand that even if what is served for dinner isn't her favorite (cheese pizza or noodles with butter), it's not the end of the world to eat it anyway. She does *complain* ("<sigh> chicken AGAIN??"), but, you know, less than before.
Fiona is a loving, good person. She thrives on affection and she's pretty darn nice to her brother. Most of the time. We've caught them snuggling a few times -- once in the midst of a friends' party, they were cozied up on the couch watching tv. They look out for one another and sometimes play nicely together -- though Rowan has become more possessive recently, and then Fiona falls into justice mode. "Fine, if you won't let me use that then I'm not going to let you use my <whatever>." Fiona's also taken to saying, "I love you more than treats." That is the ultimate compliment. By and large, they are wonderful little people.
Fiona is currently on the sofa with a temperature. Tomorrow, family and family friends descend for her birthday party (borrowed bouncy house, pizza, ice cream cake). Here's hoping the birthday girl rallies (and the forecasted thunderstorms don't).