All about Dahlia in 33 pictures

This post has been a long time coming, and there is so very much to say about my firstborn.  Dahlia is quite a girl and would be very difficult to describe with just words, so this post will be primarily pictures with detailed captions to give you a glimpse into the wild and wonderful life of my best girl.  Here goes...

If Dahlia could live in a tree forever, she would.  She has always been a very adept climber, and once she was big enough to start ascending trees, she hasn't looked back, or down.  The higher the better, according to Dahlia.  The rule is that someone has to be able to touch her, or she is too high.  This was a tree she spotted on a walk home from the library last week.  "Mom, stop the stroller! That looks like a good tree!" 

She will even stop mid-bike ride if a tree beckons her upward.

In the last couple of months, Dahlia has shifted her coloring from random scribbling to an interest in drawing things, especially people.  She was playing with the dress up stickers and was annoyed that there were clothes left over and no girls to put them on.  I suggested she draw some girls and this is what she came up with.  I was very impressed.  (I drew the red and yellow clothes on the the two people she drew on the left of the page, because she asked me to.

During quiet time one afternoon, Dahlia was able to combine her love of accessorizing with her love of making things. Play doh jewelry was tons of fun for both of us.  She made the set on her left hand, I made the ones on her right.

One of Dahlia's favorite things about preschool is the time spent on art projects.  On this day they were learning about animals that live in water and made a duck headband and a family of ducks on a ribbon.  She was so proud of her duck family and gave each of them names.  They are still hanging on her curtain rod months later.

It is hard to tell from the picture, but she is "walking" her pet turtle (another preschool art project) all the way home from preschool.  After the 0.8 mile stroll, the turtle was a little beat up, but Dahlia was glad to have given her the necessary exercise that a turtle needs.

Dahlia LOVES trying on the shoes at our favorite local kids consignment store and one day she found these beauties.  We made a few laps around the store and I told her she could have them when she was five years old.  Luckily, she bought that and didn't cry when I took them off of her.  See below for her solution to the lack of skates in our house...

Dressing up with scarves and mama's shoes is a near-daily occurrence.

This is just an adorable picture of her in a fun hat.

Dahlia still maintains creative control over her wardrobe.  I only intervene if the weather requires something specific.  She wanted ribbons tied on her sun hat to make it fancier.

She especially likes to layer and mix patterns.  The crazier the better and I love it!

Another fine example of the delightful ensembles she curates.  This rock is on our way to just about anything we need to walk to in our neighborhood and she needs to stand or sit on it every time we pass.  Since I now have an iPhone, she demands to have her picture taken each time.  I have quite a collection of "on the rock" photos.

She fell off her scooter while riding in the driveway and decided to give "lay-down scootering" (her term) a try.  She said it was too slow.  (Note the headband on top of her hat...accessorizing her accessories is a common theme.)

Dahlia could play on the swings at the park FOREVER.  Trees and swings are all she needs.

"Why do you have a seahorse in your jacket Dahlia?" "So she will be warm mama.  It's cold out here."  Obviously.

Dahlia spends a lot of time singing to herself.  Often songs from Mary Poppins or Tangled, but usually made-up songs about whatever she is doing.  Like a singing narrator or internal monologue.  

Even better than swings and trees, however, are beaches.  If Dahlia could do one thing for an entire day, it would either be art projects or beach play.  She could dig and explore for hours.

Dahlia's creativity and ingenuity never cease to amaze me.  She wanted to reenact a scene from Rapunzel and got this all set up herself.  She used my wrap for her hair and tossed a doll down to me. "Tie her on so I can pull her up!"  She was so pleased that it worked the way she wanted it to.

Fancy Nancy gets hauled up into the tower by a determined little Rapunzel.

"Take my picture on the rock!"

This is what Dahlia does with a train table...she shoves those pesky trains out of the way so she can set up a proper tea for the animals and babies.

The roller skate solution: she dismantled two toy cars and asks for rubber bands to hold them to her feet.  I was amazed.  Instead of telling her it wasn't safe, I tied a pillow to her bum and sent her off skating.  She got pretty good, but did make good use of that bum pillow.

Off she rolls!

Why sit in the kid-sized yard chairs when you can perch precariously on the top of the climber?  The higher, the better!

A lot of the time, Dahlia is a tough kid to parent because she is just so intense.  She constantly needs something, or has dismantled something, or poured something out, or hurt herself, or climbed somewhere she shouldn't be, she very rarely slows down.  But every now and then, this happens.  She sets herself up with some books and isn't endangering herself or others for a few minutes and I can take a breather.

And on another day, she decided to do this while I cleaned up from breakfast.  She is allowed to climb up on the window sill and brought a book up there with her.  So nice and peaceful.

The best way to keep Dahlia safe while I cook is to put her to work.  Otherwise she is trying to get into everything and I never get anything done.  She loves when we have polenta because she gets to make fun shapes with it and play with the olive oil (she loves that slimy feeling).

As long as I have the time and energy for the mess, Dahlia is so happy to sit and do art projects, especially painting.  She thinks water colors are best done with fingers.

There is a local mom's group that I belong to that is hosting a weekly art playdate all Summer for only $2/week! Score for me!  Dahlia was in Heaven painting with various bits of fruit and veggies that were cut in fun shapes.

22 kids showed up to paint that day and most lasted for about 15 minutes, maybe one or two pictures each.  Dahlia painted 9 pictures and kept it up for an hour and 10 minutes.  She didn't mind at all that all the other kids were off playing in the yard while she was left alone at the painting table.  She is very much an introvert like me, and seemed to prefer having all of the space and paint to herself.

And when the paper is full, move on the the next available canvas.

She loves sensory experiences like this.  She said she was making herself into a stripey tiger.

We went out to dinner recently and found this when we got there.  She looks like she is on her way to mourn at a clown funeral.  I guess she found the scarf and glasses in the back seat and got in costume.  The pose cracks me up every time I look at this picture.  So serious.