Purplelicious

Since we have limited time on Saturdays before Damon heads into work, we usually adopt a 'divide and conquer' method to accomplishing our tasks for the day.  This morning Damon agreed to take Alexa to swimming lessons, so I took Ani with me to run errands.  I have to admit, it is a heck of a lot easier to run errands with Ani; she never asks me to buy her anything and we're never side-tracked from the task at-hand.

It's always an interesting experience to take Ani with me when I run errands.  She garners a lot of attention, and I field a variety of questions about the little peanut.  As one would expect, I get a lot of questions about her age.  At this point, I'm ready to get Ani a shirt that says, "I'm x weeks-old, and yes, I am small for my age"  or I could give the Alexa-answer when she's asked how old Ani is, "She's zero." :)  Age-related questions are pretty standard, but I think my favorite question has to be, "Is she yours?"  I assume it's a compliment, but it is a rather peculiar question, as I don't know too many people who run errands with a random newborn.

I did venture out this afternoon with both girls, as we needed to go to Target (of course) to swap out a pair of sandals for Alexa.  While we were there, Alexa and I were looking for some new outdoor toys to take advantage of the beautiful weather.  I showed her a velcro paddleball set, figuring it would be fun and a good chance to work on her hand-eye coordination, and she was very intrigued and wanted to get the set.  However, her enthusiasm was dampered when she realized it didn't come in "girl colors" (pink and purple), but rather a neutral navy and yellow combination.  Oh the horror!  For a girl who is convinced that she is going to get a purple car when she turns sixteen, it was a harrowing decision to choose between the neutral-colored set or nothing.  When I assured her that she could decorate the back of the paddles with stickers, that seemed to make the decision easier, and we left Target with a new paddleball set.

Before she would play with the new set, Alexa diligently applied Easter stickers to both paddles.  Once the paddles were finally "girlified" we had a blast playing paddleball in the driveway as Ani sat watching in her carseat.  The two of us played for at least an hour, although I realized Alexa was playing more of a game of fetch than catch when she tossed the ball to me.  Oh well...I had a blast chasing down the balls, and Alexa was getting better and better at catching the balls with the velcro paddle.  Always ready to perform, Alexa was thrilled to see our neighbors pull into their driveway so she could show off her new-found skills.

As I put the set away, I was pretty proud that not only had Alexa's coordination improved but she had also overcome her color stigma.  I patted myself on the back too quickly - - when we were inside, she was talking about giving that set to her cousin Xavier when he visits us over the Easter holiday in hopes that the Easter Bunny would bring her a pink and purple replacement.  Oy!

Sisterly bonding - enjoying a beautiful day outside.