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Here is Ingrid getting off the chairlift at sugarloaf!

A collection of kid things.

Most of these photos were taken by Ingrid, who has learned how to use my point and shoot camera. Also included are the products of our most recent snow event — two snowmen, a snow monster, and the start of the snow fort — that Dave and Ingrid worked on. And finally, the fabric that is going on the new! chair! for our living room. My aunt in Texas has the most comfortable chairs ever, that were small (which is hard to find!) swivel gliders, and I ordered one for our living room, which is going to be so nice when we have people over. And I’m betting I will have wished I had such a chair in my living room for years… of course, it will take 6-8 weeks to arrive, but I can’t wait!

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We did this three years ago, too, and it’s this weird ranch with a variety of exotic animals that you can hand feed, just outside of Johnson City. It’s probably totally politically incorrect, but it is pretty neat to feed a camel and pet a zebra. Ingrid loved it, and Kate and Matt were with us, too. It’s definitely an experience.

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We had fun visiting my grandparents, playing at the playground (and looking at deer — see them all?) and Willa got a sink bath, too!

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Is all that really needs to be said about this set.

If you look close, you’ll see she wore the black right off her shoes (we tossed them after the wedding) and that was after just two uses!

She has been informed that there is a Father-Daughter dance in February. Who wants to bet she ends up there this year?

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Ingrid has always been creepily fine with needles. When she had to have blood drawn for iron levels at 18 months, she sat patiently, watching, while the nurses tried both arms, multiple times (unsucessfully — it was finally an EMMC phlebotomist who found a vein) to draw blood. Nurses, phlebotomists, everyone has commented on how unusual it is. She’s also been noted in her dental records for being “unusually compliant” and had a filling without Novocain, the LCD tv projecting Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 18 inches away from her head and a promise of a trip to the prize box after were enough. When I had bloodwork done while pregnant, she’d come with me, and watch, fascinated, while I always prefer to just look away. When we went for flu shots last week, the nurse tried to get me to hold her arms back so she wouldn’t get hit, but I also had Willa with me, and didn’t know where to put her, and was sort of annoyed because I KNOW she won’t flail (Dave took her to an H1N1 clinic last winter, where he saw what the average kid does when it comes to shots, so we get the concern) so I insisted they just do it without me restraining her, and I happened to have my little camera in my pocket, so I took a video. The rustling is WIlla eating the exam table paper, and I wish I’d kept the camera on because she was next — and also didn’t flinch or cry when she got her shot. 

Ingrid aspires to be a “Princess Doctor” (still not clear if she’s doctoring princesses or holding down two jobs) and she’s halfway there with her tolerance for medical procedures most adults barely tolerate.

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We went to Ingrid's preschool open house and I took pictures of the things she had to say. In the one where they talked about what they do with their friends, it is Ingrid who says "play on my piano with my baby sister." Ingrid loves her "Willa Audrey Willabean!"

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Here are photos from Ingrid's playdate. She and her friend had so much fun, as you can probably tell from the look on Ing's face in all of these! She can't wait to have another playdate.

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I hadn't pulled photos off the big camera in a bit, so here are a few stragglers from Halloween. Ingrid is still taking her Ruby Red Slippers to wear at school each day. 

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