Wonder Woman in Training

Today I asked Annalee if she would like to hold on to the 21st-century monkey bar set-up at the playground, which she had done the other day for a few moments. When she said yes, I held her up to grip the handle, whereupon she supported her weight and pulled her knees up halfway to her chest. I never took my hands off her, but I stopped supporting her weight completely. She may have done a half pull-up at some point. I knew she was strong, but I didn't know how strong until today.

A Classic Comes to Life

Annalee has been having "Goodnight Moon" read to her for about a year now. The hypnotic litany ("Goodnight room. Goodnight moon. Goodnight cows jumping over the moon") has seldom had the intended effect of being a lullabye, that I could detect, but she has simply liked the images and the words and the feel. Tonight, though, her breathing slowed and head slumped the way I thought it might so many months ago. We made it all the way through the book, and she didn't fall asleep for another twenty minutes or so, but the loving, lilting effect intended by the author, Margaret Wise Brown, I think made what will have been its inaugural appearance.