2nd Anniversary, Hazel's accomplishments, cleaning house

So, yesterday was our second anniversary. We've now been married for 2.5 years. No, I'm not having problems with addition: we got married in a courthouse in December and then had a wedding July 1. We spent much of the day (until about 5 pm) cleaning. Whoo hoo!!

How romantic, you might say, ironically. Well, actually, it was a wonderful day. We busted our butts in a companionably partnership-oriented way, Hazel was contented and self-entertaining for much of the day (more on that later), and now we have a house in which it is a pleasure to lounge around, eat, entertain, etc. The day before we laid flooring in the laundry room. The house looks better than it ever has since we bought it. Being in a space that feels good is incredibly important to mood, I find. Having a freshly mopped floor on a sunny warm day delights the feet, nose, and eyes. :-)

Hazel turned over all by herself! I put her in her car seat at one point yesterday, and when we came back to check on her, she was on her tummy!! Wow!! Go Hazel!! It was exciting to see. She's also making all sorts of cute new vocalizations, and moving her tongue to change the tone and register of her sounds. She's so much more talkative, and it's so fun to hear, and to "talk" with her.

After cleaning house we went over to Andy's for wonderful tea and pizza for snack (breaking the cardinal rules of not eating while having good tea - ruins the palate, don't you know?!) which restored our tissues, as they say. And then we all went to the pool. It was Hazel's third time, and she had a really good time, smiling in a big way at all three of us. We floated her, let her get water on her face, played with her in the pool fountains, and really enjoyed ourselves.

Ted, having grown up going to NY community pools, had not been enthused about the pool trip, but loved it once we got there. It's hard to describe how good the Mountlake Terrace pool is, but it's wonderful; soft, textured bottom, warm water temperature so there's no shock in going in, fun water features, and very kid-friendly. We even bring the stroller all the way through into the pool area so we can change the baby if necessary, or I can feed her, etc.

Then we stopped by to pick up Indian cuisine for din-din, and had a good meal and conversation back at our clean and appealing house. :-) We lit our wedding candle. It has three wicks, and Andy stood in for Hazel in lighting the third wick, since she can't do it yet. Give her time; she's only 4 months old...

Then Ted swaddled her for sleep, I gave Andy a ride home, and after I got back we had a nice conversation before snoozing the night away.

What a great day!