Man of Extinction

Margot has a sharp wit, even at her young age. Example:

Tonight we ate dinner at a Thai restaurant next to my office. Margot noticed that across the street from the restaurant was a storefront that read "Gentlemen of Distinction" on the sign.

"What kind of store is it?" she inquired.

"A barbershop, for men," I explained. She sat quietly for a moment. She ate a piece of her taro custard dessert.

"What does distinction mean?" she asked.

"It means special, or one of a kind. Not like all of the others," I said in between bites of deliciously spicy lemongrass chicken.

"Like Michael Jackson?" she asked. "He was a man of distinction." (Sidenote: I don't know what her fasctination with Michael Jackson is, but it's been going on for years.)

"Yes, I suppose," I agreed. "But he's a dead man of distinction," I noted irreverently.

Her eyes lit up. "Then he's a man of EXtinction," she pointed out, so obviously pleased with herself.

Is this kid funny or what? I laughed and laughed at that one.

First Day of Second Grade

Monday was the first day of second grade. This year, Margot eschewed wearing a new dress for the first day ("Too fancy," she muttered) so we went with something clean and nice but not necessarily 'fancy' like in pre-K, K, or first grade.

She is thrilled with her class and her teacher. She has had homework all three nights this week, which makes me happy with her teacher, too.

The consensus so far is that she looks much older these days. Do you agree?

Hawaii!

Margot loved Hawaii. She loved the flights, she loved the beach, she loved the hotel. She loved shave ice.  She had some firsts on the trip: first snorkeling experience, first Moco Loco (a local dish of a hamburger and gravy over rice), first flamingoes in a hotel, first infinity pool. I decided the undertow was too strong for surf lessons this time around, but she played around on Brodie's board for a bit.

Here are some of my favorite moments:

May/June 2012

Later in May, we went to Greenport for the weekend. I love to see Margot in places I remember from my own childhood:

Then summer started for real, as evidenced by this sunburn:

Margot went to camp in July and played with friends. She spent the night at camp! That was a huge step for me to let her sleep somewhere either than in the neighborhood or with family. Here she is, all packed up and ready to go. She came back exhausted, but empowered.

We went to Lake Anna, West Virginia, and set off fireworks on the fourth of July. We ate ice cream and rode bikes. Summer flew by, and was capped off by a fantastic trip to Hawaii.

Catch up post - Part 1

Oh, it's been so long since I've posted. Life just got the better of me. This is the first in a series of catch-up posts and then I will try to revert to regular updates. So, to bring you up to speed:

Easter 2012 - The whole family came to visit! All of the Daileader cousins at once! It was a fantastic time. Here is Margot in her Easter finery:

After Easter, Margot had several performances in May. She played in a piano recital and sang in her Notebusters group on the same hectic Saturday! (She was supposed to dress in 50s style for the Notebusters performance, which explains why she wore a poodle skirt to the piano recital.)

First, playing the Can Can:

And later that day singing Let's Hear it for the Boy from Footloose with Ella and Iris.

Her artwork was chosen to hang in the Chancellor's office over the summer. This piece was called Sunset in Detroit. I believe it's a commentary on how the auto bailout was an effective economic decision, but I can't be certain. She's not offering interviews.