Finally a Snow Day!

Today was supposed to be my last day to get work done on my "Spring Break," and though it is officially spring, we had our first significant snow accumulation since Nora was born!  Billy still had to go into work, so Nora, Oscar, and I were on our own to play in the snow.  Today was not a good day to discover that my DSLR battery was dead, but we did the best we could with my iPhone so we could share this milestone with her family.

First we had to get her dressed in her snow gear.  She was quite thrilled by her snow pants, and I was thrilled that they were not bought in vain.  Though they are still much too long, her belly barely fit!

She was pretty intrigued by investigating the snow on our deck.  As usual, she kept a very serious expression on her face the whole time.

She had trouble standing up when she fell down into the snow, so the deck turned out to be the perfect place to play.  She could use the railings to help pull herself back up.

Once she got herself oriented, we began working on our snowman.  I decided to use mixing bowls to form the snowman's body, which turned out to be a good idea because Nora could participate.  Once I showed her how to pack the snow down she was intent on helping me each time.

She was less sure what to do with the domes when I started putting them together in the shape of the snowman.

Once the body was finished, Nora helped me put in the snowman's parts.  Again, this was serious business.  Patti gave these parts to Nora for Christmas, and each one is on a long peg that you shove into the snow.  We were so glad to have them because they were easy to use, made our snowman look professional, and were probably the only reason I thought to make a snowman in the first place!  Thanks, Gram!

I held out three hats for her to choose from, and she picked the Orioles hat-- a good fit for our man, and the only one with colors that matched his parts.  Once the hat was on, she seemed very proud of herself, and she thought the snowman was too funny!

After her mid-day nap, I went outside to slide the snowman over so his parts wouldn't fall into the neighbor's yard when he began to melt.  When I came back in, Nora was standing at the door, holding her coat, and demanding to go back outside.  Her clothes had all dried off, so we got her dressed again and tried to take Oscar for a walk.  Either he is getting old or he has already shed his winter coat, because he wanted back inside almost immediately, so he watched us from the window.  The snow was slushing up, and we discovered that Nora prefers puddle stomping over making now angels.  She was not a fan of the flakes falling in her face.

She was a fan of doing face plants into the snow.  She did it three times in a row.  She would just get this curious look on her face, put her hands in front of her, and lean forward.  The first time she kind of kneeled into it slowly.  The second two times she just flopped.  This actually made me laugh out loud.

When we came back in and got out of our snow clothes, I decided it wasn't a real snow day until everyone has some hot chocolate.  I put some in her warmed milk, and she played along long enough to pose for this picture, but after about three sips she threw her cup to the ground.  I guess she was not a fan.

Needless to say, I got much less reading done today than I had planned, but our snow day was definitely worth it.  Now I have at least one reason to look forward to next winter, but I am more than ready to say goodbye to this one.  I can't wait to have her in warm clothes again so I can see her chubby little arms and legs!