A couple entries ago, I posted from our visit to the butterfly conservatory, where we bought a monarch caterpillar who made itself a little chrysalis. Well, she hatched perfectly, right according to plan. Yes, she is a girl, because she has no spots along the black lines in her lower wings (not to be confused with the spots on the edges of the wings, which all monarchs have).
Tony got her on his finger... she couldn't fly yet because her wings were still wet. 
Tony helped her move from his finger to this plant. Here you can see more of her wings. They were still wet, but when she moved, they flopped around a little, so it looked almost like she was flapping them.
I have to say, this was a pretty cool thing to see. I don't remember ever hatching any butterflies when I was little, so I guess this is the first time I've been able to watch a caterpillar turn into a butterfly. I kind of want to sing "The Circle of Life."
The weekend after Ari's birthday, Tony's mom and his sister and her kids came for a visit. Our town does a huge 4th of July celebration each year, usually the weekend after the actual 4th, so we spent some time attending that, starting with a parade on Saturday morning.
Ari with her cousins Taryn and Michael...
And the 3 cousins again, with Grammy (Tony's mom). Yes, I realize Michael and Ari look like they could be siblings. Just further proof that she takes after Tony's side of the family.
I snapped this picture before leaving for work one morning.
I know... it's a sickeningly sweet picture, right? And, she is totally his mini-me. I have to tell you, though... it was really hard to leave, when all I wanted to do was crawl back into bed with them and go back to sleep.
The latest story is this... My darling daughter decided to open one of her birthday toys with the kitchen scissors, and managed to stab her hand. Tony got the bleeding under control, and off to the ER they went. Tony sent me pics after the fact. I'll warn you that the first 2 are a teensy bit icky, but the last 3 should make up for that.
Le wound.
All stitched up. 
She needed 2 stitches. The doctor put some numbing cream on her skin in preparation for the needle of novacaine, and Ari freaked out about having a shot. So they irrigated the wound and asked her if she felt it, and either she said no, or said it didn't hurt. Not sure, but either way... she refused the shot, and they stitched her up with just that numbing cream. Tony said he saw her flinch a few times, but she kept saying it tickled. He said to me, "I know she must have felt it... I guess she just REALLY didn't want that shot."
All bandaged up, with Dora stickers for her troubles. Also note that her kitty has a matching bandage--a little perk of going to a children's hospital, I guess.
Checking out kitty's bandage... Or maybe comforting kitty?
And a smile.
Here's hoping she learned her lesson about playing with grown-up scissors.
