(a few days late to post…)
Over the course of this first year…
*she’s learned how to read in French & English (!)
*she’s learned how to print & write (the French teach cursive writing early)
*she’s learned how to tie her shoes (even though she hasn’t worn her “tie” shoes in months and, as expected, is opting for her boots)
*she’s learned how to ride a bike without training wheels (that may have been before school started…)
*she’s lost her two front teeth
*she’s successfully (read: I didn’t have to pick her up at 11.30pm) attended her first sleepover…and proved to be a party animal by staying up until 1am!
19 Jun – oh, and she’s learned to ski!
First day. First grade.
No tears – thankfully. A few butterflies in the tummy, but excitement all around.
Sigh…
While other kids are enjoying U Toob videos of cute animals dressed up and doing whatever…mine are clearly into dance and club music-holy holiday remixes:
It was a featured video on the Boxee dashboard a few months ago and…now, I can’t listen to LMFAO without singing, “Rosh Hashanah’s in the house tonight…”
I know. I even have abandoned posts. A couple from two years ago, too.
Okay, so this post is a cheat. More to come, I promise. Non-cheat posts, that is. 😉
**
Here’s my most “recent” post, titled “Grasping”
As spotted on a (most-likely Toyota) mini-van
The other day, I was packing up my gym bag, mindlessly throwing in clothes, until I had to search for a top to wear. I own maybe four “performance” tops, but it was a tee shirt day. (Tee shirt sweat stains are like a badge of honor for me – visible proof that I indeed, worked my ass off.) I grabbed my lavender Hello Kitty and as I was packing it into my bag, I had to wonder – am I getting too old for Hello Kitty tee shirts? Should this best be left to Peanut to sport this particular feline? I mean, I am well into my 30s, how much longer can I wear this tee shirt and not look ridiculous?
So, yes, I have been grasping on to my youth to counteract all the not-quite-coolness that comes with being a parent.
The Husband and I are now those people with a bike trailer (not for the cars, but the one that attaches to the bike to cart the kidlets).
(If you feel you’ve lost your cool-factor, you can purchase this sticker here.)
It was probably enough to end there, huh?
**
The next abandoned post was written two years ago – Peanut was about 3 years old when this happened. This is titled, “As Relayed to Me”
A bit late posting this, but lately Peanut is getting a lot better about talking on the phone. Yes. Talking on the phone.
She also wears pink nail polish on her toes.
She’s become such the little girl – sigh.
On Labor Day, The Husband & Peanut took Lucie for a quick run at Glen Canyon. (I was at home prepping food for the potluck pool party we were headed to later…)
[To preface, Peanut left the house wearing her necklaces (mardi gras beads) and carrying her little pink purse (old cell phone and other accoutrements were inside)].
I imagine, in a rush to get Peanut to leave Glen Canyon, The Husband told her that they needed to leave because Mommy & Grandma were going to leave for the swimming pool without her. Mads then pulled out her “cell phone”, made The Husband carry the little pink purse (while holding Lucie on leash) and proceeded to “call” Mommy and Grandma.
Mads: Hi Mommy…mmm…yes. Wait for me for the swimming pool…Hi Grandma…yes…okay…wait for me…okay…bye.
She did this in front of everyone at the park – imagine a 3yo, talking on her “cell”, while her “butler” follows behind, holding the dog and the precious little pink purse. A riot!
**
This last one was a book “review” when I was using Goodreads like a madwoman.
The World Treasury of Children’s Literature : Book 1 by Clifton Fadiman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Apparently, my mom had bought volumes 1 & 2 for me when I was younger. When word got out that we were expecting all my children’s books were all of a sudden at our house. I quickly shelved this one, not bothering to look through it. Mistake. I could have saved money knowing that a lot of children’s classics (or at least my faves growing up) have been reprinted in this handy collection: Curious George, Babar, Make Way for Ducklings, The Little House, A Kiss for Little Bear, even Goodnight Moon!
I have just finished off a business trip to the UK. Sadly, I think that my business trips are the only time I’m going to find to be able keep this blog fresh. Eh, so much being so fresh.
When I accepted my current position, I knew that travel was involved and my support system (The Husband and Grandma) was accepting. Of course, we didn’t think that I would be on two week-long business trips within a month of each other. (Let’s knock on wood that I won’t have to go anywhere for a while! Though, collecting stamps in the passport is quite fun!)
To make this most recent trip a bit more digestible, I proposed to The Husband that I drop off Peanut with her grandparents, stay a day or two, she would then stay the week there, spend quality time with them, while getting fully immersed in francais, I would fly back, stay a day, then we would both fly home. What a grand idea it was!
Peanut was so excited to be going on the plane with mommy! She was so excited, that she barely slept on the plane. Yeah, my idea of actually wanting to watch a movie or read were thwarted. In fact, I was the one that slept, not soundly, of course. Peanut was playing quietly on the floor in front of her seat or watching Wallace & Grommit on her tv. (Thank goodness AF has individual entertainment screens!)
She, at first, was not thrilled when I told her I had to go to work. Though she was crying when I was leaving for the airport, I knew she would be just fine with Grany. She’s apparently had loads of fun with her cousin and her friends!
I, on the other hand, have been tired from the long work days and late workouts. The town in which my company has an office isn’t that quite exciting. So, after dinner, I hit up the gym. (I did go out for dinner with coworkers one night – amazing Indian food! The other night I was invited to a coworkers’ home a for take away dinner.)
Thanks to the gracious hospitality of a coworker, he had invited my boss and I over to his house for dinner (as mentioned) – fish n’ chips, complete with mushy peas, pickled eggs and pickled gherkins – an opportunity to relax in a non-hotel environment. It was interesting to see my coworker in this dimension – you’re obviously only seeing their “work persona” and once you see them in their home and meet their family, your idea of who you think they are is either confirmed or completely way off.
Anyhow, the town that he lives in has this unusual religious presence. This town lays exactly on the GMT line and another geographical line which in some religions has HUGE meaning. Tom Cruise has a house in the area as there is a huge Scientology center. People, churches also used to burn witches here, too. Used to.
So, now I am wasting time at Heathrow, waiting for my flight. Terminal 5 at Heathrow actually isn’t too bad. Harrods, duty free shopping…and Starbucks.
Oh, after being in the UK for a week, dodgy and bugger are my favorite words du jour.
Off to find Burberry…and possibly give in to Starbucks.
(Scene: Mama has picked up Peanut at school and we are now walking to the car…)
Peanut: Mommy, we need to share our food with other children.
Me: Yes, that’s right. Sometimes other children don’t have food to eat.
P: Sometimes, they don’t have kitchens, or homes…can I bring some food to share with them?
(At this point, I was ready to scoop her up and hug her and tell her what a thoughtful and considerate little person she is.)
Me: Of course you can. What kind of food do you want to share with them?
P: Can we bring them pies? (Her school is hosting a holiday pie drive to benefit HPP.) And some macaroni and cheese. And some Dora soup. And some apple cheerios.
Me: Those are good ideas. Should we bring some vegetables, too?
P: Ummm, yeah.
It’s still hard for me to believe that the little Peanut is now this big girl telling me about the lesson of Thanksgiving.
From this...
This past Thursday was Peanut’s first day at her new school.
We prepped her as much as we could; telling her that she was going to big girl school now where she was going to meet and make new friends, and so forth.
She was excited, until we walked into the building and into her classroom.
The crying started along with “I don’t want to stay here.” Luckily, we didn’t get into full tantrum mode. (Yes, she was the ONLY CHILD CRYING!) After a few minutes, she calmed down and we wished her a good day and that we would see her later.
To This
Granted, the picture was taken in the afternoon when we picked her up, so she was pretty happy. She showed us around her new classroom, what she did, where her cubby was, and so on.
That night, she kept asking if she was going back. “Yes,” I replied. Then she tells me that she likes her teacher. This made The Husband and I hopeful for the next day.
Riiight.
Today’s drop-off went worse than yesterday. First, she started to flip out because I wasn’t going to drop her off. Thankfully, she was able to calm down before she left the house. But, as it was told to me, she flipped out again when she got to school, crying, saying she didn’t want to stay there. She managed to calm down again, only to start up when The Husband left to go work, leaving her there, crying.
I sure as hell hope this doesn’t last very long.
(Sorry, late to posting this.)
The Queen Bee No More
Sigh.
Friday the 13th (September) was Peanut’s last day at her preschool. Granted, she still has one more year of preschool, she’s been at her current school/day care since she was 8 1/2 months old! She’s the last of the “original crew”.
(I know that we’re not completely saying good-bye, Ringo will still be there, it’s still very sad. This mama has to come to terms that her baby girl is growing up.)
Knowing that this day was coming, I had plenty of time to think of a departing gift. I thought about making some sort of picture collage or something that involved her hand print. I was gearing toward the pictures because I could work in some sort of pictorial time line – photos of her from 8 1/2 months to today. After perusing the internets, I decided that a garden stepping stone would be a grand idea!
That was a couple months ago. I didn’t get around to buying the kit a few weeks ago and we didn’t break open the kit until earlier this week. Skimming the directions, I was worried that the stone wasn’t going to set as the weather hasn’t been providing ideal stone setting conditions lately.
After printing out photos of Peanut over the years, we broke out the cement mix. I told her that we were going to make a surprise for her teachers and that she shouldn’t say anything to them. To my surprise, she actually listened and understood when I told her not to say anything. So we mixed, we decorated, and we let it dry. The stone released from the mold perfectly and we let it sit outside overnight (was a bit smelly).
That morning as we were getting ready, discussing logistics with Peanut – as of late, she needs to go over who is dropping her off and who is picking her up – I told her we’d bring the surprise when we pick her up. Apparently, that was not acceptable. She was so excited and proud about her “surprise” she wanted to bring it to school – NOW!
Peanut 1, Mom + Pops 0
At drop-off, Peanut was quick to show off her gift. She even called over the little girl she usually ignores to come take a look her “surprise”.
The Final Product
That afternoon, The Husband and I, brought cupcakes to celebrate Peanut’s last day.
We arrived early in the afternoon to play with the other kids, take pictures, eat cupcakes, etc.
I was doing just fine…until we had to leave and say good-bye.
(note: the first day of school is tomorrow!)
You’ve read before that Peanut is quite the budding photographer.
So, every now and then, when the compact digital camera is out (she knows better not to handle the DSLR), she starts snapping away, whether her subjects are ready (and willing) or not.
The Husband + Mini-Me
Not a bad pic of Ringo
Self-Portrait
A lesson in composition
Peanut + Pops
Gettin' all arsty, now
Some pics come out great, others not so much. Of course, I’ve edited and picked some of the better ones.