How did she get so smart?

There are times when Paige says things and we both just stop and stare at her. When we do, I can see the little wheels turning in her head and she puts 2 and 2 together correctly.

The other day we were going home from the library. It was time for lunch, then nap. Paige was hungry and wanted to stop somewhere to eat. We told her no. There were plenty of left overs in the fridge, and the library is only a couple of miles from the house. She wasn't going to starve to death before we got home.

There we were, sitting at one of the few red lights between the library and the house, and she looked out her window to spot it. A Popeyes Fried Chicken. Now, we've never eaten there with her. I don't think I've eaten there in the last 5 years. But my child can recognize a picture of a fried chicken leg. Silly Mommy had told her there was no where to stop and eat instead of explaining left overs for lunch. She pointed and said "We can eat there. They have chicken!"

Both of us looked at each other, then at her. I asked her how she knew they had chicken. She told me to look at the picture on the store. Both smart and sarcastic. What a combination! A few months ago she wouldn't have even noticed that building. She's definitely getting more involved with her surroundings, even those outside the car.

Gender Bias

We're trying pretty hard to avoid this. No dolls just because she's a girl and should play with them. On the other hand, we aren't not giving her dolls just because she's a girl. We're giving her the room to figure out what she likes to play with, and what she doesn't. Ultimately, we're trying to let her become her own person. I'm not so naive as to think we don't have a lot of influence over who she becomes. We know that we do have a lot of influence based on our likes and dislikes.

I think we're doing a good job of this overall. We have a daughter who loves to play in her kitchen, play with dolls, and pretend to be a princess. She's also the same child who loves to play with cars, tools, and dirt. She's just as comfortable with a tea set as she is a Bob the Builder workbench. She likes to wear pink, but usually comes home from daycare covered in dirt.

As for our influence, well, she's a girl who likes her comic book movies and science fiction. Paige asks to wear her Spiderman, Batman and Superman jammies more than the pink princess ones. She sits and watches X Men cartoons with Daddy. She watches Star Trek and Star Wars with both of us. She likes to play video games too. I've got the only 3 year old I know of who asks for humus, cous cous, fish, and zucchini. We've definitely exposed her to a variety of foods.

We're trying to give her the room to find her own way and identity. Right now, my child is a lot like me, a walking contradiction of things she enjoys. I hope she keeps it up.

Pictures of my new hair

This is my first attempt at fixing my hair myself. I think I did OK with it. I need to get a different size round brush though, maybe just a bit bigger.

Before picture:

That's from my girls night out for my birthday back in April.

After picture:


And:


You can kinda see the puffy in the back with this one.

Please excuse the mess, Paige was playing with her dollhouse this morning.

New Hair

I know, I promised you pictures of my new haircut tonight. I did get it cut, and it's adorable. Well, it was. I got drenched in the rain & it all fell. Wendy did a great job. Now, I need to wash it and start over. Then I can take a picture of it. Most likely you'll see it tomorrow. Wendy has promised to show me how to use the small curling brush & the wax to get it like I want.

Back to School Time

I've got just 1 more class. After I complete that class, I will have enough credits to sit for the CPA exam. My local university offers certain classes only in certain semesters. If I don't take the class now, I'll have to wait until next January. I don't want to take the class during tax season, so summer semester it is. I'll be in class Tuesday & Thursday evenings. I start class Tuesday, and my final is the end of July. Yes, I'm already looking forward to the final & class being over. I'm tired of being college. I want to be done.

The problem with being done? Then I have to actually sit for the CPA exam. That involves lots & lots of studying. The exam prep course is extremely expensive, about $3,000. Lucky for me, a coworker is willing to loan me his. One huge step down, several more to go before I'm ready to sit for the exam.

On other housekeeping notes, you will get new pictures posted tomorrow. I'm getting a haircut after work. I'm chopping off what hair I do have & going to a pixie. Again. I've had them before, and will go back to it. Wendy has me scheduled for 3:15-ish tomorrow. I'll take pictures. My dad has been in the hospital since the day after Easter. He's getting out tomorrow. My brother in law has had a setback in his cancer recovery. He should be out of ICU soon. Looks like things are looking up.

And his name is...

Ronon. As in Ronon Dex from Stargate Atlantis. It was difficult to come up with a name for him. He has a very out there personality & I needed something to compliment that. He's very in your face with K-9. And he's got this wild, fuzzy hair thing going on. All of that, to me, says Ronon Dex. Paige has agreed to that name and can pronounce it, which is a big plus.

K-9 is settling in to life with the kitten. He no longer hisses at Ronon when they see each other. K-9 is still protective of what he considers his spots. Spots like the bed & under the rocking chair. And yes, the fact that our cat sleeps under the rocking chair is further proof he's a freak. Ronon is getting used to K-9 as well. Ronon is hissing at K-9 less & bopping on the nose less and less often. Now, if we could just get him to stop hitting the dog on the nose, we would be doing good.

May Fest

Ronnie & I grew up in this great little artsy town on the coast. We live close enough that we get to go back often. Today we went back to see a new festival, only it's 3rd year going. May Fest is a typical street festival in our hometown. Lots of art vendors, some street fair food, and local musicians playing for the crowd.

First thing we found our friends who were set up: Mermaids Purse Naturals. You can visit their site here. Everything is all natural and handmade. Make sure to check out the Mother & Child section for the foamy soap. You don't have to be a kid to enjoy it. I like that it doesn't have an overpowering scent and doesn't dry out my hands when I use it. Oh yeah, and Paige likes it too. Her booty balm works pretty well also.

As I sat down to chat with Measha, the above owner, Ronnie & Paige went out walking around. We sat there chatting, catching up, when I heard it. The music. We went from Peter Cetera to the Macarana, to Blue Oyster Cult. One of the local bands covered all 3 back to back. It was probably the strangest music set I've ever heard. That's the kind of thing that makes a small town street fair so much fun. You just never know what you'll see or hear.

Brown Alert! Brown Alert!

All parents please run immediately to the bathtub! THIS IS NOT A DRILL. REPEAT THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!!

Paige was a bit cranky this afternoon and kept saying her tummy hurt. She's had pooping issues, since, well pretty much birth. She holds it and holds it, and when she finally does poop, it hurts. We've tried everything under the sun. The only thing that really works is Miralax. After tonight I think we'll be back on it again soon.

Paige was playing in the bathtub, pretending to be a mermaid, when I heard it. "Mommy, I gotta go poop." I race to get her on the potty in time. I definitely made it in time. She sat there for a good 5 minutes trying to poop. She did, and said she felt better. Back into the tub we went. After all, Paige isn't clean yet. She's been playing mermaid, not getting clean.

That's when it happened. I heard the dreaded screaming and "Mommy, I pooped." She sobbed and sobbed as she sat on the potty. I got out the toys & drained the water. Paige finished her bath in the shower.

Part of my day tomorrow will be spent decontaminating her toys & the tub. I must make it safe for mermaids again.

Wow

All I can say on this is Wow. This picture came from I Love Bacon.




Someone's Jag was completely covered in Post It's. It's so cool looking I just can't help but go back to it and look.

Bacon is a cool site. But, I must warn you, it's not completely safe for work or small children. It does warn you though. Anything not suitable for work or the underage crowd will say NSFW.


Kitten update:
He's still nameless. We have a list on the fridge of possible names. K-9 sulked all night last night. He's not so sure about the kitten. Kitten is a snuggler. And he's attacking my hands as I type this. I've missed having a kitten in the house.

Sucker

It must be tattooed across my forehead. It was a typical Wednesday afternoon. I pulled up at daycare around 5:15 to get my little girl. I be-bop in, sign Paige out, and chat with my friend Lisa before getting Paige from her room. That's when I spot it: the kitten. Lisa is loving on him & petting him & he's just the cutest thing. She found him abandoned on the college campus. Her hubby is allergic, so she can't keep him. We don't need another cat. We have 3 cats & 1 dog already in the house.

What do I do? Pull out my phone and call Ronnie. One of us must be the rational one & say no, right? We don't need another cat. He suggests we take it on a temporary basis. Let's see how it fits in with the other cats, if Marc & Wendy like it, see if we like it. You know, be reasonable. Reasonable? Not likely.

We walk in from daycare & take him over to meet the rest of us. Wendy immediately liked him. After all, he's black & white, so he fits in with the others. The boys, Jeff & Ryan, are all over him. The other cats don't really care. Shadow, the dog? She thinks we got her a new toy. Ronnie likes him, Paige loves him. Everyone thinks he's adorable. So, met the newest member of our family.



He's a boy, about 6 to 8 weeks old is our guess. Lisa was calling him James Bond since he's a black & white cat; it looks like he's wearing a tux. We're renaming him, but don't know what yet. Something Sci Fi, of course. We're thinking maybe something from Battlestar Gallactica. We haven't decided if he's human or cylon though. Suggestions for names? Post 'em in the comments, please.

Backseat Drivers

They drive me nuts. OK, if I'm about to hit something/someone, please speak up. Otherwise, zip it. I don't want you to tell me I'm driving too fast, too slow, or to be careful. I have driven in Honduras where 2 lane roads become 3 lanes when people move to the side so you can pass. I've driven in Panama where people don't even look at the road. I've driven in Germany on the Autobahn. I think at this point, I know how to drive.

When the backseat driver is only 3 feet tall, and 3 years old, it really annoys me. That's right, Paige is already a backseat driver. She tells me to be careful, that I'm going to fast & I'll get in trouble. Or, she tells me I'm not going fast enough. It doesn't matter if I'm going the speed limit, there's no one else around us, it's bumper to bumper traffic. My little backseat driver pipes up & tells me when to stop at red lights. And when to go at green ones.

If anyone has a way to park the driver from the rear of the vehicle, please fell free to share. Or just feel free to commiserate. I like comments!

Mommy's Day Weekend

This wasn't the relaxing oasis of couch potato, bon-bon eating I had imagined. Instead, real life got in the way. Saturday was nice with the manicure & pedicure, followed by a crawfish boil at an old friends house. It was great to see her & her family. Sunday was when I pictured relaxing on the couch, doing nothing but reading.

My day started great with Ronnie & Paige making my favorite breakfast: hash browns & an omlette. It was yummy. We hadn't done our weekly grocery shopping yet, so Ronnie made our menu & list & off we went. Or so we thought. Leaving the house involved 10 minutes of Paige whining & 1 temper tantrum. What fun. She ignored me in the car, and hardly spoke to me at the first stop. By the second stop she was tired & a bit cranky, but back to speaking to me. We got home just in time for her nap. Nap time. Where she proceeded to pee & poop in her panties. Not like her at all. After her nap was better, but still some crankiness in there. During her nap time Ronnie insisted on vacuuming the house, including taking off the couch cushions.

Dinner was amazing. Ronnie made me an Asian inspired meal: rice noodles, tofu (which I didn't like), bok choi, portabella mushrooms, bean sprouts & seared scallops in a brown sweet & sour sauce. It was yummy!!


After dinner, Paige helped Ronnie decorate my cake. She was standing on her stool when she slipped & planted her elbow almost dead center of the cake. It was chocolate. I told her to lick it off. She liked that idea.


I think the cake turned out nice. If you look close enough you'll see Paige's elbow print, and sprinkles for Easter, Valentines, Halloween & Christmas.


All in all, it was a great weekend. The tantrums, poop, and elbows in cake just made the day what the day was about: being a Mommy to a little princess. On the brighter side of things Paige did call me a Princess. And I got to teach her the joys of licking the bowl when making a cake.


That made it all worth it.

Awesome use of TP

We've all TP'ed a house. Right? You have TP'ed a house, I'm sure. OK, even if you haven't, you have to admire the work of others. There are some TP jobs that you have to stop and admire. Today, we passed one of those places. Each year, the graduating seniors of a small, private, Christian school, TP the front trees. We passed it on our way to the grocery store, and had to pull in. Please forgive the quality of the pictures, they were taken with my phone.

Take a close look. This was a lot of work. As an ex- TP'er, I can tell you from experience. This took a lot of paper, but more importantly, this took a lot of time & work. It had to be done by at least 15 to 20 people. What you can't see is that they TP'ed 8 or 9 large oak trees. And they got it high up in the air. Someone's taught them the correct way to weight the TP to get it higher. And someone out there had to have a good arm.

Happy Mommy's Day Weekend!

In this house, Mommy's Day is Mommy's Day Weekend. I hope you get the same. It's been a very rough week here. Lots of things colliding to make it a icky time for all. I plan on changing that today. Ronnie & Paige are cooking breakfast, a regular occurrence around here.

I have a 10 o'clock appointment for a manicure & pedicure. Then we're all going to a crawfish boil at our friend Tommi Ellen's house. She has 5 kids ranging in age from 14 to 3. She and her husband are slightly nuts and I like that about them. Paige will have plenty of friends to play with.

Tomorrow my plans include reading, the couch, and a nap. Otherwise, not much is planned. So, Happy Mommy's Day to all the Mommy's out there. Enjoy it.

I am oh so graceful

Really. I am. Want proof? OK. Last night we went to the park to see the pops concert. Of course, it was canceled due to rain, but we didn't know that. We had meet up with 2 other families to have a picnic while we watched the concert.

I was sitting in a chair, kind of like this one. Do you see those little straps holding out the footrest? Yeah. Wish I had paid attention to them. I caught my right foot as I was trying to stand up. Next thing I know, I'm on my hands & left knee looking down at the tree root I landed on. My right foot was still tangled up in the chair, which was on top of me. Luckily those things are light.

I hobbled to the car. When we got home Paige shared her Ariel ice pack with me. Of course I landed on the knee that I hurt in the Army, resulting in my medical discharge. But that's another post. I took an Ambien so I could sleep. It hurt, but not nearly enough to pay that $125 emergency room copay. I paid the $15 copay at a local Urgent Care this morning. I was examined & x-rayed. My knee is bruised, but nothing is broken. I've been told to keep it elevated, heat & ice, stay off it as much as possible, and take prescription as needed for pain.

Ronnie says I wasn't that graceful when I fell. Maybe I'm just a klutz.

What's the deal with Moms?

This post may or may not offend some Moms out there. I don't mean to, but I have to ask the question. What's the deal with some of these moms? We have a membership to our local hands on science museum. We got once a month or so. Paige loves to play in there. They have a special area called The Wharf. It's for kids 5 and under. Everything is sized for the toddler/preschool age group. There's a shrimp boat sailing in a sea of blue balls. Realistic rubber sea creatures swim in it. There's even a market area where kids can weigh and ring up on a cash register their purchases. It's a great area!

Paige & I went this morning. I find this area a perfect place to encourage Paige to play with kids she doesn't know & to share. Other Moms there? Not so much. Their kids can play with others, in the same area, but no way will they make their kids share. If Paige had it first and she shares with them, the parent thinks it's OK for the kids to walk off with the toy. Paige was building with oversized padded shapes. She built a ramp to run up and down. A little boy came up to play, and Paige took turns with him. The Mom sat there and didn't make him wait his turn. She let him run all over it and Paige. I corrected the boy, telling him to wait his turn. That got me a nasty look. Granted, I wouldn't want someone else to correct my child, but she wouldn't stop her child!

My other issue I keep running into are these snobby Moms. I'm the Mom in the ball pit letting my child cover me in blue plastic balls. I'm wearing nice clothes, but no makeup. Paige is dressed nice as well. There are all types of Moms there. But there always seems to be this little clique of Moms. The ones carrying their D&G purse, expensive clothes, and their Gucci sunglasses in their over processed large hair, with way too much makeup on. You hear them making snide remarks about the other Moms there. And forget their kids playing with yours. They are just way too much better than you are. They act & treat you, like because you aren't like them, you aren't worthy. Today I heard them criticizing someone else's parenting, the way one family was dressed, and me playing in the ball pit.

I dread running into situations like this. Am I the only one who does? Maybe it's just something in our area? But I somehow doubt it.