I'm Glad THAT'S Over

We just got back from "vacation." Wait. I think I started in the middle of the story. Or the end...

A couple of months ago... No wait. Let me go back farther.

A couple of years ago, when I was pregnant with Lulu and still working in Big Bank Land, Husbandguy and Pete met DH's parents and his gMa at the beach for a few days after Christmas and had a wonderful time playing in the sand and swimming in the pool and going out to eat and just doing beachy things in the middle of winter. So a couple of months ago, when my in-laws invited us to meet them at the beach again this year, we were all, "You bet! Sounds fun!" and we made plans to go up after Christmas morning at home and have Christmas dinner with them.

So the day before Christmas (some might say Christmas Eve), Lulu was all wheezing and sounding like she couldn't breathe and stuff so I took her to the doctor who gave us a nebulizer (should that be capitalized?) and some steroids and said that she could still go to the beach as long as she was feeling well, and since she seemed okay during all the Santa stuff in the morning, we packed the breathing machine and the baby and her sister in the car and headed out for our long-awaited vacation. And when we got there, we looked at our view of the beach from our balcony 21 stories up and greeted Nana and PopPop and sat down to Christmas ham (which was a little dry) and mac & cheese out of a bucket and frozen peas - not gourmet but acceptable. And about 20 minutes into dinner... Lulu threw up! And she continued to throw up constantly for the next 14 hours! And at least once a day for the next 4 days... And she had a fever and stuff so we called the nurse. From the beach. Which isn't easy. The nurse said to treat her fever (with suppositories! poor kid! she covered her little bottom when DH and I were talking about it before we even did it - the things she understands!) and not let her eat anything except Pedialite until she'd been throw up free for 8 hours (!!). It's phlegm now, we think, and she's going to the doctor tomorrow. But it kind of spoiled the vacation a little because we couldn't go to the pool or out to eat in case she threw up. And also she was miserable and didn't seem to be having fun, even when she wasn't throwing up. Except for a couple of times. She enjoyed the beach some...

Also, DH and I got a card from his parents that said, "We didn't get you a present." Okay, I'm paraphrasing, but that was the gist. DH thinks that it means that our present is on the way, but that's not what the card said...

You know, it's always nice to get home from vacation, even when you had a good time. This time, though, it was extra nice. Lulu seemed relieved and slept all night in her own bed without fussing once. Me too!

Pete Says:

Sunday night, Pete couldn't sleep so Pete's dad rubbed her back for a little while. While Pete's dad was rubbing Pete's back, Pete asked, "Daddy? Is Rudolph real?"

Does that count as "visions of sugar plums"?

You Won't Believe This

It's 7:10 AM on Christmas Day, and my whole family except for me is still sleeping! Husbandguy I get. He'd sleep until noon if we'd let him. And Lulu doesn't really understand the whole Santa-came-last-night thing. But Pete? Still sleeping? She's not quite six and has been bouncing off the walls, warbling carols, tracking Santa on NORAD, watching "The Grinch," and just generally being, you know, little and ChristmasCool. BUT SHE'S STILL SLEEPING. I've gone into her room several times and made a little noise. No movement. I dunno. I wish she'd get up! IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, for Pete's sake! If Lulu wakes up, I'm going to go get her and have her help me wake up everybody (ehbahdee) else. Come on, Lulu. Wake up...

Cleaning Really Is Hazardous to Your Health

Well, it is hazardous to my health. This is bad. Don't scold me. I know it's bad.

On Thursday, I apparently cleaned the living room and put my stuff away that I use when I take my every-other-day shot, my calendar and the cool machine that does the shotting for me, instead of leaving it in the living room where I spend my evenings. Because of that, because of cleaning, I missed my shot on Friday. I went from Wednesday to Sunday. Totally spaced it. For three days (I don't count Thursday because that was supposed to be a day off). All because I cleaned.

Guess that won't happen again!

Peeves

I confess, I like to complain. I have a lot, A LOT, of pet peeves. I won't go into detail about them all today (you may get that another day), but I would like to address one of them right now, and it's not "heighTH."

Lulu is napping after her festive last school day, and I was cleaning out her bag, which is extra full today what with the toddler-made ornaments and, here comes the pet peeve, the goodie bags! Huh?! For children under two?! Really?! Chocolate candy bars? Giant candy canes? Really?!! I get that you want to share your... holiday spirit (?) with your child's classmates. I get it. So give them a coloring book from the dollar store or a very special little (age-appropriate) toy or something other than candy. Anything but candy! I appreciate the thought. I'd appreciate it more if the person the bags are from had actually thought about what they were giving my kid. My very small kid who doesn't eat chocolate because she's very small and doesn't need it. I haven't thoroughly searched the bags yet, but I bet at least one has peanut butter in it.

On the bright side, Lulu is too little to care if I and her dad and her sister eat all her candy bars. We'll share the candy canes with her and she can have the Santa cup, which she'll love and which would have been enough for my toddler by itself. Pete will be pleased. And also, one of the candy bars is that new 3 Musketeers Mint bar, which I've been wanting to try.

Heavy Sigh (and a Big Grin)

Today is Pete's last day of school until 2008. She is looking forward to spending more time with Husbandguy, who is having his last day of work until 2008 today. And Lulu is also out of school after today until 2008. My family is looking forward to next week. And here's the Heavy Sigh part: This morning is my last quiet morning until 2008. I like having time to myself.

And here's the Big Grin: My family will be around all next week and I won't be by myself most of the time. Wait, you say. That's the same thing as the Heavy Sigh just said different. I know! It's cool isn't it?

But check with me a week from tomorrow...

Also, if I'm absent from TIBM next week, just know that I'll be back in 2008 too. I'll post if I can, but don't count on me. Happy Holidays!

A New Rule in the MN House

You know how sometimes things happen to you in slow motion? Like car crashes or dropping expensive breakables or something like that that you just can't stop? That happened to me yesterday. And it was terrible because it was my girls in slow motion and there was nothing I could do.

Pete was helping me put icing on the cinnamon rolls we were having with our dinner, and she was standing on the step stool. Lulu climbed up behind her on the stool, like she always does, and for some reason Pete put her hands behind her and Lulu grabbed them and then they both fell (in slow motion) backwards. Pete fell on Lulu! Of course there was a jumble of girls in a pile on the floor. Since Pete was on top, I helped her up first and she said she wasn't hurt and I hugged her quickly and she calmed down a little (I think that took longer to write than to happen) so I picked Lulu up and there was all this blood coming from her mouth! And I said something smart like, "Oh no!" or "Oh dear!" or "Oh boy!" Then Pete wasn't okay anymore. But I couldn't stop helping Lulu. I needed to be two people at that moment. So I said very clearly to Pete, "She'll be fine. She's fine. It's okay," and I ran to the bathroom where I could make sure that was true. Which it was. You know, right? Mouth wounds bleed way more than most other wounds. I'm glad I know that. Otherwise I might have panicked. I did worry. Because that's what I do, but I decided to wait to see if it would stop bleeding, and if it didn't I'd call the nurse. That gave me a chance to find Pete, who was exactly where we'd left her (but not wailing anymore), and explain why there was so much blood and comfort her because it sucks when you fall on someone littler than you and there's nothing you can do to stop it (I know). It made her feel better to help me come up with this new rule (that should probably have been a rule to begin with but wasn't): Only one person on the step stool at a time. It'll be hard to enforce, but we'll manage because it's worth it.

Pete

You know what's a little unexpected and kind of freaky but in a cool and amazing way? When you're driving in the car with Pete and she says, "Conway," or "Game Stop," instead of, "Mom? What does that say?" And also it's the same thing when you're in another room and come into the living room to find Pete reading a book to her sister. Really reading the words. Not just remembering what each page says from the last time she heard it. And when Lulu says, "Mo plees," Pete says, "Go get another book," and she means it.

-------------------------
So you know, Pete gave her approval to the Frog and Fox story I posted yesterday. She said she might like it better when I write them down and read them to her instead of when I make them up on the spot. "Because then you can remember them."

Breakfast Table Conversation

L: Buhbuhbut!
P: You better not be saying 'bubblebutt!'
L: Buhbuhbut! tee hee hee
P: Ha Ha Ha! Stop saying 'bubblebutt!'
L: Puhpuhbut! tee hee hee
P: Did you just say 'poopoobutt'?
MN: No. She said 'bubblebutt.' Right Lulu?
L: Poopoobut! HAHAHAHA
P: Gigglegiggle! Stop saying 'poopoobutt!'
MN: You stop saying it and then she will. Lulu, say 'bubblebutt' instead.
L: Poopoobut! HAHAHAHAHA
P: HAHAHAHA
MN: Say 'bubblebutt!"
L: POOPOOBUT! HAHAHAHAHAHA
P: HAHAHAHAHA!

You get the picture. Wanna have breakfast with us?

Pete Says:

On Saturday, Pete and Pete's mom went to see the Nutcracker for the second time this season (read more about this in Pete's mom's other post). During intermission, Pete and Pete's mom talked a little about the differences between this performance, in a real theater, and the other one, which was in a high school auditorium. Pete's mom thought that this stage, the set and lighting and everything, was better. And Pete agreed. Like this, "Yeah. Except for the big hole in the middle of the stage." Pete's mom hadn't noticed a hole so she asked Pete what she was talking about and Pete said, "Where the orchestra is!"

Comparison

This past Saturday, Pete and I went to see The Nutcracker downtown. It was the second time this year that we've seen it. Remember? I told you about the last time. I love going to the theater with Pete. She's the best! It was rainy and cold, and all the way from the parking deck to the theater (4 blocks?), she talked about how she wished there was a taxi we could take, but she was a trooper and we made it. When we got there the Sugar Plum Fairy was set up taking pictures with people for $15. I totally would have paid that (exorbitant) price to let Pete have her picture taken with the Very Pretty Fairy, but she didn't ask. But she told Husbandguy later that she wanted to...

So last time, the dancers were better. There was way less looking-out-of-place that time, but this time the interpretation of the story was better, humor-full but not quite so silly, and the staging and costumes were beautiful, which I think, at least as far as the staging goes, has a little to do with the sets and lighting being permanent and not in a high school gym. Also, this time, the music was live. That was wonderful! And a little distracting because every time something interesting happened (singers, the harp, etc.), I found myself watching the musicians and not the dancers. And the audience was better. Less clapping at random times. Although Pete and I were both annoyed by them clapping along during the "jumping candy canes." And they did give a standing ovation at the end, which Pete and I used to gather our coats and umbrellas.

It was a very nice time, though. Even with the cold, rainy weather. And it takes a certain kind of kindergartner to not get bored about halfway through the second act (all the action is in the first act - the second is just dancing). My Pete's not one of those kinds of kids yet. But she lasted much longer than the little girls in front of us, and when she got bored she just asked how much longer one time and then waited patiently until it was finished. And she said she enjoyed it. Again. And wants to go back. Again.

Who Do You Love?

Kay. Here's the thing. Contrary to what Husbandguy thinks, I don't spend every waking minute "surfing the web." But I do have a couple of sites I like to visit every day. They make me laugh and say, "Oh no!" and sometimes they even make me feel cool. Just because I read them. And DH will tell you that is hard to do. Make me feel cool. Although he'd say it's because I'm not. Cool. I think I've gotten off track...

My #1, check-it-everyday-even-on-Sunday: Princess Sparklepants. Duh, right? She's the reason I blog. She's the reason I looked up what "blog" meant. Who even knew there was this thing out there that would make it possible for me to brag on my kids to anyone who would read it at any time, day or night? She's a funny cookie. I'm glad we found each other again. How weird was it that we weren't friends for, like, forever? And she even admitted that when we met, she thought I was cooler than she was (PSP: I'll totally take that out if you want me to), which is what I thought about her too. Her blog is full of interesting characters - adorable children, neurotic co-workers (I'm on the edge of my seat about this DADT thing), lovable friends...

Also, I enjoy reading these other blogs: Order Envy and Mean Girls Need Not Apply. They make me happy. I forget how I found them, but I'm glad I did.

I Haven't Forgotten

I have something to do at Lulu's school right now and then I'll tell you who I love.

Meet me in the library after lunch...

Note to Self:

December 14, 2007

The Cutest Thundercloud EVER

Last night, Husbandguy gave Lulu a little bite of his eclair. She didn't like it (weirdo!), and she made it clear with a "Yuck!" face. I told her she could spit it out onto her plate because that's not gross if it's just you and your family and everyone knows it's happening and she was really unhappy with it in her mouth. After she spit it out, though, she gave DH the best look. Her little eyebrows were pursed together in a Terrible Glare and her little mouth was a tiny, angry bow. Her face absolutely said, "How dare you feed me something so disgusting!" Our Tiny Tyrant! She found it hard to maintain, though, when DH and I laughed. Even though she tried.

Eggnog Bread

I promised you a picture. Remember? Isn't it pretty? It's yummy too.

LL Gets It... Sort of...

The other day I was cleaning around the house (nuh-huh! I was! For real!!), and I was carrying a grocery bag that had trash in it, and I realized that Lulu was following me around, and she was saying, "Present! Open it! Open it!" I don't know if she thought the trash bag was a present, but clearly she knows what to do with a present (you know, if you want to send her something...).

And also, we got a box from Big Brother and his family, and as soon as we brought it in from the porch she started asking to have it opened. "Open it! Open it!" When I told her I'd need the scissors to open it, she went off in search of scissors (don't worry - she can't reach them).

I think Christmas morning might be kind of interesting.

But then I've been surprised by my kids before...

Smoking Weather

See. I used to be a smoker. Sort of. I wasn't ever a really heavy smoker, and never had much trouble giving it up so maybe I wasn't really a smoker, but I used to smoke. Now I don't want to smoke anymore. In addition to being really bad for you in general (sorry, PSP, I'm not trying to be preachy - you make your own choices), it is especially bad for your nervous system, and I don't think my nervous system needs any more help being damaged. But sometimes, just sometimes, the weather is exactly perfect smoking weather and I almost wish I still smoked just so I'd have an excuse to sit outside. I know I could actually just sit outside, but somehow it doesn't seem like it would be the same without a cigarette interfering with the cool, fresh, clean air I would be breathing. You know? Last night was one of those nights. That's just wrong in December. It should be too cold to want to sit outside when there are just 2 more weeks until Christmas!

What to Say... What to Say...

Yeah. I got nothing. I used to do "Pete Says:" on Tuesday, but she's been sick and hasn't said much of anything recently. This morning she reminded me that one of Lulu's boots was in her (Pete's) room without being asked, which I had forgotten. That was helpful...

My resignation from the PTA has been accepted by both the President and VP. I think I've made it clear that I still want to help but someone else is going to have to do all the planning, etc. And I'm pushing for a new committee that I think I would be a good leader for. Even if it was just me on the committee. They haven't told me what they think, though. I have lots of good ideas. Maybe I'll write a formal proposal...

Oh and also, I totally left this house this morning without my wallet or my phone. It worked out okay, though, as I was only going for coffee with some moms and a dad and the principal and didn't have any trouble between here and there. This coffee was for the parents from Pete's class, but the principal does one every month for a different class and I get to be the hostess at all of them. It's cool. That's a job I'm keeping from the PTA. I might even do it next year if they'll let me.

Thought for the Day

Husbandguy and I should not do The Amazing Race together.

Ceptin' I Don't Know HOW to Order Starbucks

This morning I took my monthly... What does the doctor call it?... Oh yeah!... "steroid pulse." What that means is that tomorrow I'll feel great and really notice the carpet on my bare feet and barely notice the invisible wool knee socks I usually wear and all the colors will seem brighter and I won't pee. Actually, the not peeing will last longer than just tomorrow. TMI? Sorry.

But today, since the magic meds haven't had time to sufficiently tame any of Wild Inflammation I might have going on, I feel kind of cloudy. Partly because the feeling has been coming on for a couple of days (thank you, MS - you suck), and partly because I didn't have any coffee with my steroids 'cause that might upset my stomach and make me jittery. Extra jittery. But I think I should have had coffee. So after I dropped Lulu off at school, watched Pete's class for half-an-hour, and then sorted books, I went to the grocery store, where they are nice enough to have a Starbucks right inside the door in case you don't have time to drink coffee at home before you do your shopping. And I almost got some. Except, here's the thing, I don't know how to order there. What if I say the wrong size because isn't a small called something that doesn't sound small? And what if I just want plain old coffee? They have all those extra things! I know I just have to order "coffee." I could probably even order a "small coffee" and they would know what I mean, but it's so intimidating! And what if I want sugar? Do I tell them that? If so, why do they have the sugar off to the side? If not, what's all that extra stuff they're yelling to each other when someone buys something? If only there had been a Bojangles in the parking lot. I could have come with my own coffee.

Ooooo! I just had a money-making idea! Someone should give Starbucks Ordering Workshops. Except for it can't be me giving the workshops because I don't know how. But if you do it, I want a finders fee, okay?

I'm a Quitter

I just sent an email to the PTA president and vice president resigning my committee chairpersonship. I suck at it. Plus, nobody would help me. So maybe I don't suck at it, but I'm not pushy enough to make people help me, and there was too much to do for just one person. I spent too much time worrying. It actually kept me awake sometimes. After the first of the year, someone has to start planning the spring fling. I'd like to help with that, but I don't want to do the whole thing by myself, and that's what was going to happen. Since I resigned, that job now belongs to the PTA board, which is way bigger than my committee ever was, even when Pete and her stuffed animals came to the meeting. And they can do it together and not expect that I'm doing it when I'm not.

On a more positive note, in the same letter I proposed that they remove the responsibility of membership from this committee and I offered to keep working on this. Last year's chair agreed with me that membership should be a separate thing.

I just don't want to be the social director for a bunch of people who won't help anymore. It's discouraging.

So, yeah, I'm a quitter, but I was very professional about it. I'll post the letter if you're interested. Let me know...

Challenge

Okay. Work this word into a conversation:

"omphaloskepsis = navel-contemplation"

So you know, I got that word right at freerice.com. I got it right! Because of the ompha part. Finally! I'm using my Med Trans training to do some good.

Christmas Past

The Christmas gifts I remember best from when I was little didn't come from Santa, or even from Santa's little elf-helper, Sprinkle (who had handwriting that was very similar to my dad's...). They were from my parents. One was this little stove that my dad built, and the other was a cloth book that my mom made and won first prize, etc., at the Ohio State Fair. I still have the book, and the stove was part of the inspiration for Pete's 2nd birthday present, a play kitchen built by Husbandguy and painted with my help. So here's the thing. Santa's cool and all, and having children who believe in Santa kind of makes him real again for me in a way, and it's fun to visit our mall Santa and deliver what they've requested every year (so far it's been easy), but I hope that when Pete and Lulu grow up they can't remember what Santa brought them. Maybe instead they will remember helping me put my grandma's red birds on the tree and helping their dad hang the lights on the house and pinning the felt ornaments on the advent calendar tree that my aunt made when I was little and making a present for someone else in the family as part of my other grandma's gift exchange. And when their kids say, "Mom? Would you tell me a story of when you were little?" they will tell them about that.

Don't Hate Me Because I'm...

...done with all my Christmas shopping. You thought I was going to say "beautiful." Didn't you? Oh come on! You know me better than that.

Anyway, Santa ordered her his last present for the girls yesterday (it's cool - and kind of expensive - but Lulu and Pete are both going to like it even though it's mainly for Lulu). And I've been done shopping for Husbandguy and Moomie and Big Brother and Uncle Monkey and their families for a couple of weeks now. Oh wait! I have a couple of gifts I'm waiting until a little closer to the end of the month to get because they're perishable or would arrive too soon if I get them now. So I guess I'm not done. But still. I don't have anything Christmasy to do right now.

I think I'll make eggnog breads. Those are so pretty when they're all done. See?

You're going to have to wait on the picture. Our internet service is sucky again. But trust me. They're pretty.

P-New-Moan-Ya (Almost)

Remember how Pete had a fever on Thursday? Well, I kept her home on Friday and she still had a fever. She might have had a fever on Saturday but we didn't check because she wanted to go see Santa and said she felt fine. We checked on Sunday, and she did have a fever and also on Monday, when I kept her home from school again. So we went to the doctor who listened to her breathe and say, "Eeeeee," a whole lot and then said, "I don't think it's pneumonia." With any other doctor, I would have immediately questioned the "I don't think..." but I trust Dr. Y. She's been our pediatrician since Pete was a day old in the hospital. So I waited and she went on to say, then, "If we don't treat it, it could become pneumonia." Apparently poor little Pete had a little fluid in her left lung. Yikes! I hadn't even considered pneumonia! The good news is, though, that we went to the doctor in time, and now Pete is taking an antibiotic and that anti-mucus medicine, and she's been fever-free all day and did great at her piano lesson in spite of not practicing at all since last Wednesday. And tomorrow she'll go back to school and won't miss the book fair and I can go do the volunteer thing I'm signed up to do and everything will be normal again. Phew! And an advantage of Montessori school: if you're out sick for three days, you're not exactly behind. You might miss a "special," but you don't miss a lesson and have to make it up.

Our ISP Sucks!

A few years ago, Husbandguy and I got tired of the intermittantly available internet service we had and we switched to what we though was a better choice. The company we had our service from, which was originally a long distance company, wouldn't admit that the problem was on their end when we called "customer service" and told me to do all the things I had already tried on my end to reconnect. I hate calling customer service. So anyway we switched and had pretty good access for several years. Recently, though, our service was aquired by our original ISP, and guess what! We have had patchy or NO service for the last four days! DH called customer service and got a BUSY SIGNAL! You shouldn't ever get a busy signal from the customer service number at a large corporation. I'm just saying. When he finally got through, he got a message that said there was a "region-wide outage" and that the CS clerks didn't have any more information than that and that if he wanted to hold, his wait could be "greater than 60 minutes." Um. They suck. I'll be lucky to get this posted before it gives out again, I think, so don't be sad that you didn't get your "Pete Says:" this week. Blame it on The Corporation.

For TGFKABPG

Christmas on the...

Okay. Husbandguy and I do this thing at Christmas time where we'll see Christmas lights or decorations when we're driving around and we'll say, "Christmas on the right!" or "Christmas on the left!" And if we see someone bringing home a tree, we'll say...hahaha...we'll say, "Christmas on the..." hahaha... "Christmas on the car!" hahahahahaha! We're so funny! Hahahahaha!!

But at the mall on Saturday, we really did see Christmas on the car. It was dark when we were leaving and DH said, "Look at the Jeep!" and we looked and there was this Jeep driving around all covered with lights! That Jeep guy is silly. Now I'm tempted to do DH's car...

Picture with Santa

Yesterday the girls took us to see Santa Claus. Since she's a toddler, we weren't sure how Lulu would react to the big guy (her moment of recognition aside), but we got her into the same dress Pete wore in her first picture with Santa and headed out to the mall. On a Saturday afternoon. After Thanksgiving. Bleh! It wasn't too bad, though, and the line to see Santa wasn't Super Long like it usually is when we go (except last year when we went the weekend before Thanksgiving and there was no line). There was a little line, though, and Lulu didn't want to stand in it so Husbandguy took her and stood off to the side where she could watch Santa ho-ho-ho-ing while Pete and I waited in line. When it was our turn, he put her down and sent her my direction, and she started to come but then changed her mind and looked like she was going to run off (in a you-can't-catch-me way, not a scared way). And then... Santa called her (real) name! "Lulu," he said. And she stopped dead in her tracks and turned, as if in slow motion, and peered at him like, "How do you know my name?" Still not scared though. Then he called Pete over to him, by her (real) name, and Pete went, and Santa motioned to Lulu to come to him, and Lulu went, and they both wound up in his lap. He ho-ho-ho-ed with them for a minute. Then it was time to take the picture. The Cheese Elf waved her stuffed lion and said, "Lulu! Look at my lion!" and Lulu looked at it like "Yeah. And?" so I said, "Smile with your teeth!" and Lulu broke out the cutest smile, teeth and all, and the Cheese Elf snapped the picture. Awww! Thank goodness for smile-with-your-teeth! Santa was even impressed. He said, "If only they were all like that," and made the Money-Taking Elf show him the photo before he handed it over to us.

I hate to admit it, but this is actually only my second favorite picture-with-Santa. My first favorite is the one when Pete is wearing the same dress Lulu wore yesterday, and we couldn't get her to smile pretty, and while I was debating between two great shots, the demonic smile or the gloomy thunder cloud face she made when we told her to Please stop smiling!, the Cheese Elf looked up and snapped the most precious shot of Santa reading to Pete. That's my favorite. Sorry Lulu. You weren't there. But this is my first favorite picture-with-Santa story.

Also, Pete's mom knows how Santa knew their names. It's because this Santa is the Real Santa. He has to be. He's in all of Pete's Santa pictures since 2003.

Pete Says:

"Pete Says:" is late this week. I'm sorry. Pretend it's Tuesday.

Pete and Pete's mom were talking about why Christmas is an important holiday for Christians and why Christians go to church on Christmas even though it's not Sunday. And Pete said, "But I don't go because I'm not a Jesist." Then Pete said, "Oops. I mean a Christian."

Momlemma

Being a mom, when the school called and said, "Your kid is sick," my first instinct was to jump in the car and go get her. Being a reasonable person, and a mom twice, I recognized that by the time I got Lulu up from her nap and convinced her it was for the best and she really shouldn't yell at me and got her into the car and drove all the way to the school, Pete could be home on the bus. So I asked them to put her on the bus. Now I feel bad. Like I should have gone for her. But she's on her way and it's too late and Lulu got to finish her nap in her own time, which will be better for everyone later.

Worrier and Worrier (update: 4:10)
Rhymes-With-Tennis's mom just called. RWT rides the bus home with Pete but usually gets dropped off after Pete. RWT is already home with a tale: new bus driver - doesn't know where Pete lives - may be going back to school. AAAAUUUUGGH! My momuiltiness is getting worse. Poor kid!!

Ah Dahn (update 4:20)
She's home. She's laying on the couch looking miserable. Feel better, Pete!

Sleeping and Walking

I think I mentioned before that Pete has a problem with sleep walking sometimes. This week, she has done it three nights in a row! We don't know why. The first two nights, she came out to where Husbandguy and I were watching TV and just climbed onto the couch with us. All I had to do was suggest she go back to bed and she went (we tucked her in again both times). But last night she got up and went into her sister's room. !! That made me uncomfortable. I'm not sure why, though. She wouldn't hurt her sister. Except she was asleep and that's really the unknown, isn't it? Husbandguy was right behind her and took her back to bed. She really was asleep. It would be hard for her to fake. She holds her fingers a certain way sometimes, and awake she doesn't know about that. When I asked her this morning, she didn't remember getting up and she didn't remember having a dream about her sister or her sister's room or anything. It's weird. Poor kid! What's the deal?!

The Prisoner

The Grandpa, correct me if my reference is off.

The other day I turned around in the kitchen and saw this and was creepily reminded of that TV show "The Prisoner." Remember? The big ball (balls?) that followed him everywhere?

Nothing

Sorry. I'm blank today...

Although it did occur to me that a disadvantage of losing my piano student (in addition to just missing teaching her) is that I don't have someone coming over once a week to motivate me to clean the house. Husbandguy complained last night...

Search Terms Used to Find TIBM Are In Bold

You know Mommy's Nintendo? She swears while writing on her itsy bitsy monkey blog one day, she felt an urge to have an itsy bitsy cupcake. So she stepped away from her itsy bitsy monkey blogspot and went in search of one. During her search, it occurred to her that, if her life had a soundtrack, fuge in classic style myaskovsky (spelled correctly, of course) would be appropriate right then. When she turned the corner into the living room, MN came across the strangest thing, a monkey vacuuming! The monkey looked up when MN came into the room and asked how to tell you boss a coworker is late. Apparently, he was supposed to be working that day with a monkey with a deathray. Or at the very least, a sailor monkey. MN didn’t have an answer, as she was wondering herself, “how do i know my baby is smart?” or in other words, "how smart is my baby"? Instead she asked the monkey, who really was an itsy bitsy monkey, if he knew where she might find a cupcake. He did know where to find an itsy bitsy monkey coconut cupcake, but told her to watch out for the space death robots, who were known to have roseola crankiness and were guarding it. The itsy bitsy monkey asked MN if she knew the coconut pete lyrics, as that was the only thing that would soothe the robots’ crankiness. MN said, “You mean the itsy bitsy monkey mommy kiss his knee song?” That was the one so MN headed off to where the monkey said the cupcake and robots could be found. When she got there, the most frightening thing occurred. The robots spotted MN before she could begin to sing and charged at her yelling, “We are the robots from outer…”

But that’s where the story ends because MN doesn’t remember anything after that.

Petemas

This past weekend, Pete helped Meme decorate TheGrandpaandMeme's house for Christmas. Meme goes All Out. She has dozens of boxes of decorations. It's cool. And Pete loved every minute of it. She even passed up pie because she wanted to help set up the Christmas village, and Pete never misses dessert. Husbandguy has been charged with bringing out our Christmas stuff from storage because the Christmas Bee is now living in Pete's bonnet. I'll probably have to help, I suppose, because her one complaint about decorating with Meme was that I just watched. I had a good time just watching, though, and it's not like I took a nap or something instead...

And also, our new favorite euphemism is, "I stepped on a frog."

LL Says: x2

The Grandpa: Got your nose!
Lulu: Boogers.

------------------

Lulu, with a look of sudden recognition on her face, pointed at The Grandpa, who has a white beard, etc., and exclaimed, "Claus! Ha Claus!" Then she looked at me, still pointing at The Grandpa, and said, "Ho! Ho! Ho!" as if to say, "Did you know? We're having lunch with Santa Claus!"

LL Says:

Lulu's new word is "asinine." I'm not 100% sure she knows what it means. But now Pete does...

Also, Lulu says thank you. And she uses it right. In fact, just a minute ago she thanked me when I told her I'd give her a few more minutes to play before I washed her hair.

Cracker of Nuts and Mashed Cauliflower

Last night, Moomie took Pete and me to see the Columbia City Ballet perform "The Nutcracker" at Moomie's local high school. That doesn't sound right exactly, does it? The Columbia City Ballet? In a high school auditorium? But for real that's what happened. And it was beautiful. I'm not 100% sure I haven't seen The Nutcracker performed before, but I don't remember it if I did. But now I will. And Pete and I have tickets to see the NC Dance Theatre's performance of it next month. I suspect that the Columbia dancers are better, but we'll see.

There were two complaints about last night, though, and I'm going to post them just because. Pete's was that she couldn't see. High school auditoriums aren't really designed to provide the best viewing if you're five, but it didn't turn her off to the ballet, just the auditorium. She wants to go again, but at a real theater.

My complaint is all the clapping! Good grief! Is it just me? I had this problem with the Beauty and the Beast performance we saw in October, too. People clap at the littlest thing! Oooo. He lifted her above his head! Oooo! She's dancing on her toes! Oooo! The music got louder! Except that there were actually five more minutes of dancing before that particular scene was over and then we they had to clap again at the right time. I get that you want to show the dancers that you appreciate what they're doing. But wait until they're done! I don't mean you should only clap when the show is over or even just when an act ends. Just not constantly! They may do something even more interesting next. If you clap for every little thing, you'll be clapping the whole time. And also maybe this really is just me, but a huge part of going to the ballet is listening to the music. If you're clapping, you can't hear it. Neither can the person next to you who's actually waiting to clap until the time is right. (Quick note: I didn't mind the clapping in the middle for the local children who did a really good job with their parts; I am a mom after all.)

-----------------------

Now, about the cauliflower. I didn't think I liked cauliflower, but Moomie and Moomie's Hubby make mashed cauliflower with bacon and cheese in it and it's delicious! Of course it is! It has bacon and cheese in it. But even the cauliflower part was good. Pete liked it, too. I might make it at home. Husbandguy is wary about trying it, but I think he'll like it.

Wanna Hear Something Gross?

Yesterday, while we were waiting for Pete's bus, Lulu was wandering around the yard and picked something up and brought it to me saying, "Haycon! Haycon!" It looked like a tiny acorn so I asked to see it and she handed it to me.

But it wasn't an acorn...

It was a rabbit poop.

One More Thing

Why can't you just buy a couple of stalks of celery? I bought celery to make stuffing for Thursday, and I had to buy JUMBO celery. It was on special, but I would have bought more expensive little celery if I'd had the option. Nobody needs JUMBO celery, even if your family does eat it with gunk in the middle, which mine won't. Maybe we should get a guinea pig. Although, what would we do with it (the gp) when the celery runs out...

Monday Whatevers

Paying It Forward

At the grocery store a few minutes ago, I was charging out the door with my cart full of too many groceries in my save-the-world canvas bags, and some lady smiled at me like she was really happy to see me. I felt like I almost ran her over, but she didn't seem to mind. I apologized, of course, but I don't think that was why she smiled at me. I think she was just nice, and it made me smile all the way home. So here, this is for you:

Pay it forward.

Along Those Same Lines

There is a woman at Pete's school, one of the other PTA moms; we'll call her Renee (because that's her name). As long as I've been going to functions where Renee is, she has always hugged me when she sees me. Even last year when neither of us was entirely sure who the other was. I like it. I think that I would be a hugger if I was more assertive. I like hugging.

More About Poo

If any of you who have toddlers who, like mine, aren't quite a year-and-a-half are concerned because your children don't even know what poopoo is to have it in the potty, don't be. There is a big difference between knowing that when you sit on the potty, you should make poopoo and knowing that when you need to make poopoo, you should sit on the potty.

Then There Was this Train

On the way home from the store, I decided to take the short-cut across the railroad tracks, but as soon as I turned the corner to go over the tracks, the red lights started flashing and the gates went down, and since I was already around the corner, I couldn't change my mind and go the long way so I had to wait for the train. But it was a little short train, an Amtrak with an engine and four cars, and it flew through the crossing with its whistle WHOO-WHOO-ing. It was really cool, a little exciting, like when a fire engine goes speeding past with its siren ROO-ROO-ing. That stuff always gets me!

Now you thank me for sharing. I'm going to brush my teeth and make sure we have frozen cherries.

PooPoo in the Potty!

Nuh-huh! She did! For real!! She was gassing. Lulu, you know. And she said,"Poopoo," and I said, "That's just gas. Do you need to make poopoo? Do you want to make poopoo in the potty?" And she said that she did need to make poopoo but that she didn't want to sit on the potty. And then she gassed again and said, "Poopoo," and so I asked her again about the potty and she said, "Nuh-uh." But then third time's the charm apparently because the next time I asked her, she said, "Kay," and waddled off toward the girls' bathroom. When we got there, we took off her diaper and she sat down and started squeezing out more gas. Then she picked up a book...

It's too late to make a long story short, but in the end she said, "Ah dahn," and stood up and there were two little brown grape-sized things in her little potty. Her first poopoo! In the potty!!

LL Says:

Lulu says, "ehbahdee," which means the same thing as, "All y'all." She says, "Cummon, ehbahdee!" and really seems to mean that everyone should follow her.

The Best Daddy in the World

Right now, Husbandguy is wishing that I was where he is. His second choice would be that we were there together. But being that I am beside myself (see post below) today and that Pete has school tomorrow, I think he gets it that really the only choice is for him to be driving Lulu to the ER for her annual steroid shot for Super Croup. Yes. Annual. It's a tradition now apparently. Although last year the ambulance drove her to the ER and I rode along. It was raining on the way home then, and it sounds like it might be raining on their way home tonight too.

So here's what happened. This morning, Lulu woke up with the croup, you know, that barking seal-like cough that stresses DH out real bad. She was fine all day, as far as I know (she was at school for part of it) until after her nap when she started barking again. Poor kid. It hurts! She doesn't want to cough. We tried warm juice, which always worked for Pete, and we spent a bunch of time in the bathroom with the door closed and the hot water running in spite of the water shortage. Nothing helped so we called the nurse who asked a bunch of questions and then said she (LL) needed to be seen and to be careful and not to speed and to which ER will we be going?

DH didn't want to be the one to do this. He prefers that I handle stuff like this. He adores his girls and would drive them to the moon if they needed it, but he would soooo rather I go along to answer all the questions. And ask them too. But he can handle it, and he will, and he'll maybe be a little more confident next time, and there's no way I'm sleeping until they pull back into our driveway so if he needs me to talk to the doctor at the ER, all he has to do is call. He knows that. And he knows that he's the best daddy in the world. I tell him whenever I think of it. I'm going to tell him tomorrow for sure.

I'm Beside Myself

For real. Today I am beside myself. Here's Me -->X-O<-- and there's Myself. Remember when I told you the five things that are positive about the steroids I take monthly? Well, one of the bad things is that two days after I take them, I'm out-of-body for about 24 hours. It's hard to describe, sort of a disconnection. It's annoying. Husbandguy usually ends up driving everywhere. At least it doesn't last too long...

The Lost World

This weekend we went to visit Nana and Poppop.

While we were there, we went to the park, where Pete discovered a dinosaur!

Right there in Smalltown, NC! The Peteosaurus?

Thanks to Poppop for the pictures. I would have taken them myself but our camera was in the suitcase back at the house. Hey, at least we took it with us!

Genetics

You know Pete? You know how she's been taking swimming lessons and doing really well? Well, at her last lesson, they evaluated her, and guess what! She's moved up another level, and since there aren't anymore beginner classes higher than the one she just finished, she's not a beginner anymore. She's ADVANCED! Know what that means? That means that she is a better swimmer than I am because I would definitely be in the beginner class if I signed up for lessons. But Husbandguy is soooo NOT a beginner, and so apparently swimming is genetic and she got the gene from him.

I already knew that music is genetic because of the way she's really taken to the piano. Her teacher even said at her last lesson that Pete is better at the note drills than some of her more long-time students.

So she got swimming from DH and piano from me. And she got her looks from her dad (who would have been a beautiful little girl, apparently, if he had Moomie's eyes) and her love of reading from me. And her sense of humor? Well that came from both sides, but those of you from the Grandpa's family will be pleased to know that there is definitely more than a hint of the S Sense of Humor there. Appropriate considering who she's named after...

Looking Out for the Little Guy

My Lulu. She's always looking out for her friends. Her teachers really appreciate it too. Like on Wednesday? When Lulu, looking appropriately grossed out, told them that little Seth had boogers. Yes, she did use the b-word. My toddler is such a giver!

LL Says:

Apparently Lulu is a UO fan. You know, the ducks? She and Husbandguy were watching some football last Saturday, and DH called to me to come there and hurry. And when I got to where they were sitting, watching UO play, Lulu had her little hands above her head, like the UO fans except her little arms are too short to actually make an "O" above her head, and she was droning, "Ooooooooh..." Just like on the TV. Awww! It was really cute. But that's not all, though. Last night, while I was in the kitchen making tacos and DH wasn't even home yet and there wasn't the slightest hint of football or Oregon to be found anywhere in our home, Lulu waddled into the kitchen with her little fingertips touching together over her head droning, "Oooooooh..." I don't know anything about UO except that their tiny fans sure are cute!

Very Rewarding Things

Sorry I'm late again. I was at Pete's school doing a Very Rewarding Thing. It was cool.

Also, I got a BUNCH of responses to the PTA survey I sent out, kind of unexpected. Now I have to figure out what to do with them. I think I'll start with a spreadsheet. Spreadsheets are cool. After that? Dunno. I'm going to try to implement ONE THING I found out from this survey.

Pete Says:

Recently, Pete's mom was teasing Pete and telling Pete something was true that wasn't. Pete at first said, "Really?" with a lot of scepticism in Pete's voice. And when Pete's dad told Pete that Pete's mom was teasing, Pete said, "You can't trick me. I am five-and-a-half, you know."

Pete's playing both angles, apparently.

What You Can Get Mommy's Nintendo for MN's Birthday

My birthday is still almost 3 months away, but I'm giving you notice because I'm pretty sure you'll need to raise some funds. I want a Mazda CX-9, with 3rd row seat, DVD, CD changer, leather... If you need more details, let me know. Also, we can talk about trading/selling my car if you want, even though I love that car. And you can put the money toward my birthday present. Just thought I'd give you a head start...

The Drop-Off Line - duhn, duhn, duuuhnnn

I tried it today. Lulu didn't want to wait any longer to go to school because she hadn't been since last Wednesday (she was fevery Thursday and Friday - teeth, I think), but I was under the impression that if we went earlier than we usually go we would have to go through drop-off. So we went, and I got in the line with all the other cars, and then I noticed all the cars parked across the street, people walking their children inside, at the drop-off time, not later like they're supposed to. The good thing about this is that now I know we don't have to wait until 10 after to walk in, and also now I know I'm not the only parent who walks their kid into school (it didn't matter that I was, it was just weird), I'm just the only parent who follows the rules (although, not anymore). The bad thing was that being in the drop-off line is like being in the drive-thru at Taco Bell: there's no way out except forward! So I had to let them take her out of the car. She did okay. The director of the school, and so someone familiar, came and got her. She looked confused and a little sad, but she didn't cry. I actually think she would be okay with it if we did it enough. But here's the thing: I didn't get to KISS HER GOODBYE! So all morning I've been thinking about her sad little face and counting the minutes until I can kiss her hello. And I'm not going to do that again anytime soon. But never say never...

Friday Five - Five Reasons Monthly Steroids Aren't So Bad

(In no particular order...)

1. I have way more energy than usual, which leads to...
2. I will be able to stay up late enough to watch "The Daily Show" for about 2 weeks.
3. If I have to take a Xanax to help me sleep, the next morning is always filled with bird songs and mellow happiness.
4. I get to take off my invisible prickly stockings for a few days.
5. I have an excuse for constantly eating.

I'm Ditching the Meeting

I lied. To the PTA. I told them Husbandguy had to work late and I didn't have a sitter and wouldn't be able to go to the meeting tonight because it wasn't an option to bring my kids. But also, too, I made sure that the things I needed to do to make the meeting successful were done or will be covered by someone else. I could've just left them high and dry with no join-the-pta table or membership forms. So for about 15 minutes around 6:00, I'm going to be feeling guilty and my stomach will get all squeezy, as Pete would say, but that will pass, I'm sure. And also? DH isn't allowed to answer the phone before 7:30, which he'll like.

America Is Reeling! Or Maybe It's Just Me. Still, It's Just Wrong!

Guess who doesn't have a conflict about what to watch on Monday night anymore. Seriously? Sabrina went home? That's not right. I don't care who wins now because it won't be the best dancer so what's the point?

The Perfect Week

Wow! I wish I was five. Pete is having the perfect week! First she spent all Sunday at an amusement park; then she gets two days off from school; then she gets to miss her piano lesson (although there might be some sympathetic regret since her teacher's brother died and that's why she's not having a lesson); then she gets to spend all afternoon with Moomie tomorrow; then we agreed that she could skip swimming this week to go trick-or-treating (a 2-fer!). The only way I can think of that it would be even better would be if the trip to see The Grandpa and Meme was this coming weekend. You know, like icing!

Oh Yeah. Almost Forgot...

Yay, Red Sox!

Ghost Vomit and $5.50 for Spun Sugar

Ah, amu$ement park$... We went yesterday because it was "free" with our season pass purchase. It was actually tons of fun, but it wasn't free. I'm pretty sure the cotton candy was refined from edible gold because $5.50 seems like a lot for everyday cane sugar. Since you can't bring outside food & drink in, our lunch only cost $40. Only $40... We ran into one of Josie's friends from school, and his mom had Capri Suns and would have had PB&Js if they hadn't been getting free lunch from Make-a-Wish. I wonder if she gives smuggling lessons.

The ghost vomit was cool, though. There was this wall with two ghosts painted on it, and where their mouths would be, there were these big openings, and every few minutes a ton of bubbles came pouring out of them so there was a huge pile of bubbles on the ground, taller than the children playing in it. Every now and then a bunch of bubbles would come strolling out of the pile, and one parent or another would wipe some of the bubbles away to reveal a child. It was cool. Husbandguy and I can never remember to bring the camera so you're just going to have to draw a picture in your head based on my fabulously detailed description (you can see it, right?). DH and Josie's friend's dad both thought it would be cool to have one of those at home.

The thing is, though (and the park might be getting a note from me about this), there isn't anything for toddlers to do there, and you can't just let them run free because it's so crowded you would lose them. So Lulu spent most of the day in her stroller. DH did take her out and carry her some, and we tried to let her walk but she doesn't always like to hold hands so that didn't work too well. I took her on the carousel because she seemed interested in that, but she didn't like it and got off her horse as soon as we started moving. So I wound up standing next to an empty horse holding a wiggly-worm for most of the ride. I should have gotten on the horse and put her in front of me. Next time...

Still, we had fun. And now we have season passes for next year for more "free" visits. Think of the possiblilties, though. Date night? You know, next year...

MN Is Taking the Day Off

Vilis ar blo
Rosis ar red
i hop yuo lik this pom

written by Pete, filling in for Mommy's Nintendo today

What Would You Have Thought?

The other day after Pete's swimming lesson, it was raining when we got home and I had a lot of stuff to carry. So I said to Husbandguy, "Would you get the baby?" and he said, "I have the keys," and ran off into the house.

What would you have thought?

I thought he was saying no. Especially when he took a long time turning off the alarm and so didn't come back out.

So after waiting a moment I stuffed as much as I could into the diaper bag and slung it over my shoulder and, with cold raindrops pricking me on the back between the bottom of my t-shirt and the top of my not-mom-jeans (thank you very much), unbuckled Lulu and got her most of the way out of the car before DH reappeared and said, "I'll get her," in a tone that implied he had intended to all along. Um, now? Really? It's a little late. Then we said this:

DH: I was coming to get her.
MN: It didn't sound like it.
DH: Do you want me to get her?
MN: It's kind of late now.
DH: Did you really think I wasn't coming to get her?
MN: You said, 'I have the keys!' and disappeared. What was I supposed to think?

That went on for a little longer, but you get the picture. Don't we sound like a smart, loving couple? Poor Lulu.

Why Are You Asking Me?

So the other day, someone found my blog by searching for "how smart is my baby." I want to meet this person because I want to know what she found out about how smart her baby is.

When It Rains, It Pours

And today I mean that figuratively and literally. It is actually raining. And sometimes, like when Pete was outside waiting for the bus and probably later when Lulu and I are trying to get from our car into the store, it is actually pouring. And also, everyone is sick. Lulu's still got some blisters on her lower lip (the ones on her tongue are not bothering her anymore), and when she sleeps she sweats so much that it's like someone threw a bucket of water on her and it wakes her up. On the plus side, the little extra rash she had on her arms and legs that seemed unrelated to the HFMD is clearing up today (probably because I was going to call the nurse about it - it'll come back now that I've decided not to call but not early enough in the day to actually call today). Then I woke up with a headache and don't want to eat anything. That seems to be getting a little better. But the other uncomfortable problem I'm having, which I'm not going into detail about, isn't getting any better. Yet. Husbandguy is still limping around. Pete had to wear her new raincoat that she doesn't like because it is stinky and only cost $2.50 even though it looks Super Cute on her and keeps her dry. And our weekend plans were cancelled (it's really okay, TG). Well, not cancelled. Postponed. And not for very long. And there's a PTA meeting tonight. Yuck!

On the plus side, Lulu doesn't go to school on Thursday and so they won't be calling me about the blisters and rash, which would reappear if she had school today for sure. And she can go with me and get my other problem taken care of. I was able to drink coffee even though I didn't eat anything with it. DH can wear two socks again. And Pete will be happy because not visiting TG this weekend means that we can use our discount coupons and go to Carowinds, probably, and we still get to see TG and Meme later. And I don't have to finish all the laundry today so I can pack tomorrow. And we'll have more time to clean up the house before Moomie comes on Tuesday to watch the girls while DH and I meet with Pete's teacher to hear how smart she is. And DH can go to work on Monday (woo-hoo for DH!). So it's not all storm clouds and umbrellas.

Hey, did the Red Sox win last night?

Oh, and by the way, I don't mind the literal rain.

Stupid Outlook!

So I had this super cute video of Lulu singing "Happy Birthday" ("HAP to YOOOOOO! HAP to YOOOOOO!") and for some reason I sent it in an email to all my people instead of posting it on Picasa. I attached it, wrote a little note, and hit send. Then I went to get Lulu at daycare. After I got back and put Lulu down for her nap, I heard from Moomie about how cute it was. Then I saw that I had gotten the copy I sent myself (because sometimes Husbandguy can only get the emails I forward to him). Then I got it 4 more times. Then I heard that Moomie had gotten it 6 times. Then I heard from Moomie saying, "Stop sending me this!" Then I checked my outbox and found that it was still there "sending," again and again, apparently, so I deleted it. Then I got it 3 more times. I tried to send out an apology via Outlook, but it wouldn't go so I sent it out with my other email. Then I got the email 2 more times along with a note from Poppop in reply to the apology and thought I must be done getting the email. But it came several more times after that! Good grief! Stupid Outlook! And now it won't send anything! But it does receive...

Is Honesty REALLY Best?

Five minutes after I got home from dropping Lulu off at school today, my phone rang. It was Mrs., the director at the school. I had mentioned to the teachers that Lulu had HFMD because I thought they should know. I also mentioned that she had been fever-free since Monday and that her rash was mostly gone. But she's still got blisters on her tongue and they were concerned that she's still contagious. I called her doctor's office after Mrs. called and they said that she's not contagious if her fever is gone. But I have mixed feelings about this. Like I said, she had not had a fever since Monday morning. And also she hasn't had all the pain and trouble eating since Monday either so her blisters are clearly better. The rash on her diaper area is gone and she never had it on her hands and feet so they're clear too. And the nurse had told me when I called on Monday that if her fever went away she would be fine to go back to school. But that wasn't enough for them. They wanted me to call again today. I get that they don't want her to give it to the other children. But here's my thing: she probably got it there to begin with! If there is suddenly an outbreak of HFMD at the preschool, are we going to get blamed? What about the parents didn't tell the school that their kid had it?

There was one time when I screwed up and when I admitted that I'd made a mistake, I got fired three days later (after I worked my bumbum off fixing the problem). I don't think they're going to fire Lulu from her preschool, but I don't want to be that person again who everyone looks at with blame because they admitted to something. Especially since she was cleared by the nurse to go back, and whoever gets it next could have gotten it anywhere, and I tried to do the right thing by mentioning it, and then I called the doctor when they asked and didn't argue, and I would have gone and gotten her if they'd asked me to, even though it was unnecessary, and wouldn't have let on how irritated that would have made me. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything...

Anyhow. Lulu is better.

Sleepover? Not So Much

Poor Pete! The Sleepover Gods were not on her side Friday night. Our phone rang at 9:30, and Husbandguy ran to answer it because it was either Pete or a tele-survey. It was Pete - well, Pete's friend's mum anyway (she's from England and has a really cute accent). She put Pete on the phone with DH, but Pete wanted her mom so he said, "Here's Mommy," and gave the phone to me, and I said, "Hey, kiddo..." and she said, "AAAAAAAAAAH-WAAAAAAAAH-HAAAAAAAAH!" and apparently gave the phone back to her friend's mum. After that little dance, we determined that Pete wasn't going to make it overnight so I told them her dad would come and get her because I was already in my jammies. I think they thought I was crazy when I pulled up in my jeans and PJ top and explained that it was easier for me to get dressed than for him to put on his shoes (remember he hurt his toe?). They said, "Oh," in that whatever-you-say kind of way and sent Pete out. Poor kid. You gotta do what you gotta do, though. By Sunday she had recovered and started making plans for trying again. Getting right back up on the horse. That's what we like to see!

Pete Says:

Sunday, before the game, Pete's mom asked Pete's Dad who he would root for if the Red Sox didn't make it to the World Series. Pete's dad said, "I don't know. Probably Cleveland." When Pete's mom asked him why, he said, "Because my boss is from Cleveland." Then Pete's mom asked him, "Which boss?" and he said, "Bob."

And Pete said, "Bob the Boss?" Giggle.

Lulu Update

It would seem that it's Hand Foot & Mouth Disease that is making her so miserable. No. It's not something she caught from a cow - that's just Foot & Mouth; and it's not something she caught from someone who is socially inept - that's Foot IN Mouth disease. On the plus side, her mouth is so sore that the nurse said it is perfectly acceptable for her to have ice cream for dinner like she did last night if that is all she can eat.

Baseball

Normally, I don't follow baseball. I usually can't tell you who won the World Series except for when the Red Sox won a few years ago. Who won in the years since then? I dunno. Here's the thing, though. I had to watch last night. Didn't you? Down 3-1. Winning games 5 & 6. It was like a cliff-hanger. Almost. A cliff-hanger with a very slow middle (did you see the bottom of the 8th?). And then they won! Ha!

Will I watch the World Series? I dunno. We'll see. But Go Red Sox! even if I don't.

Oh, by the way. "Pete Says:" tomorrow will be related to all this in a way. Check it out.

Poor Lammie Lu

My littlest one has been feeling icky since Friday night, poor kid. Last night was the worst. Sleep? No way! You can't make me. She threw up on her Daddy first thing this morning and seems to be feeling a little better for the moment. Well enough to share her breakfast with Bert, anyway...

(Bert is the elephant.)

Oh He's Soooo Funny haha :|

This morning, since it was rainy*, I asked Husbandguy if he'd mind sticking around until Pete's bus came so I could wait outside with her and Lulu wasn't inside by herself. He agreed. It would seem that at some point while I was outside he got a clever idea to teach me a lesson because when Lulu and I went into the kitchen after he left, all of the cupboard doors were open. I do a lot of things that annoy him, like leave dishes in the sink instead of on the counter next to the sink and make him put away his own t-shirts (he's got some complex filing system - I'd just do it wrong), but one of his biggest peeves, apparently, is that I sometimes leave cupboard doors open when I'm finished getting what I need out of them. What's the big deal? It's not like the dishes are going to escape. And the next time you need, say, a cup, that's one less action you have to do to get it. I'm being efficient. Planning ahead. Plus, you can see what's in the cupboard that way so if you want the Clifford bowl and it's in the dishwasher, you just have to look and see that it's not in the cupboard and you haven't spent all that energy opening and closing the door. Efficiency, I tell you! It didn't work, the Lesson Teaching. I'm still going to leave cupboard doors open because honestly I don't realize I'm doing it until he pretends to hit his head or something. Plus, I think it's genetic because one time Meme told me that the Grandpa does it too. So I can't help it. See?

*I'm not lying about the rain. It really is rainy today. And it's supposed to be for most of the day. The reason? Pete's school has a field trip today to pick pumpkins and will be outside all day.

She's A Swimmer!

Last night the whole family went to Pete's swimming lesson. And last night Pete did the most amazing thing at her swimming lesson. She's in a class with two little boys, and for most of the lesson they were all swimming the same distance, about 2/3 across the pool to where the teacher had positioned the little PVC pipe island thingy. But when I walked away for a minute, the teacher pushed the island (with the little boys on it) off to the side, out of the way, so Pete could swim all the way across the pool. And she did! I missed the trip across but saw the return trip. It was so cool! Her legs and arms were moving smoothly and steadily, just like when her dad swims, and she rolled over a took a breath about halfway, then rolled back and kept going, and when she got to the side she came up and peeked out at us, and I thought she'd look all proud and happy for herself, but the look on her face clearly said, "Yeah. No big deal. I've always been able to do that," with just the littlest bit of, "Eat my wake," mixed in. Holy crap! That kid can swim!! If those boys weren't inspired by that awesome display of swimming expertise, they weren't paying attention. I tell you what. If that school offered grown-up classes, I'd be in the pool in a minute!

SO - as soon as they evaluate her the next time, which I hope will be next week (and should have been yesterday), she will be officially done with the Beginner classes. My big girl? She's an ADVANCED swimmer now.

The Birds

Every fall, there is a flock (?) of grackles (I think) that comes through our neighborhood and just hangs out in the woods behind our house for a few weeks making grackle noises in the trees. Have you ever seen a flock of these birds? It's not just a dozen; it's more like a dozen dozen! They're black. And their noise isn't a melodious tweet-tweet; it's more like something you could use in your independent horror film to build tension as the lost hiker wends her way through the unfamiliar forest (total cliche, by the way - don't do the hiker thing in your movie). And it's weird because after about five minutes of the cacophony, you actually start to notice it and when you look to see where the noise is coming from, there are all these black birds everywhere - in the trees, in the sky, on the ground... It does not make you want to run outside. It's really creepy (you can use that in your film if you want).

But it's kind of cool, too.

Housework Really IS Hazardous

For real! The other day, when Husbandguy hurt himself, he was vacuuming. And just now, when I was vacuuming (in another room - we're not that clean), I totally ran over my own toe, the same one DH hurt. Except mine just really hurt and made me spend the next 15 minutes wincing at the thought of what could have happened and wasn't so bad that I'm going to have to cut a hole in an old pair of sneakers just so I can wear shoes like DH. But still. What's up with all the Extreme Vacuuming injuries at our house?! If the carpet wasn't new, I'd suggest to DH that we just give it up all together.

Oh! And Also...

Pete's piano teacher gave Pete SHEET MUSIC yesterday! Her first real piece! A 3-pager! Who knew she was ready for that?! I mean, aside from her teacher, of course...

Sibling Rivalry?

Yesterday after Pete's piano lesson, for which she received a stick of sugarless gum from her teacher, Pete and Lulu and I were riding home in the car, and I realized that Pete seemed to be making an unusually large amount of noise chewing her gum. Pete is a noisy chewer, generally (we're working on it), and gum... well, gum isn't the quietest chewable there is. The thing was, though, that somehow the chewing sounds seemed to be a lot noisier than usual, like there was more than one person with gum in the backseat. So when I got to a stoplight, I investigated. Lulu, wanting to be like her sister, was also "chewing gum!" Big cow-like jaw movements and smacking tongue sounds were coming from my littlest angel, much to her sister's aggravation. You'd think maybe her sister's imitation would help Pete realize how obnoxious her chewing is, but I don't think she got it. "She's really annoying me!" she said. Yeah, Pete. I know.

Think He Thinks I'm Crazy?

So last night, I was falling asleep in the living room and decided to move into the bed; Husbandguy stayed up watching TV. After about ten minutes, I got up again and moved the baby monitor out of our room into the living room because somehow it was magnifying the sound of the neighbor's barking dog. At some point after that (ten minutes? twenty? five? dunno), I got up again and followed the swarm of black, fly-size bugs to the door of our room; there must have been a couple dozen of them. Then I opened the bedroom door and stood in the doorway where Husbandguy could see me. And he said, "What?" And I said something - not sure what - probably about the bugs - and stood there some more. Eventually I just went back to bed. I'm pretty sure now that there weren't really any bugs because DH would have noticed them if there were and he didn't seem to. He was sure calm if he did!

He's not unused to me walking around half-awake talking about things that only I can see, like slugs on the baby swing or Rolie Polie Olie on the windowsill or that time I had us both out of bed because I was sure there was a frog coming out of a box on my pillow. But what does he think of it? That's what I want to know...

Pete Says:

(Sorry if I posted this one before. Maybe if I did and don't remember, you won't remember either.)

When Pete was almost two, Pete and Pete's mom were looking at a book about Santa Claus that Pete's grandma had given Pete. Pete stopped on one page for a long time and then said, "Santa look like Daddy!" And when Pete's mom looked she saw that it was true: that particular picture of Santa did look like Pete's dad if Pete's dad had a white beard, etc.

Piano Lessons

I'm not exactly sure what the difference is with Pete's piano lessons, but her whole attitude about the piano has really changed! She comes to me now and asks me to help her practice instead of me always having to remind her. She's even more patient with me when I make suggestions when she's having trouble with something. She got out her theory book on her own and worked on it by herself until she needed my help with instructions. She's only had two lessons with her new teacher, but each time she has gone in and been confident, saying things like, "I can do it," and, "Let me show you," instead of, "Do I have to?" and, "Are we done yet?" Her teacher has given her a ton of pieces to learn each week, and this week she had five or six pages to do in her theory book. She has learned her pieces and finished her theory (she's a Pro at drawing the treble clef sign!) and is clearly proud of what she accomplished. I'm honestly sorry that I hurt VW by switching to a professional piano teacher, but I don't regret it at all. I know it was the right thing to do for Pete.

Hey! Where've You Been? (updated)

Oh, right! I was the one who was missing.

Okay. Here's what happened:

For someone who "doesn't work," I was actually busy last week! I ran around all day, every day, except for Monday, which is when I did the grocery shopping and laundry so I guess I wasn't actually idle that day. First, I had to help host a parent coffee with the principal at Pete's school (Lulu helped) and then the next day I had an appointment with my neurologist which was followed by a morning of reading with the kids in Pete's class (very rewarding, by the way, and I got to hear Pete read - she's very different at school!) and then the next day I had to stuff folders and sort books for Pete's class (Lulu helped with that one too) and then the next day I spent the morning in the media center (at Pete's school) counting books. How high did you count on Friday? I counted to 1059! And then I wished I had a media center card because I saw a bunch of books I wanted to check out. It was cool because every day, when I signed out in the office, I was able to tell the secretary, "See you tomorrow!" Well, except for Friday... And that doesn't even include the swimming and piano lessons and Lulu-being-sick stuff, and Husbandguy's injury. I'm not so busy this week. I have two things to do at the school, but they're both on the same day. It's almost like having "a Real Job." You know?

So, sorry for the neglect. It was hard enough to find time to play WebKinz!

Ew! I Bet He Wishes He Had Just Gone to Work!

This morning, Husbandguy stayed home and saw the girls off to school so I could go to an appointment. He had planned to go into work late, but at some point he apparently decided to just take the day off. After my appointment, I went to Pete's school to listen to the children read (What fun! Whole other post!), and on my way home afterward my phone rang. It was DH asking me to stop and get hydrogen peroxide. ?!! I didn't realize he was at home, and I made the mistake of asking why he needed it (Moomie: don't read the next part), and he said, "I ripped my toenail off." Wow! Seriously? Okay. Stop talking about it! EW!! Now see? If he had just gone to work that wouldn't have happened. That'll teach him to take an unplanned Mental Health Day! Poor DH. I'm a little torn because I wish I could have helped him when it happened and at the same time I am SOOOOO glad I wasn't here because I don't want to look at it. I just warned him, though, that he's going to want to change his gauze before Lulu gets up from her nap or she'll want to poke the pretty red spot, and also Pete will be totally grossed out by it (just like her mom). So in that way I've helped him. Even if I won't get anywhere near his boo-boo. Poor guy!

LL Says:

A simple sentence! Pete was in Lulu's way so LL said, "Sister walk!"

Pete Says:

One morning, Pete's mom asked Pete what Pete wanted for breakfast, and Pete asked for a Pop Tart. Pete's mom must have sounded annoyed when she reminded Pete that she had told her the day before that there weren't any Pop Tarts because then Pete said, "Here's the thing: I'm only 5! I can't be expected to remember everything there is for breakfast."

Oh! I'm So Excited!!

Maybe irrationally so. Last week I went to volunteer training at Pete's school, which I wasn't able to do last year because Lulu was so little and I just didn't ask Husbandguy to watch her (he did this year). When you go through training, they make you a nametag with your picture on it! I didn't get one last year and sooooooo wanted one. Sooooo bad. The head voluteer lady was super nice and said, "Oh, we could have made you one," but it she said that this year when it was too late and didn't matter anyway because NOW I HAVE ONE! And I get to wear it tomorrow in an official capacity as the PTA coordinator of the classroom coffee with Dr. Principal that is happening in the morning. I'm going to be so proud!

Kiddoo-ism

Hey, PSP! This weekend, Lulu used a phrase that we consider a Kiddoo-ism (a Beanie-ism on your blog). She said, "Hold you!" because she wanted her dad to pick her up!

She Swears Like a Sailor!

Lulu's new word is "f***er." For real. She says that! But she doesn't mean it the way some other person - grown-up person - would mean it. For her? It means "football." We think it's a cross between "football" and "soccer."

Four Things on Friday

PSP sent me this in an email and I don't feel like forwarding it (sorry PSP) so I'm posting my answers here as a reply to PSP. Feel free to add your lists in the comments...

Four Jobs I've Had:

1. Mom
2. Sandwich Maker (twice)
3. Admin Assistant
4. Sales Assistant (yeah, huh, it's different from #3!)

Four people who e-mail me: (regularly)

1. Moomie
2. The Grandpa
3. PSP
4. The PTA board

Four of my favorite foods:

1. Chocolate-covered strawberries
2. Capellini bolognese
3. Chocolate cake
4. Pollo Fundido

Four places I would rather be right now

1. New England - anywhere in NE
2. The Grandpa & Meme's new house
3. Shopping with Moomie
4. Maine (I know it's in New England, but I'd really like to be there)

Four people I think will respond
*I'm skipping this one and adding...

Four books I love:

1. A Prayer for Owen Meany
2. Little Women
3. Winnie the Pooh (A.A. Milne)
4. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (#6)

Four movies I would watch over and over:

1. Ever After
2. Disney's The Sword in the Stone
3. ...um... I'm not a big movie person...
4. Disney's The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

Four Places I have lived:

1. Ohio
2. New Hampshire
3. Boston (for a summer)
4. NC

Four TV Shows I watch:

1. Eureka
2. The Soup
3. Monk & Psych (they count as one)
4. ...um... DH likes NCIS and I watch it with him

Spam

I keep getting this email in my spam mailbox with the subject "Not for oversmart people." You'd have to not be oversmart to think that email was really for you!

LL Says:

Something I did when I got out of my car at preschool this morning set off my car alarm, and Lulu thought it was necessary to make fun of me all the way into the building. She kept saying, "Hong-k!" again and again.

Pete Plays the Piano

Pete's first lesson with a professional piano teacher was yesterday. It went really well. Her teacher has been teaching for years (decades, really) and has a lot of good techniques, and Pete really responded to her. She's got about eight songs to practice this coming week! They're all review except one, though, so it's not as much as it sounds like. It was cool.

You Won't Believe This

Yesterday Lulu pointed at her bottom and said, "Poopoo." So I said, "Do you want to sit on the potty." She didn't answer but just left the room, and when she came back she was stinky. Hmmm...

Pete Says:

So Pete's mom decided to find out if the bus will drop Pete off even if Pete's mom is not waiting outside for Pete. The first day Pete's mom tried this, when Pete got off the bus, Pete said, "Moh-ohm..." Pete's mom thought Pete was going to say, "Why aren't you waiting for me outside?" What Pete actually said was, "Why is there a bottle of laundry detergent on the chair on the porch?"

(Pete's mom had forgotten it there when Pete's mom had come home from shopping earlier.)

Remember Before

Remember how when I started all this, I used to refer to Lulu as Boss 2 and act like I worked for her? Remember, I cleared all that up a while back? Well it's a good thing I did, I think, because imagine what you would think if I told you that Boss 2 won't stop licking my shirt!

Sorry PSP!

Hey PSP! Sorry I can't ever talk when you call. I'd worry you might think I was making excuses to avoid you except that this last time I'm pretty sure you could hear the meltdown going on in the background. And that was just Lulu! Pete hadn't really started yet. She'd just begun to make tears. Seriously, though! I'm sorry. We're just going to have to figure out how to talk in person!

Sorry I'm Late

My computer has been tied up all day burning a DVD for Pete. That's all I'm saying about that.

So, are you wondering how the sleepover went? It was a ton of fun!! And everyone slept! Eventually. We did a bunch of cool stuff: met The Grandpa for dinner, played in the play area at the mall (Husbandguy's idea) until some kid threw up and they had to shut it down, read Ginger's book that she brought and then read Pete's book that she picked out, had cinnamon rolls for breakfast (Ginger got to choose) (my 90 minute dinner rolls recipe makes pretty good cinnamon rolls in a pinch, btw), played outside... Lulu also had fun when the big girls let her play with them. At one point, Ginger said to me, "This play date is more fun than I thought it was going to be." I thought that was a nice thing to say, if a little backward. I feel kind of bad because I think Ginger was supposed to have a piano lesson while she was here, but I didn't know at first because there was some confusion earlier in the week about lessons and VW just dropped her off on Friday and I didn't get to talk to her, and then we ran out of time. I think everyone's priority was having fun and a piano lesson would have been a downer so I don't think it was missed. Still, though... Oh! And I was right. Kids are different when their parents aren't around. Or maybe it's my kid who's different when Ginger's parents aren't around... Well, no matter, the girls got along great. The only tense moments happened when they were hungry, which is totally understandable!

And Ginger's got a fantastic imagination and is a wonderful storyteller. While we were waiting for the rolls to be done, she told me about a "dream" she'd had that night. I think she might have been making it up on the spot because her description was very detailed, but it was a great story. I was impressed by the structure. Plus, Lulu turned into a little T-Rex in it, which made a cute picture in my head.

So we had fun. And, like I said, everyone slept. Which won't happen in a couple of years, I know.

Allergies?

Apparently the doctor said Pete's tic might just be allergies. The sleepwalking is unrelated to the tic, she thinks. Poor Pete. Well, we've got medicine to try...

It's Probably Nothing...

Since Pete's tic has been going on for more than a month, I called the nurse about it today. I've been meaning to do that for a week or two, but [insert excuse here] (BAD MOM!). I'm sorry! Get off my case. I did it today! Yeah, I know, Bad Mom.

So the nurse asked all these questions, "Does she have any physical tics?" "Has she shown signs of seizure?" "How is the mobility in her neck?" etc. Then she transferred me to the appointment line. But here's the thing. She didn't tell me why we needed to make an appointment, and I didn't think to ask until the appointment lady picked up (I couldn't have made an appointment then anyway because all they were scheduling then were morning appointments and Pete is on a field trip and won't be back until lunchtime). Oh! So I apologized and hung up and called Husbandguy who was very nice and seemed to be thinking straighter than Low-Blood-Sugar Bad Mom and he said, "Call the nurse back," and didn't say, "Duh!" And I did (call the nurse). But first I made myself some chocolate milk, which helped a lot.

So Pete's got an appointment this afternoon with her actual doctor, not just whoever is first available, and it is early enough that she might even get here before Ginger (she might not if she was coming on the bus). DH is going to take her. DH and I are thinking that it's probably nothing because we're her parents and don't want it to be something. I'll let you know what they say.

Oh! I just remembered something that might be important! I have to call DH and remind him to mention her sleepwalking...

Death-Ray Robots from Outer Space

Tonight Pete is having her first sleepover here. She's slept over at someone else's house and had a "sleepover" with her cousin at The Grandpa's house, but we've never had a friend stay here all night. Um...

This particular friend, Ginger, is someone Pete frequently clashes with. For some reason they are very competitive with each other. Pete has a tendency to be mean when she's annoyed, which obviously hurts Ginger's feelings. And Ginger is prone to tattling on Pete, which can also be hard to deal with. So we've talked to Pete about being nice to her friend, and if Ginger feels the need to tattle, we're going to be sure we have the whole story and help the girls deal with it themselves. And we're not going to play board games. That's a good game plan, right? Plus, kids are always different when their parents aren't around.

I do want Ginger to have a good time, for sure, and also I want to get some sleep...

Wish me luck!

Finally! A Real Lesson!

So, in the past month, Pete has had three new swimming teachers. The first was because school started and she couldn't keep going at 10:00 on Monday morning. The second was because the first new teacher hurt her ankle and had to give up all her classes. Apparently when they give a child a new teacher they don't bother to tell the teacher what that child already knows because those two teachers had Pete swimming at a level she passed mid-summer. I encouraged Pete to speak up for herself, and she did once, telling new teacher #2 that she didn't need help floating on her back, but it didn't make a difference.

Last night, though, Pete started with another new teacher. It was our choice to switch again because we were having trouble getting to her class on time. And I am SOOOOO glad we did. Her newest teacher had been at Family Swim Night last Friday and had seen Pete swimming and had been very impressed and apparently remembered. Husbandguy, who took Pete to her lesson, said the teacher had Pete and her classmate swimming pretty much the whole width of the pool, which she had been doing during the summer but hadn't been challenged to do in a month. And DH said she did "awesome." That's really what he said. And Pete seemed very proud of herself.

Hooray for the new teacher! Hooray for Pete! Now we're finally getting Nana and PopPop's money's-worth again.

We Lost the Battle

Pete has been trying to grow out her bangs. It was my idea because I think she's prettier without them, and I never wanted them cut in the first place. She went along with it mostly because I'm her mom, I think. They had gotten to that awkward length where they're just in the way and you have to pull them out of your face with a headband or a barrette or a little pigtail. Pete is has a hard time leaving things like that in her hair and not playing with them. Then one morning, I told Pete to go brush her hair and get a hair bow or a headband or something to put in her hair, and she said, "[My teacher] told me I'm not allowed to wear anything in my hair anymore." !! Poor kid! Poor teacher!! So we cut them. Her teacher was relieved. I guess Pete will have bangs until she's old enough to decide to grow them out herself. But she did agree to grow out the rest of her hair so she can wear braid and pony tails and stuff.