The Air Literally Vibrates with her Excitement

Oh, I loooove when Lulu gets excited about something. You'd love it too. I know because strangers witnessing it have stopped and commented on how adorable it is. I got to see it again just the other day.

It was raining and the sun was shining at the same time, and as all hearts-and-unicorns as I am not, a sunny shower gets me all worked up. "Oh, where's the sun? Is it raining hard enough? Everybody look that way. Do you see one? There has to be a rainbow. Keep looking!" This time my persistence paid off, and I found one. And I showed it to Lulu.

It was her first rainbow. And it was awesome.

She instantly stopped walking and became perfectly still. And her whole body clenched up with the thrill of it all. And then she squealed and exclaimed, "A rainbow! I seeee it!! A REAL RAINBOW!!!" And her whole tiny body began to tremble. There she stood, glued to that spot, frozen in the moment, chin raised to the sky, quaking from her blonde hair to her purple flip-flops with excitement. "A REAL RAINBOW!"

Oh, it's fun to watch. You've got to see it.

Hip(?) Hop Dance Class

I'm so proud of my Pete. She's a lot like me, but also she's her own person.

Last night, she started a parks and rec hip hop dance class. Since it was the first class, I got to stay and watch, and... I'm not sure how to say this... Um... Oh! I know! At one point I was mentally rehearsing my answer for when Pete finished last night's class and wanted to quit. I wasn't completely opposed to the idea. That sounds bad, I know, but she has my coordination and Husbandguy's mom's grace. She was the kid on the wrong foot going the wrong way most of the time. I didn't cringe, much, but I also didn't find myself glowing with pride like I usually do. But then, about 2/3 of the way through the class, something happened. It wasn't a miracle or anything. She wasn't suddenly music-video-ready, but as she got comfortable with the routine, she did better (duh, MN! of course she did!). Her feet still pointed the wrong way and she was still one of the most rhythmically challenged in the group, but she clearly felt like she was doing better and relaxed and wasn't terrible.

If I was 7 (or 35) and took this class, I would have wanted to quit after the first time. I would have complained that it was hard and I didn't know anyone and I felt stupid and I didn't want to do it anymore. And if I was my mom and watched the class and heard that, I would have said that I needed to take one more class before I decided whether to quit or not. And then I would have taken one more class and quit.

But not Pete. She wasn't glowing with pride afterward either, and she said it was hard to remember everything, but she said she likes it and wants to keep doing it. She's not a quitter. She's not a dancer, but more importantly, she's not a quitter. You know what she said? She said that she needs to practice.

Huh. Practice. Huh. Again I am struck by how different we really are. Practice? Not quit? Huh.

Thank goodness for free will!

LL Says:

Lulu was on tonight! She was zinging them out right and left!

My favorite was when we were eating ice cream at an outside table. She looked up and said, "Hey Mom! There's an umbrella! Now a bird won't poop on you!!" (Unfortunately the pooping-on- me thing has happened to me enough times that I usually refuse to sit outside at restaurants.)

The other funny thing is probably more funny if you've actually met Poppop, but I'll share anyway. First, a little background: Poppop has a detached retina in his left eye and, due to the surgeries he's had and other things, his eyelid is mostly closed all the time. Well, Lulu's ice cream cone came with 2 little candy eyes plopped on the top, and after she ate the first one, she held her little cone up to Husbandguy and said, "Look! My ice cream is POPPOP!!" Poor Poppop... Tee hee...

Sorry if you had to be there to really appreciate these little gems, but I had to share.

Sorry. I've Been... Um... Yeah.

Right. So our computer has been all sucky for more than a week but really sucky for the last week. At the moment... Nevermind. I don't want to jinx it. But I thought that I'd check in while I can. Probably everything will crash while I'm writing this. If that happens, I'll post it next week. If my shiny little laptop doesn't break when I throw it against the wall...

Just a couple of new things to report, nothing big. Just stuff.

First, Husbandguy bought me us a new range/oven. Kind of out of the blue. It's awesome. We went to Best Buy the other day to ask about the computer and when we were waiting for the Nerd Herd guy (who looked nothing like Chuck, unfortunately - google it), we wandered over to look at the appliances and found a nice one that will work in our tiny awkward kitchen that was marked WAAAAY down, almost 50%, the lady called it "closeout." We didn't buy it right then because we needed to measure and stuff, but HG went back later and bought it and made arrangements with his dad to pick it up and install it on Saturday while Pete and I are at the ballet. I think I've mentioned before that a new oven is one of the main things on my wish list and now I can cross it off. Yay!

And also, septembermom, whose blog is also SUPER, gave me an award. I've never gotten a blogging award before so that was cool and unexpected and I am very honored to have been honored. I think I'm supposed to pass it on, and I promise I will. Next chance I get...

My Ham's Cheesiness

Lulu is a character. Seriously. Her Self is WAAAY too big for her tiny, 3t-size body. Which is probably why she's always bursting with something mirthful or terrible. The terrible gives me a headache and sometimes tears, but the other cracks me up. An example:

The other day I waited all day for Pete to get home from school so we could bake a cake together, but when she got home, she didn't want to help me. I was disappointed. I had been looking forward to Pete helping me with this cake. So I said so, but Pete really didn't want to. Sigh... Lulu, though, was watching the whole thing and came to my rescue. My not-quite-3-year-old stood all of her 32 inches up off the floor and strolled over to where I was sitting. Gently placing her hand on my shoulder, she looked into my eyes and said in her most calming and serious voice, "I'll help you, Mommy," like she was caring for someone on the verge of a breakdown. Then she took her hand off my shoulder and explained, in that same tone with unhurried gestures, all about how she would help, and when she was finished explaining, she put her soft little hand back and said, "Okay, Mommy? I can help you make a cake. Okay?" Of course she helped. How could I pass up such a sweet offer?

I sure do like that kid...

Unique?

The Grandpa, over at The Word Mechanic, found this fun search. So of course I tried it, and what I discovered is that I should have kept my maiden name when I got married if I wanted to avoid getting someone else's mail... I checked Pete's and Lulu's names too. Oh and HG, who had 153 same-namers or something but I didn't copy that here.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 3 people with my married name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 1 or fewer people with my maiden name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 10 people with Pete's real name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 53 people with Lulu's real name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Also, a google search shows that I am also a heroine in a sci-fi novel.

Working Papers

See what I did there? With all the people getting their "walking papers" (including Husbandguy last fall). See? I turned it around (in the title), and made it "working papers." Smart, huh?

Because today? HG came home from work, where he has been a contract worker for the last nearly 6 months, looking slightly more relaxed than usual. You know, less stressed and stuff. And he wordlessly handed me a little stack of papers, 2 or 3 pages, and wandered off to get a cup of water or something. And when I looked at the papers, it said, "Dear [HG], I am pleased to offer employment to you the position of Engineer 3..." and a bunch of other stuff about money and benefits and not having sick time and everything. Awkward syntax aside, this answers our most pressing question. They like him! They really, really like him! ... Or they at least need him. So I said something clever (and apparently forgettable) and he said, "I haven't decided if I'm going to sign it or not."

haha. veryfunny.

He's teasing me. I'm 99.9% sure of that. So if you see him, congratulate him, okay? Or you can send me an email (<-- click there or look at the right hand column for the address -->), and I'll forward it to him. That'll teach him to tease me!

Mom Fun

Most of the time, I really enjoy being a mom. Waiting for the bus this morning with Pete, I was reminded of one reason why.

You know that magic trick where the magician tucks something into her palm and makes a fist and the other person blows on the fist and the thing in the magician's hand disappears, only to reappear in the other person's ear or someplace? Pete loves that trick (Lulu does too). And she doesn't know how I do it yet so, for her, it really is magic. The look on her face when I ruffle the hair above her ear and pull out Lulu's yellow bead, which only moments before had been in my hand... You've seen it on some child's face, I'm sure. Isn't it fantastic? And my favorite moment this morning was when I didn't find the bead right away. Where did it go? I wondered. Pete actually felt behind her ears, on top of her head, in her socks and bellybutton but didn't find it. Hmm... That's weird. Usually it's there somewhere... Oh, look! It's on top of Lulu's head! And then Pete said, "I actually saw it there!" and I wished I could see what she thought she had seen because I bet she really did "see" it. It's magic, after all.

Despues de la Fiesta

This afternoon we were invited to the neighbors' house to help them celebrate the marriage of their daughter. When Vecina (am I using that right?) came over with her grandsons (handy translators, those boys - and handsome! and I mean that not in a creepy way because they're 8) earlier in the week, she told me the fiesta would start a la uno so we showed up a la uno y quince and were still about 3 hours early. Why can't we be late anywhere?

Vecina served carnitas y arroz con tortillas. I knew she would (it's really good - I ate it last time) and wasn't concerned that I couldn't eat it this time because we live right next door and I could run home if I got so hungry I couldn't go on, but when she found out I don't eat meat, she got all worried, even though I said again and again, "Está bien," and ate arroz y tortillas. Eventually she found these tamales deliciosos y dulces that tasted like creamed corn (only better) and were vegetarian. I ate 2 (with Pete's help), and she wasn't worried about me anymore.

We don't speak Spanish. I know a few Spanish phrases in the present tense (I asked Vecina, "Necessita Usted ayuda?" and she knew what I meant, and I could talk to the very small niños well enough), but I don't know enough to converse with the grown-ups or even eavesdrop, and mi familia knows even less than I do. So we don't mingle well with our neighbors, but we got by. The grandsons' prima, Ana, was a big help. When I mentioned to her that I felt like I should be talking to someone, she introduced me to her brother and his wife, who both spoke English and had children, and I felt more comfortable. But I also still felt like I really need to be taking Spanish classes so I can be a better neighbor.

Overall, though, we had a very nice time. The girls did fine because all of the other children were bilingual, and play is sort of omnilingual anyway, isn't it? The party is still going on, but the girls needed showers so we had to leave. They hadn't cut the cake when we left, which was an issue for Lulu, but Ana said she'd bring some cake over for us after they cut it, and Lulu reluctantly agreed.

After I post this, I'll be checking the community college's course listing to see what my best option is for learning mas Español before the next fiesta. So you know...

Just One More... Today...

Beautiful

"I'm beautiful!" she declares.
"I have beautiful shoes and
"A beautiful dress
"And beautiful hair."

She's two years plus,
Almost three, you see.
"Aren't I beautiful?"
She demands of me.

"Yes. You are," I respond
To my tiny blue-eyed blonde.
She smiles up at me,
My mom's mom's glow,
And says, "I know."


I think I was actually one poem behind for NPM... Plus, it's kind of hard to stop...