Crooked Pigtails

Quote of the Day

In the midst of an early morning conversation about making proper behavioral choices and the relationship between choices and consequences.  Throwing her hands into the air, looking me straight in the eye...

Miss A:  But!  Mommy!  I can't do that!  I'm littler than you!

In case you were wondering

A baby dog is a puppy.  A baby duck is a duckling.  A baby cat is a kitten.  A baby cow is a calf, as is a baby elephant.  A baby frog is a tadpole.  A baby bear is a cub.  And a baby sheep?  A baby sheep is a sheepling.

Random Transitionless Randomness

Miss H has an ear infection.  I woke up yesterday morning, (4:00!! yesterday morning, to be exact) with her standing over me, crying and holding her ear.  S gave her some Tylenol for the pain, and she climbed into bed with us until 8:00, when we could call the pediatric office.  In order to get the best possible look at Miss H's ear drum, the doctor had to remove a little ball of wax.  This procedure got interesting when, with the wax, came one of the tubes that have been in my little girl's ears since June of 2005; a tiny little green tube that S wanted to keep, but Miss H demanded be thrown in the trash.  The good news: this is the first ear infection we have had since those tubes were inserted.  The obvious bad news: Miss H has an ear infection the very moment the tube worked itself out.

Grrrrrr...please, please, don't let this be a sign of things to come. 

She was as sick yesterday as she has been in a long, long time.  Zero appetite (though she did drink plenty of fluids), barely picking her head up off the pillow.  Today, three doses into the medication, she is much better.  We are hanging low for the rest of the day, but she is definitely on the mend.  She sees the ENT guy in a couple of weeks, so we don't need a follow up appointment with her pediatrician.  Everyone keep your fingers crossed for good news.

***

Does anyone have a good recipe for meatloaf?  Meatloaf (or, meat cake as we like to call it in order to trick the girls into believing it is edible) is one of S's favorite meals.  But, since it is one of my least favorite meals, I don't make it often, and my recipe is mediocre at best.  He was partial to his grandmother's recipe, which no one in the family seems to have--or is willing to share, that had tomato soup as a main ingredient.  Sound familiar to anyone? 

Anyone?  Anyone???

At this point, I'll take any recipe, with or without the soup.  But, if I could score that soup recipe...

***

If you know us in real life, and are interested in ordering Girl Scout cookies from Miss H, please let me know.  She will thank you by brushing your dog every day for a week, and turning three somersaults per box ordered.

***

Recently I was forced to take Miss A with me to a gynecological appointment when her scheduled play date came down with the stomach flu.  I filled her little-kid-sized backpack with a snack, a juice box, her Leapster, some crayons and a fresh notebook filled with blank pages.  Before my doctor entered the room, I settled Miss A in a chair slightly behind me, to the right of the exam table, where she sat quietly removing everything from her backpack.

During my exam, Miss A glanced in the general direction of the tent-like shield draped over my knees and, seemingly unfazed, continued to color a purple-haired little girl basking in the warmth of a magenta sunshine.  I smiled at her, she blew me a kiss, and I breathed a sigh of silent relief.

You can see where this is going.

Later that afternoon, we went to pick up Miss H after school.  As always, the lobby was filled with several mothers chit-chatting while waiting for the kids to be dismissed.  We went to the office where I signed Miss H out, and then we joined a group of my friends in the lobby.  After a few minutes, a woman standing across the hallway from us complimented Miss A the pretty dress she was wearing, and asked her if she had done something special that day, at which point Miss A announced to the entire lobby that she had accompanied me to the the doctor where Mommy had her vagina checked-up!

Next time, I'll take my chances with the stomach flu.

Quote of the Day

I'm really sorry, Mommy, but, I was jumping on your laundry basket, the green one you told me not to play with, but I wasn't playing with it, I was just jumping on it, and I accidentally broke it.

No title

The scene:  sitting around the dining room table after just finishing dinner.  S asks me how I am doing, I shrug, Miss H realizes something is wrong.

Me:  Grandma Liz is very sick.

Miss H:  Will she die?

Me:  (gulping back un-cried tears) Yes, baby, I think she is going to die.

Miss H:  But, I love her.

We have been snuggling for about half an hour.  Talking about how much my grandmother loves my daughter, about how excited she was when I was pregnant with her, about how Miss H loves to read with Grandma Liz, about how much we will miss her........

Quote of the day

"Turn up the music, Mommy!  The man is mow lawning too loud!"

Not enough cooks in the kitchen

Once again it is a cold, rainy day.  My sister has been raving about these cookies every chance she gets, not sharing, mind you, just ranting and raving until you want to strangle her with her own batter-covered, ringless, fingers, so, I decided that a new cookie recipe might be just what was needed to bring A out of her bored, drizzle-induced mood.

When I called her to the kitchen and informed her of my plan to bake Aunt Lizzie's favorite cookies, she excitedly agreed and ran to wash her hands.  When she returned to the kitchen, however, she was dismayed to find me gathering the necessary bowls and ingredients.

"Where's Aunt Lizzie?!"  she demanded.

"She's at work."  Immediately, she was pushing a dining room chair up to the window so that she could see the driveway.  "Come on," I said, "we can call her later and tell her how the cookies come out."

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!  I want Aunt Lizzie!"

There was no consoling her.  For the last hour, when she is not flailing on the ground in a cookie-seeking-Aunt-Lizzie-needing tantrum, we have been cuddling on the couch reading book after book; the bowls are still on the counter.  A wants to bake cookies, but she refuses to make Aunt Lizzie's favorite cookies without Aunt Lizzie.  So, we cry, and we flail, and we cuddle, and we read, and we breathe, and we negotiate...win, lose, repeat.  No amount of promised sugar can change her mind, which would be really sweet (pardon the pun) if it weren't so damned annoying.

Meanwhile, I am getting no closer to those cookies.

Because you asked

I asked H the same questions A answered the other day, but I should have waited because she was a little too distracted.  Now I am finished with these for a while.

Two Names You Go By
1.  Snickerdoodle                                                                                                                                                               2.  Boo Bear

Two Things That Scare You
1.  bees
2.  Lou because he does really scary faces

Two of Your Everyday Essentials
1.  lip gloss
2.  crayons

Two Things You Are Wearing Right Now
1.  poncho
2.  bracelet

Two of Your Favorite Bands or Musical Artists (at the moment)
1.  Sheryl Crowe
2.  The Thanks and Giving CD

Two Things You Want in a Friendship
1.  be nice
2.  be kind

Two Truths
1.  roses are red
2. violets are blue

Two Things You Want Really Badly
1.  to put on make-up whenever I want 
2.  to be a princess

Two Places You Want to go on Vacation
1.  Florida and stay at Disney World
2.  Elmo's water place  (Sesame Place)

Two Things You Are Thinking About Now
1.   I love art
2.   I love to read books to my dog

Two places you shop at
1.  Ikea                                                                                                                                                                                       2. the dog store

Two people you haven't talked to in a while
1.  Nicholas
2. Melanie

Two pets you had/have:
1  Fenway
2. fish named Dorothy, but she died

Two Favorite Sports
1  tennis
2. soccer

Two things you did last night
1.  read a book before I went to bed
2.  read a chapter of Katie Kazoo after I was tucked in, when I was supposed to be sleeping

Two shows you like to watch (currently airing)
1.  That's so Raven
2.   Kim Possible

You know you have a great babysitter when...

you walk in the door and your three year old throws herself on the floor while screaming, "Nooooooooooo!  Why are you here?  Go. A. Way!" then jumps up and attempts to barricade herself, and the aforementioned babysitter, in the play room.

To be three again...

This has been making the rounds; I thought it might be fun to interview A.  These are her direct quotes:

Two Names You Go By
1.  MacGillacuddy
2. Cheeks

Two Things That Scare You
1. ghosts
2.  fox

Two of Your Everyday Essentials
1.  the potty
2.  cuddling

Two Things You Are Wearing Right Now
1.  jeans and
2.  like, this shirt

Two of Your Favorite Bands or Musical Artists (at the moment)
1. rock and roll
2.  I like my kind of music that i do at H's school, but if H's school doesn't have music we better switch it up

Two Things You Want in a Friendship
1.  be nice
2. no pushing

Two Truths
1.  like, if anybody hits H I will tell them "don't. hit. H"
2. Fenway is my best friend dog

Two Things You Want Really Badly
1  if I have stinkies, then it's no fun and i have to wipe really bad
2. I love to buy some, like, dolls and stuff

Two Places You Want to go on Vacation
1. the beach in the summer time when there's roses
2.  i love to go sliding with my friend named Julia

Two Things You Are Thinking About Now
1.   I love Daddy and he loves me
2.   I love to sing rock and roll and i love to dance like this (demonstrates a twirl, followed by some sort of jump)

Two places you shop at
1.  a doggie shop where we get treats for Fenway
2.   like, sometimes when we run around the back yard with Isabel, we go in the sprinkler

Two people you haven't talked to in a while 
1.  megan
2. julia

Two pets you had/have: 
1  Fenway
2.  and a kitty named Wilbur

Two Favorite Sports
1  A.U.C.C.O (this is exactly what she said...not the phonics...she said these five letters)
2. I like to throw the ball

Two things you did last night
1. I slept with H
2.  I did the photo dance like this (more demonstration)

Two shows you like to watch (currently airing)
1.  Snow White
2.   Dora

I had no idea that she knew what a ghost was, that we have a cat (she swears Wilbur is a real cat and he belongs to us, but doesn't know who feeds him), that she has seen the movie Snow White, or, perhaps most startling, that she is, like, a valley girl.

Hmmm...makes me wonder what else is in that little head.