Trivia Night Basket

I have a friend who needs prayer. She is about my age and has 3 kids, exactly one year older than my kids. They are 2, 4, and 5. Last summer she was having terrible headaches while out of state visiting relatives, and they found a large brain tumor. She had surgery, radiation, and is now undergoing chemo. She says she is about 90 percent recovered from the surgery, her hair is growing back, and she is very positive. Medically, her prognosis is not good. I'm not giving up on prayer, though. She is supposed to be on chemotherapy the rest of her life--except for breaks just to let her body rest from the medication. Her name is Michele, and I would love it if all of you "praying types" could lift up her and her family.

To help Michele's family with their medical bills, our MOPS group is having a trivia night in a couple of weeks. Each discussion group donated money for a basket to sell at a silent auction. Our group's theme is "kids' crafts." Oh, how fun it was to fill a basket at Michael's with mine AND other people's money. Seriously, I could do this for a living. Just give me a theme and some money, and off I would cheerfully go.

Here is our final product. It has Styrofoam balls, pipe cleaners, glue, pom poms, construction paper, lion scissors, glitter glue, modeling clay, feathers, stick-on gems, a foam puppet kit, beads, various sizes of googly eyes, and a Crayola Color Wonder set. I'm so excited about it. I'm hoping it brings in big bucks for Michele's family.

Can You Feel Your Blood Pressure Rise?

I did, with every step. It's hard knowing how much to let her be independent and when to scream, "No! Get down!" I finally settled on, "Don't go higher than I can reach just in case you need help." It's going to be a long summer. (Try to ignore the cute little butt trying to peek out of the jeans. I can't ever seem to find jeans that fit her right.)

First Day of Swim Lessons

We took Big Sissy to the Y today for her first swim lesson. She was SOOOO excited. Today was supposed to be about warming up and being comfortable in the water. They played ring around the rosy in the shallow end.

They played "find your color rings" in the shallow end.

They did a lot of walking in a line.

Big Sissy couldn't stop "swimming," though, which was making her lag behind everyone else who was walking while she excitedly kicked her arms and legs the whole time. She is going to sleep like a rock tonight!

And this is what I noticed AFTER I had been sitting on the bench in front of this wall for 30 minutes, leaning against it and showing Little Buddy the fishies on the wall.

The Sleep Expert is Costing Me More Money

We always have the best speakers at MOPS. I did this long post last year about tips I gleaned from the professional organizer. Today we heard from a nurse at the Sleep Medicine and Research Center who specializes in children's sleep issues. I found out a lot of things that I've done or am still doing wrong. Thankfully I have generally good sleepers. But here are some things that she said that go against "conventional wisdom" (ie. the way I've been doing it).

1. Soon after their third birthday, many children begin the process of gradually eliminating daytime naps. It is gradual, though, so skipping a nap and functioning well does not mean the child is ready to eliminate naps completely yet.

2. Keeping a child up later at night will not encourage them to sleep later, especially if they have established a strong circadian rhythm. It will just mean that they need a longer nap or will need to go to bed earlier the next night.

3. What I have called sleep terrors is probably actually "confusional arousal," which sometimes happens in children 6 months to 6 years when they have had inadequate sleep. This is where they are thrashing around, back arching, crying, but they remain asleep. It usually only lasts a few minutes. It's called sleep terrors in older children. You should not try to wake the child because it can prolong the process.

4. They do not suggest transitioning a child from a crib to a bed until the child is at least 26 months old and is already sleeping well at night and for naps. (We haven't done this yet because we've had another one on the way each time. She says to keep the infant in a bassinet and a pack 'n play until the crib is available if you don't want to buy another crib.)

5. We've been taking Big Sissy potty at night before we go to bed. Sometimes she still has accidents, so lately Hubby's been taking her early in the morning too. She says this is disruptive to sleep and does not teach them anything. She suggests we leave her in a Pull-Up until she's dry for 3 weeks straight. Ugh. I am not sure about this. I REALLY don't want to have to keep buying Pull-Ups, and she seems to be well-rested in the mornings. I'm going to have to think about this one.

I am so thankful to have relatively good sleepers, but this woman is a great resource if you have problems with your child. They have brochures on everything sleep-related under the sun, too, so even if you are not local you could contact them for information. Speaking of sleep, I'm going to go try it.

How Do You Fondue?

To set the stage, I planned an outing for the moms in my MOPS group. We were supposed to go to the Chocolate Cafe Friday night. I've been there before, so of course I didn't call ahead. I just planned an outing for 9 of us. We showed up at 6:30, and the sign on the door said they closed at 7. Thankfully the new owner (who now calls it LINDSAY'S Chocolate Cafe and Coffee Shop) hasn't decided on her hours yet and is willing to stay open as long as she's getting business. She also has decided to specialize in cheesecake and seriously cut down on the chocolate items on the menu. Don't get me wrong. I really enjoyed the spinach quiche and french onion soup; they're just not chocolate.

The next night I was having company over for homemade pizza. When I started thinking about dessert, I still wanted chocolate. I mean, who goes to the Chocolate Cafe and doesn't have chocolate? It's obscene. So I dug out my fondue pot that has been in retirement since many days B.C. (before children). I wish I had pictures of the spread: marshmallows, brownies, pretzels, strawberries, and bananas. Yummm... I actually asked my guests to cut up brownies and bananas so I could feed Little Buddy and put him to bed (rude, I know). I guess Hubby could only find 5 of the 6 fondue forks because after Big Sissy claimed one, there weren't any left. But don't worry. I had a wooden spoon to dip chocolate on my plate and had the luxury of doing what none of my fine fondue fork friends could do...

Some Things That Made Me Happy Today

I found this downstairs when I came down to check my email. Don't Little Mommy and Daddy look so happy and polite while they relax together before they eat their giant cheese bread and buttered tomato? I think they're even holding hands. That must be because that's what Hubby and I always do at dinnertime. OK, that's a lie. We're usually frantically trying to get dinner on the table without stepping on the toys on the floor or spilling anything on the bills that are all over the table. But it's sweet anyway.

This morning our Parents as Teachers educator came over to work with Big Sissy. She always comments on how sweet and fun our kids are, and it always makes me swell with pride. Big Sissy drew this picture for her. That's a boat at the bottom. She loves boats. I don't know why. We went on a cruise when she was too young to really remember it, and we live in landlocked Midwest. Still all laundry baskets, big boxes, and shoes double as boats for someone.

The last picture is from preschool today. Yes, preschool! After all of my stressing and deliberation, we finally went to visit a preschool today. I loved it. More importantly, Big Sissy loved it. We were just going to observe for a few minutes, and the next thing I know Big Sissy had her coat off and had gone to join the circle time. The teacher let her participate for a good 45 minutes. When I called last week there were 5 spots left, but only 2 in the morning. By today there were only 2 spots left--both in the afternoon. I registered her before I left. I don't think I'll change my mind, but if I do I'm only out the registration fee. I just didn't want to wait too late and regret it. Right now I feel really good about it. The class sizes are small, they pray together every morning and actually talk about Jesus at Christmas, the teachers were patient and kind, the tuition is reasonable, and they will put Big Sissy in the 5's class, so she'll have a bit more academics than the other preschool classes.

Today was all about President's Day.

Saturday School

I need your input on a huge decision. I have been wrestling with this decision for over a year now, and it's time. I have to figure out what to do about schooling for Big Sissy. Here's the situation. She is academically ready for kindergarten work, which I already suspected, but now it's been confirmed in a couple of ways. First, we did the DIAL screening that I already blogged about here. Then we attended Saturday School. This is where the kids in our school district who are ready for kindergarten either this year or next get to go visit their new school, meet a couple of the kindergarten teachers, and do some activities in a kindergarten classroom while the parents learn more about the school. All of the super-achiever scrapbooking parents were there with their cameras while the kids loaded up onto the school bus for their first ride. Except for me, of course. My only thought that morning was, "Must keep moving. Must get there on time."

They only rode around the parking lot on the bus, but I cried the whole time. Thankfully it wasn't the loud wailing kind of cry that would draw attention, but more like the welling-up-of-the-eyes kind of cry that makes the school bus look like a big fuzzy monster as it pulls away with my innocent little girl.

So the problem is that she will miss the deadline by 3 months to be old enough for kindergarten. That means she won't start in 6 months; she'll start in 18 months. As I listened to the teachers explain what they will learn in kindergarten, I am convinced that she has already mastered 85% of the prescribed goals, and I'm quite sure she could be up to speed even in 6 months. So here are my options as I see it:

1) I just put her in preschool and let her play for a year, and then let her go to kindergarten in 18 months even though by then who knows where she'll be academically.

2) I try to convince a private school, who is not so bound to the birthday cutoff rule, to go ahead and enroll her in kindergarten (this would only be an option if they had half-day kindergarten).

3) I start homeschooling her in the fall and let her set the pace for her learning. Then I let the district figure out where to plug her in if/when I decide homeschooling is not a permanent choice.

I'm painfully aware of the pro's and con's of the different choices, but I still don't know what the answer is. She wants to go to school, although I really think it's all about riding the bus. I am hoping some fellow parents and educators can help me think this through. Preschool registration has already begun and the spots are filling up, so I'm feeling a little pressure. Help!!!

How We Decorate for Valentine's Day

I love Valentine's Day. Even when I was single, I used to have parties and buy treats for all of my other single friends. Something about a nation-wide day to let people know they are loved makes me happy. I do remember watching "Better Off Dead" with a bunch of single friends one year, but we were still happy watching it together. The girls got makeup from me this year. I know...I'm a glutton for punishment. I'm going on my Valentine's date tomorrow night. Aunt YaYa is keeping the girls overnight, and my friend Martha is going to stay with Little Buddy while he sleeps. It's nice to have friends to trade favors with!! Hubby has chosen Dave & Busters as the rendezvous of choice. Ummm...don't be jealous. To be fair, he does change diapers. I can't complain. I just might have to wear something cute and take candles to decorate the SpeedRacer arcade game so I can pretend we're somewhere romantic.

In the days BK (before kids), I used to decorate for every holiday. One year I actually made Valentine's Day placemats out of laminating sheets with hearts and swirly cutouts inside. Now that I have little ones, things have changed a bit. Here's how we decorated this year (compliments of Aunt YaYa. Thanks for the fun Valentines, Aunt YaYa! We love you!)

We decorated our faces.

We decorated our furniture.

And best of all, we decorated our boo-boos.

Super Kid and the Mean Cat

I tried to get a video of Little Sissy making one of her funny faces, but the whole conversation turned out kind of funny so I decided to share it with you. If you're a clean freak, please try to ignore the fact that we're eating dinner with papers all over the table and there are marker stains on Little Sissy's shirt. I've got more important things to do, like capturing the cute moments of our lives.

Let Him Eat Cake

I always love the "first cake" pictures. We haven't let our kids eat sweets until their first birthday (except the things that other people have given them without our knowledge). The girls were both a little timid with their first cake, testing it with one finger first and starting with dainty little bites around the edges. Big Sissy was already signing by her first birthday and kept signing "more, more, more." Little Buddy was NOT timid. He jumped right in to a big mouthful and just kept going. When we took the cupcakes back into the kitchen, he pointed and grunted the whole time--his way of saying "more, more, more." There's no going back now. He has experienced the goodness of sugar.

Could This Affect Head Size?

I already told you Little Buddy weighed in at 21 lbs., only the 27th percentile. What I didn't say is that is head is only in the 5th percentile. Again, the doctor assures me that it's nothing to worry about. I will say that it looks more normal now that his body isn't in the 94th percentile. Anyway...I am finally looking at the birthday pictures, and I think I've come across a clue about his head size. What do you think? Maybe we've loved his head a little tightly?

She's A Mini Me

I took Big Sissy today to get a DIAL screening to assess her "kindergarten readiness." She won't quite be old enough for kindergarten in the fall, but I'm having SUCH a hard time figuring out what to do about schooling so I figured it wouldn't hurt. She did great, as I suspected she would, but the things she did not do great at kind of made me laugh. She is SO much like me.

Some things she can do: write her name, count to 100, recognize letters and numbers, name shapes.

Some things she can't do: skip, draw shapes, catch a ball.

There's good news, kid. You CAN survive without coordination, artistic ability, or athleticism. I said I wasn't worried, but then I took her out to play catch as soon as we were home. Too bad they didn't test for perfectionism...

Say What?!

Today we were playing with the leftover party favors from Little Buddy's party. We were taking turns with the blowouts (no, not in our pants--the things you blow into and the curled paper comes flying out). Big Sissy says, "Oh, I've seen these before. Eeyore had one, but his was horny."

Ummm...what did you say?
Eeyore had one, but his was horny.
(Trying not to panic)...What do you mean?
His made a noise like a horn when he blew into it.

Oh. Whew. I am not ready for "the talk" with a 4 year old!!!!

Happy Birthday, Little Buddy!

Little Buddy is one year old today! We took him to the doctor today, and he has gone from winning the "fat baby" award to rather skinny (27th percentile). Apparently this is a breastfed baby phenomenon, totally normal, and nothing to worry about. I thought I would have him weaned by now, but ironically, I'm too lazy. I am a big fan of breastfeeding, but I'm also a big fan of weaning. I'll do it someday. Here are some new pictures of my handsome little man.

Baby Food Fail

My brother got me hooked on this website called failblog. It makes me laugh in the same way that cakewrecks does..or funniest home videos. Sometimes normal things go awry in ways that make you giggle because they're either spelled wrong, misunderstood, or look like something gross or nasty enough to make you uncomfortable. Here's today's baby food fail. I just think it's so nasty it makes me giggle every time I have to look at it. What? Processed meat always makes me giggle!

Animal Noises

Today I was looking at an animal picture book with Little Sissy. I was asking her what sound all of the animals make.

Me: What does the cow say?
Her: Moo moo. Moo moo.
Me: What does the cat say?
Her: Meeee-ow. Meeee-ow.
Me: What does the dog say?
Her: Arf arf. Arf arf.
Me: What does the donkey say?
Her: (long pause)....Donk-a-donk. Donk-a-donk.

This girl cracks me up. Can't help but wonder if it's a honkatonk donk-a-donk.