All I want for Christmas..

Is my two front teeth!

This song has been sung constantly in our house for the last 2 days. She was waiting and waiting for that second tooth to fall out. That makes 3 holes in her smile now!

Whistler's tooth

Wiggle to the left, wiggle to the right, what do you get (after 2 weeks of wiggling)? A big hole right in the top row of your teeth!

Sweetpea has been waiting and waiting for her first top tooth to fall out. She started pushing it around a few weeks ago, hoping that it would fall out in time for school pictures (Tuesday 10/14). Over the weekend it was hanging on just by the front but refused to let go. Pictures were taken with a loose wiggly tooth and she was only a bit disappointed. The very next day wiggle tooth decided it was time to make it's exit and Sweetpea came home with her proud tooth container necklace in hand.

Check out this gap in her smile - she thinks it's awesome and was practicing her whistling through her hole all night long (which almost matches the hole on the bottom).

Her next hope is that the other top one falls out and doesn't grow back before Christmas so she can sing a certain famous song.

A writer in the making

Waiting for dinner can be such a boring endeavor that it pays to bring along some paper and a pencil. Sweetpea typically entertains herself by drawing pictures, playing Tic-Tac-Toe, etc. Since she is now reading books by herself she decided to write one of her own. Here is her first short story written and illustrated entirely on her own. (Make sure you note the boy's expressions as the story progresses).

Is it a conspiracy?

So just about everything you buy today is from a foreign country. I'm not one to particularly care where something originated from but with the numerous cases of lead from China, I do like to watch the labels.
As the new school year started, we began the search for a lunchbox. After examining every lunch box on the shelves, Sweetpea picked an adorable panda bear lunchbox. Attached was a large tag indicating it was "LEAD FREE". Oh good, at least I don't have to worry about that and we took it home with us.
That evening while I was removing all of the tags I turned the cute fuzzy lunch box around to find this...

Okay, is it just me or do you find these Fun Facts a bit upsetting? I'm all for sharing educational tidbits about pandas but did they have to make ALL the S's backwards? Isn't it hard enough for most children to learn the proper direction for letters to face? Why would you go and put something intentionally incorrect just to be "cute". I would assume the target audience for these are not adults who know better, but children who learn from what they see.

So is this an evil ploy to disrupt the American educational system? Probably not. I did write a letter of concern to the parent company though. I'm not sure I'll get a response though. They may not be able to read it with all of my letters facing the proper way!

The Race - Sweetpea's turn

One of the main reason's that Chris and Sweetpea attended this 5K is that Sweetpea wanted a chance to run too. She has heard me talk about running and seen me practice so she wanted to join in. Her wanting to join has made my heart glad. I would love for her to find joy in something as simple and wonderful as running at her age instead of at 32 like I did. Maybe, just maybe, if she starts now, she won't be struggling at age 33 to make it through a 5K in under 35 minutes.

Her race was to begin after mine ended but I still had Chris waiting in the wings if she needed someone to run with her(you really didn't think I was going to run another 0.5 miles after my own hellish 3.1 miles). While he is not a runner (he thinks I am psycho for running), he can manage a half mile if the occasion calls for it. The kids were all anxious to begin and when the race director called them to the starting line, they were there faster then you could bat an eyelash. They all lined up in classic race starting position (one foot in front of the other) some with parents but most without. After consulting Sweetpea, Dad did not have to run, and off she went to the lineup with a few hints from me. She had her foot right on that starting line and she was ready to go with a serious look on her face.

The race director got on his bike and got a head start before he yelled go and off the kids went. Sweetpea was doing well and keeping ahead of the pack but I was sure she was going to run out of steam before she reached the turn around. I quickly ran over to try and peer around the bend but I couldn't see her any longer. As the kids began to came back into view I first saw the 10 year old girl out in front (who just finished the 5K and beat me too) and the little boy (maybe 5) who's Mom kicked butt in the 5K finishing in 16 minutes (oh how I hate her). Then came Sweetpea, in 3rd place and going strong. As she got closer she slowed to a walk and I thought she was done, but she took my advice and after 5 or 6 steps, took off running again. She went ripping towards the finish line as fast as she could and crossed in a speedy 3:30.

She was so excited that she came in third and wanted to know what award she was getting since 1st,2nd, and 3rd always get awards - right? I had to explain to her that the kids all get the same award (a bag of candy in this case)but that she did a great job. We ended up staying around for the awards ceremony just in case but after baking in the sun for 15 minutes, she decided we could leave. I was relieved it went so well and I hope that she enjoys taking part in these races until she can run with me (and probably beat me) in the 5K races.

One tired little girl

The camp pick up went very well. We were greeted by a running little girl who gave us the biggest hug ever. The first thing she said to me - "Can I come back again?" Judging by that question, I think you can say she had a great time at camp. She was a bit disappointed that she has to wait until next summer to come back though. Maybe she'll end up going twice next year, once in the beginning and once at the end of summer.
She is my brave independent adventurer. She said she only cried once on Thursday night when she woke up and was a bit lonely but all the other times she had friends with her day and night so why be lonely. They got to make lots of fun things, go for walks, look for pirates, paint each other's faces, make awesome deserts, and more and more stuff. She said she couldn't write me more letters because during rest hour, she had to rest! She was too tired from being so busy to write instead.
I think her favorite activity was being in the polar bear club. This meant getting up and going for a morning swim before breakfast at 7 am (no surprise since she is part fish). She only missed it on the last day because her counselor couldn't get her to wake up.
I am so happy to have my baby girl back home and after getting 12 hours of sleep Friday night, she is back in the swing of things. I am so relieved that she loved camp. I loved it as a child and I really wanted her to have the same experience. Thanks GSEP, I appreciate you taking such good care of her!

Homecoming..

I can't wait. Today (after dinner) we go and pick my Sweetpea up from camp. We got a letter from her yesterday saying she was having a lot of fun so unless the camp counselors force them to write that I guess she is having fun. I am looking forward to hearing her stories and seeing her beautiful face. Oh how I miss having her here with me.

10/365

Haircuts typically consist of a last minute drop in at the local kids hair cut place. They are wonderful there since no planning ahead is needed (a big plus in my life) and they have custom kid "chairs" to sit on. (Think mall toys without the need for quarters).

This time I happened to have an appointment for myself and since my hair has decided to take a hiatus from growing I switched with Sweetpea. She was very excited to be going to a grown up beauty shop. The newest thing was getting her hair washed. Her neck barely reached the bowl even sitting on a large pillow and she streched out as best as she could. When Krista turned the water on Sweetpea nearly vaulted across the room. After telling her she had to stay back or she would be taking a bath along with her hair, I had to resort to holding her chin while her hair was washed. She was releived to be done and on her way to the cutting chair. We just got a trim, nothing new or exciting, but the best part was the curls. Krista put ringlet curls in her hair with a small braid in the front. The curls were reminescent of a southren belle's, all she needed was the layered hoop skirt. Surprisingly, the curls stayed in until the next day so she was able to show her school friends too.

Growing up too fast

I took some random pictures of my girl this weekend just because I love taking her picture. After looking at them I can't help but wonder where my baby went...she is too grown up for me even when she is posing with her favorite My little Ponies.

We also added a new pet to the family. Her name is Hammy and she is a black bear hamster. We gave our dog away a month or so ago to save my sanity and the hamster was the item traded for. We are hoping she does well and doesn't get sick like my nephew's poor hamsters do. He is on hamster # 5 and #6 already and only started buying them about 4 weeks ago. Because of this we have a strict no touching policy in place since we are told they need at least 2 weeks to acclimate without feeling stressed. Any advice for raising a hamster let me know!

Mom's Fix-it service

One day my Sweetpea will look back remember all of the fond times we have had together. Hopefully she won't reflect back and wonder why Mom was always fixing things instead of playing with her though.

I once again spent a portion of the weekend at my MIL's house fixing things for her. This time I was building a radiator cover (she has those old large metal radiators). I do think it turned out rather well but I will spend several more hours there next weekend filling in nail holes and staining the wood edging on it. I am a one woman fix it crew (with some help from the hubby when I need lifting/holding help). I even have my traveling bucket of tools. FYI - I am not for hire though, I provide plenty of free labor to keep me busy year round.

My Sweetpea was good and waited patiently in the living room playing electronic Yahtzee while I hammered away. The only visits I got from her were the numerous times she came running in to tell me she got another Yahtzee - I really don't know how she does it. Her highest score was 344, remind me never to challenge her to a game.

I do hope though, that since I drag her along to all of my projects that she will be able to install her own lighting, fix her floors, and all of the other stuff that needs to be done in a house when she is older. I consider myself privileged to have grown up in a family where we had to fix our own broken pipes, floors, etc since I learned how to do it too and that is my hope for her as well. Maybe one day she can even be the star on one of my favorite DIY network shows.

The 5 year old check-up

Last week was Sweetpea's 5 year old check up. I look forward to these visits since I get a comparison of how she has grown since last year and it gives you peace of mind to have a doctor run through the checklist too. I also dread these appointments because they always entail some laundry list of vaccinations. I am a huge proponent of vaccinations (my daily job is to send vaccines to the market for use so how can I not support them) but Sweetpea is not a fan of shots and can't even stand to talk about the idea.
The visit started as always with the nurse checking her vital signs, height, weight etc. In the last year Sweetpea has grown 4.5 inches (for a total of 46.5 inches) and gained 9 lbs (for a total of 56 lbs). That places her squarely in the 90% range of the growth chart which is where she has been since she was born. The doctor indicated that her height and weight are good for her even though she has a belly that comes and go depending on the time of day.
The second part of her visit was the hearing and eye test. She did this last year but didn't remember it. The nurse put the earphones on her, faced her away from the machine, and instructed her to raise her hand when she heard the sound. The nurse began pressing the buttons with no reaction elicited from Sweetpea. She just sat there with this puzzled look on her face. The nurse kept asking - how about now - hear anything? I was a bit concerned at first but after we went through the entire range on each ear, I figured something was wrong with the machine. I may think she has a hearing problem since I am always repeating myself but I believe that is just selective hearing. The nurse tried the earphones on herself and yes the instrument was working just fine. Ok - let's try again. The nurse starts pushing buttons again while prompting Sweetpea to respond and she still is shaking her head no. The nurse then asked - do you hear anything at all. Sweetpea responded - "All I hear is that doorbell ringing from out in front". After we had a quick chuckle we explained to her that she should raise her hand for the doorbell too. This enabled her to pass the test with flying colors then - that darn doorbell. You have to wonder what she thought she would hear.
The eye test was uneventful - I could have told you she has eagle eyes. We then went back for our quick physical exam and then they save the best for last. Sweetpea needed to get 4 shots. The doctor quickly informed us of this, then left the room while the nurses prepared the shots. They needed 2 people so it took at least 10 minutes for them to come back. In the meantime, I was left with a whining child who is getting more upset about the awful shots by the minute. Luckily I remembered some of the Halloween songs she is learning in school and so I sang those to her and it was wonderful since it stopped the whining.
Shots involve her sitting on my lap while I hold her hands and arms tightly. A nurse then lined up on each side with two syringes ready to go. She was only focusing on the nurse on the left side and Sweetpea kept saying "I'm not ready" as both of the nurses were sticking her anyway. The fact that they didn't wait made her mad and she gave them a very nasty... "I SAID I WASN'T READY!" when they were done. In the end it wasn't too bad. I didn't get kicked, she didn't scream like a banshee, and due to the anger the crying ended almost instantaneously.
So it will be another year until we return (with any luck) and the doctor said that she is all done until she turns 11 with shots (except that yearly Flu shot). Best of all, it looks like she is right on track to hit 48 inches by next summer. 48 inches is the magic number since then she can go on the kind of big rides at amusement parks. Since she is an amusement park junkie (we can't imagine where she got that from) this is a huge goal for her.

Punctuation

Each night Sweetpea and I sit down to read a chapter or two of a book before bedtime (I am so happy to have moved up to the chapter ones). Sweetpea goes and gets the appropriate book and meets me in the "cat room" on the futon to read it. Last night I was putting a load of wash in the washer and she was in the room with the book first. She was looking through the pages when she told me she knew what "these mean". I was only half listening and I just said You do?. She then proceeded to explain what the punctuation marks mean. She described them all. The comma means you pause, the dot means you are at the end of sentence and you stop, the hook one means you are asking a question, and she forgot what the upside down i means. I was in awe because I just didn't expect it yet. See everything you need to know you really do learn in Kindergarten.

12/20/2002 - 09/17/2007

Today Sweet pea lost her first tooth. She has been waiting for weeks for this tooth to fall out and it happened today at school. Yesterday the tooth was very loose and I tried giving it a few tugs to see if it would come out but no luck. Today I went to pick Sweet pea up at school and she came bouncing over to me with a big gaping smile on her face. The right lower front tooth was gone. She pulled it herself in class this morning. My girl decided it was bugging her too much so she twisted it out. Then she held on to it a few minutes until she decided to tell her teacher just because she didn't want to let go of it right away. Her teacher (Mrs.) was well prepared and gave her a small envelope with a laminated tooth on it where Mrs. recorded the date and time. This was her second tooth that came in when she was a baby at a mere 6 months old (12/20/2002) and the first to be replaced by her (sniffles from Mom) adult tooth. I know the other bottom tooth is not far behind, it is already wiggling at us. The tooth fairy will of course be making a visit tonight and I know Sweet pea is super excited about that. She even told me to be quiet tonight so she could go to sleep, forget the typical routine Mom, I need to go to sleep so the tooth fairy can come.

Field Trip w/Dad

Sweetpea and Dad were home together today since she starts Kindergarten tomorrow. Dad had to run into work to drop off some paperwork and she went in with him. The one nurse decided to gown her up and take her in to see where Dad works (the OR). So here is a picture of my future surgeon in training..... I love the necklace sticking out. Imagine the patients seeing her walk around the OR suite. Boy is that a short doctor.

What to be when I grow up..

What I want to be when I grow up is a question that is posed to you from the moment you are old enough to talk. I think this question is a good reflection of what you are seeing and enjoying in your world at the moment. Sweetpea has gone through numerous ideas of what she wants to be when she grows up. When she was 2 and you asked her what she wanted to be she would always say a mommy since that was all she really knew. As she has grown and been exposed to more of the world she has changed "jobs" numerous times. For awhile she wanted to be a doctor so she could take care of people. I always thought she would want to be a teacher but anytime I would ask her that she would always say " NO, not a teacher". Maybe being in daycare and seeing what teachers have to handle everyday made her realize that as much as she loves her teachers that she doesn't want to do that. Now she no longer wants to be a mommy since she doesn't want to get a baby in her belly - she thinks that would hurt too much for the baby to come out since the only way she knows for that baby to come out is for the doctor to cut it out (I had a C-section). The latest job she decided upon was to be a writer. We started reading chapter books with very few pictures and she enjoys them very much. At the back of the book they have picture of the author and she thought that would be a great job. This lasted a few months but now with sports starting she wants to try and be a cheerleader when she grows up. I keep telling her that it is something she can do in school but she doesn't quite get time spans yet. So in the meantime she is practicing jumping on the trampoline (since cheerleaders do a lot of jumping) and doing sit-ups to make her belly skinny. I love watching her change ... and keeping track of those changes, after all at her age I wanted to be a waitress when I grew up.

Last Day of Daycare

Today was it, the last day that Sweetpea went to her daycare. She starts school on Wednesday but she is spending Monday and Tuesday home with dad. She was very excited about it. We didn't really think about the emotional side of her last day at all. Then DH called me at work after he dropped her off and said that he is quote "..such a pussy" (please excuse the language). He said he got in there and stopped to see the teacher that has adopted Sweetpea as her own since she was an infant and then he began to cry. Then he took her to her room and talked to her current teachers and they asked him if he was crying. So he spent awhile there taking her around to her favorite teachers to say goodbye. DH said that it is funny just because 5 years ago when he dropped her off for the first time he didn't cry then but he cries today. I can't say much because I'm sure I will be a wreck on Wednesday. I picked her up and she gave her "new" boyfriend several hugs and off we went, no tears on her part. I got a little chocked up though when I read the card her one teacher gave her. It is something I will definately save for her to see when she gets big. Now the countdown begins....a few more days to go and my baby will be in kindergarten.