The "Glasses" Half-Empty

On our last day of vacation, Ellie put her little glasses down on the sidewalk, and following along behind her, I stepped on them and broke them. We had been planning to exchange the glasses for a different pair - even though we loved them, they slid down her nose constantly. So, we went today to choose a pair with adjustable "nose pads" or whatever they're called. Tonight we went back to pick them up. After having them painstakingly fitted by the friendly LensCrafters guy, she proceeded to break them in the car on the way home. Not to be over-dramatic or anything, but that kind of crap sends me over the edge into Mean Mommy territory. She was skating on thin ice until at bedtime, she spit her toothpaste into the sink for the first time for me (oh, the milestones we celebrate here...) and then sang "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" with her angelic little voice while looking me right in the eye. Then, she polished off bedtime with her new secret weapon - She told me she loves me. Yeah, we'll get the glasses fixed.

Molokai, Day One

Prologue:

First off, a big thank you to Ellie's Temporary Airplane Grandma from Boise. She, and her husband in the window seat, successfully entertained/were entertained by Ellie. We had purchased a row of three seats and one across the aisle. I figured Jay and I would split time in the spare seat to spell ourselves as we co-parented for 6 hours at 35,000 feet. But, given the fluid nature of family airplane seats on a trans-Pacific flight, Ellie ended up being the one best suited to the single seat. She quickly engaged the woman next to her, covered the kind soul with stickers and ate all of the Temporary Grandma's trail mix. The cool part of it was that the woman actually enjoyed it.

Okay... Now, here's the uncut, unedited journal from the trip -

Day One:

Note from Jay: removing geckos from wet bathtubs is challenging. Best to use two combs facing one another (think Venus flytrap). Just be careful not to skewer the little guys.

Note from Col: My heart has officially stopped and my limbs have turned to jelly for the first time as Ellie used the cheap plastic chairs on the deck to climb up onto the railing and come THISCLOSE to launching herself 10 feet down into the back yard. We have calculated that she is within one month of Maggie's age when she threw herself down the long, dark staircase head-first in San Diego. JACK-JACK-ATTACK!!! (Do we sound like bad parents?)

Note from Col: Got Mags a 2.5 foot Cinderella doll for a steal when the Disney Store went out of business and managed to hide her in my closet until Maggie's birthday. Her dance card is going to be full for this whole trip, I can tell, with her suitors lining up for a spin with her. Right now, Mags is out lighting the fire for dinner with Jay, and Ellie is taking advantage of some alone time with our favorite princess. If only one could make oneself un-dizzy by spinning in the opposite direction.

Happy Halloween - Trying to Get Back to Normal

After a ten-day vacation, it's kind of hard to settle back in - especially when you've worked hard to slow down and do the whole "aloha spirit" thing... and when you have a ton of pictures you're sorting through... and when Daylight Saving Time is about to end and the rains are starting - and you're just waiting for darkness to descend upon the prairie for the next half year.

Jay and I kept a good journal while we were gone, and my plan is to share it with corresponding photos. That's my plan - I'll keep you posted.

Where's Ellie Been?

Here she is! Maggie took this one at some point - It's the least of what happens when I leave them alone in the office near the computers and with access to cordless telephones.

A lovely shot of her running away down the driveway in her nightgown with not a single look back. And when I say running, I'm not speaking figuratively.

Here she is after the AWOL police chased her down and stuck her in the naughty corner.

Here's one on KinderCare picture day looking like a 5th grader.

...and showing off her kicky pink boots.

...and proving that there's more than one princess in this here house.

We're having some trouble keeping her glasses from slipping down her nose, which means she spends alot of time looking over the tops of them - Oddly (for a child of ours), I think she's too young to appreciate the sense of utter disdain she could convey with that kind of look. As perfect as the glasses are and as much as she completely unabashedly adores them, we may have to switch to a pair with adjustable nose pads so we can squeeze them on her little proboscis.

Little Sister

I totally get that if a) Ellie could read and b) she actually looked at this website and c) she had a general knowledge of the Brady Bunch that lately she would be crying out "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia! Why is it always Marcia?!" Yes, the little one has been scarce lately. My bad. I'm going to try to fix that tonight.

Forget the Princess Dress - I'm Four!

Upon getting up at 6 AM on her 4th birthday, Maggie raided my closet, stole my little black dress and grew up. After a little oatmeal for breakfast, she hopped in the car and drove up to the corner market for a bottle of pinot noir.

Here also is a picture of her cake (which we ate on Sunday). Back in those good old days, she was still into pink and princesses - so here is the world's sweetest pink cake in the shape of a castle. Although, unintentionally, it looks a little like a "castillo de cumpleanos" since my "tower," red vine door and the gumdrops make the castle look a little like Dora the Explorer's house decorated for the holidays.

When Mommy is Sick

...this is what Maggie dresses herself in. And, it's what her father lets her wear to KinderCare. The shirt's even on backwards, and the shoes are on the wrong feet. Sorry the picture is blurry. The camera that will be mechanically designed to take a clear photo of so many different colors and textures has not yet been invented.

The Family Pariah

One sure sign that vacation is upon us (at least this year) is the coming of the Streptococcus bacteria. Sunday afternoon as I browsed the clearance clothing and accessories (at 70% off the lowest ticketed price!) at Fred Meyer, I felt a pesky twinge in the gland that it tucked into the left side of my throat. Although I continued my shopping, including scoring a new pair of Teva's for Jay just in time to leave for Hawaii AND a Timex Ironman watch for me (both coming in at $17.49), I knew in my heart of hearts that the true harbinger of travel had arrived. After a long night trying to sleep while riding on a wave of ever-changing body temperatures, I made an appointment to go see the doctor. As expected, the quicky strep test affirmed that a little bacterial infection was trying to score a free trip to Hawaii.

When I got home, Jay stood in shock and disbelief when I told him the verdict. Immediately after, I was put into solitary confinement. I avoided eviction to the as-yet-unfinished outbuilding - I'm not going into isolation out there until there's a proper bed, hot water and a big TV - but I did lock myself in our bedroom last night, which made for a couple of sad little girls who may think that their mother no longer loves them because I wouldn't kiss them goodnight.

As of tonight, I should no longer be contagious, and we'll continue the ever-vigilant watch over the rest of the flock to look for telltale signs of infection. The good news is, I feel okay - just a bit tired, and although I was going to try to teach Jazzercise this morning, I was (thankfully) relieved of that duty. I have a few more hours with the kids at KinderCare before I have to go into hiding again...

Her Prerogative

The other day I was doing my zombie walk through Costco - wandering aimlessly with my mouth hanging a little agape vaguely looking for something for Maggie's birthday along with a giant box of pumpkin and flaxseed granola and enough cinnamon to last until the end of days. I settled on the new 50th anniversary edition of Sleeping Beauty, complete with a little pink pillow door hanger that says "The Princess is In" and "The Princess is Out" on opposing sides. Our kid video collection needs a transfusion, and Maggie seems fond of Briar Rose/Aurora/Sleeping Beauty/Whatever her name is. I bought it and left it in the back of my car to wait for her birthday.

That very night, I was putting Maggie to bed. We had gone through the nightly book selection process which begins with "pick one from up high" on the bookshelf and then includes me reading off a long list of titles, pausing long enough for Maggie to say, "no, not that one" in between. We finally agreed on a paperback Ariel/Aurora fall-themed double-feature that has the little mermaid taking part in an underwater fall fishy festival and Aurora getting lost in the woods and singing songs with a little bluebird. On the back book cover, there is an advertisement (which I have never noticed) for the Sleeping Beauty movie. With no prompting at all, Maggie looked at that back cover and the small picture of the video on it and said, "I NEVER want to see that movie."

"You never want to see that movie, Mags?"

"No, never. Look - it has a bad dragon in it. And it looks like there's a mean witch, too. See?"

"Well, yeah, but I see a prince, too!"

"Yes, but he probably has to fight the mean dragon."

"So, you really don't want to ever see it?"

"Nope, I don't think I do."

Are you Willy Wonka?

Mags and Jay were watching Willy Wonka before bed. Jay starts singing along.

Mags: "Papa, are you Willy Wonka?"

Jay: "Well, no..."

Mags: "Then STOP SINGING."

Because this fits right in with what we call "wit" and "humor" at our house, Jay saw fit to tell me about it. I told him that last night the conversation had gone like this:

Me: "Put on your Sunday clothes when you feel down and out....!!!"

Mags: "Mama, are you Dolly Levi?"

Me: "No, Darlin'."

Mags: "Then STOP SINGING."

Sometimes she's kind of like the John Lithgow preacher man in Footloose. No singing. No dancing. Good thing she's not the boss of us.

It's not like they're asking for her eye tooth

Mags had another failed attempt at the dentist today. Jay took her, since last time she was so miserable when I took her - curling up in my lap and refusing to turn toward the dental person, let alone pry open her lips. When he got in the car to pick her up at KinderCare and take her in, he said something like, "Yeah, this is never gonna work..." And, it didn't.

They apparently offered up a referral to a pediatric dentist which Jay refused saying something like, "it's not you, it's her..." Tonight, she promised me that if I took her to a dentist where they only worked with kids that she'd cooperate. Either I am the optimist in our family or just the mom, but I think I'm going to go for it. (I picked Ellie up at KinderCare while Jay took Mags. Before we got home, I called and got the scoop on how it had gone. I briefly considered pulling over and getting Ellie a wealth of treasures and going home to tell Maggie that I had taken Ellie to the dentist - and look at all the presents she got there... but I thought the better of setting that precedent.) Ah, someday she'll be a teenager and we'll have other problems. We'll get her to the dentist someday. Maybe even the orthodontist. It'll be great.

Take a Deep Breath and Buckle Down

Tomorrow the temperature's going to drop twenty degrees and the rain's gonna start. Today it's almost 80 and sunny... Hellllllllo, October.