Monday, December 31, 2012

Happy New Year!

Our big New Years Eve plans consisted mostly of packing and preparing for our trip to Texas. Peeper and I will fly down tomorrow, Shrike will join us on Friday, we'll do the Christmas thing with my family over the weekend, and we'll all come home next Monday.

We got a gift card for TGI Friday's for Christmas, and then I got a 20% off discount via email, so that's where we headed for our "fancy" New Years Eve dinner. The card and coupon got us down to about three bucks, before the tip. Not a bad deal.

Peeper even wore a "new" outfit. (Not even actually new-to-her, but the first time she's worn it, after it waited around in the basement for a year or so after it was handed down to us, before it fit.)

How cute is it, though?!

We'll pretend that she's yelling "Happy New Year!" in this one.



And this happened at about ten after seven.



2012 Blog Year In Review

SUNDAY, JANUARY 1, 2012

New Year's Day
I started off the new year too damn early, when Peeper's nine-ish o'clock bedtime from last night bit me right in my sleepy ass at 6:57 am.

But, she's a big girl, she can take care of herself, right?

Evidently, she can, because I set her up on the computer with some longish Dr. Seuss videos on YouTube and went back to bed, well her bed, in the next room.

Before I did, though, I made her go pee-pee, which was a bit of a challenge, because she is some sort of inhuman freak who doesn't need to pee first thing in the morning. Not only does she tell me she doesn't have to go, but quite often she sit on the potty and either doesn't go, or just dribbles a bit.

Read more

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2012

Surprised
This evening, Peeper was drinking a yogurt smoothie (the kind from the store, not from the blender) and looked inside to "see if it's full or empty."

I don't know which it was, but what ever she saw in there surprised her and made her do a double-take. I thought it was funny, so she kept doing dramatic (and melodramatic) reenactments.

Of course, as soon as the camera came out, she was done.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Campus Tour
Guess what we did this morning?

Shrike, Peeper and I toured the Mother's Day Out program at a local church, and - get this - it looks like, as of next Wednesday, Peeper's going to be going there one day a week.

Up until now, we've been sort of ignoring the preschool question, and giving it a "wait and see" because we're not really convinced that it's necessary for a three year old to go to school.

On the other hand, it's becoming more and more obvious that what is necessary, for our family, is to have some sort of consistent and reliable childcare readily available, so that Shrike and I can have some time together, for Dr T appointments or errands or just holding a conversation without interruption.

SUNDAY, APRIL 1, 2012

Graduate Dog
A couple of months ago, we were having some issues with Peeper and BigGaloot not properly respecting each others' personal space. She was getting in his face, and he was warning her, in ways that would be appropriate for another dog, but not so much for a little girl.

It was freaking us out, so we actually took her with us to the vet's office to pick up doggy meds one day, and had one of their staff members talk to her about how to behave around doggies, and also asked their advice about what to do.

They suggested getting him some training, involving Peeper if possible, to help him to realize that he's not the Alpha around here, and that she has a higher status in the pack than he does.

TUESDAY, MAY 1, 2012

Roller Girl
This morning, I took Peeper to the preschool "skate and play" at a roller rink near us. For the skating portion, they will tighten up the kids' wheels so that they are really just clunking around in very awkward boots, and then they take off the skates and get out the riding toys.

(They also do a toddler time that's just toys.)

You think she liked it okay? 

SATURDAY, JUNE 2, 2012

Overtime
Peeper: I have to go to work! (on her "horse")
Mama: How long will you be there?
Peeper: Fourty-fifteen hours.

SUNDAY, JULY 1, 2012

Hanging Out
Peeper and I mostly hung out a the Anonyparents' house today, and just got out for a quick grocery shopping trip.

Well, it actually turned into a not-so-quick trip because I thought we could get everything we needed at Target, were Starbucks was still doing the BOGO frappaccino deal, but we still had to go to a regular grocery for one freakin' thing.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2012

Dress Up
I really don't know why actually spend money on "dress up" clothing and accessories for Peeper. She'd much rather just create her costumes herself.

"Mama, turn around! There's a peacock behind you!"

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2012

Busted!
As if I weren’t in enough trouble for the whole flooded basement thing, I got a speeding ticket today. (And a warning for my August inspection sticker.)

Actually, the trooper didn’t technically write it for speeding. Instead, it said I "failed to obey the instructions of an applicable official traffic-control device.”

MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2012

In Texas
With a red rental car :)

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2012

Super Hero Girl

Peeper got this cool shirt-plus-cape for her birthday. 

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2012


Christmas Countdown Begins

Once again, we're using the Christmas tree advent calendar with the little drawers to count down the days of December.

Today, Peeper opened the first drawer, ate the Kiss and found a note saying "You've Got Mail."

Read more




Sunday, December 30, 2012

Santa?



Cranky Santa?


Saturday, December 29, 2012

A Visitor

We've been chasing this little bastard for a couple of weeks now.


We've actually caught and released a couple, a while back, but then we've been seeing this one - and probably another, unless his fur gets lighter and darker - for a while but haven't been able to get him until now.

We thought that what we'd caught and released were voles, but once we had this guy trapped and could get a good look at him and take photos, to compare to other photos on The Google, we figured out that he's a shrew. Probably a short-tailed shrew.


Evidently, they are carnivorous and can literally eat their weight in insects, grubs and other rodents (or dog food?) daily. I'm a little worried about this guy, because the dog food doesn't seem to be disappearing. (We read that it was a good bait for traps, so we figure he should eat it.)





The plan is to release him to, but there's several inches of snow on the ground right now, so that doesn't seem right. At the moment, he's in a trash can in the laundry room, with (dog) food and water and some toilet paper rolls to hide in.

Yes, evidently we are fostering him until the weather warms up a bit. Which should be tomorrow, I believe.

He is kind of cute, and we've started referring to him as "squeaky" but he's a wild animal, and disease-carrying vermin - oh, and venomous. Yes. Venomous. So he is most definitely going back into the wild from whence he came.



This is one shrew who will not be tamed.


Don't worry, Peeper is only allowed to look at him, and not touch!

Ring of Fire

Friday, December 28, 2012

Can't Argue With That

Instead of getting in bed this evening, Peeper decided to play with her number puzzle, but she made it more challenging for herself by attempting to order the numbers on the back of the frame, without the holes to put them in. She made it even more challenging by refusing to put them in two rows, or allow them to hang off the frame at either end.






As you can imagine, this resulted in some serious frustration on her part. She banged her head on the floor, and threw the puzzle frame across the room.

I picked her up and "helped her with her feelings" by having her take some deep breaths and talking about how frustrated she must be, and then suggested that she just put them in order on the floor. (Which is what I was telling her to do in the first damn place, that pissed her off so badly.)

Then I made her go get the frame that she'd thrown and put it back by the numbers. It had landed near the light switch, so I took her with me to do that while I turned off the light. After pretty much walking her over and putting it in her hand, she dropped it by the numbers, threw herself and bed and declared, "I'm all cranky!"

Yes. Yes, you are.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Fifty Months

Dear Peeper:
Today, you are fifty months old. Yeah, I know, it's starting to get a little silly to count by months, but if I'm going to write each month, then I sort of have to, don't I?

I almost missed this one, what with Christmas just being a couple of days ago, but I did manage to remember in time to get a few photos of you with Mr. Panda. I may have bribed you with (yet another) sugar cookie to get you to pose for them.

Of course, this has been a crazy-busy month, with pretty much non-stop Christmasing and festiving and such, which was tiring, but also pretty wonderful.

You really "get" Christmas this year, other than the asking-for-gifts part. Maybe it's because you don't watchTV with commercials, so no one's told you what you want, but it was like pulling teeth to get any ideas or requests from you. Pretty much it just came down to "candy and some surprises" again. Okay, seems easy enough.

You also remember several things that we did last year, so you are starting to have a sense of "tradition" already, which is really cool.

We had a really good time with Christopher the Elf. He didn't get into too much mischief, but you sure did have a good time looking for him every morning, and finding him in lots of silly places.

Other than Christmas, your biggest thing this month is that you've finally had some school drop-offs (and dance class send-ins) with no tears!

The next-to-last week of classes, and one day of the last week, you were completely tear-free, with just a little bit of hesitance on the way in.

Just in time for Christmas break, when you'll be off for three weeks. We'll see how it goes when we go back in January.

And, as usual, you've had lots of fun and funny things to say:

One day you were balancing precariously (planking, perhaps) on the arms of your office chair. You were grunting and grunting and finally dropped down in the seat. "Ugh, I'm glad that's over!"



You were being the Grinch, and :stealing Christmas," which involved putting toys in a bag, and taking them to your workshop.
When I discovered that your workshop was the kitchen floor, just as you walk into the room, I asked you, "Can you please find somewhere else to be the workshop?"
You told me, "But that's the only annoying place I can find!"



You scribbled all over your cheeks and chin with a black dry erase markers. I asked "Who are you?" and you said, "Abraham Lincoln's my name!"



You don't like the name of your school.

"Why do they call it Mother's Day Out? It should be called "Mothers Come Back."



One evening, I was lying on your bed when you were supposed to be getting jammies on, etc. You told me "But, I have to jump in this area, so you get up!"



With some help from Mommy, "Baby Jesus" (your sad, raggedy, naked doll - that's its new name) was crying about needing to go to sleep, and you were is telling him, "Shhh, shhh, stop all that crying, take a deep breath, and listen to me. . . ."



While getting strapped into her carseat, you informed me that "I'm Dasher. Santa only has seven reindeer now, because I'm in the car."
I didn't think much of it until I realized that a>You know that Santa has eight reindeer and 2> You know that 8 - 1 = 7



After dance class one evening: "Mama, you didn't know this, but these tights have holes in them."



You: I'm Joseph
Mama: As in Mary's Joseph?
You: Yes. Mary has a headache. That's why I'm up with Baby Jesus.



You told me that you'd been travelling for three day through Europe, looking for Baby PerfectPup, but still hadn't found her! But you found some rocks (plastic balls) "under the bushes," and moved them so she wouldn't step on them. Then we went to look for Baby PerfectPup. You ran into the door facing, and said, "Oh! Bonked into a tree!" Then threw yourself on the floor and said, "Oh! I fell in the grass!" Then "Oh! Here's a clue!" (picked up a glove) "Here's one of her fur paws!"

?!?



"Refrigerator, will you hold this for me? . . . There's no room in you!"



Overheard from the kitchen:
Mommy: All you've eaten today is crap.
You: What is crap?
Mommy: Poop.
You: No, it's not!



We were talking about the dreamcatcher that hangs by your bed, and what "some people believe" it does - stop the bad dreams and let the good dreams come through. Later, out of the blue, you asked, "What is a bad dream, anyway?"

So I told you it was if you dream about something that's a bummer. I don't remember the example you came up with but it was something incredibly minor. I went with it. "Yep, that's exactly what a bad dream is!"



You were just out of the tub, running around in jammie pants only. "I'm SO COLD! My tummy is saying 'Brrr! Get me the top, please! Get me the top!'"



Overheard from the bathtub: "Oh, the lifeguard is a saver in your neighborhood!"



You are so sweet. If we get hurt (like, say, touching a hot pan, like I did while baking cookies the other day), you say, "Take my hand. Come with me," and lead us to the freezer to get an ice pack.



You: I have to do my job!
Mama: What's your job?
You: My job is to write.
Mama: What are you writing?
You: I'm writing the Declaration of Independence for Abe Lincoln!



Did Mommy wash your hair?
Yeah!
Your booty? Yeah! Your toes? Yeah! Your elbows? Yeah!
Your forearms?
I don't have four arms! I have two arms!



"If you put on some pants that a scarecrow wore, you would be itchy!"



You: Polar Bear dot com!
Mama: Polar Bear dot com?!
You: Yep, that's my name, and dot com's my game!



You asked me for some water, and I told you I'd get it after we discussed your Sonic order. After getting that nailed down, you asked me, "Now will you get me water, so I don't have to sit here thirsty while you're gone?
I went to get it, and Mommy said, "So you want water?" and you said, "Mama's going to get it, don't worry, Mommy."
Mommy walked into the kitchen anyway, and you came running in after her, saying, "No! I'm not thirsty enough for two!"



Last week, you asked me to "Place me atop" the potty.
Of course, I've repeated it several times, so it's stuck.



Mommy gave you some Mini M&Ms, but they were a bust. The problem, it seems is that "they're too little and too sugary!"

I've long held that the taste difference between mini and full-size M&Ms is due to the difference in the chocolate : candy coating ratio. I guess that's been confirmed.



You've discovered Charlie and Lola and have been watching them non-stop for days. You're starting to speak with a British accent.



When you opened your Christmas card from me and Mommy, you looked at the picture on the front and said, "Oh, how sweet! A reindeer!"

And you're pretty sweet yourself, kiddo.

Merry Christmas, Happy Month-Day and a very, very Happy New Year to us all.

I love you.


Love,
Mama

Panda Pics: 50 Months





Fancy

We went to the children's art studio this afternoon. In the dress-up area, Peeper put on every necklace they had. 


And the did some magic.


Royal Wedding

Hmmm.




Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Christmas Day

We started bright and early (although no earlier than usual, really) with Peeper oepning her gifts from Santa.







Then we took a little break to play in what was left of the snow.



And build a sad little snow man.


Then back inside, for Peeper to open her gifts from us.


And a gift from Hannah and Mrs. Kia!


We were on a roll, then, with kid-safe real knives, an egglplant cutting board, and a Peeper-sized chef's hat and apron. She loves these!




She wore her chef outfit to help me get scrambled eggs started, and then she went to play.  A few minutes later she came in and said, "Look! Dr. Panda's Restaurant!"


We had scrambled eggs and leftover pancakes for breakfast.



They were a big hit!


Then, Peeper played with some of her new toys, while Shrike and I opened our gifts.






My favorite gift from Shrike was a total surprise. In my card, she wrote a "gift certificate" note, good for a breastmilk pendant of my choice! I haven't decided for sure, but I'm leaning toward a heart mounted on a penny, with Peeper's name stamped into it.

I've loved these since I first saw them, but I certainly couldn't bring myself to pay that price to buy one for myself, just for the hell of it. And, it means a lot more to me for Shrike to get it for me.

In the card, when she told me to pick it out myself, she said that "Not only do I want you to get the one you want, but I figured the logistics were beyond me."

Seeing as Mama don't pump, it would have been rather tricky for her to have gotten the milk to send in! She told me that she very briefly considered having Peeper get a mouthful, and then run it into the other room and spit it into a cup, but she realized pretty quickly that that was not exactly a feasible plan!

When I got done crying about that gift, we hung out and played with new toys (and uploaded photos and videos) until time to go over to Shrike's parents' house for dinner and more gifts.

Oh, and we took some cookies with us. These are the ones that Peeper and I made yesterday.


Peeper got some fierce pink sparkly cowgirl boots from Eena and Papa.



And a light-up wand and tiara. There's a matching ring and clip-on earrings, but she hasn't quite figured them out yet.


When we got home, she asked me, "Mama, can I put on my rainbow shirt, and have a carrot? Then I'll get my orange magnet?"

Well, okay, if you insist.