My Girl

This is my daughter. She may be daddy's girl, but she is all me in personality. My mom always said one day I would understand, and I do. She is headstrong, opinionated, mischevious and vocal. She drives me bonkers sometimes when she has her mind set on something and will embarass the holy shit out of me in public to let me know that I am not complying with her wishes. She is not a big hugger with her parents or brother. She screams. She has a short temper. And she is going to continue to challenge me everyday of our lives.

She is the most beautiful little girl I know. She can tell me what she wants with more words than a lot of kids her age. She loves trying to figure out where things belong. She loves to color and socialize out in public (just don't touch her). She is independent. She loves to dance and if you are lucky, she will serenade you with a song from time to time. And at bedtime, she will hold my hand (but that's it, people).

After all the phone calls from the principal at school in the future for pulling some other little girl's hair out (or spitting in another girl's hair like I did), she is going to grow up into a strong, smart, beautiful woman... I just need to make sure to encourage the right strengths. Piece of cake. ;)

And then, god help the person she marries. :P

WTF

When did my little boy become a kindergarten? Well, he did. Here is your proof.

He is doing well. I am not going to lie and say it was amazing. But I am not doing to be pessimistic and say it was awful. Curious J liked school this week. The first day was a shock with regard to the length. He told us at pickup, "I thought you guys were killed." But with a little explanation that that was what to expect each day, and that we would pick him up everyday at the same time, he felt better. We got him a watch, so he can understand a little bit more of how the day works. (You know, a five-year-old understanding.)

There have been some tears, but from what it sounds like, his teacher has done a fabulous job getting him back on track. Each day, he has come out of school a little bit better. When he talks of the moments of sadness, he does not dwell. And he talks about how much he likes his teacher. (She talks gentler than even DAD.) And from reports (from a reliable source), he was smiling and eating at lunch.

Today he said he was the only kid that needed help on something, and so that something was what we worked on at home during our homework time. That's right people, our kid is not perfect. And I don't want him to be. I like that he has do work for some things. It's a good life skill. And I like helping him learn.

So that is school. We ended the week going to our community corn festival. I've mentioned before that this time of year makes me think about the baby we lost. But I am happy to say that, even though the baby will never be forgotten, I found I was no longer sad. I found that I had replaced memories of sadness, with memories of joy.

Floorgasbord

Blue Eyes and Curious J are very different kids. Here is one example - eating. BE loves her food. She eats a larger variety of food. She ate solid foods from our plates at an earlier age. Food is a serious issue for her.

BE is so serious about her food that she leaves some for later. Like a little chipmunk who buries their food for late, BE drops hers on the ground. And pretty much immediately after you set her on the ground, she is working on course #2. And there waiting for her is her leftovers.

BDR has given our floor a name. The Floorgasbord.

A very best friend

Today we went to the Planetarium with Curious J's "very best friend", Batboy. They met last year at summer camp and were in the same class at preschool. It was a pretty instant friendship. I am happy my little person has found a buddy like Batboy. I don't know how time will effect them, but I know they both enjoying each other's company right now.

And so do their sisters.

Batboy's mom is fun to be around. So that makes it even more better.

Let Awesome J Be

So Curious J has been going to camp for the the last week and a half. Last week was Jr. Engineers. This week is Lego camp. Last week the kids were mostly - taller - than him. I would say older, but I know kids who are two years younger and the same height as J. This week, te kids are slightly taller, but seem mostly at the same learning level. My cute little napoleon-complex boy, being who he is from the parents he has, established his awesomeness early on.

The first day of camp, the camp leaders announced they would be giving out a Camper of the Day award to a kid who did an awesome job. J raised his hand and said "I'm J and I'm awesome." And so began his nickname of Awesome J at camp this summer.

Awesome J came back this week. I found him up against the window of his camp room with a piece of paper in his hand. He had been waiting there for my arrival to show me his certificate as "Camper of the Day".

I do worry about him. He can be sensitive at times. I am sure that having me around is a lot different than having other authority figures around. Sometimes, I wonder if he does better interacting and handling conflict with other kids better when I am not there. Today just reitterates that he does fine on his own.

As I was asking how J was doing last week, one of the camp leaders said he was doing just fine. I expressed my concern and she simply said to me, "Let Awesome J be." I need to follow that a little more I think.

So proud of you, Awesome Curious J.

A typical dinner with us

Last night we picked up my car and headed to our favorite Mexican restaurant in town. They have seen us over the last 9 years grow from two to three to four family members.

Curious J is very content playing on his phone and taking bites of his dinner here and there.














Blue Eyes is very content eating. However, notice that not everything goes in the mouth.

Love Bites

I feel like I am absent interwebs a lot these days. Blue Eye and I have been stuck to te hip most of the time these days. I love her, but a few breaks here and there help me maintan my patience and energy. She has been an inconsistent sleeper. Some nights she wakes up multiple times before I go to bed, others just once. That's just the first half of the night. Second half can go between zero and two wakeups. So if she doesn't wake up, I wake up out of habit and out of concern that she is still breathing. Needless to say, I am pooped.

But she is looking and doing well only two weeks after eye surgery. Her eyes are no longer red and she is starting to look much for frequently with her eyes lined up correctly. Look at a picture from today. Doesn't she look fabulous.



But don't be deceived by her. This little vixen knows how to ensnare her prey. I have been her first victim of being bitten, but a new victim has been taken in...
Curious J was giving her a hug, and suddenly she bit him on the cheek. Ahhh, that girl is so related to me. Just ask Auntie M. Here is the proof for the civil trial (Jaw line).

Sibling Love

When you have kids who are a few years apart, you wonder if they are going to be able to play today. Well, thanks to a baby safe toy Blue Eyes got for her birthday, Curious J and BE now how hours of fun together. For J it's a shooting game. For BE, it's a game of chase. A win for everyone. Last ones a video, so enjoy.

My little gymnast

Today we started gymnastics at the Y for Curious J. The boy is like a monkey climbing all over our house, so I decided to sign him up for a gymnastics class. Very basic for both boys and girls. He got to roll and jump and bounce. The boy loved it. Sure, it's the first class. But he didn't feel this way about soccer after the first class.

We'll see if this is the start of his career as an Olympic gymnist or if he will go back to his Starcraft practice for world championship. I will have to show him one of my favorite gymnastics movies - American Anthem.

Blue Eyes and BDR were also along for the event. BE did her usual thing. She saw a small piece of a Dorito and couldn't take her eyes off it. ;) Seriously, she is recooperating very nicely. Her eyes are still a little crossed and bloody, but they are improving and her spirits are as they always are. Sadly, so is her sleeping, which is utter crap.

Feeling a little vulnerable

Blue Eyes had surgery on her eyes yesterday. It was successful and while the first post-op wakeup was extrememly unpleasant, BE did amazingly well after that. She at my brownie when we got home but her right eye has more bright red blood in it... like someone punched her in the eye during one of her baby fight club matches. Her eyes are not matched up yet. Instead they have done the opposite and are cross eyed. Our doc said this is normal and it will take a couple of months for consistent normal vision.

I really struggled looking at her after surgery. It could have been from feeling guilty of putting her through the surgery only for her eyes to look worse afterwards. It would have been the anxiety that was built up to this day. It could have been worry that it may make things worse not better. I don't know. But when we got home, Curious J did not want to look at her or be in the same room as her. Fortunately, I am married to a very calm man who worked with J through his emotions. By dinner J was eating at the same table with her. Had I been the only parent handling his emotions he probably would still be hiding from BE.

I remembered what Quigs told me when I went on bedrest. I can feel bad/sorry for myself (and in this case, sorry for BE) for the first 24 hours, but after that, no more feeling sorry. And the funny thing was it actually worked for me (mind you, it does not work the same on a 5 year old). Today, I feel fine. A good nights sleep, a happy baby... I had readjusted my thinking. J is back to his normal self, too.

But sometimes when stuff is going on in my life, and I find that stuff is going on in other peoples lives around me, I feel blue, for lack of a better word. For me, there is no rhyme or reason to why things happen to people... why people die, pets die, people get sick with awful diseases, etc. I can't turn to faith to feel better. Instead it reiterates to me that "no one" is out there controling the universe, because if they were there, then I would instead be pissed as hell at him or her.

And so tonight, I send out positive, healing thoughts and energy to friends, acquaintances, and strangers who are feeling the stress of hard part of life. And hope that helps.