Beginner Reader

Little Miss is a really good reader. In this clip, she has a bit of assistance, but it is a book she's never seen before so she didn't memorize it like many other books. I also witnessed her sounding out words today. Sometimes, she can be a lazy reader, but she really is so proud of herself when she does it. It's really so great to see her making progress and owning it.

"I See," Said the Blind Man

Husband and I have both worn glasses for many years and have different eye problems between the two of us.  So, it was only a matter of time before Little Miss had her own eye challenges.  Back in January, Little Miss had her annual physical.  During the eye chart, she struggled.  So, today, we took her to the eye doctor.  Her left eye is a little weaker, but it was within acceptable limits.  She does have astigmatism in both eyes, but it was nothing insane.  Basically, the doctor agreed she needs glasses.  She just doesn't need them now.  We're going back in 6 months to reevaluate.  It does pose some additional costs and doctor visits, but oh, goodness, what a cutie she will be with little glasses.  Even with the little corrective lenses put on her during the visit were just adorable.

Kindergarten

Today is a big day.  On a minor note, Little Miss has her first eye doctor appointment later today.  Second, I registered her for Kindergarten.  The actual registration was painless.  The woman who handles registration wasn't there so someone else handled it.  She made copies, looked at all my paperwork and basically told me were all set until the summer packets were mailed.  The Orientation is either in March or April so I look forward to learning more about the school.  In the meantime, it's a stepping stone.  Man, is it dusty in here or is it me? 

Our Ice Skater

Here are two quick videos of Little Miss skating. So proud of how she did in her first real 30 minutes skating.  Even when she fell, she got right back up again.

What's Your Number?

So, we were talking about our week on the way to school when I asked Little Miss if she knew what Thursday was.  I told her it was Nanny's birthday.  Then, I asked her how old Nanny was.  She guessed 85.  I told her 65, and she went, "Yay!  Now we're all in the 60's!"  I'm not sure what that means, but I did say that all her grandparents were now in their 60's.  

So, I asked how old she thought I was if Nanny was 65 and older than I was.  She said 55.  It's not as funny.

Weekend Update - We're Gonna Party Like It's Your Birthday

Last Friday, I don't think we did anything. It was a busy week for me. Between Husband breaking his ankle and needing to go to the doctor and my social life of movie-going and bowling, I was ready to relax. I can't remember what I did on Friday, but I don't think it was a lot. Either way, on Saturday, I had grand plans of completing three small errands - return library books, visit the fabric store and go to the grocery store. Right.

So, the morning was pretty productive. There was breakfast and then like 3 hours passed in about 5 minutes. I swear I have no idea what happened. A big part of the time flying was Little Miss woke up in a crazy mood. She was very belligerent and cranky. I knew she wouldn't get a nap and would be staying up late so the odds were definitely not in our favor for having a relaxing day. After what seemed like a day and a half, we finally got out the door. I renewed the library books so we didn't have to go there. Husband was disappointed because he wanted me to pick up Girl Scout cookies from the booth there. However, there was a booth at the fabric store so he got his wish anyway. Then, Little Miss and I grabbed lunch during which there were many threats. She decided she didn't like the food even though she ordered it. After she tried it (which was the best mac and cheese I've ever had), she decided it wasn't so bad. We did run out of time before we could have dessert so she got a Tagalong in the car. We got home just in time to wrap the Inlaws' presents and head to Brother-in-Law and Sister-in-Law's house to celebrate joint birthdays (even though they're really in January and February).

We had a great time. The cousins were so cute together and really played nicely (see picture #1).  We had a delicious meal which Little Miss tried.  She was honest and said she liked the taste but didn't care for the texture of brisket.  I know beef is an odd texture and expected the reaction, but I wanted her to tell me if that was what she didn't like or if it was the whole thing.  So, I'm going to try meatballs next week.  I think it's a baby step from a hamburger but also she can help make them.  We transitioned into big girl toothpaste this week, too, so lots of changes.  She was reluctant to accept that change, but she's gotten better each night.  She just has to use the new toothpaste once a day until the old baby toothpaste is gone.

On Sunday, Little Miss was a full-on brat.  She took a very brief nap which didn't help.  Husband's friend came over briefly.  Then, Little Miss took a walk with me to the ATM and took, no lie, 20 minutes to get dressed.  When we got home, she took a bath and used up all our remaining patience.  So, she went to bed a lot earlier which worked out because then I got to watch the Academy Awards in peace.  Usually, we make a nice meal, but this year take out worked perfectly.  Also, Little Miss had a good night's sleep for the first time in days and woke up such a good girl this week.  (Extra note:  next time, we'll take the family picture before the end of the evening when we're all not as tired.)

Children Will Listen

From Into the Woods:

Careful the things you say
Children will listen
Careful the things you do
Children will see and learn
Children may not obey, but children will listen
Children will look to you for which way to turn
To learn what to be
Careful before you say "Listen to me"
Children will listen

While I was out last night, Husband was watching hockey. Little Miss asked to watch a DVD. She recently acquired some hand-me-down DVDs from my mom's neighbor. Husband explained that they were watching hockey.  So, Little Miss gave him the following speech (which is brilliant):  "Daddy, sometimes you have to try to watch something new.  You can't always just watch what you want to watch and get your way.  You have to try new things.  Try it, you might like it."

I'm paraphrasing from Husband's description, and it may not be 100% correct because I started laughing so hard my stomach hurt while he was speaking.  I'm also pretty sure, without trying, Husband likes the Rangers more than Care Bears.  On a positive note, it's nice to know she listens underneath the protests. 

Weekend Update - The Highs and Lows

This weekend was full of highs and lows. As always, I'll start at the top. On Friday, work let out early for the long weekend. I picked up Little Miss early. We hung out at the apartment while I goofed around online. Then, we went to Front Page for dinner where Husband joined us later. When asked if she wanted pasta for dinner or to go out, she responded, "let's go out for pasta." So, that's what we did. They treat her like a little princess there and give away a little treat from a treasure chest at the end of the meal. After dinner, Husband drove us into the city to see Disney on Ice. Little Miss was all dolled up in her Ariel costume this time. She was absolutely mesmerized. She almost fell asleep at the end until Sebastian started "Under the Sea". She slept well when we got home.

On Saturday, we woke up and left for western Maryland where my parents have their vacation home. We mostly relaxed and had a birthday dinner for my mom (a little early). We all went to bed early. On Sunday, we woke up to go skiing. Little Miss declared she wasn't going to go skiing this weekend so Husband took her tubing. We took a handful of runs down the mountain before we all met for lunch. Husband came hobbling in. After the first tubing run, his ankle crashed into a pile of ice. Then, on his way back to the house, the car got stuck and then slid into a ditch so it wasn't a great day for him. We went home to help and then stayed in for the evening. The hot tub wasn't working, but we managed to stay up past 9PM so that's something.  Little Miss was so great playing with Nephew (with very few exceptions).  She also claims that my parents' new cat was the highlight of her weekend.  Griffin is a sweetie and came out quite a bit for Little Miss.  He's still a little shy, but he was good with the kids when they stood still.

On Monday, I took Little Miss ice skating because she had asked. She had a "lesson" (basically, some kid walked her around the small rink) and then skated on her own for a half hour which is like 20 minutes longer than I expected. She loved it. Even after falling, she got right back up. I think, at one point, she cried after skating into a wall, but she got right back up and had stopped by the time she reached me. If I had known the kid was only going to walk her around once, I would have brought my skates, but I didn't so I was just on the sidelines while she basically taught herself how to skate. She did great, mostly walking on ice but she had enthusiasm which was more than she's shown in any other sport so far. I'll try to get some video up later this week. After, we ate lunch and got ready to come home. Once home, I dropped Husband off at Urgent Care while getting Little Miss ready for bed. Husband texted confirmation that his ankle was broken. His dad picked him up and drove him home with a cast, crutches and pain medication. He'll have to follow up with an orthopedic doctor as soon as he can. So, those were the highs and lows.

Conversation

Me:  We have some extra time.  Why don't we clean up a bit.
Little Miss:  Why?  Who's coming over?

Yep.  That sums up how we clean in our house.  If no one's coming over, we live in a pit.  I'm hoping to change that.

Mumford & Sons

Last night, a friend and I left work a little early and met at The Green Turtle for a yummier dinner than I expected there. Then, we walked around in the falling snow to a shop to kill some time before Mumford & Sons! We also caught one of the opening acts, Ben Howard, who I enjoyed much more than the opening act for another British band Coldplay I won't name. 

Below are two video clips from songs performed last night, Babel which opened the show and Lover of the Light, my favorite. 

NOTE:  For the setlist and music videos of the songs performed in last night shows (though not from last night's show), you can check this link out. There is video of the really cool encore where the band brought the opening acts back out to perform a cover of The Weight which brought back nice memories of the performance at the Grammys last Sunday. 

Lent and Sacrifice

Little Miss told me that she was giving up chocolate for Lent.  I waited for the punchline.  So, Husband followed that by telling me she came home and had an M&M cookie and some other form of chocolate.  Little Miss then says, "So, I'm giving up broccoli for Lent."  

I do think, for 5, giving up chocolate for 4 hours is a pretty long time so that should count as something.  I have no doubt she'll go the rest of the time without broccoli. 

Falling to Pieces

Little Miss loves The Script's Breakeven. (Lyrics can be found here.) 

In the car this morning, the song comes on the radio. She got all excited and started to sing along. Then, she asks what it means to fall to pieces. I told her it’s when you fall apart and cry or get upset because someone hurt your feelings. She just looks ahead and says, "well, I never do that." 

Husband and I joke that she has no emotions. I'm sure she will some day, and it's good she doesn't let other people affect her opinion of herself or her emotions, but it's also kind of funny and odd.

100 Days

I mentioned in last week's post that Little Miss did her 100 Days project. Well, here it is!

She did a great job.  We talked a lot about how we were going to do it, and she did it all.  I held the yarn while she cut it (and almost lost a finger or two).  I also traced circles for her, but she did all the cutting and gluing and painting.  She added the tree branch and apple as well.  She did a great job from start to finish.  I pinned a bunch of ideas on Pinterest, and she picked one.  Pinterest had a different vision so we reimagined it and executed it. 

Weekend Update - Cozy Up with the Cousins

Last weekend was fun but busy. Friday was a quiet night. We almost did take out, but I picked up a pork loin at the last minute which worked out because it was buy one get one free. On Saturday, we were just slow-moving. We cleaned the apartment and poor Husband had to go to two different stores for dinner preparations. He got home just in time for Brother-in-Law, Sister-in-Law and Nephew which meant dinner was very (very) late. However, the Third Asian Night was successful. We had sushi, fried rice, bulgogi and steamed rice, egg rolls, ribs and brownies. I know the last isn't Asian, but they were made by one!

The kids got to stay up late. For a brief moment, they reclined on the air mattress and were absolutely adorable - before getting up and chasing each other all over the place. They have an adorable relationship and, of course, are adorable together.

 

On Sunday, we slept late. Then, Little Miss and Husband made pancakes and we had a family breakfast. In the afternoon, Little Miss and I ran an errand and then went to Sister and Nephew's house. The two kids wrestled and had a good time. They acted like they hadn't seen each other in forever (though it's been less than a month). They were exceptional in terms of behavior in my opinion though. Nephew lost the latest of many teeth during dinner. You can't see it, but he also lost his top teeth earlier in the month. The lower right one is the one he lost last night.

My parents came over later for dinner as well as Sister's boyfriend, and we had a nice dinner. The kids got to play a little longer before Little Miss and I went to my parents' house to meet their new cat, Griffin (Nephew named him after RG3). He was a sweet little guy even if Little Miss was a little upset that he only came to me and she didn't get to pet him. Little Miss fell asleep on the way home after a long weekend with no minimal naps and sleeping, but it was worth it. Poor thing is coming down with a little cold, I think, too. Hopefully, it won't progress beyond the cough right now, but it's probably unlikely as her class has been sick. There's a long weekend coming up so it would be sad if she was sick for it. Plus, we have tickets to Disney on Ice on Friday which she's been looking forward to.

Smooth

If you know me at all, you know about my thing with matchbox twenty. My thing doesn't extend to going to their concert in the next state by myself on a weeknight, but if I could have found someone to go with me, I would have. Here's hoping the next leg of the tour hits DC. 

Smooth: The TV Show with Matchbox 20 from Rob Thomas

Weekend Update - 100 Days

It was so quiet last weekend, I don't remember what we did.  I know Little Miss and I woke up on Saturday and played board games.  We watched footage of the Groundhog who says we'll have an early Spring.  This may be true in northern Virginia, but I doubt anyone reading this from the Northeast will agree with him.  Oh, it's coming back to me.  After lunch, Little Miss and I ran errands.  We had lunch at a pizza place and then went to the craft store for some supplies for a school project.  Then, we hit the grocery store.  When we got home, she did her school project for the 100th Day.  Basically, after 100 days of school, the kids had to glue 100 anythings on poster board.  We bought white poster board.  She painted grass and a tree with an apple and we glued 100 yarn legs on 10 segments of a very hungry caterpillar.  We saw it on Pinterest and revised it for the project.  Little Miss and I spend many moments browsing through Pinterest for crafts and foods together.  It's kid friendly with all the pictures and links.  She has her own board and everything.  As an added bonus, I made little Goldfish snacks with a little poem attached for the kids with the 100 Day theme.  Little Miss did all the cutting and pasting.  All I did was handle the food and tied the yarn around the baggie.

On Sunday, the three of us woke early and went to Maggiano's (well, early for us, we had to be there for 10AM).  Little Miss got to decorate her own chef's hat and was given an apron.  She was taught to make her own lasagna and then made it to come home with us.  It was a lot of fun.  On the way out, she was given her own Maggiano's pizza cutter.  After the class, Husband put the lasagna in the car while the two of us stayed warm inside at Starbucks.  Then, when Maggiano's officially opened, we had a nice lunch.  When we got home, all three of us had probably the longest nap on record... and it was glorious.  The rest of the evening was just the regular routine.

You Know What's Weird?

Picking up a soda and forgetting you ordered root beer.