Weekend Update - Another Busy Weekend

This is the second and hopefully last crazy busy weekend for us.  On Friday, it was a typical evening - home, tv, bedtime.  On Saturday, we did another swimming lesson where Little Miss jumped in the water and got her face and head completely wet!  This is big progress.  She is not ready to do it outside of her lesson, but it's a start.  After, we rushed through lunch and a bath so we could walk to the nearby playground where her classmates met.  She had a great time playing with everyone.  Then, Husband picked us up and we head to Brother-in-Law and Sister-in-Law's.  Sister-in-Law hosted book club and the kids were invited this time.  So, the boys went to a nearby bar while we all ate some yummy food and briefly talked about a book some of us started.  The kids were super cute as always.

On Sunday, we had a family brunch.  Then, Little Miss took a very (very very) long nap.  When she woke up, she requested we clean her room because it was very messy.  So, we cleaned her room and her toys.  Then, we played a couple of games.  She beat me soundly during both of them.  Dinner and bedtime followed and thus ended another weekend and the month of April.

Weekend Update - Busy Bees

Last Friday, it was a quiet evening. We mostly just sat and watched the news like many others did that night. On Saturday, Little Miss had her first swimming lesson. It went well. Mostly the purpose was to get the kids in the water and having fun. I can't speak for all the kids, but ours had fun. After, we managed to survive lunch and a bath before Husband and Little Miss went to a birthday party. Little Miss had so much fun that she didn't want to leave. In the meantime, I went out with a friend to Sarah Pekkanen's booksigning. It was a lot of fun and Sarah Pekkanen was just as gracious and friendly as ever. Her new book, The Best of Us, looks and sounds great. After, we went to grab a quick bite and I ended up beating Husband and Little Miss home.

On Sunday, Little Miss lived up to her promise of waking up early and getting me up. Traditionally, Sundays are Husband's mornings with her. However, if she asks for the other, we accommodate her. So, we had brunch and then head to my parents' house. My sister came over to hang out with Little Miss. Then, Mom, Little Miss and I went and ran some errands before staying for dinner. Little Miss really loves the attention and spending time with them both and the cat. After dinner, we head home where Little Miss fell fast asleep. That concluded a super quick weekend.

Do You Let Your Kid Win?

Well, it's a tough question.  It was raised by an author I follow on Facebook.  I don't want Little Miss to lose all the time and lose morale when she's learning games and rules for the first time.  However, I don't want her to think everything comes easily.  Luckily, at this age, most of the games are games of chance.  We haven't quite made it to strategy building yet.  

The answer is a big gray.  I don't necessarily let Little Miss win.  If I see I may win quickly, I may not play my best move, but I won't let her win.  If it's a game of chance, there's not much I can do though.  You play the cards, literally, dealt to you.

The key is that we choose games that she needs to work on or that she mastered.  For instance, she tends to lose Candy Land by chance.  However, she rocks Memory.  It helps that I have little to no memory.  

The lesson is to be graceful.  Whether she wins or loses, there's no temper tantrum or outburst.  She is asked to shake hands and say "good game" though sometimes it's a little more forced than other times.  She's a much better winner and loser than I am.  I am such a poor winner yet quite a graceful loser.  I'm sure that says something about me.

Weekend Update - Weekend of Nothing

Last weekend, we did nothing.  That's not entirely true.  I think we did a bath on Friday night with Little Miss.  On Saturday, she went with the In-Laws to the carnival and had a sleepover with her cousin.  They do so love each other.  I read a book and Husband had sports on.  We watched Louis C.K. on HBO as our big date night.  On Sunday, we slept gloriously late.  Then, Little Miss came home to help me clean the apartment, take her bath, eat dinner and go to bed.  So, very quiet weekend which was lovely.  The next two are stuffed with plans so it was nice to be boring while we could.

Boston

We often see the Coastal Sunbelt Produce truck in our neighborhood. We live across the street from an Edible Arrangements so it delivers often. Little Miss and I joke that it's going to be a good day because we saw the giant strawberry. So, this morning, we see the truck and joy erupted in the car. Little Miss says, "Today is going to be a good day. Yesterday, we didn't see the giant strawberry truck and it was a sad day. Did you know someone exploded a bomb in Boston?" I said yes. Then, she said, "But then people ran to give blood to people who needed it and the ambulances drove to the people." 

We don't try to shield her from things in the world. She had heard about Boston before she came home to us. We talked briefly about it last night, but she likes to process information slowly. Last night, I went to change the news when she came home and she say that it was sad and we should watch something happy. She helpfully suggested Doc McStuffins. She's nothing if not helpful. I do feel it's important to spotlight good deeds and did tell her that sad things happen, but that's when we need to be better people and do good things on our level. Then, she proceeded to tell me that she did a good deed yesterday to help her grandfather. So, we celebrated the good.

Little Miss Manners

While we were at my parents' last weekend, Little Miss blew some bubbles on the deck.  She'd blow the bubbles and pop them.  Sometimes, the bubbles would burst on the deck before she could catch them.  At one point, she almost had the bubble before the deck claimed it.  She looked down and said, "Oh!  Well done, Deck!  Good job."

I thought it was super cute.  Plus, I love that she knows the difference between when to use "good" and "well".

Books Read in March 2013

1. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
2. Calculated in Death by J.D. Robb (NOTE: This is part of the In Death series. The order of which can be found here.)
3. Thrown by a Curve by Jaci Burton (NOTE: This is part of the Play by Play series. The order of which can be found here.)
4. Cherished by Maya Banks and Lauren Dane (NOTE: The Lauren Dane short story is part of the Delicious series, a spin-off of the Brown Siblings series. The order of which can be found here.)
5. Tart by Lauren Dane (NOTE: This is part of the Delicious series, a spin-off of the Brown Siblings series. The order of which can be found here.)
6. Close Enough to Touch by Victoria Dahl (NOTE: This is part of the Jackson Hole series. The order of which can be found here.)

I read nothing in February. It was sad. Then, I kicked it into high gear and finished Gillian Flynn for book club. It was her debut novel and showed, but it was a decent book. I liked Gone Girl better. The others were all solid books. For some reason, I always savor Victoria Dahl and then read like 4 in a row and then wonder why I took so long to read them. I hope to keep it up this month, but I seem to be reading a lot of books simultaneously which I rarely do. So, we'll see how many I finish and how many I just keep partially read.

Movies Watched in March 2013

1. Argo
2. Magic Mike
3. This Means War
4. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries
5. Rock of Ages

Some of these are repeats, but I count everything if I do a full watch. Husband and I rented Argo because he hadn't seen it. I got a free rental of Magic Mike and it seemed a shame to let it go to waste. I suffered through This Is War on HBO Go. I fell in love with The Lizzie Bennet Diaries on YouTube. I haven't seen it all yet, but I watched 36 parts out of 100 in one night. Granted, each part is only 3-5 minutes. I got sucked into Rock of Ages on cable one night, too. I wouldn't watch it again, but I felt I had to stick it out.

Spring Break - Quick Trip

So, while it was getting warmer in northern Virginia, it was getting warmer in western Maryland where we went last weekend. On Friday, we had plans to get Little Miss's haircut, but we ran out of time when we hit traffic. So, instead, we just drove out to western Maryland with my parents. Little Miss stayed up late and enjoyed the time with my parents and the solo attention she received from them. On Saturday, she built the smallest snowman ever. She was going to go on the mountain coaster, but it was closed to help a panicked rider off and then closed before we could ride. We had a nice lunch and then all went to bed fairly early.

On Sunday, we woke up to ride the mountain coaster. Little Miss LOVED it. She loved going fast - which I do not. She rode twice with my dad and once with me. Then, she decided she wanted to go snow tubing. So, the four of us went a couple of times before eating lunch and heading home. It was nice to be able to play in the snow while it was so mild and warm outside. This marked the end of Spring Break. Sad, but we had a great week off. We're all struggling a little to get back into the routine this week!

Spring Break - New York, New York

The Monday after Easter, the three of us drove to New York. Husband miscalculated our departure time so we got held up in Washington Nationals traffic, but Little Miss was a champ during our 7 hour trip. We barely made it to our seats before the puck dropped at Madison Square Garden. However, because we were running late, we also had to eat in the stadium. On the plus side, we were in time to see the first goal. Little Miss was thrilled to sing the goal song and screamed whenever the Rangers scored. She had a blast. She was alert the entire time and cheered at all the appropriate times. She ate well and, as I keep joking, probably ordered the only milk Madison Square Garden ever served. I'd like to say we enforce a lot of milk drinking, but she's picky with her liquid intake and she polices herself nicely. She knows milk goes with lunch and dinner and will order when out for those meals. Tuesday, we had a nice lunch at the Husband's favorite restaurant. Little Miss was well-behaved for how snooty it is. Then, we got on the road for a long trip back as we hit DC rush hour traffic. 

On Wednesday, Little Miss and I met a friend in the city whose sister and nieces were in town. Little Miss loved playing with the girls even though I don't think any of the Air & Space Museum sank in with them. At least they had fun. She rode the carousel and had ice cream. Good day. Then, to top it off, we met Sister-in-Law at her work. She was nice enough to drive us home, too, so we didn't have to sit in rush hour on the train on the way home, too. I will say someone was nice enough to give Little Miss and me his seat though. Thursday, we had a relaxing day, much needed for all of us.

Weekend Update - Round Up

Let's see.  I'm many weeks behind on my updates.  

March 23 - March 24.  We can't remember anything.  It looks like I read a book and watched a movie.  I think it's safe to say we did nothing.  We may have gone grocery shopping and tidied up the apartment which seems to be the weekend default.  So, nothing else warranted space in my calendar.  I do remember we dyed eggs - according to my camera.

Easter weekend.  On Saturday, I met friends for lunch.  Both celebrated birthdays so we met and then did some shopping.  I took advantage of Old Navy's dress sale and bought two dresses and a pair of shorts and a cute vest for Little Miss for like $1.  The vest was $1.  Everything cost a bit more.  After, we went to the Inlaws' to celebrate Easter.  On Sunday, we opened presents that the Bunny left, had a mini Easter egg hunt, and hung around. 

 

Food for Thought

I read this article today. I do believe there are bad books, but as I responded on Twitter, maybe there is just poor or careless editing. The majority of books are just not my taste, but I do believe there are just some books that are poorly written. As I said, perhaps it was self-published or there was a lazy editor though. At the heart of it, I do believe that whatever book encourages people to read is worthy and doing good - even if it isn't, by my standards, actually good. I mean, you reach someone with one book, maybe they'll try another and another. 

As one who reads romance novels, I'm used to people looking down at the type of book I enjoy, but really almost all great literature is a romance in some way. All genre fiction requires some suspension of disbelief. Life is full of crap, why not read something happy? Besides, romance isn't what it used to be. There are dozens of subgenres - probably enough to satisfy just about everyone. So, I'll try to view the world as having no bad books. I like that viewpoint even if I'm having trouble believing it.

Weekend Update - Lucky Girl

On Friday, Husband had a friend over to watch some sports. We let Little Miss stay up a little later to entertain him (she's a bit sweet on him). We got some pizza. Then, I went to bed obscenely early. After a Thursday concert, I realized this girl ain't a girl anymore.

On Saturday, we had a day of nothing. So, I spent it sleeping more than anything else. Little Miss and I also went to the grocery store after a lengthy nap. I may choose not to co-sleep, but I do like the co-napping. We have kept up with the new food a week though we were a bit lazy this week. We did chicken parmesan which isn't really new seeing as she's had chicken, sauce and cheese before, but it was a new dish. No shocker that she liked it. I wouldn't say she loved it, but at least it widens the palatte a little at a time.

On Sunday, Little Miss and I woke up early to go to a party. The sad thing is that the party was at 11AM and it took everything we had to get out the door in time. She was supremely tired, but she had fun. She asked to come home early and take a nap so that's how tired she was. So, she did. I woke her up mid-afternoon to walk to the local bakery. During holidays, they give kids a cookie and frosting and sprinkles. So, Little Miss decorated her shamrock cookie. Then, we went back home. I believe she played and watched some tv on my iPad while I napped. Husband made her favorite dinner for our Sunday family dinner and then that summed up our evening. Little Miss did have some trouble sleeping over the weekend, but by Sunday, she seemed back into the swing of things. She gets like this annually where she just cries and cuddles instead of sleeps. It's frustrating but temporary at least. Yesterday, after we got back from cookie decorating, she just sat back and said she went to a party, got a cookie and was having chicken and pasta and lemony sauce. She was a lucky girl. I'm glad she thinks so.

The Truth About P!nk

Last night, I went to see P!nk in her The Truth About Love Tour. I left work just a smidge early to meet a friend for a margarita and dinner. Then, we saw the very end of The Hives and P!nk. She was absolutely fantastic. You can click here to see an example of her setlist. From my memory, it was pretty close to what she played last night. She is very high energy and it was just a really fun concert. I was surprised that she cleaned up a lot of the songs. She either sang the radio versions or moved the microphone away to downplay the language. Because I don't have a microphone and only buy the explicit versions of songs, I sang the real versions. 

Little Miss asked if she sang Raise Your Glass and was excited to hear that she did. Below is video of Try performed last night. Some of the aerials were more impressive than this one, but it gives you an idea of what she does. Also, one of the last songs had her flying over the crowd so she could give a show to the back rows and the high rows (though not as high as we were). That was pretty impressive.

Toddler Talk

Who knows how conversations start with toddlers.  All I know is we were talking and ended up talking about how some tv is not real.  Little Miss usually has a good grasp on what is real and what is not.  This has come up in conversation during particularly graphic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle episodes or commercials for certain video games on television.  The other day, some such example came up and this is how it went after I mentioned a tv show is not real:

Little Miss:  I know.  I know it's not real.  Some shows are real and some are pretend.  Like this is not real, but Snow White is real.  I know this because she's real.  I met her, remember?

So, yeah, thanks for that, DisneyWorld.  I can either let her believe everything is real or just crush her. 

Recipe Update

We don't make this (Cherry Tomato Spaghetti all'Amatriciana) recipe often, but I made it last night.  It's a good standby when we can't think of anything else to make. It's a fast recipe which is nice. I think it would taste really good with shrimp and, one of these days, I'm going to stop saying that and actually make it. 

Here is an update from the original time I made it: the herbs are essential. They add so much flavor. The parsley in the dish as well as the basil over the top. We don't put nearly that much cheese in, but we add to taste after the fact. Little Miss ate this dish this week. She didn't care for the cooked tomatoes, but she liked the rest - and even ate the parsley. She said she liked the taste except for the green things, but then I explained to her that the green things give it taste. I think, though, the pancetta, onion, garlic trio really add the taste though. Three of my favorite things.

Recipe recap:

Ingredients:
Salt
1 pound regular or thick spaghetti
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1/4 pound chunk pancetta, cut into small pieces
1 red onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 cup white wine or chicken broth
2 pints small cherry tomatoes
2/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley (a couple generous handfuls)
Pepper
1 cup basil leaves, torn or chopped
2/3 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese (a couple generous handfuls)

Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup of pasta cooking water.

While the pasta is working, in a large skillet, heat the EVOO, 3 turns of the pan, over medium to medium-high heat. Add the pancetta and cook until crisp, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the red onion, garlic and crushed red pepper and cook until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the wine and cook for 1 minute, then add the tomatoes, parsley and a generous amount of salt and pepper. Cook until the tomatoes burst, 8 to 10 minutes.

Stir in the reserved pasta cooking water and then the pasta, tossing to coat. Turn off the heat, add the basil and cheese and serve. 

Weekend Update - I Feel Like I Lost More Than an Hour

I had a busy weekend.  Starting with last Thursday when I had bowling and bowled the game of my life.  My score wasn't very high though it was pretty solid for me.  I won the first game of two.  The second game had my team falling behind.  However, half the team picked up some points.  So, it came down to me, the last bowler.  The first frame, I hit one pin down.  The second frame, I got a spare.  This lead to the bonus frame in the tenth which resulted in a strike.  With that strike under pressure, I scored one pin more than my opponent which gave us a one-pin win (and a one-point win) against our opponent.  It was a glorious night.

On Friday, a friend from college was in from out of town.  So, two other college friends (and a couple of her friends from grade school and grad school) and I met in Crystal City for dinner at McCormack & Schmick's.  It was a great night catching up - food, friends and wine never fails.  When I got home, I went in to check on Little Miss and this is how I found her:

Saturday, Little Miss and I went out to my parents' house to meet up with Sister and Nephew (and my parents' new kitty).  Little Miss tried on my wedding gown and Sister's veil under duress, but it made for a somewhat cute picture.  She really wanted to be playing with her cousin, but she gave us a couple of photos before I set her free.

 

Saturday night, I met with book club at a nearby pizza place.  It was another really fun evening.  Brother-in-Law and Nephew hung out with Husband and Little Miss at home so I got to see him briefly.  I got some really good hugs while he's still little enough to give them freely. 

The other nephew was caught rough housing with Little Miss (though, really, it was just bad timing) so his punishment was posing for a picture with smiles.  He takes his punishment well as you can see.

On Sunday, I slept until the afternoon (though my body still thought it was morning with the time change).  I was lazy until mid-afternoon.  Then, Little Miss and I went grocery shopping.  We all had a nice family dinner before an entirely sleepless night for me.  This is a rougher Monday morning than usual.

Parent Fail

Nothing good happens after this question, "Want to hear a word I heard Daddy say?"

Yep, she went there.  Little Miss said she wanted to whisper it to me.  Darned if that little voice didn't whisper the mother of all four-letter words.  

At this point, I may have overreacted.  I mean, all I did was exclaim (loudly), "That's a very bad word.  Don't say that again."  And, of course, that lead to her crawling onto my lap and crying for quite awhile.  Meanwhile, Husband apologized for using the word in the past.  We got through the moment.  However, later, I asked her a question.  I told her, "You must have known the word was bad if you had to whisper it.  Did you?"  She admitted she did though from her reaction, I don't think she knew exactly how bad.  Either way, lesson learned.  We did have a refresher course this morning just in case though.

What? My Kid's Not Perfect?

I don't want to be one of those parents who really just thinks her kid is perfect.  I mean, she's a strong "pretty awesome", but perfect is a reach.  A part of me always expects a phone call from the school to hear about her stubbornness or some such challenge.  However, when the teacher did email me with some trouble, the reason had me a little surprised.  

The first point was more of a manners violation.  This is not a total surprise.  We've been working with Little Miss to be better at using her "please", "thank you" and general manners.  She's always been very good, but she's also lazy so sometimes a reminder doesn't hurt.  Also, at home, she can tend to be a sore winner and sore loser and will answer "I know" when she receives compliments.  We've been trying to break her of both of those.  She's much better with the winning and losing (though she prefers to win, of course). 

The second point was more of a surprise.  She was downright mean to another kid.  The teacher, who absolutely loves Little Miss, immediately acted and emailed me.  We corresponded and agreed that punishment and discussion was not unreasonable.  

Later that night, we asked Little Miss how her day was, giving her a chance to come clean.  She did not though she also wouldn't meet eye contact.  She then admitted that she got in trouble, but she wouldn't say what she did.  She just sobbed for a very long time.  Husband and I decided not to punish her unless her attitude needed further adjusting.  Based on her reaction, we knew she knew she did something wrong.  That said, we still needed a good discussion.  She's very sensitive to her daddy.  She hates disappointing him, upsetting him or hurting his feelings.  She has no such qualms about me, of course (and thus begins the rest of our lives).  So, she wanted to just tell me as a secret, but there were going to be no secrets.  We told her she would get in trouble if she did not have a conversation with us and we outlined many privileges she would lose if she continued to not talk.  We finally got the story we already knew.  

Today, she did say how she could be a better friend and a better person.  We did request she apologize again.  I'm sure this will not be the last time our child is found less than exemplary.  Our bigger challenge is the fact that she really doesn't like to have any serious conversation about herself or anybody else.  She doesn't tattle or share secrets.  It's good - sometimes.  On the flip side, she did admit that she deserved to be in trouble and deserved the punishment.  She never complained.  She never lied or came up with a reason/excuse for her behavior.  She accepted any further punishment.  She's a stoic one.  Minor unrelated example of her stubbornness and refusal to talk: the kid had a mishap which resulted in a little goose egg and a cut on her face and knee.  She has no idea what happened and didn't want to talk about it, but she thinks she may have been tripped on the playground.  She said it was an accident though.  That one sentence of how she may have been tripped took an hour to extract.

The bottom line is that she is a good kid.  She just gets careless and, as with all kids, when she gets tired, she is cranky.  She also likes to get her way.  So, she slips up sometimes.  Until this is a trend, I think we're ok.  She has taken past lessons very seriously and they stay with her.  Even so, we're keeping an eye on things.

Weekend Update - In Like a Lion

March actually didn't come in like a lion.  We had a nice quiet first weekend in March.  On Friday, I procrastinated and didn't do any of the things on my list.  On Saturday, I renewed my library books so I didn't have to do that task.  Little Miss and I went to Target to grab some birthday presents.  It took us forever.  The girl isn't demanding, but she loves to walk around the store.  She likes to have a snack.  So, it's a whole afternoon.  She did demand a book and, because of the way she asked, she did not get it.  That pretty much took up on our entire Saturday.

On Sunday, Little Miss and I went to National Harbor.  I dropped her off at the Children's Museum for a birthday party and met a friend for margaritas and guacamole.  Then, I picked up Little Miss.  The kids and parents hung out at a restaurant for some food and cake.  After, we drove home for a quick dinner, but the party wore her out so Little Miss went to sleep and slept well.