Our daughter is missing.

Our well behaved daughter is missing, if you find her, please contact us ASAP. SS has been replaced by a no saying, unruly, must get my way version. She is as cute as Version 1, but we really miss our original child. How bad is she? We left C0stc0 in shame this afternoon. I really could not take another second of her crying and screaming. Especially since there was no reason for her behavior. We have no problem indulging SS when she is upset. After all, she has endured so much in her short life. But screaming to get her way; NOPE. Grandpa thinks our expectations of our kids are way too high. He's right, we gladly own up to that one.

Back to my walk of shame. It began with the shopping cart battle, and while I'm trying to be a good sport, it needs to stop. I can understand if she was upset when we came home from China, but eight months later? She has never behaved so poorly, and while I am cognizant that she is only two, it is just not acceptable. P and I are not into public spectacles, and it looks like we have a lot of work to do with our ray of sunshine. I was also upset because she insisted on pushing the cart, while carried by her enabler, er, Abu. I walked over to get something, and turned around, just in time to see my daughter about to fall and eat cement. YIKES! Can you imagine that last post placement report? "SS spent fifteen months in a SWI, without incident. She is now at the ICU, and we expect her to recover fully, once her skull heals."

Grandpa treated us to dinner at Ne.ll0s, and we had a great time. However, this is the first time we have left a restaurant due to SS's behavior. In her defense, it was crowded, dark and loud. I took her outside and allowed her to walk around. That girl slays me every time she runs. Her little body has not caught up to her energy, and she looks so freaking funny.

When P came outside to let us know that dinner was served, we noticed that SS needed a diaper and clothes change. Good thing I carry extra clothing in the van. It went downhill from there, with SS refusing to eat and demanding to be held. Then to make the evening more interesting, Abu produced a cookie out of her purse, and offered it to a very eager SS. P is usually a mellow guy, but that really pushed his buttons, and he gave me a death glare. A cookie when she is refusing to eat? Gotta love being in the middle. I had to side with my husband. Not only was he right, but I do have to live with him.

When did grandparents change? Mami adored me, but I was expected to behave, and got my bottom swatted if needed. Although I'm pretty sure that my mother remembers it differently. After all, P's grandmother thinks he walked, and still walks on water. Funny thing is that so does his dad. Just yesterday, he was telling us that he's enjoying watching SS's terrible twos. According to him, P never hit that stage, he was always an easy going child. "We kept waiting for the terrible part to hit and it never did." Lucky you, Grandpa. Now, he clearly remembers his daughter's foray into toddlerhood, and not fondly. Great, just what my husband needs, a bigger head. :)

Now, all my griping notwithstanding, I LOVE, I FLOVE my daughter. She and JJ are the most amazing things that have ever happened to me. I know that under similar circumstances, I would not have fared as well as they have in life.

We capped our evening by adding more calories to our frames. We had ice cream sundaes and watched SS try to score ice cream from everyone. She did not eat much of her own ice cream, that's too pedestrian for her. She moved on from that, to continuing her favorite hobby, stealing, I mean borrowing, her brother's possessions. Even Abu noticed that no matter who's in the room, SS is just drawn to JJ. Good, because they are stuck with each other for life.

Tomorrow is JJ's birthday, and we are going to hang out and chill. Abu is making rellenos de papa for lunch, and P is making a huge batch of ropa vieja for dinner. Then cake and ice cream and an off key rendition of Happy B-day for the kiddos.

"I'm a lean, mean, toddler, no saying machine. Don't let the pigtails fool you. Go ahead, make my day." Enlarge this picture and check out that scowl. Too darn adorable.

Oh yeah, I can play this game all night.

I will keep snapping until I get a shot of both looking at the camera.

Abu and her birthday grandson (tomorrow).

SS's first flower, from our waiter. She had to share with JJ right away.

Abu and the grandkids.

Just because you can never clog your arteries enough.

Even Abu decided to partake in the sundae eating. A very rare occurrence.

Grandpa making a huge sacrifice for the kids.

SS using JJ as her personal Lazy Boy.

This gives you an idea of the noise level and lack of light at the restaurant. Not exactly kid friendly, so SS did well considering. What was the subject of the three Mr. A's serious discussion? Wii and the games, they never grow. ;)