Bubbles

OK, final real goodbye while waiting for valet parking.

Goodbye!

Apple cider brunch.

Bright eyed and bushy ( iPad) tailed.

That was fast.

Sleep well sweet angel, there's one more fun surprise before we head home tomorrow.

SS's swan song to a long, fun filled day.

P made up his mind a year ago and kept his word. He strived to give SS a weekend of memories that will hopefully make her smile for years to come. Or she could look back and hate the whole thing. I kid, I kid.

A soak in the hot tub to wash all her cares away.

Winding down for the night.

Bella SS at Bella Trattoria.

Old fashioned phone call.

SS had no idea that artifact was once used like a cell phone.

Gingerbread house decorating and eating at the inn.

SS's cool eye patches arrived.

SS cool eye patches arrived yesterday, and I arrived home from work to find a very happy and coordinated SS.  Penguins is one of the three designs she selected, and SS had the footie pajamas to match.  How cute is our one eyed wonder?

The downside to the eye patch is that the adhesive is really good, so it hurt when I had to pull the patch off. SS was not amused and was close to shed tears. SS now gets today off, and we resume patching Saturday. By patching on Saturday and Sunday we don't have to worry about waking SS up so early.

Even with an eye patch our girl is just so freaking cute.

It's pirate time twice a day for the next three months.

SS had her vision exam last Saturday and there were two unexpected issues. Although SS has worn her glasses full time as prescribed, her eyesight decreased on both eyes. Dr. B was surprised about this and it brought back the concerns she had last year.

For the next three months we are going to try to get SS's left lazy eye to do some work. For one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening we are going to patch Rightie. It's time for Leftie to engage in team work.

This could have been awful but thankfully SS loves pirates and has a pirate costume. Who knew that such a seemingly silly indulgence would come in so handy. Not only do we have to patch Rightie but SS has to make Leftie work hard. No plopping her in front of the TV.

This is not a problem in the evenings but SS is not a morning person. Like her father she opens her eyes just enough to orient herself until she's ready to leave the house. We were not and are not looking forward to a battle first thing in the morning. But that other indulgence, namely the magic of Legos is a big help. A lot of help because we have to wake up SS earlier now.

 
Pirate hat, sword, patch and Legos at 6:00 a.m. P ordered cute adhesive eye patches with three designs SS selected. They should arrive tomorrow.

The second concern might be a result of SS's birth circumstances. Since we have very little birth history, we do not know the most important piece of information Dr. B needs for treatment. So we are trying a strategy, and in three months Dr. B will reassess progress, if any. Other than this there is not much going on around here.

A booster seat for our big girl.

SS is very happy with her Britax Frontier 90 booster seat, AKA validation that she is a big girl. P told me that the booster is for kids up to 120 lbs. a weight SS will never achieve, not even in adulthood or during pregnancy. This one should be good for another five years. We chose this booster based on safety, SS thinks it's the best option because it has cup holders.

SS had a good Halloween.

Abuela texted inquiring if we are OK due to the lack of Halloween pictures.  We are still alive and well, just a little busy and that means less time to blog. SS woke up at 6:15 a.m. yesterday on her own, with a smile on her face, and wished us a Happy Halloween. The magic of costumes and candies.

Here is our red Power Ranger Megaforce proudly holding the really cool saber Baba had shipped in two days to complete her outfit. I learned how important the Megaforce part is, because the Power Rangers have gone through several reincarnations. To SS the Megaforce gang is IT, and repeated this fact only a few hundred times throughout the day.

With Principal R and ready for Flag Day and the very anticipated parade.

Flag Day is every freaking Friday. Why couldn't they skip on Halloween and allow the kids to enjoy showing off their costumes and sharing with each other? Instead an hour was consumed with... Dude, I have no idea what took an hour. I remember wear some sort of light, never go trick or treat on your own, never eat your candy before Mom and Dad inspect it (ouch if you have a single parent), and DO NOT bring candy Monday or it will be thrown away.

SS is always making super hero poses, but what a thrill for her when she can do it wearing a costume. Just witnessing her unadulterated joy filled my emotional tank for weeks. Even if I had to endure that silly Flag Day nonsense. Also, it annoys me when the kids are instructed to place their hands over their hearts for the Pledge of Allegiance. In my case, for religious reasons that is a no no, and I'm sure there are others there. DO NOT insist my child does something without consulting me first. JJ didn't and neither will SS. They are as American as the other kids, and no less patriotic (as if the kids have a clue what that means), they just have one parent raised with a different set of beliefs. Last time I checked I have the right and freedom to pass those on to my children, until they are old enough to understand and decide on their own. And my adult son tells me it is the right call because it allowed him to understand not just follow blindly. BTW, I have never seen P do the hand over the heart thing in twenty years, and no one accusses him of being unpatriotic.

This is why the no mask edict doesn't work. Without a mask, this kid's costume would be a black cape, big yawn. And good to see it because while P felt no qualms about the mask, I kinda felt guilty.

Exhibit 2, a one piece costume. That is one cool costume.

And finally the kids had their parade, which consisted of walking around the building. YAWN.  But SS does not know any better and seemed to enjoy herself, and having me walk around taking her picture.

SS with her classmate T, a blue Power Ranger Super Megaforce.  Friday was T's last day as he and his mother moved to the Midwest to be near family.  Happy for them to have relatives worth moving for to have that comfort.

After school SS was busy carving her pumpkin. Once Baba came home it was time to do the Mall trick or treat. SS was fascinated with the pink version of her costume. She followed the girl for a while stating how amazing the red PRM is over the pink one. The girl was smart and got away from SS as soon as she had the opportunity.

As I mentioned the Power Rangers have had several reincarnations. SS knows them all and would say hi to the other kids dressed in PR costumes. This picture is a hoot because the boy is much older than SS, but still stopped to talk when SS recognized his "vintage" character, Red Mighty Morphine Power Ranger. Then his mother insisted we take a picture because he does a great pose.

SS once again saying hi to one of her peeps.

I have only worn a costume once, in first grade, an astronaut. Take in consideration my age, girls were not thought of as astronauts then. My classmates were rather nasty about why it was silly for a girl to be wearing a boy's costume. I am glad that SS gets kudos, even from boys about her super hero choices. And for the first time since first grade I wore something for Halloween, as a shout out to my baby girl and Mami. They are the two strongest, smarter, influential women in my life. SS was shocked and elated, while P was stunned that I would even go there. I obviously do not have a problem making a fool out of myself, I just don't do costumes. It made my SS happy and thus made me happy.

LOVE this pose, SS has a thing for posing on benches.

SS is so proud of her saber and would show it to every candy giver. Except that having a kid shove a toy weapon on your face unexpectedly can be startling. We thankfully made it out of the Mall without having SS detained.

And that was it for our evening. P and I had planned an outing that evening but were too tired to go. Aging really sucks big time. SS had a long day, wiped out at around 9:00 p.m. and slept until 10:00 this morning. She had a long but good day, mission accomplished.

SS wanted me to take a video of her moves to send to P. Then she ended up with these kids around her. It's funny because there were so many Power Rangers around, but kids were drawn to her. Maybe because she is a girl wearing the not pink costume? Odd.

SS showing off her saber and moves.

Good news, SS has no cavities, but there's more orthodontics than anticipated in her future.

SS had an appointment with her new dentist Monday. The poor thing was dragging in the morning and I told her she could nap as soon as she got home in the afternoon. That was a giant lie because I had forgotten about her dental appointment. Thankfully SS went easy on me about the bald face lie.  Dr. L's office is pretty cool and SS really enjoyed the waiting room decor. Sadly we did not even spend 10 minutes in there, they run astonishingly on time.

SS really loved the tiger.

SS even got a kick out of the giant serpent on the tree.

Talk about lucky, one of the games is a Lego game that SS plays on her iPad. All that and free wifi.

SS was not scared at all, not even her usual anxious self. The dental hygienist was very nice and took her time explaining all the tools she would use.

We found out about Dr. L from the mom of SS's friends M and D. However we were not expecting the open setting. We like privacy so we are on the fence as to whether this will be SS's permanent dentist.  They also have TVs on the ceiling much to SS's delight.

When I completed SS's intake forms I did not note that she is adopted, because to us that is glaringly obvious.  Well it was not obvious to the dental hygienist and gave us a WTF moment. As she started the cleaning she mentioned that the biggest factor determining whether SS would have cavities is how many cavities we had. Huh? Yep, that's when we realized that a Hispanic Woman with a Caucasian husband, and an Asian child in common had not registered in her mind. I mentioned something about when SS came home from China and that is when the light bulb went on in her head. She then leaned towards us and said "Is she (then whispering) adopted.?" I told her there was no need to whisper, SS is well aware that she is not biologically our offspring. It did crack us up. Funny thing is that the hygienist is an adoptive mother herself. She is Filipino and her son was born in the Philippines, so in her case is not as obvious as our family. Then again not so obvious to everyone. 

SS did wonderful during the cleaning, not a single complain or anxious look our way.

Cavity free and only needing another cleaning in six months, that's the good news. Remember how SS had a tooth removed when she was five? The girl had an extra tooth, so it didn't bother us to have it removed. When the dentist looked at SS's X-rays he began to talk animatedly to the hygienist, piquing our interest. Nothing good can come out of a seasoned dentist talking rapidly while examining your child's X-rays. It wasn't good, it turns out that SS is missing two permanent teeth. Missing as in not there, as is she will have an even larger gap once all her permanent teeth come in.

According to Dr. L it is rather common to have one missing bottom permanent tooth, two not so much. I don't why but I felt eviscerated upon hearing the news. Just like with cavities it's a genetic factor, not a thing we could have done to prevent the missing teeth. P's first question was how do we fix it, and how soon can we start? We have always known that SS would need braces, this knocked the air out of us a bit. When SS is 15-16 we will have her get tooth implants. Dr. L said that is the age when most kids get self conscious, I do think it may be earlier for SS. We already paid for braces for JJ, in SS's case her orthodontic bill is going to be a tad more expensive. Mental note, if we are going for another child, PLEASE G0d let him have great teeth.

It took SS FOREVER to select a toy,and by the time I came out of the bathroom she had changed her mind and selected another toy.

While SS was having her cleaning P and I were trying to come up with what we wanted to have for dinner.  This really surprised the hygienists since it was not even 3:00 p.m. They were even more surprised when I told P that whatever he wanted I would make.I am comfortable saying that because I know P well, and he would not request a an extravagant dinner on short notice. And since we were by our favorite supermarket it was all part to the dental appointment trip.

When we arrived home JJ was eager to find out how the appointment went and if there were cavities. Little did he know what we had to share with him. P always the helpful news bearer grabbed by face while asking me to show my bottom teeth for demonstration purposes. He could have said that SS is missing the teeth on each side of the middle teeth. Not P, he needed to handle my face like one would a horse and opened my mouth for me. What can I say, my Prince Charming. As P is about to show JJ what teeth are missing he stopped mid sentence, his face contorted. Then in a high pitched voice he says to me "How the hell many teeth do you have."  I have no idea why I did not know, but I do have an extra bottom tooth. The man was married to a freak and had no idea.  I had to look in the mirror because I thought P was full of it. He wasn't I have an extra tooth while my daughter is missing some.

But wait, it gets better. I was reviewing what the dentist said to make sure I heard the information correctly. I said to P "Well, the dentist said it is genetic, so there's nothing we could have done." My husband's brilliant response? "Yeah totally genetic, her birth mother must have been missing permanent teeth as well." Wait a minute, her birth mother? How about her birth father? Are women the root of all evil that P could not even consider the birth father as being genetically deficient? SS was the product of a man and a woman, not just a woman. I did rag of P quite a long time that evening over his faux paus. 

Camp Spooky Fun.

Yesterday we made our now yearly trek to Camp Spooky to turn SS loose with her costume. The poor thing has been waiting a year to wear her Red Power Ranger Mega Force costume.  After three season passes SS is very easy going when we visit Knott's, she knows it won't be her last time and acts accordingly.That is really good because we are no longer crazy enough to want to spend an entire day at an amusement park.

There is usually a hearse parked at the front during Halloween Haunt (aka Scary Farm), but this is the first time they have had a monster hearse as well. It was hidden by the exit, but I spotted it by chance. This is usually a P photo op, but SS took off running as soon as she saw it and it had to be the two of them. SS totally has the short person syndrome, bigger is better in her book.

Cool Jack-o-lanterns.

Can you find our spooky goblin?

The attendant really got into the Halloween spirit. She suggested that SS ride the broom, then jumped in to ham it up.

SS really likes this ride and has asked me to ride with her several times. I am not a fan, because it bounces too much for my liking. There is no height requirement, only to ride with an adult if under 42 inches. I have seen many infants on it and it makes me uncomfortable. Don't know why, since we are roller coasters freaks.

As you can see, the more weight the more bounce, and that is why we have refrained from riding with SS.

SS LOVES super hero poses.

Seven years old and still "needs" her stroller. I was putting on SS's costume in the parking lot when we arrived, in the back of the van. There was a woman with a kid and stroller across from us and she approached us about our stroller. She was waiting for us to bring it out to take a look. It wasn't until she asked when we bought it that it hit us that we have had the Hummer for 8 years. Yep, way before SS came home. We still love the stroller, and the lady had not seen SS, so she was surprised that we were still using a stroller. We showed her the storage space and she was sold. SS is seven and should walk, but using the Hummer means we can bring a cooler with water and Gatorade, and do not have to carry a backpack in the heat. Did I mention how much we love our stroller? And it accommodates two kids, as in two full size kids.

SS had a great time chasing after Baba in a bumper car driven by JJ.

Meanwhile P was having fun ramming into random kids. Check out the smile on his face.

We still can't get over this face, should we be worried? Because it's pretty scary specially from such a sweet looking child.

SS was able to say hi to quite a few characters. It's why we love Knott's, because as much as we love SS there is no way in hell we will stand in line for two hours (if not more) to see a stupid D*sney Princess. Nope, not going to happen, not that SS has any interest. Just as we walked into Camp Spooky SS met Linus, who of course had his blanket.

Count Snoopula made sure we would get a good picture for our 2015 calendar.

We just wanted to see her beautiful face.

Sally and Franklin were being ushered out but graciously agreed to pose with SS. The things you do for your kids, because in that heat they surely needed the break. But I had to ask, because it made my SS happy. I am shameless when it comes to my kids.JJ inadvertently photo bombed SS.

When Charlie Brown came down from the stage SS surprised us by going up to him and gave him a high five.

The show started about 20 minutes after SS took her picture with Snoopy.  When Snoopy came on stage SS's reaction was priceless. She shrieked like she had not seen him in a year, it was so beautifully pure and it made our day. P and I were grinning like idiots, but it was such a great memory making moment. There is nothing better in the world like experiencing things through our child's eyes.

Then there were the Dia de Muertos decorations, we had a blast taking it all in.

See those two behind us? That's us twenty five years from now.

Such a cool stage, SS loved it.

Again, P and I in a quarter century.

I would not mind having this planter hanging on my doorway.

P thinks this lamp would look awesome in SS's bedroom. Can you imagine her waking up in the middle of the night and facing the skulls?

Gargoyles, we were treated to fountain gargoyles. We had a great time, had an early dinner and SS was in bed at 8:00 p.m. She must have had a lot of fun because she was very tired this morning. She did her best poor me I can hardly move drama, but off to school she went.