Four kids in SS's class are part of a Ballet Folklorico, and Ms. V-P invited them to dance at school. They were joined by two other kids who are fifth graders and belong to the same group. SS's friend E (purple dress) was very excited about dancing in front of her classmates. Parents were allowed past the iron gates this time. The kids did a really good job, and although the audience consisted of five year olds, they paid attention during the short performance. When they were done I asked SS if she liked the dance, and she said yes. I jokingly asked her if she wanted to join the group, and dance with her friends. SS became serious right away and responded, "Nah, then I'll have to wear a dress." Said the child who was wearing a dress.
We are fearing homework so much around here that P texted me yesterday to find out how many pages SS received. Thirty seven pages, treinta y siete paginas, I was in shock, and was happy to find out this morning that homework is due in two weeks.
P is getting a kick out of SS and I butting heads about Spanish words. It's just so weird hearing certain words coming from SS, and every cell in me compels me to correct her. Of course, SS is standing by what she learns at school, because God knows I can't be trusted when it comes to the Spanish language. Here are a few words of contention:
Brown - café I grew up saying brown, although the Spanish word is marrón
Purple - morado Nope, it's violeta.
Straw (drinking) - popote It's actually sorbeto, although it's pajilla in Guatemala.
Banana - plátano Please a plátano is a plantain, the correct word is guineo.
Marshmallow - bob bon A bon bon is a chocolate covered sweet. No Spanish word, I grew up calling them marshmallows.
I'm sure as SS learns more words, there will be more language head butting around here.
Tuesday afternoon I had my left knee MRI, and boy was that loads of fun. Twenty-five minutes of absolute stillness. Great for someone with jerking lower limbs. At least my orthopedic surgeon will hopefully see what's wrong, and make it better.
After the MRI we took SS to the library for a Princess and Pirate party. Unbeknown to SS, we bought her a pirate costume. Not because of the party, she could have worn her dollar store pirate paraphernalia for that. Next month we are taking SS, and hopefully JJ, to a pirate themed dinner show. She will have the opportunity to have her picture taken with "real" pirates, and we did not want her to be under dressed for such an important occasion. There were two pirate costumes to choose from, a regular black, white and red, and a brown captain pirate costume. I reached for the former, and P for the latter. P liked the captain pirate look better, plus it's a captain, a higher rank. I didn't know that pirates, or five year old kids cared about rank. In a rare show of magnanimity, I did not even bother to plead my case.
SS was more than happy with her Baba's choice, and could not believe that she had scored a cool costume. Initially we only saw boy pirates and girl princesses. Much to our relief several girl pirates showed up. SS struck a quick friendship with a five year old boy who complimented her costume as soon as we entered the library. He too was dressed as a pirate, and initially I thought they had the same costume. His was brown also, similar, but different. When the boy noticed SS's long hair he exclaimed "that little boy has really long hair." Before I could explain, his grandmother stated "your hair used to be that long too, I miss it." I did tell them that SS is a girl, technically, suspected Y chromosome notwithstanding.
Upon entering the party, the children were greeted by Snow White, and I had to coerce SS to stand near the fair princess. Snow White read the kids a cool story, The Paper Bag Princess. So cool a story that I'm going to get SS the book. The princess disses the dude, and they don't get married, nor live happily ever after. The kids then played Poison Apple, kind of creepy, but I'm no child expert. After that, Snow White and Pirate Dude distributed juice and gummy snacks to the kids. Always good to have children ingest sugar at 4:30 p.m.
After the children were sufficiently sugared up, it was time to look for hidden treasures. Again, no pirate expert here, but I did not know treasures are hidden in inflatable plastic pools, under what looked like hay. Each child could retrieve three candies, then proceeded to decorate their own goodie bag. SS came up with Whoppers, and as soon as I saw them, I had a flashback to Saturday. Since I was not in the mood to practice the Heimlich maneuver on my child again, we discreetly hid the candy. Yeah, we are evil that way.
When it was time to leave, P reminded SS of her manners, and told her to "Go to Sleeping Beauty and say thanks." HA! That is something that would usually come out of my mouth. I'm the D*sney princesses ignoramus at home. SS quickly corrected her Baba, and I had a good laugh. Not one to be deterred after a blunder, P spent the ride to the restaurant further annoying SS. He asked her if she enjoyed meting Mulan. Later asked if she really said goodbye to Belle, then Ariel, then Cinderella. He might not know what they look like, but he surely knows their names. I get dissed by my daughter and sulk, P just keeps rolling.
With the amount of homework that SS has, coupled with her writing difficulty, it is tricky doing things on school days. But it was so worth taking the time to go, and even better, P being there made SS's day.
Mami was so right when she said "al que no quiere caldo le dan dos tazas," (the one that does not like broth gets two cups). How dare I complain about nineteen pages of homework, knowing darn well that it would increase? SS came home with 27 pages yesterday. She has to write the alphabet, both capital and small letters. Funny thing is that they missed two letters from the Spanish alphabet. There was no note attached, thus we do not know when it is due, or if it was meant for practice at home. We are operating under the assumption that it is due next Wednesday. SS managed to finish five pages yesterday. The big question is if SS will be getting a homework packet today, because yesterday's gift did not come in the homework folder. SIGH. We finally figured out why the kindergarten school day is only three hours long. The children need the rest of the day to complete homework.
SS had to return her sword to the van, because in this wishy washy world, not even toy swords are allowed in the library.
They can take away her toy weapon, but they can't take away her natural lethal weapons, her tiny fists.
Sad puppy eyes, upon realizing that Baba left to get us something to drink. SS was afraid he would not make it back in time.
SS was so excited about taking a picture with Snow White that she did not even bother opening her eyes.
Decorating her goodie bag, so other pirates won't pilfer and plunder her stash.
Now this guy is worth looking at the camera Mama and Baba. The guy really looks like the J0hnny Depp character, and even had very feminine mannerisms.
Even the most menacing of pirates have to eventually pay the piper. After filling her tummy at an Italian restaurant, it was back to homework.
I have not posted in a few days, because I've been busy with homework. That's right, at my advanced age, I'm dealing with homework. SS had three pages of homework the first week, and we expected an increase as the school year progresses. However, we were not prepared for nineteen pages of homework on the second week. Silly us, expecting a gradual increase instead of a horrific exponential increase. Nineteen pages, 19, diecinueve paginas. The last page was on probability. Since when are five year old kids taught probability? We are fearing the next homework packet that is coming home tomorrow.
Last Friday SS had a splash play date after school. E's mom invited several kids from the class, but only SS and E attended. They had a blast nonetheless, thoroughly enjoying the water break amid 106 degrees of sunshine.
The next day SS attended Baby S's (K's sister) first birthday party. Again, she was the only child in the class to attend (E and SS received invites). As soon as we arrived K and C gave SS a big hug, and off they went to play. The funny thing about them is that SS is close to both her classmate K, and his little sisters. They gravitate towards each other, even Baby S. SS once again had the opportunity to splash around, and had a great time.
Then the scare happened. The worst part about this is that it was solely my fault, and I'm still mentally flogging myself over my stupidity and unforgivable lapse in judgment. SS brought a candy to me, and asked for help opening the wrapper. We are very careful about what SS puts in her mouth, due to her propensity to choke. And we are talking on liquids, yes, she chokes on liquids. Another reminder of her time in the SWI, when she was fed by the gravity method (bottle propped up, huge hole in nipple, to speed up the process). The few times that SS has had hard candy we chew on it to break it into little pieces. I think Abuela is dying a slow death after reading the preceding sentence.
When I tried breaking up the candy I realized that it was a jaw breaker type, and gave up, not wanting to chip a molar. At that moment, I should have told SS that she could not have the candy. Instead, in a very not like me move, I allowed her to have the candy, warning her to be careful. Two minutes later SS cut through the very crowded living room (Baby S was opening presents), and came to me, and to my horror I realized she was chocking. Thankfully I went into what my husband refers as my robotic mode, and did the Heimlich maneuver, twice, and the damn candy did not dislodge. I decided against trying a third time, because I was truly afraid of cracking my tiny girl's rib(s). I just stuck a finger inside and dislodged the *&;^%$#@ piece of candy. By that point SS had a blue tint, and people were yelling instructions that I had to tune out.
I remember the sweet moment when I heard JJ cry for the first time shortly after birth. I remember the first time I heard SS laugh. Until Saturday, those are the sweetest sounds I had ever had the good fortune to hear. When SS began crying (after throwing up a bit) I finally snapped out of my robotic mode. It is the best thing I've ever heard in my life. I took SS into the kitchen to let her cry it out, and to prevent traumatizing the many children in the living room. Once I found a quiet corner I cried while holding my baby. I cried because she would not have experienced such fear had it not been for me. Had I used common sense she would not have had that negative experience and memory. P has been a lot kinder to me than I have been to myself. He reminds me that accidents happen, although this was clearly my fault.
On the funny side, my glasses and cell phone flew somewhere in the living room, and I was completely unaware. When K's grandfather brought them to me I was confused. I did not notice what happened. I'm sure that the incident lasted only seconds, although to SS and I it seemed like an eternity. I'm glad I kept my cool, even if afterwards I was a wreck. SS slept with us for a few nights, she returned to her bed last night. She has been understandably more clingy, and we needed to keep her close to hear her breathe. Parenthood is most certainly not for wimps. SS, you Mama is really sorry.
No idea what they where doing here, but they were doing it together.
Baby S had fun with her cake. Much to my chagrin SS walked up and stole the S. I scolded her, but everyone, including the parents, thought it was adorable. I want to reincarnate as a cute Chinese girl.
SS and K had a lot of play time.
Check our girl out, she speaks softly (not really) and carries a big stick, which she can wield very well.
I am K, married to P, and mother to JJ. We are a family of three, impatiently waiting to become a family of four, via adoption from China. Of course it is a girl, what else could we want. We are creating this blog to keep our family and friends updated on our lives, then our journey to China. We should be united with S in January 2007, and right now it seems like an eternity.
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