A good day, only one accident at school.

P had an unscheduled day off (unpaid) courtesy of his employer's lack of planning. A vital instrument was not working and really, when it is so central to your lab, why have a second one or spare parts. P is patiently waiting for a FedEx shipment to get back to work. This is the first time since the first day of school that P has been home during our school morning routine. Said routine went out the window when SS realized Baba was home. P went through another one of those "how do you do it moments" because SS is not and will never be a morning person. Funny thing is that he acts as though I have a choice. I am a stay at home mother, can't claim that I have better things to do. Once I came to terms with the fact that SS is not going to wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 6:30 a.m. things fell into place.

We dropped SS off at school wearing Kai Lan undies and with two changes of clothing. We informed Ms. L about SS's progress and her reaction to the accident last night. Ms. L mentioned that was their biggest concern. We told her to do whatever they needed to do to offer comfort, rules do not apply when SS is in the middle of a serious flashback. We tried the toilet at school and once again SS's size surprised us. Those tiny kiddie toilets are big for her, she was hanging on for dear life not to fall in, the poor thing. When we returned SS was wearing different pants, she had an accident. Ms. L said "it was only one," and apparently that is good for a first timer. We were concerned that they might back out of the arrangement.

We enjoy an occasional lunch at a Thai cafe, where SS always has the chicken pad thai and we have pad kra pao . Last time we were there SS had an "awwwww" moment. As she was happily munching on her noodles and white rice she looked at us and said "It's China food." That was so freaking cute even if it was Thai food we were eating. While SS was at school we went shopping for ingredients to try to make the dishes at home. I had been feeling guilty about SS's consumption of Ramen noodles when she needs a quick non spaghetti noodle fix. The idea was to have noodles handy for SS. That was quite a leap of faith on P's part due to my non existent cooking skills.

The noodles were not as tasty as what we are used to, and it took me a while to realize that I doubled the noodle amount but neglected to double the sauce. Duh! The pad kra pao recipe calls for 15-20 Thai chiles, and OMG what an overkill that is. P chopped 15 and after tasting the peppers we decided on a minute amount. We used the equivalent of two chiles and the dish still had a lot of kick. Not bad for a first time, just have to be more careful when making the noodles. Since SS demoted me and I hold a grudge I cooked this meal without her help. Our little girl has plenty to do with her potty schedule.

It took only three Asian markets for us to gather the necessary ingredients.

The color of the Pad Thai is not as dark as it should be and that is probably because I used tamarind paste instead of the concentrate.

P loved the Pad Kra Pao, I am glad I did not screw it up.

SS pronounced her noodles "yummy." She had a serving of noodles, two servings of green beans and a serving of sweet peas. SS cracked us up by giggling and clapping as I walked up to her chair with the green beans. It was like I was bringing a plate of French fries. Such a delightfully quirky child.

How precious is this child? SS helped with the dishes and dried every single one and there were a lot to dry. It is so weird how she really likes to help and smiles while helping away. Of course we won't see her doing this when she is 15, so we are enjoying her innocent enthusiasm.