Happy Easter

P loves Easter Bunny and Santa pictures and the required looking back post. SS really looks so grown up in this last bunny picture. I wanted to get a hat to match the dress her grandmothers gave her for Christmas. As much as SS loves hats we never had her wearing one for the Easter pictures. Then my cousin G tried a cute Easter hat on SS and my daughter's expression was not one of happiness.  She hated the darn bonnet, and I gave up on having her wear a hat.  SS then found the hat on the picture to be of her liking and agreed to wear it. OK, no bonnets.

SS's outfits on 2009, 2011, and this year where gifts from her grandmothers. Last year's outfit was a gift from the Abus. We have only clothed our child on the 2010 picture.   That's kind of sad.

We took SS to Knott's where she wore an awesome bunny outfit Grandpa sent her as apart of her birthday gifts. Even Snoopy and Woodstock were impressed with her costume. We had a blast and SS made it to bed shortly before 10 p.m. Hard to believe we would do that on a Sunday night. Waking her up tomorrow morning is going to be difficult. SS might change, but we are still shamelessly practicing fly by seat of your pants parenting.

2012

2011

 

2010

2009

More Easter fun.

We are nearing our one year anniversary in our new home, or as I call it, back home. We are pretty much settled, even though there's still furniture in the garage and boxes unopened. Adjusting to the weather was not a problem, same thing, different place. We fell in step with what we did fifteen years ago, while still sometimes in awe of how much there is to do, the plethora of ethnic dining choices, and overall diversity.  The one glitch where SS and I are concerned is P working Saturdays. It's still throwing us off and it is still difficult for SS to comprehend why Baba is not home when she is off school.  I'm actually missing soccer because it forced me to get out of the house and keep SS busy. So I try to find things for us to do on Saturdays to ease the sting of Baba's absence. I do enjoy my Mondays with P sans SS for a few hours, and sometimes I feel guilty. Just sometimes. Today we headed to an Easter event to allow SS to get some more Easter fun.

Check out those two front teeth coming in. I really like the vampire look, and I'm not into that stuff. I'm going to miss that gap when her adult teeth are fully out.

Parents were encouraged to being their cameras, as there was no commercial photography offered. A lot of parents decked out their kids in their fancy Easter outfits and took advantage of the occasion. I'm glad we waited because I need P to get SS to look at the camera. We are taking SS for her annual picture Monday.

I knew there would be pony rides at the event, but knew it wasn't for SS. Our daughter will only ride on the stationary horses on a Merry go Round when at her bravest. More often she sits on the bench, enjoying the view. As we walked by SS squealed at the sight of the pony and horse, she wanted to ride. Uh, those things move, are statistically far more dangerous than a Merry go Round animal, it could throw her off and crush her, but that is what SS wanted to do.

Full disclosure time. I was thrown of a horse at age ten onto asphalt, with my sizable cousin landing on me. I have kept my distance from those creatures ever since. I knew eventually it would come up but I envisioned P being there to stop my anxiety from rubbing off on SS. But that is the amazing thing about children, how it makes a parent forget what the heck they are afraid of and just focus on the child. At least that is the way it works with me. I sucked it up, stood in line, paid the fee, and prayed that SS got to ride the pony. Nope, God is a woman with an amazing sense of humor because SS got the horse. What's the worse that could happen? SS would scream and they would wait for the pony to become available.

She is on the horse and there was no screaming involved. One more example of SS's quirkiness, and reason number three million why she is such a hoot to raise. As for me, there was no hyperventilating involved, just pride in my little Mulan.

Way to go SS, you are one brave yet strange little girl.

Wow, a real bunny. I really need to learn how to frame a picture.

Blurry bouncy house fun. SS did not stay long, it is still difficult for her to remain upright on a bouncy house.

When SS approached the coloring station the attendant informed her that it was a coloring contest. SS sat down and started coloring furiously, just like P has taught her to do to meet her teacher's edict that all homework pages must be colored. I had to explain to SS that the contest was not a coloring race, but that it was about aesthetics. Once that was cleared SS was able to relax and enjoy her coloring. Hard to believe kindergarten has stressed out our kid so much.

Yesterday was sports dress up day at school. SS initially wanted to wear her soccer uniform, cleats and shin guards included. We managed to redirect her and she settled on her karate gi. As soon as we arrived I questioned the wisdom of our redirection. A bunch of boys circled SS and started showing their so called karate moves. SS growled (new thing for her) and decided to show them how it's done. I had to remind her that karate is for self defense only, and to walk away from any kicking, chopping or other karate moves. I left the school expecting a phone call to immediately return to get my karate kid. SS heeded my reminder and made it through the day without incidents (that we know of).

Since SS's teacher is against any "man made holiday" (that somehow includes Christmas and Easter) we were concerned that our kids would be the only ones once again left out of a celebration. On SS's birthday, the other two classes made St. Patrick's Day hats and wore them throughout the day. SS's classmates were easy to spot, as they were the ones without hats. Last time I volunteered in SS's class a mom approached me and floated the idea of having an Easter egg hunt after school for our kids. I loved the idea and we started polling other parents. In no time the idea was a go and today was the day. Last day of school before Spring break, and the kids would have some out of school fun together. 

Somehow the unthinkable happened, and we were surprised to see our kids holding Easter eggs when school was dismissed. What the heck? The two other K teachers made sure that SS's class was included in the egg hunt. That was very sweet of them and about freaking time. It was funny how SS made it very clear that her teacher "was not at our egg hunt Mama.  She doesn't like that at all." Oh well, two egg hunts in one day, things are looking up for SS. 

I'm trying to get SS to have her put-meat-on-her-bones power shakes whenever possible. Ice cream would never cross my mind as part of an acceptable breakfast, but there it was in SS's cup. Well, along with the instant breakfast and whole milk. SS finished it quickly once I told her she could not go on the playground until her shake was gone. I'm not a fan of blackmail but we are serious about her need to gain a few pounds.

First egg loot of the day, then a wardrobe change and lunch before heading to the park.

When P saw SS's pail he asked how many eggs I expected her to get. It's excessive, but SS wanted a super hero bucket and this is what I found.

Growling once again, this has been going on for a few weeks. P thinks it's her Wolverine phase.

Can I go now????? I love E's expression (on the right), she just was not into it at the moment.

Field of Easter Eggs Dreams

SS could not use her long awaited for Easter bucket because the kids had to use the ones provided. That was news to me, and P thought it was just lame. He's totally right, but SS has to follow lame rules all the time, even at home.

 

Initially the kids were going to have a set number of eggs to pick. But a much lower turn out than expected (even though siblings were included), and a lot of parent contributions resulted in a lot of eggs per child. SS filled her pail and was asked to return to get more. What a horrible thing to endure.

Always a lady, she takes after her Mama.

SS with O and his little brother A. O asked me if we could get SS a BMX bike so he can teach her to race and they can race together.  My baby, the one who can't pedal a bike is no BMX racer material. O and his brother also race motor bikes, O's parents think it's a great idea for SS to try a motor bike instead. Get this, the 50s come with training wheels. Not sure we want SS to break something she might need later, like a limb, cranium, neck or vertebrae.

It's been a while since SS had bubble fun, it was good to see her free spirit side in full force. 

First corsage, first dance and gifts.

Our little girl attended her first dance on her sixth birthday with a smoking hot escort who brought her a beautiful corsage. The only reason I survived this milestone is that P was the escort, and not some tattooed thug freak (nothing against tattoed thug freaks, just not our idea of an escort). It was a wonderful opportunity to see our super hero crazy girl show that she is well rounded, so no need to worry about her future folks. She loved the corsage, her outfit, and the fact that her Baba was dressed up, and only hers for the evening.

We had to make a knot on the wristband due to SS's tiny wrist.  That is why she is holding her arm that way, afraid it would fall. We did a good job and it lasted until she came home.

SS's teacher texted me this picture and gushed about how beautiful SS looked. Yes, our daughter can carry a dress when appropriate, although she prefers pants. There's just no need to dress like that at school. And as hard as it is to believe, at lunch we saw a girl wear a white and red dress similar to SS's. To school, on the day they spend half an hour running around the playground, at school. Yikes. My people really need to tone down the over dressing thing.

A pic to let Mama know they were having a good time.

H and S, so good that SS has some diminutive classmates. They both look possessed in this picture, but I assure you they are both lovely. Although our child is most likely possessed, but still lovely when unprovoked.

As soon as they walked through the door it was time to open Mama's and Baba's gifts.

 

A lightsaber! But not just any lightsaber, it's red just like Darth Vader's, another little girl's favorite everywhere.

SS received some DVDs.

Books are always a good choice.

SS is entering a Wolverine phase, and was thrilled that we bought her the muscled costume. She really dislikes the wimpy ones. SS totally exhibits the little person syndrome. We hope that doesn't translate into stiletto heels to the park later in life.

Finally, the Wolverine action figure SS has been asking for since October.

Love the transformation from belle of the ball to super hero strong.

A cool brthday cake and a boo boo on her special day.

Friday started very well for SS, she had two unexpected mishaps, but still managed to end her birthday on a high note.

SS had every little girl's dream birthday cake delivered to school by Mama and Baba, so she could celebrate with her entire class.  The cake came with the cars and ring, we added the cool action figure and SS was none the wiser.

Totally excited even though she had to wait for her classmates to finish their lunches before having cupcakes. We did not bother enforcing the rule with SS. There had to be benefits to being the birthday girl.

Upset that we did not allow her to pick the toys from the cake and go on her merry way to the playground. Never mind that she has never been allowed to take toys to school, as in since she was in preschool.  Silly little detail.

Still milking it.

OK, we got a smile when we told her she could have her cake toppers as soon as we got home and cleaned them.

Barely minutes after this picture was snapped I heard SS scream (another kid had my attention asking for I can't remember what now), she cried and said she bumped into a table.  It broke the skin, and I'm sure it hurt, but not to generate the kind of screaming and crying SS was doing. Just another reminder of the crap fest we got her into, and wondering how long before she stabilizes.

Since school was almost over I wanted to get out of there before SS's teacher (who is very vocal against crying for any reason) could make an appearance and make things worse. SS's classmates are a caring bunch, but significantly slowed down our departure wanting to comfort their fallen comrade.

That gave the teacher enough time to come out of her meeting and spread sunshine. First she said there was no need to cry. Well, I don't care, let the kid cry. She's had a crappy couple of weeks, with more emotional and physical distress than she needs. Second, we do not believe in negating her feelings. If you don't like her crying please step away.   One thing I will never understand is why people meddle so much. People, if you see a hurt child, and that child is in her parent's arms, just back the hell off. Especially if the child is screaming bloody murder asking not to be touched. It's been a pet peeve of mine forever.  SS adores her Baba, but when she is hurt she wants and needs her Mama. Not surprising since we have been attached at the hip since we met.  Even her father recognizes and respects that fact. Then the teacher decided it was a good idea to place her cold water bottle on SS's cut. Oh man was she surprised when SS cried even louder. All I wanted was to get her home, where I was sure a Band aid would help with the crying.

 

Because SS had not had enough bad luck lately her tooth got caught in her blouse as I removed it to clean her wound. The tooth came off and I could not find the sucker, because I had SS clinging to me screaming about her back and her tooth, and the fact that she was bleeding in two places. Now that is over I must admit that the double gap just looks adorable on SS. Gives her a fang like, tiny vampire look.

An Iron Man B@ndaid, some serious TLC, and SS let go off me to search for her tooth.

I was SO glad when I finally found that darn tooth, even though the Tooth Fairy pays anyway. SS's evening was a good one, she attended her first dance with a very handsome (OK, smoking hot, I was jealous) escort.