SS's Christmas reading loot.

SS scored a lot of books from Santa, and he was well aware of her love of Star Wars and Minecraft.

Santa also added a Darth Vader reading lamp with there extra books.

The cutest reader likes her new reading light.. 

How could anyone not immediately fall in love with this precious, beautiful inside and out, and innocent child?

Last day of 2015 and good riddance, as it was an awful year for us. It sucker punched us in the gut and kicked us when we were down. We are looking forward to a better year, and will start the healing process by treating SS to a little getaway.  Children are incredibly intuitive and no matter how much we want to insulate them from stress, hurt, pain, they just know when it's there.  SS has already articulated things we hoped she had not noticed. But she did and sadly she was right about her perceptions. I'll write about that later because I'm still trying to process it and I'm a freaking adult who has known all along. 

But not all is doom and gloom and we do not have the luxury to be fragile, we are SS's only source of comfort, strength and guidance. We have to suck it up and move on. When things settle some I will post about Halloween and our last Disneyland visit. I was also able to join a school field trip to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. That was fun and an incredible treat because they had the required chaperones, but the school made an exception in my case because of our annus horribilis, and the effect it had on SS.  We also made it to the school's harvest festival for the first time. As bad as things were, as distracted, as exhausted as we were, we tried our best to make sure SS got to be a kid.  

Shortly after the zoo outing SS requested to visit a museum, and said she'd never been to one. That is not factual, we had season passes to the Turtle Bay Museum, and we would visit after our morning walks Monday through Friday, and on many weekends with P. But SS was rather young and perhaps did not see it as a museum. SS stated she wanted to see extinct animals, prehistoric bones, and art. Okay, what eight year old makes such a request? P and I had quite a laugh thinking about when we were SS's age, and a museum visit were not on our radar. If things go as planned we should be able to fulfill the art  museum request next week. The Natural History Museum visit will have to wait for the end of next month or February. At least SS has intellectual curiosity and we want to encourage her to expand her horizons. 

And then there's P, my incredible shrinking man, who has lost thirty five pounds without dieting. Sadly I have gained every pound he lost since we are polar opposites coping with stress. I don't usually make new year's resolutions, but I do intend to get P back to a healthy weight.  And while I may not always agree with his coping mechanisms, that is what they are, his.  The only time I am vocal and downright pissy is when it affects my child, and well, it has affected my child. However, I will always love P unconditionally, and will always have his back, no matter if we are together or apart. We share two children and that is a lifetime commitment regardless of marital status.  P has busted his ass for twenty years providing for his family, taking on responsibilities that many would not even when it is actually their responsibility. P has an excellent work ethic, and has never resorted to whining to get out of significantly challenging rough spots. He goes out of his way to work holidays and extra shifts so we can treat SS here and there to something extra. Every little adventure, season pass, day pass, flight, activities, etc we have enjoyed have been paid by him (except our Maui condo). I do admire his dedication and his strength, taking time to feel sorry for himself has never been an option. We are ready for 2016, and let the good times roll! 

Lego Tie Fighter

SS put together her Lego Star Wars Tie Fighter ( 517 pieces) in record time, as usual. She already assembled her Lego City Deep Exploration Vessel (717 pieces) and Ninjago Masters of Spinjitzu (529) pieces sets. That is 1,763 extra Lego parts in our very small house. The odds of me twisting or fracturing an ankle again have increased exponentially.

I don't even want to think about the total cost of all her Legos. But they make SS so happy, and keep her entertained for hours. We have a very small set of three separate Lego Star Wars vehicles on hold for Dia de Reyes. We are going on a small trip and it will be good for SS to keep busy during the flight. And since we don't want Abuela to think we don't bathe SS, the previous picture was taken late last night and this picture was taken early this morning.

Playing Star Wars Battlefront on the Xbox One.

SS still loves Darth Vader, still thinks he's the coolest.

Pizza with the Principal and more Tooth Fairy.

On Friday December 4 we were out and about trying to unsuccessfully distract P's mind from his mother's viewing the next day.  We had decided to send SS to school to that week to keep some semblance of normalcy, and because we didn't want her to become upset by P's natural response of grieving.  SS's teacher was aware of Nana's passing and would call us if he felt SS was not emotionally able to remain at school.  We were at a store when I noticed P on the phone and thought he was talking to his sister or stepmother. He came  to me and informed me the school's health clerk called and stated SS's crown fell off, there was no blood involved, and how did we want to proceed. And by the way it happened while SS was having pizza with the principal which was news to us. The picture above was sent to our phones via the Class Dojo app, but we had yet to see it. Bad parents, and distracted parents.

P told the clerk that SS doesn't have a crown, then the clerk said, oh then her cap fell off. Again, SS does not have a tooth cap either.  We are astounded that SS has no cavities, given the poor condition she came to us. I had read SO many blog posts during our wait about babies with bottle rot who had root canals as early as two years old. YIKES.  Anyway, we decided to pick her up because it was close to dismissal, and given what was going on we wanted to make sure she was OK emotionally.

We did both say damn what is it with SS and losing teeth at this rate? If the Tooth Fairy has not made it to your home it's because our daughter apparently has her on retainer. She had lost a tooth on November 18 for Pete's sake. In the picture above, SS is proudly showing her new gap. Paddy doesn't have much memory about the rate at which he lost his baby teeth, but still feels SS's are really going fast.  

I was a cavity kid and had several extractions as a child. Weird, given how meticulous Mami and Abuela were about hygiene. Not only did I have several extractions, they were done without anesthetic, not even the local stuff to numb the area. I still remember the awful noise of the instrument yanking a tooth or molar off. Let's say I have done my best to forget about my baby teeth.

Then there's JJ and again I really have no memory about the pace at which his baby teeth bid adieu. A google search indicated wide variation, and as long as the teeth do not fall prematurely or by trauma SS should be OK.  The reason why the health clerk thought it was a crown or cap it's because the tooth was hollow and there was no blood. Then the clerk noticed SS's gummy gum and thought it was what was left of the actual tooth. She was rather disturbed when told it was not a crown/cap and said she had never seen a hollow tooth. We were worried as well, but after the last tooth Dr. L explained  it's genetics, not garden variety stuff, but nothing to worry about. Thankfully the Tooth Fairy pays no matter the condition of the tooth.  

And what is that thing on SS's head?

It's her monkey hat!

Nana (12/25/1945 - 12/01/2015)