Happy Baba's Day.

P received a phone call from his supervisor last night at ten.  The person who works Sundays was in a car accident and P had to work today. I was a bit irritated because we had plans today, and I wanted to do something fun for Father's Day.  But my pragmatic husband shrugged his shoulders and informed me that today's wages would pay for SS's day camp for July. And that is how he rolls, P does not take himself too seriously and would never boast about his parenting. He does have big ones, because he threw himself into parenting a teenager. Heck, I gave birth to said teenager and the teen years had me terrified. But the boy survived to adulthood, and no one was injured or incarcerated.  Then SS came along and everyone seemed to develop parenting amnesia, because all of a sudden P was treated like a new parent. It is something that annoys him to this day, but I remind him that the same happened to me; it's like JJ did not exist. 

Sure we have different parenting styles, we had different role models.  I was raised by elderly grandparents who thought I was the greatest thing in the world, and reminded me each and every day. I was hugged and kissed so many times a day it was not funny.  P grew up with less of that you are so precious fawning.  He loves his children, but he is also very aware of their short comings, and can laugh about them.  And he is always thinking about their well being, about the quality of their lives. That is why instead of being in a foul mood over working today, he was happy to make money to pay off next month's camp.  And even though the man has the ability to get on my last nerve like only my children can do, I would not want to coparent with anyone but P.  He makes me feel safe, especially since I keep finding myself in operating rooms. If my time were to arrive while SS is still young, I know that her Baba will take care of her just fine. 

Remember that picture above, the one that made it to SS's year book? I was sad when the Title IV teacher informed me that it was taken by the professional photographer at the dance. She then surprised me by sending me a copy.  That picture is going to end up enlarged on canvas and proudly displayed on our living room.  Happy Father's Day Baby.

Married 12 years.

I am ashamed to admit that I realized yesterday when I happened to glance at our calendar. Father's Day was on my mind, not our wedding anniversary. P asked me what happened to the seven year itch. I reminded him that we are late bloomers, it will hit us in two years. Everyone takes their kid to an anniversary dinner, right?

So how did it go Friday?

It went pretty much as expected, SS is not the awake at 5:30 a.m. type. P was very brave to attempt waking her up at such an hour. I did what I do best, the coward thing, and did not even offer to help hm out.  SS was not amused at being rudely interrupted from dreamland and while P anticipated holding a placid SS, that is not what he got. SS can be very strong when she wants to be.  For me it works best to get ready then get SS ready once I'm done.  But P is going to be doing this all summer, and he needs to figure out what works best for him. I did take pity on him at the last minute and shared a sure way of getting SS's attention, I played of video of who else, but her favorite person, SS. That got her to open her eyes and we even got a smile from her. 

Summer is not going to be camp and lazing around for SS.  We still have dragon boat, along with Knott's and Soak City. SS will attend English and Spanish tutoring twice a week.  There's no way we can let her go without some sort of instruction for two months. We still have to tweak with the times, but we are hopeful we can work out the Wednesday tutoring without problems.  Tomorrow SS starts swimming lessons, and we are hoping it goes well. She missed it last year after splitting her chin.  Swimming is Monday through Thursday in the afternoon. 

Adding insult to injury I had to wake up SS early Saturday to sign up for swimming.  The cost is very reasonable, and the classes fill fast.  Not hard to do when there are only five children per class.  E's mom had someone standing in for her at 8:00 a.m. I recall P kissing me goodbye at around 6:30, then I opened my eyes and it was 8:30.  Yikes! I had to get SS out of bed and out the door in record time. Lucky for us most parents want the early morning classes, which left space for us late raisers.

SS received her camp T-shirt and she's very proud of being a big girl. P was laughing because the camp counselor asked him what size shirt. I told him he should have requested a 3XL, and explain that SS really bloats after a meal. 

Nope, not amused to be up at such an ungodly hour, to sign up for a class she does not want to take.

At least I had the forethought to grab some breakfast bars, juices and her iPad. And yes it is hers, we are giving up the pretense that it is mine. I always knew that is what P was up to. But it kept SS occupied and not a single whiny moment, so it is an awesome Mother's Day present to me.

SS just moved along the gym as we made our way through the three stations.

And she picked up a few friends along the way.

I'm all for sharing but not when it comes to expensive electronics. The iPad had to remain n her lap and the headphones on her head. SS had not trouble following the rules.

P thinks the pics would make a nice Apple commercial.

P recently bought SS a Batman Lego app and SS can't put it down.

Hello summer, SS is ready for you. Are you ready for her?

Oh boy, first graduation one day, then first day of summer day camp the next. We are forbidding SS from adding any more milestones. SS was not too happy to be awaken this morning, and P went above and beyond by helping past the time he should have been heading out to work.  We had an unexpected schedule change that allowed me to take SS to her first day instead of P. There were only about six kids when SS arrived, and her timid demeanor vanished when she realized they would start out the day in the computer lab. It was difficult leaving her, knowing she would be there until at least five. But it was also very rewarding to watch SS take little steps towards independence.

SS did not know that we were both going to pick her up in the afternoon.  When we arrived she was outside in the playground, clearly having a good time, not noticing us watching her.  It made us both feel much better. The club celebrated the first day of school freedom with pizza and a piñata. Mama and Baba who? Of course we realize once the novelty wears off SS won't be as thrilled to spend a full day there. Tomorrow is the real test, I dropped her off at 7:15 this morning, and it took both of us to get her out the door.  Tomorrow is P's turn and they must be out of the house by 6:30 a.m. Wish us luck.

 

Let's hope every morning finds SS this happy.

SS's new lunch bag has two compartments, wet and dry. Besides safety our main concern is SS's nutrition while away from home for so long. We chose a larger lunch bag to provide a variety of choices, hopefully increasing the chance of SS eating properly.

 

Perhaps the beginning of SS's pool shark career?

 

 Piñata loot.

Cutest kindergarten graduate.

Last night we watched an episode of the TLC show The Little Couple that hit close to home. The couple adopted their first child, William, from China.  Although from a different province than SS, as Americans they had to go to Guangzhou to finalize their entry to the U.S. (it's where the embassy is located). What an amazing trip down memory lane, and how great it was to see a place that means so much to us again. I was impressed when P, with just a 2 second glimpse recognized the hotel the family stayed at in GZ. It was across from the hotel we called home for a week. It was a very emotional hour that we shared cuddled up in bed. It was hard to believe we no longer had a baby laying between us, we had a girl. It's just not possible that SS was going to graduate kinder the next morning.

Morning came, and as impossible at it seems SS is a big girl, and she finally had her big day.  Our baby hammed it up through her social promotion to first grade. It was the chaos expected from such a gathering, including an almost fist fight behind P; because so called adults can't comprehend that everyone else wants to see their child. So what's the harm in standing up and blocking an equally proud parent's view of their child. Thankfully P is tall and has very long arms, and still with that advantage there are only two decent pictures of SS's milestone. At least it was the two that mattered the most.  Good job SS, although we are certain that you engaged in some sort of fast forward time continuum, we have finally accepted that you are indeed growing up.

Mrs. G, the class aide for barely one and a half months, but took such a liking to SS. She got pictures and was choked up about missing our previously invisible child.

The Yunnan Ham hard at work.

No idea what was up here, but she was enjoying herself among the chaos.

 

Doesn't she look thrilled? Chin up SS, one year down, only twenty-three more to go before you earn a PhD. Heads up, Baba is counting on you to steer away from the fake social sciences.

She is a big girl, but she is still our snuggle bug.

Yesterday my allergies were acting up full blast. My left eye usually gets the worse, constantly tearing up. Lucky me I had a killer sinus pain and asthma episode going on as well. I had not slept the night before so I looked pretty dreadful. Around seven P made an executive decision and dispatched my butt upstairs regardless of how early it was. A few minutes later SS joined me in bed, strongly professing that she was not tired. She immediately got comfortable on my shoulder, pulled the blanket up to her neck and did her snuggle bug thing. Five minutes later she was out. P decided to treat me to a double showing of our taped 48 Hours, nothing like two hours of killer talk to get a sick girl to sleep. To make sure I would actually get some sleep P moved SS to her bed around 7:30. SS's last words last night, as P carried her? "I'm not tired." That was followed by over twelve hours of sound sleep. Our baby "graduates" kindergarten tomorrow morning and I have a very good reason to cry, other than being so proud of her. SS is going to get her first taste of what her summers will be like from now on at summer camp. There might be even more big changes coming her way in August or September. Life goes on, kids grow, everything changes. It's good to know that SS still needs her Mama, and that she is still our snuggle bug. P noted that she still sleeps like a baby, how she positions her body, how she cuddles. Yep, he's right about that, a lot of baby left in our big girl.

Just because we were talking about it yesterday.

Apparently there's such a thing as too much cooking.

So we are deep into our cook to beat the heat kick. I did the cooking, P and I vacuum sealed the meals, but it is P who placed the food in the garage freezer. I have never found cooking relaxing, unlike my husband.  However, P found some new recipes, few ingredients, and using the crockpot.  Before I knew it I had shopped for the ingredients and got my cooking on.

No reason to place this pic here, just for the cuteness.

But back to the cooking... The one recipe that was not cooked in the crockpot was the Pasta Carbonara Frittata. Since SS loves pasta with carbonara sauce so much, he thought she would like this as well. Eggs, penne pasta, Pecorino Romano cheese, and SS's favorite, bacon. We made it a few days ago, and it was a hit with SS. She not only finished her portion, but ate what was left on P's plate.  It's definitely an SS dish, but a once in a while only for us. The girl needs all the fat she can get.

That same day I made Hawaiian ribs, P chose the recipe because he knew the sweetness would appeal to SS.  Not only did the smell from the slow cooker drive SS crazy, but the name reminded her of Maui. They are Maui ribs for her now. Whatever works.

SS loved her ribs, and that led to a lot of Maui reminiscing, and SS's announcement that it is time to return. Sorry sweetie, it's going to be a while before we can roam Maui beaches, and feast of seafood. But it is our next trip.

And the dinner led to reminiscing about SS's first taste of corn on the cob, and how she polished it in no time.

When P came home yesterday he found me getting two more dishes ready, beef stew, and rosemary lemon roasted chicken. And there was one more on deck.  That is when P told me I needed to stop. Why? I finally find this tedious task fun and you ask me to stop? Well, since I do not deal with the garage freezer I had no way of knowing it was almost full.  P gently noted that we would have to start eating the food in there. I was having fun, I never really considered the eating part. What can I say, apart from not monitoring my freezer, I am not too bright. Our inside freezer was also full. We woke up this morning to beef stew and...

This beautiful, tasty bird, that we were forced to dig into for dinner; yet we have plenty leftover.

It's difficult to take a picture of SS without having her go into super hero mode.

 

Meet Captain America Bat.

Not to be left out of the fun P made citrus glazed chicken. I really need to learn to take aesthetically pleasing food pictures, but trust me, it's good.

 

And this concludes our first summer cooking binge.  Now we have to work on making space in the freezer. Maybe we should get another freezer.  Just kidding P, just kidding.  

SS has four days of school left, she can't wait to start summer camp.

She had a good time.

SS had a great Sunday, while P and I needed Monday to recover from our full day of fun.  SS and A played so well together, and that is rare.  Not that SS can't play or share with others. But SS is easily intimidated by other children, and so far most kids in the team near her age are aggressive. A is a girly girl, but also very laid back, live and let live kid like SS.  She is also an old soul, had me laughing at some of teh things she said. Like SS A is very good at following instructions. Her parents only allowed her to dip her feet in the water, not more than that, and I did not have to remind her once.  We hope they get to play together in the future.

We came home, showered, changed, P put the finishing touches on his potato salad, and we drove over to M's house for a BBQ. When P was invited he told M about our DB commitment, and M told him to just show up sometime after five it was cool. Imagine our surprise when P received a text from L (a coworker) wondering where we were because everyone was hungry and they were waiting for us. Oh well, P wanted to make an entrance and that is exactly what he did. 

P's coworkers have teen/adult children, or have yet to start a family. So SS ended up once again being the only child there. Thankfully SS is used to be the only child at home and it does not bother her one bit. Even better, she had the pool all to herself and had a blast. M got in the water with SS and they had "swim races," with SS winning two out if the three. We got her out of the water when she was shivering too much for our taste, and her lips were bluish. SS whined that she wanted to stay in the water, but the decision was non negotiable. We got her in her robe, and kept her warm until it was time to go home. The first SS said when her butt hit the carseat was "I'm not tired." Too bad little girl, bedtime comes regardless of whether you are tired.

Happy to be back to DB practice.

Such a Baba's girl, even warming up next to him.

Playing with A.

SS got a new skull hat to add to her summer camp accessories.

SS was not happy about her chair, wrinkled her nose and said "But it's old, I need a new chair." Well Ms. Demanding is either the chair or the sand, your choice.

Always has to make sand angels, and bring five pounds of sand inside the van.

Coolest bike rack we have ever seen.

At M's pool.

It's Dragon Boat time.

Why else would the Hummer be packed like a Grand Canyon mule? SS made a quick friend with six year old A. They are the only kids today not old enough to paddle. I volunteered for the exhausting task of watching them play on the sand, while everyone else paddles.

The Dragon Boat festival is the last weekend in July. That means that our Sundays are booked until then. As much as I enjoy doing this, and the opportunity for SS to be around other kids like herself, I don't think we could commit to a year round team. After practice we head back home to get ready for a BBQ at P's coworker's home. Busy Sunday, and we are hoping for an early bedtime for SS.

Lunch at Baba's work.

SS visited P's work for the first time today, and it really lifted her spirits. She spent a lot of time at P's previous lab, but that was a family owned business with less than fifty employees. SS really misses her Baba's previous lab, although P does not miss the pay and working conditions. On Saturdays things are more relaxed, and the guys occasionally bring food or cook at the plant. Today one of the guys brought carne asada and hot dogs, and they had the grill going.  The carne asada was delicious, we had a great lunch. SS was able to see where her Baba toils away, and of course she was excited about seeing her mug all over Baba's desk area.

When I told SS it was time to get ready to go visit Baba she asked me, "Do they at least have a puppy?" I had no idea where that came from but was certain that there are no puppies at P's work. SS then asked me if they had any kind of pets. Nope, had never been there but sure there were no pets.  P clarified the pet talk. I had forgotten that there was a turtle at his former lab, and since once SS sees or does something it becomes the norm, of course she expected to find a pet at his new lab. 

Look, it's me!

 

I love Baba this much.