Father's Day

Today we went up to John and Mary Tyler's house in Phoenixville, PA for a Father's Day cookout. It was really nice, I had never seen their new house before. It was a long car ride for Miz O; first we went to Marc's parents house, and then loaded her car seat in their car and all drove up together from there. She was being a little fussy, but really very good. Ont he way home, she was still being good,but it was literally an hour and a half of non-stop barrage of questions over and over and over again until I wanted to scream. No answer is ever sufficient, but you have to answer something, or it will just be repeated until you drive the car off the road. And then I felt guilty, because she really was being good, just annoying. Charmingly annoying. I had to take a ten minute breather once we got home and go water my garden while Marc made her some dinner, since she wouldn't eat anything at John and Mary Tyler's except 8 calories worth of cucumber. It's pretty exciting to think that she's going to have a cousin in a matter of days! Olive says she wants it to be a girl. I guess we'll find out soon enough!

Great Grandma Rosa, 1921-2010

Olive and I were talking tonight as she went to sleep about Great Grandma Rosa and the angel figurine that she wanted Olive to have that's now on the shelf over her bed. I asked her if she remembered who she was. We had visited her before in the big house with lots of people living there. There were birds in a cage, and there were cats there too. I said Great Grandma Rosa had red hair and she was in a wheelchair sometimes.

Olive: There were cats in her room.
Me: Yes, there were. They live at the nursing home where she lived. Do you remember her?
Olive: Yes, and she died. Why?
Me: Well, because she was very old. She had a very good life though.
Olive: But why did she get old?
Me: Because as time goes by, everything gets old. Eventually everybody dies.
Olive: Why?
Me: I don't know, Olive, it's just what happens.
Olive: Well maybe when Great Grandma Rosa is a lady again, she will be young and everyone at the party will be happy. And the cats will be happy to see her.
Me: I hope so, Olive

Hot Memorial day weekend

Olive went all feral on me today in the back yard. Naked, streaked with mud, in the bushes looking under rocks for slugs and grubs. It was very Lord of the Flies.

Hair!!

How can you go from being all cuddly and be all climbing-into-bed-to-snuggle and then five minutes later be a screaming mess about not wanting to have your diaper changed? I don't get it.

I think I have to cut her hair, but I have no idea how to do it. It's always in her face and then it gets in her food and gets all sticky and gross. BasicallyI told her if she doesn't start letting me brush it and put it up in a pony tail in the morning, then I'm going to cut it. Easier said than done. I wouldn't know how to get her hair cut even if I could. The last time we took her to the salon she freaked out and Marc gave up. Maybe we should try again. She really needs her bangs trimmed too.

Last night she insisted on getting out of bed right before lights out so she could do a "princess dance" which consisted of a wobbly pirouette twirl and then a kick. Very cute. I have no idea what it means, but it was cute.

Yep, She's definitely three. Today she was moody and stubborn and went to timeout several times this evening for not sharing the swing with Silas. Exhausted, but refused to sleep. She stated her demands for snuggle hostages and requested food. Both appeals were denied.

The bean is three!

Happy Birthday Olive!!!!

You are three years and ten minutes old right now. You are the greatest thing in my life and I love you more than I can possibly say. Three years ago right now, I was still crying with joy that you were finally here and a part of our lives at last. (and that I had actually made it through natural childbirth)

Last night as Olive was falling asleep, we were snuggling and she said to me, "Mommy, you're my best friend." Sometimes I want to turn her over and see where the button is where the sound comes out. She's so cute it's ridiculous.

Almost Birthday Time!

Can she really almost be three? Really? The last day or so she has been exceptionally cute and perceptive. She really thinks a lot on her own now, and has her own ideas and opinions. Pretty interesting to watch. Her birthday is Friday, and her party is Saturday. If you ask her about it, she just says, "It's almost my Three Day!" We've also been telling her that she can go to school once she's three, so she keeps asking when she's going to school. I try to explain to her it's in the fall, but she doesn't quite get it. That's OK. I'm just glad she's excited about school.

I think her party should be fun; I'm a little nervous that they will get bored if they don't have something to do, but Marc assures me that 12 kids will entertain themselves. He's probably right. Besides, there's no room for a moon bounce.

Nathan's Birthday Party

So, we went to Nathan's birthday party on Saturday at he Providence Volunteer Fire Station. Olive, seen here in her official plastic fire helmet, had a great time. They did a whole fire safety thing, and had a guy show the kids all the gear they have to wear. I guess I hadn't really thought about firemen being scary to kids, but seeing them all decked out and breathing through a respirator, I could see how kids might find them a little unnerving. All the kids got used to himt hough, and most of them sat there for a picture with Fireman Brian. Olive wanted nothing to do with him, but that's OK too. Then they took the kids out in the fire engine and drove down teh road and back, and they got to use the siren and everything. They were beaming. Olive had a window seat with Dad inteh fire engine. Today it is cool and rainy, and Dad took her out for awhile so I could attempt to sort out winter and summer clothes and weed stuff out to go to Goodwill. I'm not nearly done, but I made some progress.

Easter Updates

I forgot how fun coloring Easter eggs was... we had a lot of fun doing these. I only had a few, so we made what we could. I remember as a kid I always wanted a really dark blue one, so I'd leave one egg in the blue dye for at least 45 minutes or so and make these beautiful blue eggs. Fun stuff. Olive had a blast. We did do an impromptu Easter egg hunt in the backyard Easter morning, and she loved that too.

She's been amazing lately. We went to Florida for few days and left here here with my parents. They had a blast. They went to Ikea, they went to the Tot Lot, the Amish Market, Valley View to see the Koi fish and tadpoles, they kept busy. It was nice to know she was having fun and wasn't whining about us leaving. She made a little bit of a fuss the night before we left, but in general she handled it very well.

Tonight we met Auggie and family for dinner at Chick Fil-A. It was a madhouse. Everything was going fine and then someone announced that there was pee in the play structure and everyone had to get out so they could clean it. To avoid the imminent riot, they started giving out paper Chick Fil-A hats for all the kids. Then Olive pooped, and once I got her cleaned up, we went to the library and then came home. She crashed pretty hard. I realized tonight that it's been awhile since I updated this... (so surprised) I have to get some new pictures up soon. Pop Pop's 90th birthday is in a few weeks, I have to get some pictures printed out for them by then. And Aunt Mary Tyler's baby shower for Cletus the Fetus is coming up, and I'm woefully behind on finishing her gift. (once again, so surprised) Where does the time go??

Nice weekend

I have to say, Olive and I have had a wonderful weekend. I was dreading Marc going away; I thought I'd lose it and be really frazzled and frustrated. Instead, we had a great time. Olive and I played, we went out and did stuff together, went to the playground, the library, the fish store. We really enjoyed each others company, and it was really wonderful. It was genuinely fun, and we barely watched any TV at all. Marc will be home tomorrow afternoon, and I can't wait to see the look on her face when she sees him.

So far so good!

So far, the single parenting thing has been going remarkably well; hopefully I won't jinx myself. Tonight when I got Olive from daycare, she was in a really good mood, and we went to the grocery store and had a fine time. We came home and made dinner, watched some Thomas together, and made cookies before bath. Even hair and tooth brushing went well; three stories and an uncomplaining lights out. Couldn't ask for much more than that. Daddy called fr om Chicago to say goodnight, an extra bonus. I think tomorrow we're going to get up and go to the Y for a swim in the morning.

Preschools

Marc's off to Chicago today, so I'm single parenting for a few days. I hope I don't go crazy. I'm just planning on hanging out with people so we don't just sit around the house all day. I find it hardest at night, going through the bath time routine. That's when we're both the most tired, and I tend to be really short tempered, and then I feel guilty about it later. Marc explained to her that Daddy was going on a trip and that he'd be back in a few days. Then she wanted to know if Mommy was going too. I hope our trip to Florida in April goes smoothly. Both my parents are comign down now, which is good. They can keep her entertained.

We looked at Towson Presbyterian Preschool yesterday; it looks pretty good. Olive seemed to like it a lot, she went right in to the classrooms and seemed to be quite at ease. I am thinking that the 5 day program is probably the way to go for her; I loveKristen, but having her in the two day program would mean daycare one day, school the next, daycare again, school, and daycare again. I'm just thinking it would be easier on everyone if she just had one set routine every day. (And she'd be exposed to fewer germs.) Besides, when I add up the cost of the two day program with three days of daycare a week, it's actually more than the five day program. I feel bad though, I know Kristen just loves her and I feel bad taking her out of there, but I really think Olive is ready for school. And besides, it wouldn't start until September, so she'd be there another 5 months. I just can't believe she's that old already. It really does go so fast.

Preschools?!

How exactly did I miss the memo that I was supposed to sign up for preschools before Thanksgiving of last year? How does everyone know this but me? What the hell? I have been calling around, and most places are full, but I can get on waiting lists. If there are spaces available, they are for two hours a day three mornings a week, which is just not going to work for me unless I feel like quitting my job. (Hey... oh yeah. Money) Anyway, I am going to make some frantic calls in the morning and see what I can do. At this point it's not so much where I want her to go as it is where I can get her in. One of the Catholic schools required a baptism certificate.... uh, next! I think we're not going the Catholic route. Don't even get me started. Where are the Unitarian preschools?! Whatever we end up doing, she's going to be reading by fall. She's way advanced for her age, and if anything, I'm afraid that the Threes preschool level is going to be too easy for her and she'll be bored. I know, I sound like one of those pushy parents, don't I? But it's true. We'll work it out somehow.

We had a little play date with my friend Julie and her daughter today, who is 6 days younger than Olive. The similarities are amazing. Julie and Kyle are going through some of the exact same challenges we are right now, with potty training, tantrums, etc. It's easy to feel like you're all alone and forget that there are other people out there who are struggling just like you are. It was nice to catch up, I feel bad that I haven't seen her in so long. Winter has that isolating effect on everyone.

Saturday Morning overheard

Saturday morning and Olive is up unusually early (for her anyway) and is hungry. Marc gets up and throws on a pair of my flannel pants that are on the floor. He takes her downstairs to get her some breakfast and turn on the TV, in the hopes that we can get a few more minutes of sleep. I hear them down in the kitchen:

"Daddy? Are those Mommy's pants?"
"Yes, Olive, they are."
"Daddy? Did you just fart in Mommy's pants?"

Rainy Day at Port Discovery

Today we ventured to Port Discovery for a little rainy day family outing. It was really pretty cool; for some reason I didn't expect it to be so big, there was tons of stuff to do. I didn't realize it's like a whole indoor amusement park. IT was also PACKED today because of the rain, no doubt. It is absolutely crappy outside. Olive had a great time running around. I did get a little paranoid about her runnig around on her own, there were so many other bigger kids pushing their way through and I thought she'd get stomped on, but she did OK. They had one exhibit about how things in your house work, and they had a black tunnel to crawl through like a sink drain. Olive was kind of curious, and there were all these 8-10 year old boys going in it, and she kind of got swept into it. However, once you're in it, it's totally black and you can't see the other end. Marc ran around to the other end, but she didn't come out. I could hear her crying in there, but there were at least 6 kids mashed in there after her who had to all back out. I was trying to get in there, and finally the one little boy (I say little, he was probably 12) helped get to her and hand her to me. I did kind of panic though, especially when I could hear her crying and couldn't get to her. She was a little upset, but bounced back. I think I was more traumatized than she was. It was soon after that that I decided I couldn't handle the crowds any more and we decided to head out. We went to McDonalds for lunch (I know, I know) because we needed someplace close so she wouldn't fall asleep in the car on the way there. Then it was home for a nice 2 hour rainy afternoon nap, Mommy and Daddy included. I am still feeling vaguely under the weather, but hopefully I'll kick it soon.

I'm "off" all next week (aka Unemployment) so I'm hoping to get some projects done around the house that have been nagging at me, namely cleaning up the disgusting mess I call a basement. I am also going to try to get some more info and visit a few preschools for Olive in the fall... I am realizing I probably should have started this sooner, as some of the programs are already full. We'll just have to see.

Snow Day Paper Hats

Stomach Flu!

Stomach Virus!!! Not Fun. Olive has been throwing up since 2am. I have been doing a constant stream of laundry since then, I think I am up to load number 10 now. I thought Marc just had food poisoning, but now I am starting to think that maybe it's a bug instead. Whatever it is, she's got it and it's a big mess. She's drinking Pedialyte right now and she seems to be OK, so hopefully she can keep that down for awhile. Yikes!

Chickadees

Marc was showing Olive a picture of a chickadee in a book.
"What kind of bird is this, Olive?"
"It's a GARBANZO!"

:)