The Kidlet Chronicles

Preschool photo

When I went to pick the kidlet up from preschool today, the teacher had the stack of school photos in her hand and I felt the same trepidation I did every year throughout my own school years - what was the picture going to look like?  I held my breath as she handed me the kidlet's package then breathed a huge sigh of relief.  It's perfect!  I nearly cried (what is WITH that?).  Her class picture is cute too, even though all twenty kids look a bit stunned.  Still, I'm going to buy the whole package because really, that's what they intend for you to do, by offering you 7 sheets for the price of 3.  Doesn't make sense to pick and choose even though I'll be left with a handful or so of extras. 

The scan makes her hair look redder than it is and it's a bit more contrasty (can't really see the blues of her eyes) or maybe it's just my monitor here, but you get the idea. She smiled, and nicely at that!  The little Mexx sweater is one that her Auntie D bought her recently (and thank goodness she did - I don't have any dressy clothes for the kidlet).

Ack!  My baby is growing up! 

Kidletisms

Before I forget, these are some recent developments in the kidlet's behaviour:

The Art of Manipulation
A couple weeks ago, the kidlet asked me for a treat of some sort (a Halloween candy most likely).  I said 'no'.  A while later, I caught her eating the treat.  Apparently, she had taken her Daddy by the hand, led him into her room, closed the door, and whispered to him that she'd like a treat.  He thought she was being cute and let her have one.  Needless to say, we're trying to nip that one in the bud but as she has him wrapped around her little finger, she has been getting away with it at times.  More recently, on Monday she asked for something and Mom told her that no, she couldn't have it because Mommy (me) wouldn't be happy.  The kidlet's response?  "Don't tell Mommy!".  Well duh!  But really, where did she pick this up?  And how did I become the bad guy all of a sudden?

Along the same line, there was another day when I was sick and bagged on the couch.  She asked for ice cream, I said no, she had just had a snack.  I fell asleep on the couch and when I woke some time later, I watched as the kidlet quietly came out of her bedroom with a cloth in her hand, tiptoed into the kitchen, then back to her bedroom where she gently opened and closed the door behind her again.  I thought it was so sweet - she was trying to be quiet so I could nap.  Lo and behold, I find out later that Dean had given her that ice cream and she was just sneaking around so I wouldn't find out!!

Don't Look at Me Doing Bad Things
If I catch the kidlet playing with something she's not supposed to be playing with or doing something she's not supposed to, before I can even tell her to stop, she holds out her little hand, palm out, and says "Mama, don't look.  Look away.  Don't watch me!".  Uh, nice try kiddo.

Oh, FINE
The kidlet has truly perfected the "Oh FINE!" of a teenager.  When I took her to the Mall yesterday, she wanted to go into the child's play area but when we went to pay our dollar to get in, the woman said they were at capacity and would have to wait.  So I took the kidlet aside, knelt down, and explained the situation, offering an alternative of going to explore the Toy Jungle store.  "Oh FFIIINNNE!" she said, stomping her foot for emphasis.  I'm still trying to figure out where she learned that one.

I'm Scared to Tell You
I don't freak out at the kidlet.  I'm not a big scary Mama.  And yet when she does something and knows I'll get upset, she freaks out.  For instance, she's been playing with the ornaments on the tree even though I've told her a million times to please not touch them and that she can play with them when we take the tree down after Christmas.  And yet, I keep finding them hanging in batches instead of spread out nicely like I had them.  Unfortunately, she takes to the ornaments like a cat on catnip and can't seem to help herself.  Yesterday, I heard her sobbing in the living room saying "I'm scared to tell you!", so I got up and looked to find her hiding beside the tree with a silver ball in her hand.  Was she crying because it had accidentally 'fallen' into her hand and she knew it shouldn't be there or because she took it off and couldn't get it back on and knew that she'd have to tell me what she did?  Hmmmm....

If this is what she's like at 3.75, I shudder to think of what I'm going to be dealing with in ten years...

The Man in Red

Okay, so I freaked out for nothing because that sore throat was simply a sore throat (knock on wood) and I'm finally feeling better (knock on wood again because you can never be too sure).

This afternoon after work/school, I took the kidlet to a far away mall to get her haircut at a place specifically for kids, similar to the Granville Island one I took her to last time but way better.  The hairstylists were awesome and really good with her.  She didn't growl once.  Somehow a $17 cut ended up costing me $23 with tip and I'm still trying to work that one out (didn't even think about it until right this second), but she did a really good job and really - how often do you get a kid's hair cut?  Every six months?

Santa was at the Mall and all lonely, so we decided spur of the moment to go see him.  There was absolutely no line-up and even though the kidlet wasn't dressed up, I couldn't resist (I love Santa!).  She was wearing her cute sherpa coat, so I left that on so it looks like they kinda match.  Sorta. 

She told Santa she wanted a dollhouse.  Well crap.  She's been mentioning a dollhouse for a couple weeks now.  I have no idea where she saw one but I'm pretty much done with her presents (yes, even stocking stuffers for the most part).  That Littlest Pet Shop thing I bought her is kinda like a dollhouse (it opens up, has rooms and furniture and other items) with animals, so hopefully that will suffice and/or be even better.  She talked to Santa for a minute or so, they snapped a picture, she grabbed a chocolate from his bag and we were done.   I may still take her dressed up to see a different Santa but I think this one turned out pretty good on its own:

For a trip down memory lane, check out 2004, 2005 and last year!

I can't frickin' believe it

So I was finally feeling better over the last couple days, hardly congested, not so tired, on the tail-end of this stupid cold when last night, while I was sleeping - sore throat.  Not eyewatering sore, but sore enough.  Thought maybe it was because of the cold air (we keep our bedroom pretty cool), but it popped up again this afternoon.

I'm so ticked off with this pathetic immune system of mine that I don't even know what to say.  So I'd better stop it here before I really start to rant.

Starting Christmas early

We took the kidlet to see Little Bear Winter Tales today and she loved it as much as she loved the Great Big Boo.  She was completely enthralled with every minute of it, singing when she was supposed to sing (they sang a couple Christmas carols), yelling out when she was supposed to, dancing when they said to dance.  I had no idea it was a musical so was pleasantly surprised.  At the very end of the show, the promoter got up on stage and announced that the Backyardigans would be coming soon, so now the kidlet wants to go see that.  I'm glad she loves live theatre because I sure do!  Even the corny kiddie shows!  Watching her, wide-eyed, gasping, and so freaking excited, there were several points there where I almost cried.  Watching her clap her little hands together in such a frenzy after each number was priceless.

I couldn't wait another day, so I put our Christmas tree up today.  It took a couple hours to pull all the branches down and spread out all the twigs, but the tree is AWESOME - the branches are full and I daresay it looks almost real (I think it had 1300 tips).  It's also HUGE.  But it only partially swallows our little living room, so it's all good.  I strung 210 LED lights, two strands of garland, all my Disney Christmas Magic ornaments (I think I have a couple dozen), stuffy ornaments that I got at Costco, and a handful of balls and it was done.  I still need something for the top, but here it is tonight, a whole month and one day before Christmas:

Ooooh, aaaah.  Can't really see the ornaments though, so I'll take another pic tomorrow.  It's not too early, is it?  If it is, don't tell me.  I needed some Christmas cheer today and this did the trick.  Now it's time to get cracking on the presents!

Blurborama

I realized that I haven't taken many photos of the kidlet lately, so took a few of her this morning before preschool because she was sporting cute, long pigtails (at her request!).  Unfortunately, because she cannot stand still for one second (or 1/50 second), none of the five pictures I took are any good.  She's either blurry or has a goofy  expression (not goofy cute, goofy weird/creepy).  Maybe tomorrow.  I'm still curious to see what her preschool photos turned out like - how long does it take to get proofs?  It's been almost two weeks!  Sheesh!

Last night, I killed a pot.  I washed some asparagus, put it in the steamer, put the lid on the steamer and the steamer on the pot, then turned on the element to 'Max'.  Several minutes later, something struck me as not right.  The pot was sitting funny on the burner.  i took the lid off and there was no steam.  I pulled the steam basket out and lo and behold - no water.  Oops.  Cooked the bottom slice of the pot right off.  RIP, favourite and most useful pot.  Now I can't steam anything!  I actually had to (gasp) boil my veggies last night.  Yuck.

I haven't written for several days mostly because of this annoying cold but also because work has been insane yet again (made worse by my throbbing head and resulting attention deficit) and I've been exhausted by dark.  Tonight I'm not so tired but I'm procrastinating here (which is okay because it's still WRITING) and playing six simultaneous games of Scrabble on Facebook.  I'll try and write SOMETHING.  Even a sentence.  Maybe some chocolate will help...

Speaking of which, I have cut down my Halloween candy consumption to about two Tootsie Rolls a day (oh, how I am sick of Tootsie Rolls, and yet, they call me).  I still haven't brought myself to throw out the huge bag of leftovers but I will.  This weekend I start decorating for Christmas, so Halloween has GOT to GO.

The kidlet and I danced tonight for about half hour before bed.  I turned on Treehouse Max (the kid's music channel) and away we went.  It was so much fun!  I am a bit concerned about her 'awesome moves' (her words), which basically consist of her lifting alternate legs up into awkward positions and stomping around.  Reminds me a little of Elaine's dancing on Seinfeld.  Yeah, like that.  Only the kidlet looks cute no matter what she does.  Am I biased or what?

Her newest online obsession - Pinky Dinky Doo.  (Who came up with THAT name?)  At least it's teaching her some big words - hideous, commotion, etc.  Plus the theme song is a little catchy.  Any time she catches me singing it, she tells me to be quiet - "No Mama! Stop singing!", then she starts singing it.  I thought we were going to be able to sing together!!  What is this??  Noooo!!  My dreams of harmonizing one day canNOT be over!

Viruses suck

You know, if and when this rumoured 'flu pandemic' hits, I'll have so many antibodies from all these freaking colds I get that I should sail through it.  Yes, I have been ill.  Again.  What is it, every six weeks?  I fought it off for a week or so then BAM - hit me like a ton of bricks.

Sunday was pretty bad and I had to succumb to cold meds that didn't really work.  My brain hurt worse than I ever remember.  Every time I turned my head too quickly or coughed or bent down to help the kidlet or to pick something off of the floor, MAJOR THUNDERING PAIN, like my brain was ricocheting off my skull and if I didn't immediately freeze, my head was going to explode.  And no, I'm not exaggerating.  I've had headaches but this, this was worse.

And yet I still went to work Monday and suffered and hacked and spread my germs around - I'm helping people!  Getting a virus is good!  Antibodies!  But really, there was a lot of work to do that I needed to be at the office to do.  The cold meds worked a little, enough that I managed to escape for a lunch date with Heather, although the whole hour is kind of a blur now and I'm not really sure if I spoke coherently or not.

Yesterday was still pretty bad but my head hurt a tiny bit less.  I still had to move carefully and slowly and not look down for any length of time, but I think I went the day without meds.  I still had that annoying lingering tickle in my throat that made me either hack or clear my throat every 4.5 seconds, and I did spend the majority of the afternoon on the couch, ignoring the Boss Man's phone calls (because dude, I only work mornings now!  Especially when I'm ill!) and alternating between Oprah's Favourite Things and Days of Our Lives (which I haven't seen in years and years and years and yet?  Still recognize people.  Still the same old same old).  By the way, am I the only one that doesn't like Oprah?  Every time I watch her, she just seems so fake to me.  She says things but doesn't mean them (you can tell by her eyes - FAKE!).  Ellen I love (ooh, forgot about Ellen, haven't watched her in forever either) because she seems sincere.  And she's funny.  And not flaunty.  (I don't care if that's not a word.)

Today I felt much better.  My brain is no longer screaming at me every time I move and I've still got this annoying cough, but I'm okay.  Okay enough to take the kidlet for a walk for twenty minutes in her stroller to McDonald's for a Happy Meal after school (we hardly ever eat at Micky D's so it's a treat, and it was also a sure sign I was feeling better because I was craving me some fries) then to linger at London Drugs and pick up some more Christmas stuff, then walk the twenty minutes back home and still have the energy to clean, vacuum (I filled the Dyson container - I think it's been about 10 days since I last vacuumed.  Gross!) and do the dishes.  And make dinner.  And write in my blog!

So six weeks from now will be... Christmas!  Aren't I usually sick around Christmas?  Then I shouldn't be surprised.  Sigh...

Overheard at dinner

At the in-laws (Dean sister's place) for dinner, in front of father-in-law, his wife, my sister-in-law and her two teenagers, the kidlet asks in all seriousness:

"Mama, am I being a turd now?"

Laughter from all but attempts to keep it muffled so as to not encourage her to say it again.

Heh.  Heh heh.  Guess I have to find a more appropriate word for when she's being, well, a turd.  Ahem. 

Writing

My throat is still raw but not razor-blade sore (knock on wood) and my sinus pain vanished soon after waking up this morning, so I'm hoping that this won't get worse. 

Had a bit of a rough morning.  As usual, the kidlet climbs into bed with us at about 5am (an hour earlier than pre-time change) but she'll hang out until 6:30 or so.  But this morning, the alarm went off for Dean at 6 and she was raring to go.  I begged her to either stay and be quiet or go and play her computer, both of which she refused.  So she stayed in bed with me and squirmed, kicked and whined for half an hour before I finally gave up and got up.  Then it was the one morning a week where I have to get both of us ready at the same time, and we all know how well that goes.  Then my co-worker called in sick today so I was bombarded before I had even sat down at my office chair and it pretty much stayed like that until I left.  Even as I shut down my computer to leave, the Boss Man needed 'one more thing' so I had to start everything back up again and stay an extra 15 minutes or so.

I was home just after 6, made dinner for the kidlet and I, got her bathed and ready for bed and asleep around 7:45, then came to the computer, farted around for a bit, then forced myself to start working on The Novel.  You can see in the right-hand sidebar that I'm keeping track of my progress.  If I have it posted here, I'll feel obligated to keep going.  And if I find myself slacking, well, I can just remove the whole thing and pretend I don't know what you're talking about.  Heh heh.

So I wrote for, oh, about forty-five minutes and now my head is starting to hurt, so I'm going to get ready for bed and crash on the couch until Dean gets home from the hockey game, which I see has just gone into overtime.   Hopefully tomorrow will be much less chaotic.

Swallow (ouch) swallow (ouch)

Yes, I have a sore throat yet again (what's it been, a whole month?) and the general malaise that usually accompanies the beginning of a cold.  Blah.  And yuck.  It appears to be directly correlated with any attempts I make to start working on this novel that I've had swimming around in my head for over a month now.  When the idea came to me initially, I got sick with that last wicked and wickedly-long cold.  I just started a week or so ago with more handwritten notes, a plot outline, a brief character outline, and actually sat down to type last night when I started to not feel so well.  And now my head is hurtin' and I just want to curl up on the couch.  I'm going to try and slog through a paragraph or two but man.  Psychosomatic perhaps?  Annoying, nonetheless.

It could have to do with the amount of shopping I've been doing lately (four times in the last five days?) and all the germs flying around the increasingly packed shopping mall.  Dean watched the kidlet yesterday while I went to the mall for almost FOUR HOURS.  I can't remember the last time I got to do that.  Of course, I couldn't find any tops that I liked all that much, nor a Christmas dress (everything is strappy and I don't want to freeze my butt off again), but I stocked up on underthings that were desperately needed (and always last to think about), including hosiery, and I did buy the shoes.  They are awesome, fit perfectly, and I only wobble a little.  I'll just have to practice.  Plus I bought the first Christmas present of the year for the kidlet - The Biggest Littlest Pet Shop.  We almost got it for her for her birthday, but I think she'll enjoy it much more now.  Then I just have to pick up the Kid K'Nex thing at Costco if they have it in stock (because she loved those at her friend's house), and with all the dress-up clothes that Mom and Dad got her (tons!  plus a few more books), she's going to be one busy little girl!  Can you believe that Christmas is only 6 weeks away?  AAHHH!!  Time to stop buying for myself and buy for everyone else.  I'm already struggling trying to think of things to get. I hate that.  I always want to find the perfect gift and never do.  Does it even exist?

Anyways, not about to get stressed out about it quite yet.  That's why I'm trying to get a head start this year - so I'm not panicking at the last minute!  And judging from how packed the mall was yesterday?  Everyone's starting early.  I mean EVERYONE.  It was insane.

The kidlet had her preschool pictures today and I can't wait to see what they turned out like.  She said that the photographer told them to say 'cookie', which makes a lot more sense than 'cheese'.  With the latter, she'd always do a huge goofy teeth-gritting grin, which is why for the past couple days I've been trying to get her to do a 'nice' smile.  When she said 'cookie'?  The smile was perfect.  Let's hope the photog got the shot.  Her first school pictures!  Did I already say I couldn't wait?

And that's that.  I'm starting to fade.  Write?  Or couch.  Hmmmm....