Princess Glasses (Update)

At the beginning of the school year we found out that Monkey needs glasses. That story is here. This is the update.

Monkey got her eyes checked. She was nervous at first but the doctor was amazing and she had fun. After the exam she got to pick out her frames. She tried on about seven or eight pairs of frames. She finally picked out a cute pair. About 2 weeks later she had her glasses. She has been very good about wearing them every day. They haven't been lost or broken. She is absolutely in love with them. Her friends and teachers think they are great too.

I won't lie, I was nervous and scared for her. As it turns out... I didn't need to be.

Gamer Rage

I play video games. I have for years. I used to play a lot of RPG's. Mostly final fantasy. Then I played MMORPGs for years. After having kids, I could not put aside the time to play video games for hours on end without being interrupted. I have moved to playing first person shooters. My game of choice at the moment is Modern Warfare 3. One of my PS3 controllers is on the fritz. If you move it the wrong way, it will randomly open menus and click things. If I am in game, it will jump, change guns, or shoot without me wanting it to. This fantastic controller has caused me to Rage on more than one occasion.

I am not proud of it, but I swear and yell a lot when I play video games. Unfortunately for me... Bug has picked up on this habit of mine.

Last week I got home from work. I sat down and played Portal 2 for about 15 minutes. I then left the game on the menu screen and went to make dinner. Bug grabbed the controller and started pushing buttons. Somehow she managed to start a level. I heard her yelling from the front room. I looked into the front room and saw her:

Controller in her hands
Angry concentration look on her face.

Then I heard it... "Damn! Damn! Damn it! F*ck you!"

She put the controller down, balled up her fists, and yelled at the TV some more.

She saw that I was watching her. She looked at me with a big smile and said "I play video games like momma!"

It took everything I had not to burst into laughter and tears while watching her. She had the biggest look of accomplishment on her face for being just like mommy. I guess I know what needs to happen next. I need to adjust the way I react to my games. I don't need a little 2 year rage gamer. I am going to have enough trouble with her when she gets older.

Super Helper

Yesterday just after lunch I decided that I needed to go out and get the back yard cleaned up. Dog likes to go out and kick up the rocks while she barks at the neighbor's dogs. Our whole back yard is rocks, so when she kicks up or digs up a spot, it is a glaring dirt hole in the middle of a sea of rocks. Plus we have Dog, and the backyard is Dog's toilet. I wanted to go even out the rocks, rake the weeds, and clean up the dog poop.

I went outside and started raking. Monkey came out to hang out with me. Bear told her that if she was going to be out there with me, that she needed to help me. Monkey picked up the child size rake that we have and started helping me rake the rocks over to cover the dirt spots. She never once complained or whined about having to clean up with me. She actually told me that it was more fun to do yard work with me than it was to clean the den alone.

I was surprised that she would rather do yard work. Cleaning up the den involves putting laundry in the hamper, trash in the trash can, and toys in the rooms. The backyard actually requires work... And yet she was perfectly happy to hang out and do the work with me without complaint. It made me happy to spend the time with her and that it was less work that I had to do. She's a good kid and she makes me proud.

Curiousity Bug

Bug has been working on her communication a lot lately. she is now speaking in full sentences, and having complete conversations. Lately she has been very curious about sounds and noises.

"What make dat noise?"

Every time Bug hears a noise she asks that question. Most of the time she knows the answer, but sometimes she actually doesn't. The light in her eyes when she pops up her head and listens to whatever noise her little bug ears pick up is amazing.

Trucks, kids, dogs, noisy stomachs, video games, flushing toilets, and a million other sounds have piqued her interest. My little Bug with the supersonic ears and the deepest curiosity that a two year old can have.

Happy Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MONKEY!!

My Apprentice

When I was younger I swore to myself that I would never be interested in sewing. My mom, 4 of my aunts, grandmother, and great grandmother are/were very crafty people. (HA! See what I did there?) My mom made my wedding dress when I got married 9 years ago. And over the years I have had dozens of quilts and clothing items made for myself and my family. I used to tell my mom that I never needed to learn how to sew because she could. If I ever needed anything, I could pay her to do it.

Since then I had the "ON" switch flipped in my head. I have a sewing machine, a Serger, a body mannequin, 2 Styrofoam heads, and more fabric and patterns than I know what to do with at the moment. I have made costumes for friends and simple clothes for Monkey and Bug.

Currently I am working on a cosplay robe for myself. I am not normally one to dress up, but I want to sew more than I do and therefore I started looking up fun and simple costumes. I am working on a White Mage robe from the Final Fantasy Series. It is not any one specific robe from a specific game. It is my own take on the classic. It is a white robe and it will have normal red triangles, but it will be my own.

http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/White_Mage

Monkey likes to hang out with me while I am sewing. Most of the time it isnt a big deal. But sometimes I just need my own space. Because Monkey is (almost) 6, I do not let her sew yet by herself. My grandmother bought me a $2000 sewing machine with a bunch of bells and whistles and I am not okay with letting her touch it right now. Monkey is however allowed to touch the pins. Our compromise when she helps me sew is that she can set her hands (gently) on my hands to "help" me guide the fabric, and she can pull the pins out of the fabric and put them on the magnetic pin cushion that I have. She is also not allowed on my lap or near the machines at all when I am using the Serger. I am terrified that she is going to cut her own finger off, cause me to cut my finger off, or cause me to destroy whatever I am working on.

I have told Monkey that I am more than happy to help her learn how to sew, but I want to give it a couple more years. Until then she can keep helping me.

Happy Halloween!

I hope that everyone had a happy and safe Halloween. Ours was full of firsts.

This was our first Halloween in this house. This made me a little anxious because it is new territory. Every neighborhood has a "normal" time that they start hitting the streets and knocking on doors. In my old neighborhood it was what I would consider kinda early. Before the sun went down. I wonder if that was because we lived in a kind of ghetto neighborhood and people didn't want to be out much after dark. Just after the sun started to go down we went out to the front yard to try to get a feel for what was going on. There was almost no one on the street. We ended up hanging out and letting the kids play in the yard for a bit before all the other kids started coming out to make the rounds.

This was also the first Halloween that we passed out candy. In the previous 5 years, we would pack up Monkey and Bug and drive down the street to my parents' house. Like I said before, we lived in a not so great neighborhood, and weren't really keen on the idea of going door to door. Needless to say, we weren't home, and therefore we didn't pass out candy. This year I took the kids around as Bear hung out in the front yard with the pumpkins and passed out candy. He said that he was kind of disappointed in the number of kids that came by. We chalked it up to the fact that we kinda live in the corner of our little neighborhood, and the kids probably didn't make the effort to go out of the main area for candy. At the end of the night, we probably got about 25 kids by the house. Not bad, but not great compared to the number of kids that were running around.

This was Bug's first Halloween that she could actually participate in. Last year she was only 15 months old. She was a little ladybug that got pushed around in a stroller all night. This year she was at the front of the line at every house yelling "TRICK TREAT PEASE!"

And finally, this was Monkey's first Halloween after starting school. Just after we left our house, we ended up seeing one of Monkey's friends from school. The two of them decided that they wanted to walk around and trick or treat together. We let Monkey, Bug, and Minnie Mouse (the friend's costume) lead the way while her dad and I kept them on track and moving. Monkey and Minnie we chatty and loud 6 year olds and Bug was more concerned with holding Minnie's hand. If she stopped holding her hand, Bug would run up to her with her hand extended and call out to get her attention. "Minnie! (yes she actually said Minnie and not the girl's real name) Minnie! Hand!" The girl would hold her hand out and walk hand in hand with Bug while talking with Monkey. We also ran into a few other kids that Monkey knew. Little Miss Social would run over to them, hug them, tell them what great costumes they had, tell them bye, and run back over to us.

All in all, this Halloween was really good. We learned a lot about the neighborhood. We saw no aftermath of shenanigans. No toilet papered houses. No smashed pumpkins in the middle of the street. Now that that is over, we have Monkey's 6th birthday in a week and Thanksgiving just a couple weeks after that. Then Christmas, my birthday, and New Year's all lumped up together. It's gonna get busy quick, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

The Social Butterfly

Monkey has been in school now for about three months. She has to go to before and after care (like school day care before and after school hours) because of my work schedule and Bear's school schedule. There are  kids in every grade from Kindergarten to at least 5th grade that are in before/after care. I like the idea of them all being in a social setting together because it is helping Monkey learn how to deal with kids a varying ages. She always comes home with stories about her friends and what they did before or after school.

This past Friday night, we went to her school for Fall Festival (also mentioned here). I dread social settings where I don't know anyone. I feel out of place and like I am forcing myself on someone if I do try to talk to them. This was important to Monkey though, so we went.

As we walked in the gate, Monkey was already yelling "HI!" to one of her friends. It seemed like every two minutes she was running off to be social with someone. The amusing thing was it wasn't just an "oh hey, ok bye" thing. She would walk up to them and say "Hi, *name*!" and give them the biggest smile and hug that should could come up with. She would tell them something she liked about them (ie: i really like your costume) or tell them how happy she was to see them. She would then introduce Bug to them, give them another big hug and run back to us to continue on with whatever we were doing.

On one hand I have major anxiety watching her run off and talk to everyone. On the other hand, I am happy that she is confident enough start branching away and becoming her own person. Her teacher mentioned to us that she is generally a popular kid. That she always has at least 4 or 5 kids around her at recess and that the kids all love her. I can only imagine what will happen in the future. I wish what every parent does of course, I just want her to be happy.

Love Bug

Bug makes me crazy most of the time. But I know deep down underneath the tantrums and the trouble is one of the sweetest kids I know. In the last two nights she has shown me two different examples of her compassion for other people.
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Friday night we went to Monkey's school for the Fall Festival. There were games, food, silent auctions, face painting, and even a petting zoo. We got tickets and went on in. One of the first things the girls wanted to do was get their faces painted. Monkey got a pink sparkly heart and Bug got a sparkly blue heart.
As we walked away from getting their faces painted, I was carrying her while we figured out what to do next. Bug looked at my face and said "Heart mom?" I told her that I didn't get one. She just said "Oh" and put her head down on my shoulder. After a few seconds, she lifted her head back up and the following conversation occurred..

Bug: There mom!

Me: What where?

Bug: *wipes her cheek on my shoulder* There go mom!

Me: Whats that?

Bug: Heart you mom! *big grin*

Me: Oh thank you baby! Thats very nice of you to share your face heart with me.

Bug: Uh huh! I love you mom!

She then gave me kisses and we continued about the night.
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Tonight (Saturday) we went to my parents' church for trick or treating, games, and some AMAZING chili. After everyone was done eating, it was time for Trunk-Or-Treat time. For those of you that don't know, Trunk or treat is trick or treat around the parking lot. People decorate their cars and set up games. It is very fun and easily controlled.

Anywho... back to the story...

Monkey and Bug were going around to each stop with big smiles and lots of "trick or treat"s and "thank you"s. We got to one car and Bug got to the front first. She said her cute little two year old "trick or treat!" and grabbed two pieces of candy instead of the one that she was supposed to take. I started to correct her and tell her to take only one, but I stopped myself. She turned around to Monkey and dropped one of the candies in her bucket, and took the other one for herself. Then she said "Ok lets go!" and the two of them ran off together to the next stop.
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I have to say that I am very proud of her and her love for other people. I hope that she stays as considerate and loving when she gets older.

A Whole Different Kid

I like to keep my hair short. Usually it is just a bit longer than than the bottom of my ears. Monkey's hair has always been very long. We have trimmed the ends a few times but nothing more than an inch or so. Yesterday all of that changed.

I have been trying to grow my hair out. Haven't even trimmed it in about seven months. I have just come to terms with the fact that I just like short hair better. I decided it was time for a hair cut. I thought it would be good for Monkey to get her hair trimmed too.

When we got to the salon/shop whatever you want to call it Monkey said she knew what haircut she wanted. She wanted short like me. That was way too short for my comfort. I suggested we just trim it. That was denied instantly. As we looked through the haircut books we came to a compromise. Shoulder length with bangs.

I was worried that she would regret such a drastic change. My worries were quickly squashed. As the stylist cut her hair, Monkey stole glances in the mirror. Only on Christmas Day have I ever seen her so lit up and happy. She made her first big girl decision and she loved the outcome. I got a bit teary eyed at the milestone moment.

My Monkey looks like a totally different kid now. It is crazy how much of a difference a haircut makes.