+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Katrina
Katrina and i went to the party store to buy some streamers and stuff for her birthday. She picked out two ENORMOUS balloons, which are currently hanging out in the corner until her actual birthday, and chose Strawberry Shortcake plates from the very limited selection of girly designs. (WHEN will those horrible Bratz dolls stop being popular?) We looked all around the store, with Katrina babbling on about everything and exclaiming, "I like going places with JUST YOU!" several times.
But eventually there was really nothing left to look at, but there was still a full hour before we had to go pick Houston up for school. And we just happened to be right next to Toys R Us, and going there is one of the things on my list. So i dragged Katrina along (or rather, she skipped ahead of me, happy as a lark), and we went to see about the new Lite-Brites. We still needed to get Katrina something for her birthday, and she just LOVED the one at my parents' house, so i figured this would be a good present. Except that i didn't want to make it obvious that i was buying her present in front of her, so i said, "I need to get a Lite-Brite for someone. Will you help me pick one out for them?" She pranced around, pointing out the relative merits of the different kinds, and we settled on the flat-top version, which comes in lots of different colors. I narrowed it down to pink and purple or purple and orange, assuming that she'd choose pink. She looked at both and then said, "I think the purple one."
"Really?" i asked. "Why?"
"I don't know. I just...like the colors."
"Are you sure? That's fine. I just thought you would like the pink better."
"No. I like the purple."
"Ok. We'll get the purple for them then."
"Great. Can we get the pink one for me?"
Little stinker! Here i am, trying to be all sneaky on her, and she's trying to out-sneak me!
Speaking of Katrina.... She got a new Polly Pockets for her birthday, and this one came with a tiny animal. (It's a cat. Except she wants it to be a dog, so it's a dog.) She named her Rusky, and she LOVES Rusky. Loves her with every fiber of her being. She brings Rusky with her everywhere she goes, plays with her, talks to her, and incorporates her into every facet of her day. She is thoroughly smitten.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Unrelated snippets
Houston really didn't want to get his hair cut, except that it was looking really geeky and bad, and i told him he had to. Not necessarily a lot shorter, but at least neatened up. My mom was willing to cut his hair, and it now looks so much better. So! Much! Better! And as long as she was cutting his hair, i threw Zane at her too, because his hair has been getting unmanageable again. He was a perfect little angel, and didn't wiggle even when he was ready to cry because she was scraping a little bald spot (accidentally) into his head because she was trying to scrape off some left-over cradle cap that doesn't want to disappear.
Have you ever seen Zane just before he starts to cry? Because if you haven't, you are missing out on one of the cutest things you'll ever see. First he gets a concerned look in his eyes, like he's trying to decide if he should cry. Then his jaw drops a little (although his lips stay together, making a little O), and then his forehead crumples, and ducks headfirst into the nearest parent's lap. It's adorable and sweet and really sad.
While we were at my parents' house, Katrina dragged out the old LiteBrite that we had when we were little kids. She played and played with it, and when Houston's haircut was finished he joined her, and they made a big picture together all cooperatively. I remember playing for hours and hours with that thing, and i WISH they still made the old-fashioned ones, because i'd buy one of those in a heartbeat. I wonder if the new kind are as much fun.
Remember Houston's book report? He presented it on Friday. (They have to do a little speech-type thing for the class.) I was asking him all about it today, and he commented that they were given their first actual A, A+, A-, B, B+, B- type grades. He got an A+. I asked what other people got, and he said mostly A's and B's. Apparently the teacher read the grades out loud in front of the whole class. I asked what the worst grade someone got was (because i am nosy), and he hesitated. "Well," he said, "I'll tell you, but i won't tell you WHO got it." And then he very carefully explained why this person got a D-, all the while referring to them as "they" instead of "he" or "she." In other words, Houston kicks butt at confidentiality. (I really wanted to convince him to tell me who it was, but i couldn't, because dang it, he's being all GOOD and NON-GOSSIP-Y.)
+ 1 - 0 | § ¶Saturday
I asked Houston what he wanted to do today, and he said, "Oh, i think that i would like to just stay home and, you know...hang out." So that's what we did. The kids played outside in the sun for a couple of hours, built towers with blocks, colored, and played with Polly Pockets. (I think you guess who did that last one.) Houston got out his yearbooks from kindergarten and first grade and figured out exactly what number each kid in his class was for each year. So he can tell them on Monday. I'm not sure why.
I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned, and then i was all proud of myself and sat down after the kids went to bed and was all, "Woohoo! The house is clean AND the laundry is all clean! I'm so happy!" And then karma looked askance at me, and Katrina came downstairs and accidentally peed in her pajamas and all over the (just cleaned) bathroom floor. And then i managed to spill a glass of pop all over a big pile of pillows and blankets, and also all over the floor. And then karma laughed at me a lot.*
*For the record, i don't ACTUALLY believe in karma. Except for this one particular hour of time.
+ 0 - 1 | § ¶Girls create more drama than boys. And other obvious observations.
So speaking of boy/girl differences.... (What? We were too! Only, like, four days ago. Keep up!) On their birthdays, we let the kids choose one child from their class to invite for a sleepover. Houston has had two sleepovers, and i've been really surprised with both of them how quickly and easily the parents of the kids agreed to let their little boys come over to a strange house to sleep. The parents of last year's friend just dropped him off, never having met me, and waved goodbye from the doorway. This year Katrina asked one friend, but they were going out of town so she couldn't come. So we asked a second girl, and when i talked to her mom today she said, "Well, we don't let Annie go on sleepovers yet. She's too young." (Which honestly? I UNDERSTAND! I wouldn't let Katrina go running off to a random house for a sleepover either!) But now i'm not sure if this is a difference between the way parents are with boys and girls or if this is a difference between the friends that Houston makes and the friends that Katrina makes, or if this is just a random thing.
Oh, ALSO? Every year when i ask Houston who he wants to invite, he just throws out the first name that occurs to him, even if that's someone that he never even plays with at school. And then i have to talk him through who he's actually enjoy having over the most. I first asked Katrina who she'd want to invite sometime before Christmas, and she has spent the past two months agonizing over who to invite. At one point or another, she has landed on every single girl in her class. "But...if i invite Annie, then Mo will be sad. And if i invite Mo, then Annie will be sad...." It's exhausting.
One of Katrina's teeth is still a bit wiggly, but at least they don't seem to be hurting her anymore. I am holding out hope that it will firm up still.
+ 1 - 0 | § ¶Several random things
Katrina got two of her top front teeth knocked loose tonight. The kids were all playing with some cushions on the floor, and somehow Houston's foot collided with Katrina's teeth, and much crying and screaming and hysteria ensued. Houston, for his part, felt horrible. I've never seen him more sorry about anything. Katrina, for her part, screamed and screamed and ... i'm not sure exactly what hysterics looks like, but i suspect that tonight i got a pretty good idea. After about 45 minutes of being beyond words, i finally figured out that one of the things she was most upset about (besides the obvious pain) was that she was afraid her teeth were going to fall out and that it would hurt when they did. Zane, for his part, was just mad that i put the cushions away. I am hoping (hoping hoping hoping) that the teeth firm up again. Since she hasn't lost ANY teeth yet, and since Houston just one of those teeth this year, i'm afraid that she'd be toothless a very long time. She's already got one of her top front teeth that was knocked and is kind of light yellow from about 2 years ago. Here's hoping that these are not too much worse off.
I was explaining to Houston about wedding vows tonight, and i said, "For example, when we got married, the minister said, 'Do you, Karen, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband till death do you part?' and i said, 'I do.'" Houston's response was, "Good job keeping Daddy forever! Thanks!"
We visited my mom at the library for possibly the last time ever. She is retiring in one short week, and that means that we will probably not make the long trek over to that library very often, and if we do, she will probably not be there. It also means that now i have to start actually making sure to bring my books back on time.
+ 1 - 0 | § ¶The dentist
Zane had his first dentist appointment today. Kind of. I mean...i guess he did. See, when i scheduled it, i was already scheduling myself, and i asked if Zane would be old enough at three and a half to need to start seeing the dentist, and the lady was all, "Meh. I'll just put him down with you, and you can have him watch you and maybe sit on your lap and have them look at his teeth for a minute. Kind of ease him into it."
So i dragged Juanito with us (Because if you think that i'm going to try to wrangle a 3-year-old WHILE having my teeth scraped, you don't have a 3-year-old. Or you're crazy.), and Zane sat on his lap to watch me get my teeth cleaned. And initially, he wanted NOTHING to do with the dentist chair or anything. But when i was finished, i showed him my "special present" with a new toothbrush and toothpaste. He was intrigued.
And then? He was awesome. He not only sat on my lap and opened his mouth for the hygienist (after informing her that he would open his mouth like a BEAR, not like a lion), but he actually let her clean and polish his teeth, and let the dentist check out his teeth too. The hygienist, who was kind of dazed, said that she'd never had a 3-year-old do so well. AND, as the icing on the cake, the dentist informs us that Zane has absolutely beautiful teeth. Perfect teeth. Teeth that will most likely need no braces and that are in perfect condition. Wooohoo!
Zane got his own little bag with a new toothbrush and toothpaste, and he was beyond thrilled. He was overjoyed. He talked of nothing else for 20 minutes. He gazed lovingly at them. He stroked the boxes and whispered sweet nothings into their ears. He opened the toothpaste box in the car because he just couldn't wait another minute. And tonight he joyfully used them for the first time.
Um...speaking of Zane? I think...and i might be jinxing myself here, but i THINK that he finally actually wants to be potty trained. And there was much rejoicing.
+ 1 - 0 | § ¶Crime and punishment
This morning, as we were driving to school, we passed a police car on the side of the road with his lights on. Then another. And then FIVE MORE drove past us with their lights on and driving all fast, and we all started to wonder what in the WORLD was going on. I called my mom to see if she could check the news to see if something major was happening, but she couldn't find any breaking news stories happening near our house. I finally decided, from the large number of speeding police cars and complete lack of ambulances or fire trucks, that drugs and guns must be involved somehow. Because i get all my cop-knowledge from TV shows and movies.
Then i got home, and pretty soon i got a recorded message from our school saying, "Hello, this is Your Friendly Principal. I wanted to let you know about what happened at our school today. We were told by police that someone had been shoplifting at the local Meijer and had escaped, and they were looking for him, but he wasn't armed or dangerous, so we decided to lock all our doors and have the kids go straight inside instead of lining up outside today. But then they called us back at about 7:50 to tell us that he had apparently gotten on a bus going towards downtown. So we're all good here, now."
The bus to downtown from the Meijer goes right down our street.
So, um.... Really? Someone was shoplifting at Meijer and that was a big enough deal to call all the local schools and also to send at least seven police cars to chase him down? Wow. I apparently live in a much more crime-free area than i previously assumed. Good, i guess.
+ 1 - 0 | § ¶School work
On Mondays, i volunteer in Katrina's classroom. The kids all work in various workshops, and i kind of wander around making sure they're staying on task and that they understand what they're supposed to do. Today Katrina's workshop included coloring circles with numbers, cutting them out, and gluing them in a caterpillar-like shape. She worked very carefully, coloring each circle perfectly, cutting out the circles exactly on the lines, gluing them very, very carefully in the right places. Meanwhile, the rest of her group (all boys), hastily scribbled some color in the circles, cut roughly in the area of the circle, and glued them on all haphazardly.
Meanwhile, i've got Houston who has a book report due on Wednesday. He's HAD the book report assignment for nearly a month now, so it's not a surprise. We got the book 3 weeks ago, and read it several times, and i've been suggesting for at least 2 weeks that he should start working on it. He'd done nothing until i forced him to start working on it Saturday, at which point he did the illustration and then put it away. Today i sat down with him to write the actual report, and it was like pulling teeth. I wanted him to sit still and concentrate. HE wanted to make jokes, be silly, dance on his chair, and make weird noises. I wanted him to write neatly. HE wanted to scribble something out as fast as he could. I wanted him to use full sentences. HE wanted to just blurt out random words.
So. Either this is a boy-girl discrepancy, or my children just have very, very different styles of dealing with school. I'm waiting to see how Zane does before i rule on this one.