Improvement?

Dare I say it? She's been in a good mood since I got her settled in to watch the movie. Francesca took an extra long nap, and things are pretty calm at the moment. In a little bit we're going to go out to dinner with some friends, so let's hope that we don't turn back around.

(She kept telling me that she was "so mad and so sad" when we were leaving. I asked her a little while ago if she wanted to finish her project from the library, and she said not right then, but she wasn't sad or mad anymore.)

The preschool mom's walk of shame

I got to do the walk of shame today. The one that moms of preschoolers get to do when their child loses her mind at the end of the library story hour and has to drag both crying (and screaming in Adia's case) girls out of the library while everybody wonders (a) why they are crying and (b) why their mama hasn't disciplined them yet.

The drama? She wasn't ready to finish putting together her windsock, so I backed off and let her do some more. She decided she was done, so I put it together. At which point she decided she was not done, but it was too late. She freaked out the whole way out of the library and the block and a half to the car. And then the lone streamer we'd put on it blew off down the road. Double drama. And then she remembered the snack she hadn't finished at the library. Oh, the huge manatee. She's eating lunch and watching Dr. Seuss here now. I thought the library might be a good distraction from Gamma leaving, but apparently it was just too much change for my little Pisces.

On the plus side, she and Mason had a nice little pre-storytime snack at the coffee shop. And a pleasant walk to the library.

I love toddlers

In a stunning twist of fate

Potty Elmo just got peed on while he was asking to go to the potty. Poor Elmo. (Or eh-MO as Francesca is fond of calling him.) She has a really bad diaper rash, so we're having diaperless time. I fail at EC. (Elimination communication, not emergency contraception. Although if I had to choose one to fail at, the pee-related one is the one I think I'd choose.)

Happy Birthday Adia!

She's four! :) It was a bit iffy yesterday as (a) she had a fever, and (b) she was insisting she wanted to remain 3, but she managed to tough it out and she's mostly fine on both accounts today. She's still a little warm, but she's been cheerful and swinging from the rafters all day, so I think she's alright. (And she's been exhausted, but at least three of us were awake for 2.5 hours last night when she decided she was hungry at 2am and did not like the choices presented.)

I made blueberry muffins for breakfast this morning, and we just hung around and played all day. Gamma was the first to call and wish her a happy birthday. When I got around to putting the phone on the charger, it rang within minutes and it was J checking to see how Adia was feeling and to wish her a happy birthday. Then Adia's best buddy S beeped in and sang her happy birthday. The immense cuteness of a four year old calling another four year old and singing happy birthday cannot be described. Oh my goodness!

This afternoon we baked the cake. That was almost a disaster. I used my beloved box mix from Trader Joe's (which I think makes us officially out of TJ's goodies from the run last May!) and thoroughly read the directions before we started. I melted butter in one mug and put water and three eggs in another mug so that Adia could pour them into the mixer. She did, I turned it on and mixed it all up. Then I read the next step and looked up to notice it needed two eggs, not three. D'oh. It came out okay, luckily. I iced it, and Adia did the sprinkles honors.

When Charles got home, we had spaghetti (Adia's request) and garlic bread. She wolfed it down so we could get to the fun part -- cake and presents! Francesca took two bites of garlic bread and licked the sauce off of the spaghetti. Eh, at least I can count on her making up for it by nursing. All night.

The cake was a hit for the three of us who ate it. It was orange chocolate (which we were expecting to be chocolate with a hint of orange... reverse that and that's what we got) with chocolate icing. And sprinkles, let's not forget those. Adia just ate the "outside" which means anything with frosting touching it. Francesca just got oranges. It's rough being the baby. (She didn't seem to notice or care, so it works.) I used the nifty color flame candles I'd gotten for Charles' birthday. I used the white ones on his, which just had standard candle flames. Adia's were far more colorful (although you can only really see two of them in the picture.

Adia opened Francesca's present first -- a copy of Candy Land. She didn't ask for anything specific until the end of last week, but we managed to pull it off. We got her a box of fairy tale creatures. There was a dragon, a prince, and a princess. And something that I thought was a fairy godmother, but Adia was quick to point out that "she doesn't have any wings, Mo-mmy." (Like, duh Mommy.) Then came two books from Gamma, a card with fairy stickers from K, K, and P, and two stuffed animals from Grandpa, C, C, and M. The biggest hit was Candy Land, as she wanted to go play it right away. All four of us "played" the first time, and I won. (And felt crappy about it.) She and Charles played another game, and she bounced all over the house when she won.

Now she's off in bed with Charles reading "Horton Hears a Who" and "On the Night You Were Born" and a Winnie the Pooh book from when he was a kid. :) Oh, and she's having some toast, because she's still hungry. Maybe that'll lead to a quieter night tonight. I hope so, because we're heading for Farmville tomorrow for party #2. We're stopping along the way for organic strawberries to top her cake, as that's been her request.

Happy Birthday my big girl! You've grown from baby to toddler to preschooler, as I realized today I must refer to you. So far, four's been okay. (The last few weeks of three were particularly trying.) I hope that four is better than whatever it is you're fearing. I hope it's your best year yet, even!

Personality Test

Your distinct personality, The Shepherd is to tend to your human flock. You understand the needs of those for whom you are responsible. Shepherds are vigilant and reliable. You realize your obligation and commitment to the well being of those entrusted to your care. Shepherds are very dependable. You engender a feeling of comfort and stability to those within your charge. On the positive side, Shepherds can be empathic, caring, understanding, practical and realistic. On the negative side, you may be manipulative, close-minded and sentimentally rigid. Interestingly, your preference is just as applicable in today's corporate kingdoms.

http://www.cmi-lmi.com/kingdom.html

She lives

Not much time at the moment, but I figured I should post in here before December was over. Seems like the time is flying by!!

I did indeed forget to take the camera to Tennessee, so I have to finish the roll of disposable camera film before we get to see how those pics came out. ;)

And I now have a yellow and orange dining room. Soon to have a green living room.