Halloween

Amelia dressed up for dance class Monday night, then she dressed up and had a Halloween party complete with take-home candy at school Thursday. So now that Halloween finally has arrived, it has a has-been feel for me. The weather didn't help either.

We spent the early part of the day at the mall with Livia playing in the little tot play area and then went to Barnes & Noble. (Thank you yucky weather.)

In the evening we went to the Trunk-or-Treat at church where it started drizzling. Amelia's cousins came, too, as well as Livia. Then we headed down the road and after the third house Amelia said she wanted to go home. We encouraged her to go for a few more houses and then she had to pee. The fun of living in a small town - I asked a stranger if we could use their potty, he opened the door and we knew the people inside!

We got back to the car and went to Nana's. Amelia said she wanted to go home so I went up the stairs to tell Nana she was too tired. When I saw Nana sitting there in her witch hat, though, I just had to get Amelia upstairs for at least a minute! (Amelia was not as impressed as I was.)

And it turns out Amelia really wanted to get home to play with her new Mickey Mouse lift-the-flap book that also came with reusable stickers.

[pictures dated 10/31/09]

Egg Cracker

I know that in America and many other industrialized countries that many children don't do much other than play and be entertained. Sometimes that is to their detriment and there are many children in the world Amelia's age who are helping to raise their younger siblings, doing household chores because they have to, not because it's something good for them to do, etc. I try to think of age appropriate things for Amelia to do but I am continually amazed at the things that she is capable of if I let her lead. Egg cracking is today's example.

Amelia used to love eating eggs - scrambled, boiled, it didn't matter. Lately she has lost interest in eggs and they are a good source of protein so I wish she still liked them as much as she did. (I've even tried ketchup, but it hasn't helped. Daddy I know you're retching as you read this.)

Yesterday morning I asked Amelia if she wanted eggs for breakfast and she said no. I did ... so I got out the eggs, milk and a bowl. She was fascinated with the eggs on the counter and wanted to help. So I held one in her hand and showed her how to crack it on the edge of the bowl and then let her put her fingers on the broken edges and pull. She was delighted. So we did it again and then she helped me beat them with a little milk. Then we poured them together into the pan. Then we washed hands. A few minutes later she was entirely intereseted in eating eggs! I think it made a big difference that she helped to make them. It was really fun and I am looking forward to having more help in the kitchen.

Who comes up with these "toys"?!?

The few times we go out to a fast food restaurant and get Amelia a kid meal, the advantage is the toy that comes with it. If Amelia isn't interested in eating she will at least play with the new toy or read the new mini-book that comes with the meal while I get to eat my meal.

We went to Arby's between church and the hay maze this past Sunday and this is what they put in her kid meal bag. For a 4 year-0ld. It didn't come this way. And of course Amelia wanted to play with it. Right away. So there I am popping the pieces out, folding, tucking, etc. Her neck is currently missing but she is a paper doll bobble head and her name is Hawk Girl. And of course being a bobble head, her head did not stay on. So it was a disaster all the way around as far as Mommy getting to enjoy her meal.

Hawk Girl is on her way to the recycling bin. Her neck will join her there if it's found.

We will cross Arby's off the list for the time being. We hate the food at McDonald's and the Chik-fil-A's are few and far between geographically. I guess that leaves KFC the next time we find ourselves getting fast food. They don't do toys but they have dessert - teddy grahams!! (one of her favorites)

Dance Class: Halloween Special

Last night at dance class the girls got to wear their costumes and 15 minutes before the end of class they performed for the parents. Amelia has been telling me for the last week about how she will get to wear her kitty suit for dance class. Beginning at 4 pm yesterday she kept asking when she was going to get to change into her costume. I think she started doubting I had one for her because she then asked, "Do you have a kitty suit for me?" At that point, I gave in and got her dressed. I decided since it was dance class to go with a black leotard and tights (which is why I was holding off dressing her - didn't want to deal with the potty if I didn't have to once she was dressed). Later this week she'll wear black knit pants. I wasn't sure what to do with the tail since it had a loop but the leotard didn't lend itself to tucking the tail into it. I tried a belt and then decided to use a safety pin. While I am wandering around the house looking for different things to try and then going to the kitchen for a safety pin, I have a 4 year-old shadow telling me, "I can't be a kitty without a tail!" Once the tail is attached she says, "Now my whiskers!!!!" So I drew whiskers on her cheeks and she danced and danced in front of the mirror. Such a happy girl, er, I mean kitty. Then she wanted to leave, but we still had 15 minutes before we needed to go. Daddy came home in time to see her, then we stopped at Dodah's (since she won't be here on Halloween) and then off to dance class.

When the parents were allowed into the class Amelia squeals, "There are two persons here to see me!" She was so excited. She then performed a solo of spins and excited dance steps while most of the rest of the class did a cute dance. At least she had fun and wasn't sitting and sulking like one little girl on the end of the front row.

[pictures dated 10/26/09]

Up/Down .. not a cooperative subject

Amelia has never been a good model. I have to trick her into looking at the camera and smiling. We were outside enjoying a nice Fall afternoon today and I tried to take some pictures. She kept looking down, so then I put the camera at her face level and what does she do? She looks up. Bless her heart.

I hope that when she's all grown up I have a few pictures of her beaming smile and happy eyes that I love seeing but can't seem to capture with a camera.

[pictures dated 10/26/09]

Weekend Fun

Yesterday was Homecoming for Daddy's college and he played in the alumni band. We planned to meet up for the hokey Homecoming parade and managed to miss it because they started it 15 minutes early and it lasted 10 minutes. Amelia didn't know the difference, though. She got a balloon as well as a lollipop and was happy. We listened to him play with the band at half-time and Amelia spied an M&M jacket that she said she liked. On our way out she even told the guy she liked it, too.

Today we went to a corn maze but we just did the hay bale maze for Amelia. She had SO much fun and it was a really nice day for it. Then we went to the community band's 30th anniversary concert for free. Judy called Friday night and offered us free tickets since we used to play with the band. Amelia made it halfway through before she needed to go for a walk - I was impressed. They had a little reception afterwards but Amelia wanted to go down and "have a chance" at the concert. She usually makes more sense when she expresses herself but I let her lead and apparently she wanted to go on stage. (She's used to doing that at brass band concerts since Daddy still plays with them.) I let her go on stage and look at the xylophone and then told her we needed to go get a cupcake because they were the band members were all moving their stands. She thoroughly enjoyed her cupcake (meaning we needed to visit the sink in the restroom prior to leaving) and she tried to help herself to an elderly lady's icing on her way there. (The woman was sitting down with her cake in her lap which made it well within Amelia's reach.) I am really trying to teach Amelia manners but she apparently thought there was nothing wrong in reaching out to snag a finger-ful of chocolate icing. (I did catch her in time. Barely.) As we're continuing to walk to the bathroom for clean-up and I'm explaining that we it's not polite to taste other people's icing she says, "But I wanted to try her brown icing." Yeah, because all the white icing you just consumed didn't exceed your weekly quota for sugar.

On the way from the bathroom she discovered lockers. (The concert was held in a high school.) She then had to move the combination locks to various numbers and after the 10th locker was very upset that I wasn't going to let her do the entire hallway. Once outside she was fine because not only were there stairs, there was a great landscaping wall that was lots of fun to walk around.

Oh to be 4 years-old and think the best thing in the world is to follow the rectangle that is a wall. I think I can remember back that far. Barely.

[picture dated 10/25/09]

Cuteness

We have a couple of plastic picnic baskets that are supposed to be toys. They are now functioning as litter boxes in the bathroom so if Heart (formerly the $3.99.99 kitty) or Stripes needs to potty while Amelia is going, they have a place to go, too.

The Sequence Jr. game that Amelia has enjoyed includes a deck of cards. Amelia likes to volunteer to "shovel" them when we get ready to play a new game.

No More Nail Biting

Months ago when I realized Amelia's nail biting was chronic we went to the grocery store and you she picked out a "Dora surprise" which was an art set of paints, markers, crayons, stickers and 2 pads of paper. I told her when I could cut all 10 fingernails, we would go back and get it. But week after week, I could only cut between 4 and 8 fingernails even though we talked A LOT about her "Dora surprise".

Last week while we were at the grocer store, we checked and there were only 2 left. A few days later she said, "When Friday comes you can cut all 10 fingernails and then we'll get my Dora surprise." Sure enough, that happened this morning and we have a very proud little girl. I had her tell the cashier why we were getting it and we also called Daddy. I am hoping all the extra attention will keep her from biting her fingernails ... we'll see.

[picture dated 10/23/09]

New Car Seat

I can't believe Amelia's been 4 years-old for an entire month already!

The insurance adjuster came out Tuesday and it turns out I have more damage than I thought - the guy did go under my car and the cover under my car is quite crumpled. He also said to replace the car seat, so we have. We recently bought a new one for Daddy's vehicle so we went and bought another one. I looked at some of the others they had but Amelia wanted the same one. I brought it in the house to assemble tonight and had more help than I anticipated. She was fascinated by the instructions, and it was just so easy to read them while seated in the half-assembled chair (wearing half her pajamas and half her outfit).

[picture dated 10/22/09]

Picnics

Amelia really enjoys bringing us a "delicious meal" of fake food on a plastic plate with a plastic eating utensil. She also brings us a cup so we have a drink. She's very thorough.

Today I went shopping with a friend and bought a new towel because it was an awesome deal. ($5! normally $12) I showed it off when I got home and apparently, I bought a picnic blanket instead. Amelia took it from me, spread it out on the floor and was set up for a picnic within minutes!

Whining

Amelia has had spurts of whining lately. It's not constant but it's annoying. It happens when she's tired and nothing will please her. For example, she's in her car seat and drops something and you would think it's the end of the world. You get it for her and it's quiet for 90 seconds until she drops it again because she's tired. Then the whining ensues again and I don't get it for her because I refuse to play fetch. I tell her she can't drop things, she has to be more careful.

During times of whining, after trying to meet her needs and/or explaining the situation, I've resorted to just telling her to deal with it by saying, "It's hard to be a little girl sometimes." So now when I tell her to stop whining she whines, "Is it hard being a little girl?" And I agree with her and remind her to stop. Sometimes she does and sometimes she doesn't so then I say, "And sometimes it's hard being a mommy, too."

Her fox

Years ago in another lifetime when Amelia's daddy was just my friend, he sent me a stuffed fox from Saudi Arabia. (He was in Desert Storm.) It may have been mail order so it probably didn't actually come from the desert, but I've always considered it my desert fox anyway (history buff that I am). Fast forward from 1990 to our Amelia days and she thinks it's her fox. I mean, every other stuffed animal in the house is hers, so why not the fox, too. I can understand her logic but it still tickles me when she calls it 'her fox'.

Daddy's orange cat, Maynard, is getting older and spends much of his time curled up and sleeping in one of three places. The other day Amelia came upon him and thought he was 'her fox'. Ever since the face incident of 6/22/07, we are vigilant about keeping her away from Maynard. Sometimes she toys with us, knowing but not understanding (remembering) why we are so wary with her near him, but we don't take chances anymore. So when she thought Maynard was her fox, when I knew it was Maynard, I jumped up and saw that she looked baffled when she realized it wasn't her fox and that she wasn't trying to mess with Maynard. I distracted her by reminding her the fox was on the sunroom and she went and got it. In her defense, I put the fox next to Maynard so we could see just how alike they are.

One of the other places Maynard likes to sleep is on the rug in the bathroom. This drives Amelia crazy because she knows she can't touch him or run him off. Just a few minutes ago, from the bathroom I hear, "Just like I have to take the hair out of my nose when it's in my way, you need to get out of my way, too, Maynard."

[picture 10/4/09]

Rear Ended

We live in a small college town. On the way from Nana's to the post office, I stopped to let a young man walk across the street. Next thing I know, we are rear-ended and I am shocked as my head slams against my headrest. I look in the rearview and the damage to the maroon Buick I see is HUGE. So I get out and it's some 17 year-old high school guy, but the geeky kind that is probably a good kid overall. All I can muster is, "Do you have your insurance information?" And the whole time I am thinking, "HOW DID YOU NOT SEE ME?!?!?! MY DAUGHTER IS IN THE CAR! I HATE YOU!"

Turns out my back bumper is just scraped, but it was uphill and I think he went underneath me. I hailed a state trooper going the other direction but it turns out that although it's a state highway, the town still has jurisdiction so he calls them for us. And we wait a while. The kid comes over to the sidewalk and Amelia asks him, "Are you the boy who bumped into us?" He didn't hear her, though. She said she was fine and I let her get out and run in the grass. She had a fabulous time rolling and running to her heart's content dressed in one of her cute Halloween outfits. (black and white striped turtleneck with a black t-shirt over it that features a ghost saying BOO!)

I asked the kid if he was looking down or something and his response was, "I was trying to stop." The guy who was crossing the street hung around as a witness (but the cop wasn't interested) and he told me he didn't think the kid had seen me at all. The poor guy was scared out of his wits actually.

The kid's mother comes and her only concern is that her son didn't mess up the radiator that they just had put in. Geez. And neither the mom nor the cop reprimanded the kid about following distances, paying attention, there was a kid in the car, nothing. So nonchalant about it.

I managed to make it to the post office within 2 minutes of closing and then headed to the chiropractor to have him check out Amelia. He said she seemed fine and just to watch her for a few days to see if she complains or touches her neck or head like it hurts.

Sugar is White

I don't remember how we wound up talking about dogs the other morning but I think it had to do with Biscuit and Amelia asking, "Is Biscuit a yellow dog?" I reminded her that she was going to get to see Aunt Amy's dog in November and that Sam was yellow like biscuit. I also reminded her that Aunt Amy's other dog is Sugar. Amelia asked what color Sugar was and I said, "I think she's black and brown with just a little white," to which Amelia replied, "No, Mommy, sugar is white!"

My oh-so-literal 4 year-old!

Fluffa-Dillia Chickens

Amelia is loving her new Philadelphia Chickens CD and book from Daddy. She asked for it again today but she asked for "Fluffa-dilla Chickens" ... we were laughing SO hard. So Philadelphia has been officially renamed in our house because we love her version.

The Mickey Mouse game is now an obsession - she even plays it by herself now. And we've also been playing her Sequence Jr. game that she got at her party - playing games is fun and I think has become a (very) regular family activity. I knew it would happen someday - just not this soon, but that's fine with me.

Today we went to the Lunsford Festival which Amelia kept calling the Lunch Festival. It's mostly crafts, food, local farm stuff and various displays. There were a lot of people there and I was looking for the animal shelter's section so I could look at the dogs. I told Amelia, hey, let's go look at the animals! to which she answered, "No! I want to go on rides!" (Apparently when I mentioned animals it elevated the festival to a fair and she figured if they had animals, they'd have rides. I am amazed at her thinking skills.)

20/30 Vision

Today Amelia had her first appointment at the eye doctor. She wasn't as cooperative as I was hoping despite it being a 9 am appointment. However, the doctor did determine that she has 20/30 vision which is what is expected of a 4 year-old. I also learned that children's vision isn't fully developed until they are 6 years old. He said she does have a slight astigmatism in her right eye but nothing to be concerned about right now. (I have a lot in each eye so I am not too surprised.) He said her optic nerves and everything else looks great.

He also said that there isn't anything wrong with letting her stand close to the TV. He said kids just like to be part of the scene and I was like, no kidding, she even takes a doll so it can walk along with the characters. (She only watches about 1-2 hours of TV a day and not all at once and not even every day.)

I feel relieved that she is on track and that she now has a baseline at the eye doctor's office so it will be easier to notice if there are drastic changes from year to year.

Afterwards we stopped and saw Wendy & Abby who gave Amelia a belated birthday gift - the Mickey Mouse Silly Switch Game. Amelia loves it! We played it when we got home and I had to tear her away from it when we left for Dodah's so I could go to work. When I came home, we played it with Daddy and Amelia did really, really well taking turns.

Not the Face of H1N1

So the twins in Amelia's class have H1N1. The scary thing is they followed the exact same pattern Amelia did - flu shot last Friday, high fever Tuesday afternoon (and they were sharing a Pin the Tail on the Donkey mask with Amelia at Saturday's birthday party). So I took her to a new doctor (since hers has a 2-3 hour wait all the freaking time). The doctor was young and said it was impossible for Amelia's sickness to be from her flu shot, that the rash was viral and the timing of her sickness just a coincidence. Sure, uh-huh. Amelia is feeling much better today and the doctor said she was too lively to have the flu and that the CDC is not recommending patients get tested because of the 30% margin of error on the test. We agreed to try to test her and if Amelia didn't cooperate with the q-tip up her nose, then we would stop. But she did tolerate it, (but with a really sad, "Mommy, it hurted!") and she doesn't have H1N1.

Since she is bouncing back I was hoping she might have it so she would be immune from it the remainder of the season. And I feel like testing her was the responsible thing to do since she has been sick and around other children.

She's spent so much time sleeping this week there haven't been many opportunities for pictures. Here she is snuggling Stripes last night as she slept.

[picture dated 9/30/09]