bloogs blowing by

Morning conversations

This morning in the car, Tae and I were having a conversation about Santa.  She was asking about chimneys (we don't have one), and we were talking about how he's magic.  She told me that actually Santa could just walk in to our house, like he does in the North Pole.  Right.

We talked about how he probably has a big belly because he eats a lot and gets a lot of cookies.

Then she asked, "Does Santa sleep?"

me:  "That's a good question.  What do you think?"

Tae:  "Yeah, I think he sleeps.... and then he gives himself presents while he sleeps!!"

[cue crazy infectious laughter from the backseat of my car.]

Thinking

I swear that this is an actual conversation that Tae and I had in the car this morning.

T:  "Mommy, how do you stop thinking?"
M:  "What are you thinking about now?"
T:  "Barack Obama.  How do you stop thinking?"
M:  "Well, you can try thinking about nothing."
T:  "I can't turn Barack Obama into nothing.  It's not magic."
M:  "You can try thinking about something else."
T:  "Now I'm thinking about John McCain!"

Tae shakes her head vigorously.

T:  "Now I'm thinking about dirt.  Mommy, how do you stop thinking?"

At gymnastics (or my unique daughter)

At gymnastics class today, the group was sitting in a circle sitting in butterfly positions, everyone flapping their pretend wings.

"Where do you want fly to today?" the teacher asks all the kids.

"Disneyworld!" says one little boy.

"New England University!" says my daughter. 

Our Halloween

We spent Halloween in our town center, walking the streets with lots of ghosts, princesses and many versions of wonder woman, batman and buzz light year.

We attempted to take the bus so we wouldn't have to walk all the way to the center of town and back.  But, after 3 stops on the bus, I could see that there were kids outside walking that were moving much faster than us. Traffic was horrible.

So, we got out, and walked.  A lot.  Lucky for us, it was a gorgeous fall day.  So gorgeous that when Tae asked if she could take off her jacket, I said yes.  I was hot in my jacket too!

Tae carried this very tiny pumpkin bag.  Luckily, her mama was carrying a bigger one.  We emptied her little bag into mine two or three times over the course of the afternoon.

Everyone loved Tae's costume.  Mostly because when people asked her if she was a ballerina, she started acting like a ballerina.  Which meant pirouetting, posing, and walking down the street en pointe.

After trick or treating, we went to my office halloween party, which had a very scary haunted house in the basement.  Tae, to her credit, really understands that a lot of this is pretend, and kept peaking her head in to the haunted basement.  (I was very scared of it - there was fog, a strobe light and scary music.)

Ta-da!!

And here is the final product, with a bun in her hair and everything.  Tae looks so grown up!!

Yes, we'll be going out trick-or-treating, and then to a party at my office (notice the trend?).  I have no qualm telling her to put her jacket over this outfit.  I think with the skirt, it will be obvious what she is anyway.  The ballet slippers are also only for inside.  She's been wanting these like FOREVER (in the life of a 4 year old).

In other news, I asked Tae for ideas about what I should dress up as.  (Why did I think that would be a good idea?)  Her response: a ballet teacher!!

Caught in candy

Sometimes I need Tae to keep me grounded.  Work is stressing me out lately.

And then today, at a work thing, Tae had cotton candy for the first time.  Walking home, I asked her if she liked it.  She made a face and shook her head.

me:  "Did you like the cotton candy?"
tae:  "Like fish caught in a net?"
me:  "Huh?"
tae:  "Like you caught a fish?"
me:  "OH.  No, it's not caught-in candy, it's like cotton, like a cotton ball?"
tae:  "Huh?"
me:  "Like cotton, like the soft stuff in a quilt?"
tae:  "OH.  Like cotton, like a cotton ball."

Priming the Pump

This morning, when Tae woke up:

"The fall is bugger time.  When it's cold, the cold goes up your nose and you get buggers and you get sick.  Isn't that right?"

30 minutes later:

"I like staying in hotels.  I like California.  I like the beach and the summer."

here and there

i've been struggling to keep up with this blog... mainly because i think i've been struggling to keep up with... myself.  and then with my 3 and a half year old.

tae turned three and a half last monday.  i've been trying to use that to get her to do new big kid things... like sleep in her own bed.  i have a feeling this is going to be a long, uphill, sleepless battle.

i got her some curtains from ikea to make her bedroom fancy and special.  the upshot of this was that we spent what felt like 10 hours playing in her room today.  i think she "slept" in her room alone for about 3 hours last night.  3 hours, which included her waking up, i think 5 times.  first she was just asking for me, then she says, "mommy, i can't see you!" and finally she says, "mommy, i want to sleep in your bed."  by the time she had escalated to crying out that she wanted to be in my bed, it was 2am, and i just wanted to sleep too.  and from 2am to 7am, i slept like a log.  and she did too.  sigh.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *   *    *    *    *    *    *    *   

tonight as i was putting tae to bed, she says to me, "i don't want you to leave.  ever ever.  i want you to sleep here with me." 

i should add that her bed is a toddler bed - and one reason that she ended up back in my bed was that i kept falling asleep in her bed when i went in to try to back to sleep.  and if my choice is sleeping with tae in her 4 foot long bed, or sleeping with tae in my queen size bed... well, the choice seems fairly obvious.  i'll choose not waking up with my knees cramped up to my chin.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *   *    *    *    *    *    *    * 

i discovered over the weekend that there's a video of tae dancing at my school's lunar new year celebration from february.  she wasn't even performing, just dancing off to the side of the stage.  it's on my school's youtube channel.  and while it's cute, i was kind of put off by the idea that there were videos of my kid on youtube, and i had no idea.  at least here, i'm in control of the flow of information.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *   *    *    *    *    *    *    * 

my school also had a big culture show last night.  tae had a blast watching rehearsals, running around the auditorium, and being in the fashion show.  the look on her face when she walked out with a student of mine was priceless.  she was her usual ham-it-up self - she did a little kick of her leg as she turned when she got front and center on the stage.  (if anyone sees youtube videos of this, please let me know!)

*    *    *    *    *    *    *   *    *    *    *    *    *    * 

i am very tired.  daylight savings isn't helping me anymore - today was a no-nap day... i was ready for a nap at 4pm, but guess who was running around the house like a tazmanian devil?  and guess who decided that she couldn't go to sleep while the sun was up?  oh, there's a part of me that wishes that sunset was still at 6pm.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *   *    *    *    *    *    *    * 

tae's been talking up a storm, and saying all of these really funny things... except i can't remember any of them now.  what a let down, right?  ok, clearly, it's bedtime for me. 

here and there

i've been struggling to keep up with this blog... mainly because i think i've been struggling to keep up with... myself.  and then with my 3 and a half year old.

tae turned three and a half last monday.  i've been trying to use that to get her to do new big kid things... like sleep in her own bed.  i have a feeling this is going to be a long, uphill, sleepless battle.

i got her some curtains from ikea to make her bedroom fancy and special.  the upshot of this was that we spent what felt like 10 hours playing in her room today.  i think she "slept" in her room alone for about 3 hours last night.  3 hours, which included her waking up, i think 5 times.  first she was just asking for me, then she says, "mommy, i can't see you!" and finally she says, "mommy, i want to sleep in your bed."  by the time she had escalated to crying out that she wanted to be in my bed, it was 2am, and i just wanted to sleep too.  and from 2am to 7am, i slept like a log.  and she did too.  sigh.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *   *    *    *    *    *    *    *   

tonight as i was putting tae to bed, she says to me, "i don't want you to leave.  ever ever.  i want you to sleep here with me." 

i should add that her bed is a toddler bed - and one reason that she ended up back in my bed was that i kept falling asleep in her bed when i went in to try to back to sleep.  and if my choice is sleeping with tae in her 4 foot long bed, or sleeping with tae in my queen size bed... well, the choice seems fairly obvious.  i'll choose not waking up with my knees cramped up to my chin.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *   *    *    *    *    *    *    * 

i discovered over the weekend that there's a video of tae dancing at my school's lunar new year celebration from february.  she wasn't even performing, just dancing off to the side of the stage.  it's on my school's youtube channel.  and while it's cute, i was kind of put off by the idea that there were videos of my kid on youtube, and i had no idea.  at least here, i'm in control of the flow of information.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *   *    *    *    *    *    *    * 

my school also had a big culture show last night.  tae had a blast watching rehearsals, running around the auditorium, and being in the fashion show.  the look on her face when she walked out with a student of mine was priceless.  she was her usual ham-it-up self - she did a little kick of her leg as she turned when she got front and center on the stage.  (if anyone sees youtube videos of this, please let me know!)

*    *    *    *    *    *    *   *    *    *    *    *    *    * 

i am very tired.  daylight savings isn't helping me anymore - today was a no-nap day... i was ready for a nap at 4pm, but guess who was running around the house like a tazmanian devil?  and guess who decided that she couldn't go to sleep while the sun was up?  oh, there's a part of me that wishes that sunset was still at 6pm.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *   *    *    *    *    *    *    * 

tae's been talking up a storm, and saying all of these really funny things... except i can't remember any of them now.  what a let down, right?  ok, clearly, it's bedtime for me. 

something old

this is tae in april of 2005.  i think she still looks the same when she is asleep.  maybe this is why i am so enchanted by her when she is sleeping.  or maybe i'm just enchanted because she *is* sleeping.

(hat tip to robin for the blog fodder!)