Rainbow Goes Retro

I said Cyndi Lauper. Slipshod says Olivia Newton John. What do you think?

Sweet Pea started "decorating" Rainbow yesterday when she was hanging out in her room with her Boopa. When I explained to her that all those barrettes are choking hazards for the baby, she gleefully pulled out as many more as she could find, clasped them onto the head bands and ponytail holders stretched around the cat, and announced that she was making Rainbow into a choking hazard so the baby couldn't play with him. Since Rainbow is super special to Sweet Pea that's the one toy we don't make her share with The Bug anyway, but apparently she felt it necessary to make Rainbow actually dangerous to her sister. Yeesh.

P.S. I so love that Sweet Pea named her black and white cat Rainbow. It still cracks me up.

Selective Memory's a Bitch

The Scene:
Two nights ago, dinnertime. I am trying to eat.

Sweet Pea is sobbing on my lap, for some reason I can't remember. I think I put the cat's food bowl out so the cat could eat and SHE wanted to do that. Apparently I should have known.

The Bug is also screaming, strapped into her baby seat at the table. She's had enough of ordering me around to get her several different kinds of food, and wants to get out and play. NOW.

I can't reach around Sweet Pea to get to my food. I can't hear myself think.

Slipshod is sitting across the room cruising the web on my computer. He got up and left the table the second he ate his last bite of dinner (BIG pet peeve of mine - among other things, what is that behavior teaching the children?), and is oblivious to all the screaming and my inability to eat my dinner, despite the fact that he's only 10 feet away from us.

I remember with a sinking feeling the last conversation I tried to have with him about him getting a vasectomy. I had thought it was just a matter of time and asked him if he might get that done while he was home on sabbatical. He laughingly said that getting a vasectomy was not high on his list of things to do.

Through the screaming we have the following conversation:

Me: So, are you reneging on your promise to get a vasectomy?

Slipshod: Promise? What promise?

Me: Don't even. You promised me you would get one.

Slipshod: When did I say that?

Me: While I was in labor last year. You said, and I quote, "I will get a vasectomy tomorrow. You can name the baby anything you want."

Slipshod: Huh. I don't remember that.

Me: Well, I remember it. I remember it clear as day.

Slipshod laughs and turns back to the computer.

End scene.


Shit. I really, apparently very naively, thought that I wasn't going to have to fight a battle about this. I don't want more than two kids. I'm at my limit; possibly past. I don't want to be pregnant again. I don't want to endure labor again. I so never, ever want to deal with a teething baby again once The Bug is through with that (can you tell what my current mothering hardship is?).

I am exhausted. But this decision is not one made in the moment, out of exhaustion. I've known for some time that I only wanted two. And honestly only two because I thought Sweet Pea would be sad growing up as an only child. Don't get me wrong, I love The Bug every bit as much as I love Sweet Pea, and I didn't have her so Sweet Pea could have a pet or anything - I hope what I'm saying doesn't sound like that. But there was a time when I considered stopping at one. And some days I think maybe I should have because I don't know if I can handle mothering two. But every day I am also overwhelmingly happy that I have both of them.

The point is, I thought that Slipshod and I had established that we were going to remove the possibility of having more. Apparently not. Grrr.

Don't it Make Her Brown Eyes Blue

Back in April (when this picture was taken), we started noticing Sweet Pea doing a lot of this with her eyes, especially when she was reading a book or watching TV.

We asked her if she could open both eyes, focus with both eyes, etc. Slipshod started asking her not to close her left eye, so then she started unfocusing the left eye and letting it wander, which was much scarier for us to look at than her having one eye shut.

Of course we made an appointment with an optometrist, but it took a long time before they could fit all three of us in for an appointment. I needed new glasses, and Slipshod had never been to see an eye doctor for an exam in his life. We went this past Monday.

In the intervening time, Slipshod and I had many talks with Sweet Pea about what she could and couldn't see, why she closed her left eye or let it wander, etc. Slipshod sometimes covered one of Sweet Pea's eyes and asked her how many fingers he was holding up for her free eye to see. She did pretty well with that home test.

She told me that she could see just fine with both her eyes, but that it felt better if she had one of them closed.

Turns out that she is far-sighted, so it takes a lot of muscle to focus her eyes in where they need to be, and it is easier to just focus one eye, just like she told me (not that I doubted, but what she said was exactly confirmed by the optometrist). So, they ordered glasses for her.

Sweet Pea was SO good at the appointment. She had been so concered about going, and initially fought against the idea of having to wear glasses when we told her it was a real possibility for her. That was back a month ago when I made the appointment, though, and all that talking to her about it in the weeks between making and actually going to the appointment did a lot of good. By the time we saw the optometrist she knew that Slipshod and I would also be having our eyes checked, and that she would be able to watch at least one of us get checked before anything was done to her. When it came time for her to get checked, she sat on her daddy's lap and listened really well to the optometrist and answered his questions and looked where he asked her to, etc.

The optometrist was actually really really impressed with how smart she was, and said so on several occasions, which of course made Slipshod and I very proud. Hee. He and his office staff were so sweet with her, too, that she felt very comfortable there and felt at ease going from the exam room to the front desk by herself to ask the receptionists for more paper to draw (kitties, of course) on. When the doctor proclaimed that she would need glasses he beckoned one of his assistants and sent Sweet Pea and Slipshod out with her to look at frames, telling the assistant that "this is Sweet Pea and she's going to need to choose some frames. Her favorite color is light blue."

Then it was time for my exam but halfway through Slipshod and Sweet Pea returned to show me Sweet Pea's top two frame choices. I was REALLY surprised with how pretty and stylish they were. All I could think of when it came to children's frames were the thick plastic frames some of my friends had in elementary school. Both choices that she showed me were delicate-looking metal frames, and of course both were blue.

The optometrist's office called today to tell us that Sweet Pea's glasses were in and as it happened I had already planned to go out to the post office, which is right next door to the optometrist's office. So, Sweet Pea and I left Slipshod and The Bug at home and went out on a little adventure together to mail some things and get her glasses.

The optometrist sat with us and made the necessary adjustments to Sweet Pea's glasses to make them sit straight on her face and be snug enough to her head that they would not fall off. He seemed to really get a kick out of seeing her again. The glasses case they gave her is a little clear plastic purse lined in what looks like pink suede or leather. On the front of the "purse" in silver sparkly letters it says, "Disney Princess." I had to laugh when I saw that an hour or so later. Sweet Pea has still never seen a Disney movie with a princess in it, so she gives well-meaning adults big blank stares when they try to relate to her on a princess level.

Since she is so young, Sweet Pea's prescription needs could change frequently, so we will take her back for a checkup in 6 months to see if she needs new lenses. It is possible that with the correction she's getting now for her eyes, she may outgrow the far-sightedness as her eyes get bigger as she grows. Then again, it is also possible that she may not outgrow it, and may have to continue wearing glasses or contacts as she gets older. Time will tell.

Of course, what with me being me and Sweet Pea being Sweet Pea, our outing today ended with a trip to Jamba Juice before going home. YUM. It has been rather hot here and we were roasting in the car. But honestly I agree with the way Sweet Pea put it: "I think every day is a good day for a smoothie; it doesn't need to be hot outside."

That's my girl.

Here you go - pictures of Sweet Pea in her new glasses!

For the record, The Bug made most of that yogurt mess feeding herself. Sweet Pea probably got more food in there for her than she was able to get in by herself. ha ha!

It's a bird! It's a plane! No! It's - SUPER SIS!

As for me - I will be getting new glasses as well, and can't wait. All this reading on my computer for months on end with no glasses at all (I lost my old ones in last summer's second move between the "yucky house," as we call it, and this house) is really causing a bunch of eye strain for me. Things are the same with my prescription as they used to be: The left lens will correct the far-sightedness in my left eye, and the right eye will be clear plastic (or whatever) just to balance out the other lens, because there is almost nothing wrong with that eye. It could use a tiny bit of correction, but the optometrist saw my eye do something weird when he put that bit of corrective lens in front of it. It sort of balked somehow. That has happened every time an eye doctor has done that. It's like my right eye is a control freak and if you try to correct it, it's like, "no, take that away; I can handle this myself." ha ha!

At this appointment I also learned why I've never been able to see those "magic picture" things. Do you know what I'm talking about? They look like a bunch of dots on a page, usually in gradations of color, and you're supposed to be able to see a picture "pop out" of them if you stare long enough. Turns out the reason I've never been able to see those is because I have amazingly poor depth perception. Who knew? My new glasses will correct that to some degree. In the past I have only worn my glasses for reading, but now the optometrist says I should probably also use them while watching movies and driving at night.

Slipshod's vision is so close to 20/20 that he is not getting glasses. The optometrist told him that he could get them if he wants, but since he could barely tell the difference between what things looked like with no glasses and what they looked like with the tiny bit of correction that would give him truly 20/20 vision, he of course opted to wait. The doctor told him that he will probably need glasses in the next five years, though.

The (Bug's First Birthday) Party

Of course there was the requisite first birthday cake-all-over-the-face moment. Well, frosting, in this case. The Bug didn't even taste it. Just smeared it all over her face. It's like she knew what we were waiting for and didn't want to disappoint.

The Bug ever-so-sweetly wanted to share with me. (Did I mention that I got my hair cut? I love it!) Twenty minutes or so later my sister said, "you know you still have frosting on your nose and the side of your face, right?" I didn't. Glad she was here to help me out! Yeesh!

Sweet Pea "read" The Bug's new kitty cat book aloud to her. As you can see, The Bug was very interested.

Last gift opened was a bag of balloons from some friends, which they encouraged me to pour over the birthday girl's head. It was a great gift idea, and all the kids had a really good time with the balloons - until they (the balloons, not the kids) were all popped, about 15 minutes later. We were told that they tend to last longer if you dump them indoors. ha ha!

Happy First Birthday, Bug!

Oh, those eyes. Those beautiful baby blues. They melt my heart.

Yep, it's already been a year. Our little Bug is 365 days old as of 9:30am Pacific time. Where did the year go? Search me. But we are so thrilled to celebrate one year of life with our second little red headed sweetie baby.

This morning we had a little party for her before breakfast. We went to the family room, sat on the floor, sang "Happy Birthday," and helped her open her presents: A super-cute hooded ladybug bath towel from Mommy & Daddy, a wooden name puzzle, and a REALLY girlie pink outfit that Sweet Pea picked out for The Bug. I nearly fainted paying for it, since it's so very pink and frilly and has the word "princess" written on it, but I thought it was so sweet of Sweet Pea to want to give her sister a birthday present (she came up with the idea herself) that I honored her choice. While Sweet Pea is showing girlier tendencies than her mommy has ever had, it must be pointed out that the reason she chose the pink outfit was simply because it has a picture of a kitty cat on it. The Bug instantly spotted, pointed to, and commented on the kitty cat as soon as she opened the box and saw the outfit, so it was worth it. ha ha!

Our friends from Burbank sent The Bug a birthday gift which, in case they were wondering, did arrive before her birthday. We let her open that present along with the family presents this morning. I sort of thought I was joking about you sending her a cell phone, so I had a big laugh when I saw that that's what the present was! Thank you - she really likes it. So does Sweet Pea, but they're not fighting over it so far. Sweet Pea is pretty good about realizing it's The Bug's present, not hers. The Bug seems to think that Daddy might be inside her toy cell phone, even when he's just in the next room. Tee hee!

Slipshod returned from Mexico on Monday night well after the girls were in bed. Tuesday morning when the girls woke up The Bug sat up in bed and chattered to me and Sweet Pea for a while. But when she looked past Sweet Pea and saw Slipshod, she couldn't get to him fast enough. She crawled over yelling, "Ga ga! Ga ga!" which is what she calls him, and when she reached him she put her little head on his shoulder and hugged and hugged him. He was so thrilled and melty to receive such a happy welcome from one of his little girls.

Later in the day, when The Bug awoke from her nap, she saw Slipshod as I brought her down the stairs and she reached for him over the railing. I handed her to him and they sat on the couch, pictured above, and she gave him another long, lovey hug, and then sat on his lap and chatted to him and played with him for a while.

Slipshod and I are so thrilled that The Bug is so into her daddy. Sweet Pea has been without him enough (due to work hours) that she is just used to him being away a lot, and she has never had a super strong bond with him (I still think that's simply due to absence, because when they used to garden together every weekend they were closer). SO, this huggy, snuggy, happy bond that The Bug shares with him is just wonderful - especially for her daddy.

The Bug's new passion: learning to walk. Our neighbors let us borrow a little baby walker and she LOVES it. I've informed her auntie who didn't know what to get The Bug for her birthday. I think her own walker will be the hit (for her) of her party on Sunday.

Sunday Pix for Daddy

Here we see Danger Girl (er, I mean, The Bug) throwing caution to the wind and trying something completely new.

Made it to the top. Once she got to the top she would get situated, sitting on her bum with her legs pointing down the slide, and then wait for me to help her slide down. She would give a hint of what she wanted by looking me in the eye and saying expectantly, "wheee!"

And she didn't care how she got to the top. Both sides of the slide worked. (Note here: Sweet Pea had her own slide first today - she walked up the slide part with no hands, repeatedly! Much more daring than she used to be!)

She was cautious, yet very confident.

Sunday Pix for Daddy 2

Cooling off after all that exertion on the slide.

Bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbtht!

Later that evening - enjoying the new play sand the grandparents bought for their sandbox.

The girls played well together, but Sweet Pea refused to let The Bug get into the sandbox.

Wastin' away again in Margarittaville

Here's a picture I snapped of the sunset the first night here. We went down to the beach to a bar my dad frequents. Every Saturday night there's a party for the PV Forum my dad co-runs. All the wait-staff were giving him and Sarah a hard time about which day of the week it was.

Been having a great time, though the weather has gotten progressively hotter. Never been this miserable in 85 degree weather before - the humidity is seriously high. Rainy season starts in a couple of weeks, so right now everything is pretty dry in spite of the humidity.

Yesterday we mostly lounged around the house, but did go shopping at one point for some food and electronics. The afternoons are pretty rough, lots of the stores end up closing and all you really feel like doing is taking a nap. today we went down and had breakfast at one of Rick's friends restaurants, which she's set up in another restaurant and just rents in the morning for her breakfasts. she's French-Canadia and the crepes and eggs Benedict were awesome. so far that's the best meal I've had here, but that's no slight on any of the other food that I've had.

Tonight were going to the board meeting which is probably going to be a little bit light. A bunch of the people are out of town this week, and it also looks like JR is trying to get people together to go to a traditional cantina. JR is the other guy who co-runs the forum with Rick.


Tomorrow will probably go down to the beach and hang out for awhile. I'm told I have to at least stick my toes in the water to see how warm it is. I figure I'll also take the opportunity to look around and see if I can find any gifts for girls.

Cheers,
Slipshod