halloween hilarity

took the girls trick-or-treating tonight in the new (old) neighborhood. they did pretty good, i think this year they finally "get it." there are a good number of houses decorated for the occasion, but nothing too scary. doesn't matter anyway, because the girls start screaming at the second house we go to because a dog was at the door. literally, ear-splitting, blood-curdling screams all because a tiny dog is excited that people are at the door. ooo-kayyy.

as we're walking along, we're talking about dogs and belly states, "bulilit is allergic to dogs." to which bulilit replies, "we don't eat dogs!"

after being out for about an hour and a half, belly asks if we can go home. bulilit protests, "no! i want to trick or treat!" so e and i split the girls up, he takes bulilit and belly and i start heading home.

more funnies from the "blizzard" ...

• e building a tiny snowman and putting it on the porch to save. belly comes up to it, pulls her knee to her chest and stomps on it. e asks, "why'd you stomp it?" and belly replies, "because it's funny."
• bulilit to ami in the car after we played with snowballs, "you like balls!!"
• belly making snowballs and throwing them, then yelling "BOOM! ANGRY BIRDS!" (maybe she was thinking of this?)

today, we had the redskins game on (don't ask me why .... sigh). belly, ever the politician, yells, "go redskins! go giants-skins!" (please note, the giants were not playing. it was the skins vs the bills. but the bills *are* blue just like the giants.) bulilit pipes in, "goooo basketball!!"

okay bulilit.

the blizzard of october 2011

tweets from this day:

In other news, bulilit came up to me with snow in her hands, signature smirk on her face and said, 'I'm going to put this in your pants!'

29 Oct Favorite Reply Delete

whimsysoda Cindy

I was wrong. There IS enough for a snowman. yfrog.com/kjadpwxj

29 Oct

whimsysoda Cindy

yes, snow. In freaking October. yfrog.com/klcyaihj

29 Oct

whimsysoda Cindy

kids excited, they want to play in the #snow ... trying to convince them there's not enough for a snowman.

one of the perks of a small town

excited. best way to describe belly and bulilit the day of our hometown parade. for all the years i've lived in vienna, we've never done the parade down maple avenue. of course, because the girls' preschool takes part in it, we decided to join in the fun. and so glad we did!

the parade route is only about a mile but belly was intrigued and ended up walking the entire way. (bulilit was pushed in the stroller.) along the route, they saw their teachers and their grandparents and i think they felt special with all of these people waving at them. literally, the street was lined up and down with a ton of people!!

we managed to DVR the parade on the local cable access channel, and it was fun for the kids to see themselves on television. for a couple days after the parade, bulilit would talk about how much she liked the "prade!! prade!!"

not my typical post

(almost) verbatim google talk conversation i had with my brother today.

me: random question..if you were a 4 year old kid, and you saw another kid who cried a lot, but when you asked her to play, she doesn't even reply, what would you think of her?

bro: [completely inappropriate word to describe a 4 year old]

me: my word exactly (ed. note, use your imagination)

bro: go cry by yourself in a corner then. lol

me: so how do i explain to belly that the other kids don't play with her or talk to her b/c she acts like a snobby [inappropriate word]?

bro: LOL.

bro: I thought she tried to go play with someone

me: no. she keeps talking about this one girl, but i don't think they're friends. i heard today her supposed friend asked belly to do something, and belly didn't even respond.

bro: nasty

me: i know right?!? no wonder the kids at school don't play with her!! and apparently today, every time she saw bulilit's teacher in the hall, she asked her, "how's bulilit? is bulilit ok?"and the teacher was like, "yes, bulilit's fine. how are YOU?"

shift in my identity

took belly to a classmate's house for a halloween playdate. when it was time for us to go, i hear,

kid 1: "excuse me, belly's mom? can belly have a playdate at my house?"

kid 2, whose house we were at: "me too! can belly come back and play at my house?"

the edge

so we're all laying in bed and bulilit notices she's on the edge of the bed. looks at me and says, "mommy, i don't want to be on the edge."

to which belly promptly breaks into song, "i'm on the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge... i'm on the edge of glory"

and apparently we have ami to thank for her knowledge of that song.

Rough day

So now my previously totally excited about preschool kid is the crying kid. The past three times she's been at school, her eyes give her away when I pick her up and I already know she's spent the morning crying.

and apparently today, she tried to make a run for it and shot straight out the door when her dad dropped her off in her classroom. thankfully, her teacher (let's call her mrs. m2) caught her. they distracted her on and off but then the waterworks started again on the playground.

belly's class got out to the playground first, and as soon as bulilit's class went out, the two of them were all smiles and playing with each other. when it was time for belly's class to go in -- before bulilit's class -- the tears started. FOR BOTH OF THEM. i guess i should be happy that they love each other and just want to be together?

mrs. m2 also told me a cute little story about the girls running into each other at the bathroom. bulilit was washing her hands, mrs. m2 was waiting for her and belly sees the picture in mrs. m2's hands. (it's a picture of our family, which belly and bulilit use as their "lovey")

belly: um, i think you should give that back to bulilit.
mrs. m2: i think so too. i was just holding it so it wouldn't get wet!

thank you, my little bossy belly.

then at pick up, one of bulilit's classmates pointed at her and told me, very matter of factly, "She was crying for you today." and thank you too, little two-year old.

I guess as a consequence to all these feelings of abandonment and separation anxiety, bulilit has been spending a lot of time in my office. she had seen her sister playing sesame street games on the macbook (which, incidentally, are the best toddler games I've found on the Internet) so she wanted to play them too. i tried not to pay too much attention, but couldn't hold back my laughter when i heard this:

elmo's voice: if you want to do it again, click the mouse!
bulilit: okay, hold on. i click you, mouse.

The magic of play dough

Preschool Week 2 Report:
Woo hoo! Finally a day with no tears!

Belly had said Sunday night, "Mommy, I won't cry if Daddy drops me off. Only when you drop me off."

So Monday, Daddy drops her off and there are a few tears.

There's truth to the phrase, strength in numbers, and today proved that to be true for Belly. E walked both Bulilit and Belly in to school. Dropping off Bulilit to her classroom, he says, "Look, the play dough table!" and Bulilit heads straight for the table with a mere, "Bye" back to her dad and sister.

E walks Belly back to her classroom, helps her hang up her bag and coat and helps her wash hands, then gives a high five and a hug and NO TEARS!!!!!

I go to pick up Bulilit (30 min earlier than her sister, they're doing a whole graduated schedule with the 2s class) and she is totally fine, sitting nicely on the rug. Her teacher tells me that she was fine the whole time, stayed at the play dough table while a bunch of the other kids were crying. Apparently she'd look over at the criers, then turn her attention back to the play dough. Her teacher said it was like she didn't want to get involved with the group of kids who were crying, and that she really enjoyed music with Miss Anne.

One of the moms said when Bulilit went to wash her hands, she ran into her sister, and Belly waved and said hi, but was OKAY. Of course, Bulilit and I waited around until Belly was let out and Belly saw me in the hallway (I was hoping to hide, but was talking to another mom in the hallway). She was okay but definitely seemed to want to stay with me instead of go back to her classroom.

When she was dismissed, I checked in with Belly's teacher who said there were no tears at all! Let's just hope it continues. :)

best day ever!!!!!

nini and veh are visiting from cali, on their way back from their grand european holiday.

as usual, the girls were excited to see them. friday afternoon, after receiving an FC Barcelona jersey from the travelers, belly asked to play soccer outside with nini and daddy. as they're playing, i hear belly exclaim, "best day ever!!"

not to be outdone, on saturday evening, the girls were playing with a toy nini and veh also brought back from europe. basically like a slingshot but lights up when you shoot it in the air. as they're playing, bulilit yells out, "best day ever!"

the dog. arf.

fun memory for today:

belly, holding her stuffed dog and complaining to me: "well if bulilit doesn't want to play doggie with me, arf arf, then i don't want to play games with her."

Memories: Emerald Cove

During my teenage years, I was completely slightly obsessed with the Mickey Mouse Club, but especially with Emerald Cove, its serial show within a show. I had a few episodes on VHS, but all my VHS players broke over the past couple years, so I have not been able to watch them in forever. And YouTube searches always proved fruitless.

That is, until I noticed the most recent updates of one of the channels I subscribe to, TheMMCchannel.

I'm in heaven.

Wishing on a star

Belly was sick today, so i let her watch videos in my office as long as she was laying down on the bed in my office. The Little Star episode of Dora the Explorer came on and toward the end, Dora asks, "What are you wishing for?"

I hear belly's soft, sick whisper, "I wish Mommy will play with me."

heart breaks.

Photo from Amazon.

good day

the weather was unusally beautiful for an august day so the kids went to the playground at the nearby elementary school twice today (before and after nap). what made me smile is, ten years ago almost to the day, their parents were on their first real date and stopped by the exact same playground.

it's so fun to watch them playing on big kid (okay, kindergarten-acceptable) equipment, but it's bittersweet as i realize that my girls are no longer babies (hello! preschool starts in just a few weeks.).

belly and bulilit tend to have a love-hate relationship, so it's always nice to hear them playing nicely together and talking to each other, having real conversations.

at bathtime, the two become engrossed in water play. tonight, belly facilitated a conversation between her little mermaid doll and mermaid dora.

overall, good day.

overheard

ami to belly, explaining that they are going on vacation: we're going to turkey.

belly: do you have a house there too??

funny for the day

i was coming in from an errand and walk in from the garage. i spy bulilit on a step stool in the kitchen, holding a box of whoppers which had been hidden up on a shelf. she realizes she's been caught, smiles at me and says, "only one!"

preview of the teen years

belly had a hard time at soccer camp today. she wasn't happy when i told her i was not going to run drills with her, so she ended up crying through most of the camp. i pulled her aside, embarrassed by her behavior and was trying to talk sternly to her. she was still hysterical so i kept asking her to calm down so i could talk to her. she would answer back forcefully, "I AM CALMED DOWN!"

i then told her if she didn't want to play with the other kids, then she could just sit there and watch, but that i was done talking to her. her reply?

"well, if you're done talking to me, then i'm done talking to you!"

this does not bode well for when she turns 13.

allergies

So the dermatologist says Bulilit is allergic to milk (all dairy), egg whites, mangos, strawberries, apples, grapes and plums. Well then. How do I explain to a 2 year old that she can't eat her favorite foods anymore? That Mac & Cheese, yogurt, grapes, apples, strawberries and ice cream will make her itchy?

A couple links I found to help me navigate this crazy new food allergy world.

• Marketing Mama On Food Allergies
• How to read a label for a milk-free diet

i don't get it

Planking

entertainment

bulilit definitely provides entertainment to her sister. even when belly is tattling on her, bulilit will do something that will make belly giggle.

today, belly told me bulilit was being nasty to their nanny, so when i told bulilit to go back down and apologize, she slid/bounced down the stairs on her stomach. she literally looked like a puck from the plinko game on price is right. bounce-bounce-bounce. cue belly's infectious giggle.

i know *exactly* how lois feels

cousin time

i love watching the babies play.

today, my cousin came over to help us move some furniture in preparation for our move, and he brought bear along. bear and belly have always played really well together ever since they were babies (maybe due to the fact that bear's mommy would bring him over twice a week and watch belly for me while I worked). bulilit, meanwhile, loves bear and follows him around everywhere.

so the three of them are playing, running from the large family room in the basement into the bedroom and back out. bear and belly decide to get on the electric cars -- which nini and veh gave the girls for christmas -- and are driving them between the family room and bedroom. bulilit, not wanting to be left out, climbs into the cozy coupe and is trying to chase after them.





then, perhaps in a vengeful moment, bulilit one-ups her cousin and sister. bear and belly each have a 6" play ball, running after each other. bulilit, feeling left out, looks for one and disappears in the room. out come bear and belly yelling, followed by bulilit with a huge exercise ball!

i love...

...that belly makes her bed (6/2)


...a clean house (6/1)


...town festivals (even in sweltering heat and humidity) (5/30)

...georgetown cupcakes


...that the girls love the pool (5/29)

...when the belly and bulilit are being sweet to each other (at target, 5/28)


...bulilit's cheesy smile

kawawa bulilit

had to take bulilit to the opthamologist because of a blocked tear duct that she's had since she was an infant. as we sat in the exam room, she was watching toy story, finding nemo and dora to keep her distracted. As the nurse was going through different visual tests -- the usual eye chart, except with pictures instead of letters -- she would call out, "horsey! hand! dumbo!"

For the depth perception test, she clawed at the air for the ones that "stood out." We had to wait for the doctor, so got sent back out to the waiting room. as we sat there, bulilit turns to me and says, "go mama!"

Since her eyes were dilated, the nurse warned me that the sun would be especially bright to her. Luckily, it was an overcast day so I wasn't too concerned. When we made our way out, bulilit turns her face into my shoulder and complains it's too bright. I gave her her sunglasses to try and shield the (very little) sun. Poor baby. As soon as I got her buckled in the car, she passed out! Guess the doctor's appointment took a lot out of her.

booboo chicken

"Mommy, you look like a chicken!"

That's what my daughter said to me this morning as I was trying on dresses.

"Why do I look like like a chicken?" I asked her.

"Because Donald Duck has a chicken, Booboo chicken, and he has a long tail," she explained.

Oh. Makes perfect sense now. Thanks, Belly.

best part of my day

overhearing the girls playing, belly is obviously the mommy and bulilit is the baby.

belly: ok, time to go to sleep.
bulilit: brush teeth!
belly: ok, brush teeth. say "eee."
(silence)
bulilit: eat that! lollipop!
belly: i already told you, no more lollipops.
bulilit: i'm eating it!
belly: ok, time for bed.
bulilit: night everybody!
belly: go to sleep. (pause) are you itching?
bulilit: no.
belly: want to lay down on my tummy?
buliilt: yeah. (pause) i want mommy.
belly: no. you want to go to randall? you're going to randall!

(in case you're wondering, randall is randall from monsters inc. used to be the only thing that would scare bulilit into going to bed, but now she asks to go into the closet with randall. there goes that.)

reverse roles

After I finished working today, I made my way downstairs to get in some playtime with the kids. Belly's new game is playing mommy, and making me the baby. It's weird to hear what you sound like to your child. Belly is very strict, putting me in the corner and telling me I'm nasty. We played like we were out shopping, in the car and she says, "We're going home, you're going to the corner. I'm leaving you with randall!"

Also, at camp a few weeks ago, she learned how to play "Fish, fish, shark" (aka "Duck, Duck, Goose"), so we play every so often. The first time I played with her, I was in shock -- Belly is FAST! It probably didn't help that I was slowed down by Bulilit, who wanted to ride on my back every time Belly picked me as the Shark. Fun times.

smee's birthday

So we celebrated smee's birthday at fridays the other night. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned before but any time the whole family is together, I hardly pay attention to the kids, since there are so many other people around to do it. This particular evening, she learned how to play Rock, Paper, Scissors, which she then ended up playing with anyone who would play with her. Belly, however, doesn't like to lose, so as soon as she shoots and sees what the other person has shot, she'll change her shot to beat the other person. Ahh, the joys of playing with a three-year-old.

Tough Juice

Photo from The Mothering Hut

took bulilit to the doctor today for her 2 year check up. everything looks good, and the girl is in the 100th percentile for height, at an impressive 38" and weighing in at 25lbs. we talked to her doctor about her skin issues and decided an allergy test was in order. so not only was she getting one vaccination shot, she also had to undergo a blood draw.

we already kind of knew that she was more like e than me, but today totally proved it. when the nurse gave her the vaccination, bulilit looks up at her and goes, "ow! itchy!!" no tears.

then, we head down to the lab, and the phlebotomist checks her veins. (because they need so much blood for the allergy test, they needed to take it from the vein on the inside of her elbow. ouch!) phlebotomist says both veins seem pretty deep, so she sets us up with warmers to "draw out the veins." so i'm sitting there with bulilit, trying to distract her, keep her busy. when the phlebotomist comes back in (with an assistant to help her hold down bulilit -- her words, not mine), she rolls up her sleeve, i turn on yo gabba gabba on my phone and pray that buililt does not look at what they are doing to her.

go figure, the phlebotomists manage to fill 2 large test tubes with blood without even a peep, much less a flinch from bulilit. tough juice, i tell ya.

thankful for my health

so i had to have a minor procedure done at the hospital yesterday. it was the first time i was ever put under with general anesthesia so i was very anxious about the whole experience since we first decided to proceed about 7 weeks ago. e was great at reassuring me, held my hand when i almost passed out from the IV insertion and did everything he could to make me comfortable and take care of me.

all in all, the whole hospital experience went well -- i really love fair oaks hospital -- and i remember absolutely nothing between when they wheeled me into the operation room and transferred me to the operating table until i woke up in the OR after the whole thing was over. i don't even remember them wheeling me from the OR to the recovery area. my parents had joked prior that it would be the best sleep i ever had, and, man, were they right. e joked that he should pay the hospital just to let him experience the best sleep ever, since he hasn't had a straight good night's sleep since bulilit was about a year old.

the best part of recovery was having the girls fawn all over me, giving me a "bath" with towels while i lay on the couch, feeding me pretend food and singing me to sleep. it was definitely the best.

Snow White party crafts

i've already mentioned how snow white is belly's favorite princess. (even before she had watched the actual movie. and despite my hatred dislike for that particular "princess." e thinks it's because she's the one who most looks like belly so she identifies with her? who knows.)


so when i saw these craft ideas in the Disney Family Fun email (yes, i subscribe to that email. yes, i read every issue. yes, i'm fully a disney mom), i knew i had to save them to do at some point. (though snow white has been replaced by dora almost completely!)

Magic Mirror Invitations

Snow White Craft Fringed Feather Duster

Fruit Flower Bouquet

mommy guilt. constant.

the past few weeks months have been a bit nuts at work, and the guilt levels have risen considerably. so it was kind of nice to see this (a bit tongue-in-cheek) list of 20 things moms should never feel guilty about. thanks parenting.com and cnn.

what i did last weekend

last sunday, pookie, smee and i took the girls to watch disney on ice. i figured the girls were old enough to appreciate it, since they did so well at disneyland last year. i'm SO GLAD we took them.

the girls LOVED it. before the show, there was a costume display of the princesses' dresses, so of course we took a bunch of pictures. belly loves snow white, bulilit loves ariel, so pictures with those costumes were a must. mommy's favorite is of course,

my favorite random memories from the show:
walking around the concourse of the verizon center, seeing all the merchandise stands (me and smee's favorite things :) ), and belly saying, "look mommy! more!" as she spies yet another merchandise stand.

bulilit, sitting on my lap, watching intently. all of a sudden, she looks up at me and gives me a kiss.

in the car on the way to verizon, sitting in traffic and belly constantly saying, "mama this is taking forever!!" ... but then not one peep during the show which took significantly longer. ;-)

all in all, a great afternoon. thanks pookie and smee for convincing me to go and take the girls!

mmm food

i don't remember when i started liking taho. i do remember watching my mom eat it, tasting it and thinking it was kind of gross.

but over the years i guess my palette must have changed, and now i love the stuff. and because it's kind of hard to find/get, i decided i'd try to recreate at home. i tweaked a few of the recipes i found online, and came up with a delicious version that hits the spot when i'm craving taho.

2/3 c brown sugar
1 1/3 c water
1 package lite silken tofu

Make a simple syrup with brown sugar and water, heating it over low heat. Scoop about 4 Tbsp of silken tofu into a bowl and microwave for 45-60 seconds (depending on your microwave's power). Spoon syrup onto tofu, to your liking.

Should serve about 6.

today i'm thankful for...

dancing on my knees with my sweet faced bulilit
dancing on the wii with my competitive husband
smiles on the faces of my babygirls
my husband's laughter
feeling blessed.

thankful for good memories

had to run home last night and when we got back to my parents' house around 11pm, i could hear teenagers chatting in the cold night air. i could picture my neighbors sitting around the back deck, talking and laughing with friends and remembered when that was me... hanging out in the backyard with friends, making plans and reliving moments.