Drama, Drama, Drama

The first day of our child's life gave us a small clue about how "dramatic" our little girl was probably going to be. She had this little "drama cough" as we called it, that she did over and over AND over. There was nothing wrong with her, she just had this totally dramatic tiny little cough. The drama cough continued for many, many months, and became a little running joke in our family. Fast forward to present day, we still have a lot of drama going on.

I know, you're thinking, this girl?

Drama??

Yes.

We have one tough cookie as far as being hurt goes. Lucy has been to the ER more times than I'd like to think about, and when she falls down or gets hurt, AFTER the major screams, cries, rolling on the floor, (a.k.a. DRAMA) she always bounces up and goes on about her business. Her shins stay bruised, her elbows too, she has a slightly chipped front tooth, and possibly a broken nose right now due to a recent fall on some tile on her FACE, but really, she's tough.

I suppose her being tough is a good thing rather that than some shy, timid little girl that is going to get run over by the bullies of this world, right? I mean, I DO sometimes wish she weren't so headstrong, but I think in the long run she'll take no prisoners. However, if her current behavior keeps up, she might find herself amongst some prisoners. I'm telling you her little temper is FIERCE. We've had to implement this little bad boy:

It seems as though Lucy currently believes that throwing friends down on ground, smacking them up the side of the head, and being totally defiant towards her teachers is going to get her somewhere in life. She still has a lot to learn. Lately each time I pick her up, I get the, "Well, she had kind of a rough day" speech from her teachers (sometimes both at once-yeowzers!) So we decided to give the positive reinforcement a try. If you will note, the start chart is totally filled with stars! The child LOVES it. I thought we were home free, especially after she had her first banana split as her reward. Turns out, she wasn't that impressed with the dessert, and today she knocked her "best friend" down to the ground when she took a toy Lu was playing with. Oh joy. The drama continues. I may suggest to the teachers that all children be outfitted with a similar get-up to the one Lu is wearing below. That way, we know that no one gets hurt.

We recently had some drama free time with some great friends at the zoo. We still have our passes for a few more weeks, so we wanted to take full advantage of that little piece of plastic. Lucy and Ella had a good time, and we were so thankful no children were harmed in the making of these photos. And notice there is NO FEAR when it comes to my child wildly embracing a human dressed up as some "character." She did NOT get that from me. I still won't go near those freaks.

Easter was a couple of weekends ago too. We had a great day at church, the weather was nice, andLu got to have an egg hunt at my parents house.

You can see we are all color coordinated, and that is totally normal and not OCD-ish at all.(I keep telling myself that). Please note her face in many of these pictures. DRAMA, DRAMA, DRAMA. I sure hope all this drama pays off in some way some day. Anyone want a dramatic anesthesiologist? Probably not.

So ignore my previous post o' frustration. Apparently my child was coming down with the flu. Oops. Thanks to this little miracle drug, she's on the mend (and napping quite well.)

Nap Time

Nap time. You've heard of it, right? It is that hour and a half to two hours of your day when you can breathe, relax, do laundry, shower (for more than 5 minutes and without a small child opening and closing the shower door 5 times), or read a book. You look forward to it, I know you do. The fact that we cherish that time doesn't make us evil parents either. I used to feel sort of bad about it, but not now, I'm over that.

So why is this post entitled, "Nap Time"? you ask. Well, at 3 apparently (which, I know I have been warned about) there is a power struggle that occurs between parent and child. You say stand, they sit. You say quiet, they scream. You say the sky is blue, they ask "WHY?" no less than 200 times. There are also random tantrums that come out of nowhere, and in our house at least, a LOT of back talk (as my father used to call it). It is a new phase that came literally the day Lucy turned 3 (ESPECIALLY the asking why). And now there is a battle of the wills over nap time.

THREE is NOT old enough to stop naps. I firmly believe that (and it isn't because I so cherish my few hours alone in the middle of the day either). Four is probably more appropriate for ending the naps, but let me tell you, this child will still have some quiet time in her room each day. Anyway, back to the ORDEAL...Lucy has been off and on just flat out refusing to take naps at school about once a week for about a month now. However, last week, she went three days with no nap. You could say that her teachers were less than pleased with her when I came to get her each day. They sort of "swarmed" me when I showed up. Not fun. Much like her mother, when Lucy doesn't get good sleep, she tends to whine and cry and make mountains out of molehills. She also knows that when she skips nap, she goes to bed early. No fun for any of us.

After much threatening, as well as her teachers videotaping her having a meltdown after no nap and then showing it to her, Lucy finally gave in to the nap on Thursday. Took a TWO HOUR bad boy! Then Friday, she took another good nap. Yesterday, it was only an hour. Today it was 25 minutes. Oh, did I mention she's sick too? So she REALLY needs the rest. I even told her that we'd go to get ice cream, play outside, and watch her favorite show "The Fresh Beat Band" if she took a good nap today. 25 minutes into it, she told me (through incredibly red, sleepy eyes) that she was all done. OH! She also told me it made her happy that I was sad and that her Mumsy (who we were going to get ice cream with) was sad. She also informed me that she probably made her Grandy, Mimi, Papa, and Daddy sad too. Isn't that so nice? She was saying it with a look on her face like, "Yep, I'm testing you mom. Let's see how you do." Needless to say, she's in her room and is NOT to come out until I tell her to. That could very well be next Wednesday.

I felt like today she should be wearing a shirt that says, "Yep, I'm a bad_ _ _." Or perhaps this outfit:

Either one makes my point that she thinks she is going to be in charge this year. Not cool, or true.

So today will be slightly miserable for me. I am stuck inside, with no t.v. OR ice cream. Sometimes it is hard to punish the child, especially when your sanity is slowly draining from you exhausted body. However, if we want her to be a successful, well-balanced, "normal" adult, I'll do without the ice cream today. My waistline probably needs a salad more anyway.

Below are a couple of pictures from last month. Valentine's Day came and went, and she got a cute little leotard to play around in. It's days like this I tell myself, "Remember when she was two, and so cute?" Surely she'll do something redeeming tomorrow...

Ahh, parenthood. There's never a dull moment.

We Saw the Wizard (But there were NO flying monkeys!)

It is amusing to me the difference between being a "mom blogger" in year one of your child's life vs. year three. When they're newborn, you blog about everything you can and each time they sneeze you think it is new and cute and you just HAVE to tell someone. Even though you should be napping while they nap, you are writing things down in the baby book, scrapbooking, blogging, taking pictures of them sleeping, etc. By year three, they're doing so much all the time and you are so busy that TWO WEEKS AFTER your child's birthday, you finally get around to posting about it. Such is life.

So if you know us well, you know on most Friday nights we can be found at some Mexican restaurant. I was raised in a Mexican restaurant on Friday nights, why should we NOT carry on that tradition with Lu? Her favorite place to go is a place to eat is a place called "Don Gallo" which I think means boss rooster????? Anyway, she told us she wanted to eat there for her birthday and (I QUOTE) "I want to have the cookers sing to me." So, after her little birthday party at school (thank goodness her Mumsy could go, as I had the stomach flu that week and am rapidly running through my sick days), we headed for Don Gallo with all the grandparents in tow. I was so looking forward to a margarita, avacado salsa, and some steak tacos, but since I'd puked my guts up earlier in the week, I settled for a water and two tortilla chips. Everyone else ate well (I am now done with my pity party, but I had to get it out). After we finished eating, the "cookers" did come out and sing to Lucy.

When they first came out, they came from behind her and just plopped a sombrero on her head. She got a look on her face and I thought we were about to have a crisis on our hands. However, she recovered nicely and began throwing her hands in the air and dancing to the "cookers" singing. Cutest thing EVER. She devoured her ice cream all by herself too!

After the wild time at Don Gallo (I should be getting SOMETHING from them for this free advertising shouldn't I?) we came back home to a "Wizard of Oz" decorated house.

Nothing too out of control, but there were a few balloons, a banner, and cupcakes with ruby red slippers in the top. It was pretty cute, but awfully hard for mommy to pull off. Believe me, I tried for months to get her to do a Hello Kitty or Dora or Princess party, but NO. It HAD to be Dorothy. Now, we aren't sure how this obsession came to be, especially since the movie scares the bejeezus out of both Bryan and I. She will NEVER see it on our watch. You may recall she was Dorothy for Halloween and still refers to herself as Dorothy on occasion. So I had a shirt made for her (as I have no clue where her Halloween costume is-whoops!) and we celebrated some more. The kid got way too much loot, but hey, you're only three once, right?!? (THANK THE LORD).

Lu has also been obsessed with ice skating for a long while now. My parents take her to the rink by their house, and she watches it any time it is on t.v. The rink rules say that you have to be 3 to skate, so we've been promising her we'd take her as soon as the day came. Well, the time had come. We knew that Lucy would either love it or hate it when her feet hit the ice. We (along with all the grands in tow) ventured to the Icearium and got the kid her own set of skates. First of all, let me tell you little kid skates are just about the cutest thing you've ever seen.

Bryan and I used to ice skate all the time, so we planned on lacing up and taking her out on the ice. NO problem. Well, let me tell you, I sure felt OLD when my feet hit that ice. 16 years makes an incredible difference in how you feel when you are on ice. You begin to notice how far you actually are from the ice, you think about how you'd do your JOB with a broken leg, you wonder if a fall would be covered by short or long term disability, etc. You don't just jump out there and do a triple toe loop like you used to! We were a bit wobbly. However, Lucy loved every minute of it. It is quite difficult to hold yourself up, pray you don't fall, drag a kid along between you and the other person who you hope and pray isn't about to fall as well. I wouldn't call that experience "FUN" for Bryan and I, but for Lucy, she thought it was a great day.

I will say that I have done a good job at taking pictures with this child. Good thing we're stopping with one, because I am not sure I could keep this up with a second. So, it is a new year and a new age, which means-time for pictures!!!!! I have a student in my class who for Christmas gave me a free photography session with her mom (a professional-inhisimagephotographers.com). Jessica did a FABULOUS job with Lucy for her 3 year portraits. I cannot believe how cute these pictures turned out. Below are my favorites!!!!

A Blizzard MUST be Coming...

Do you remember 1993? We had a blizzard. A BIG one. I was snowed in at my best friend's house. That was cool (for the first 3 days, then we got a bit tired of each other). They weren't forecasting a blizzard, but we sure got one. Bryan even had snow in Florida. Well, that winter was much like this one...not winter-y at all. It has been magnificent! The one day it was SUPER cold, we had flurries all day, so I was ok with it. These 60 degree days I fear, will come to an end soon. In 1993, we had a mild winter too. Time will tell...

Time will also tell if I get the stomach bug. Lucy blessed us with her first one this past Sunday night. She and I spent a ton of time here:

Now you will read my thoughts on stomach bugs:

1. WHY do they hit in the middle of the night ALWAYS? You aren't on your A-game, you are half dead, and your reflexes aren't quite what they should be (which leads me to observation #2)

2. Why do we as parents try to catch vomit in our hands? You can't do it. Nobody ever has, but we sure try.

3. Why is it that you always have something really INCREDIBLY nasty to eat the night before you get a stomach bug? Let's just say it will probably be Y E A R S before we eat spaghetti and meatballs again in this house.

4. When your child has barfed all over herself, the bed, you, the floor, pillows, and stuffed animals, what is your top priority? I mean, what the heck do you do first?!?!?!

5. If I ever win the lottery, I will have a housekeeper. He or she will be on call 24/7. You may think, why this? Why this statement during her dissertation on vomit? It is simple-27 loads of laundry later, and this momma is D O N E with laundry for a good long while.

So, all that being said, what are the odds if me getting this bug if she sucked on a lemon Friday night, dropped it in my drink without me realizing, and I drank ALL of my drink before making the connection to the lemon in it and the fact she'd been sucking on it earlier in the night????

Pre-stomach bug, I had some fun of my own.

My 31st (AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!) birthday came and went. It was on a school night and I was exhausted, but we had a small celebration at home with the parents. It was low key, but I had a free dinner and CAKE and LOTS of presents! Tired or not, it was not too shabby.

A few days after I aged a year, I aged a few more:

We had the 100th day celebration at school. My teammate and I decided we'd all dress like we were 100. Although I don't have pics of the kids, trust me, they made some FABULOUS old folks. Don't T and I look great too?!? Bryan really dug the wig. The hilarious part of it all is that nobody recognized me. The principal greeted me with a nice smile and a "Hi" but had no clue it was me until I cracked up at her. I guess I know what my disguise will be when I'm rich and famous and need to get out with my public :-)

A few days after that, I had a weekend AWAY!!!!! Don't get me wrong, I love my family, but I haven't had a vacation since we went to St. John in 2010 for my college roomie's wedding. Now THAT was a getaway to remember! But anyway, one of my best and oldest friends, Kara, is getting married. You may remember our pics from the bridal show in my last post. Well, she and I (and her wonderful mom) went to ATL for a weekend away in search of a wedding dress!!!! It was a totally 100% girly weekend and I LOVED it!!!!!! We found a dress, had so many laughs, and it was free therapy for moi! Don't we look happy?

Today is Valentine's Day. Ahh, I remember when Bryan and I were young...we'd go out on some fabulous date, smooch, cuddle, and it was soooooooo romantic. Today I am home in my pajamas with a sick kid. I will be cooking dinner WITH the help of the hubby while we go back and forth tending to the ill, and then we'll crash in bed early I am sure, as we've been quite sleep deprived over the past few years. Did I say years? Ooops, I mean days!!! (Sort of)

And this little cutie is about to turn THREE!

How did that happen? How did my sweet little baby turn one, and then two, and now 3?

People told us how fast time will fly, and they weren't kidding. These past few years have flown by! Miss Wild Child is currently (STILL) obsessed with the Wizard of Oz. She insisted on having a WOZ party. Well, as you may recall, we are dirt poor. Bryan is working a second job (besides subbing all the time). It helps, but only to pay the bills. That's right folks, we won't be renting out Jumpity Jump or taking the kid to Disney World this year. Besides, she won't remember it anyway.

We're going out to eat at her favorite restaurant (where she informs us that, "The cookers will sing to me.") and then coming home to a WOZ decorated (thanks to my crafty self) house. Cupcakes will be warm and ready, as well as presents. Here's a few of the things I've been working on:

NO big hooplah (as you might remember, that didn't work out so well on her 1st bday). We are keeping it low key. Low key still equals I love this kid more than I ever knew I could. She's quirky, and yes, THREE is the new TWO, but we wouldn't trade her for a million bucks!