Life With The Boo

Sounds About Right.

2012-01-24T09:21:00.000-08:00

"I just want to warn you, she's not going to talk for you."

I smile into the phone, and book the appointment for the little girl anyway. I've hear it all before. A week later, they're in my office. True to prediction, the nearly 4 year old was quiet all the way down the hall, walking so she was hiding behind mom's swinging coat. Like a squirrel around a tree, every time I would try to look at her, she would be directly out of sight.

"Mom, have a seat on any of the yellow chairs, I get to sit on the round stool. Let's just find something for you to play with, and then mommy and I can talk." I pull out a drawer filled with little people stuff and sit down, file in hand. "So, what brings you here?" She pauses and stammers a bit. "She can talk, but she's missing some of her letters. Apart from her older sister, I think I am the only one who can understand her. She's starting to get really frustrated, there are times she burst into tears after she's tried to say something to me. I try to figure it out, but sometimes it's pretty tough." I nod. "Yeah, communication is so huge, and if you can't tell your mom about what you're thinking, I can imagine how bad that would make me feel."

I watch the girl, and she's checking me out too. She comes to stand beside mom and whispers something into her ear. Mom says "She wants to play with something else." "Oh wow, you're done with that? Let's see what else we have. I have lots of toys, you know. We have kitchen stuff, a tea set, puzzles..." She nods. What do you want? Puzzles? She shakes her head. Tea set or kitchen? She nods her head. "Can you tell me? I'd love to give you a new toy." "Tee tet." "Oh tea set! I heard that, tea set!" She looks a little harder at me with a small smile. This hardly ever happens with a stranger. Most people she talks to urge her on first try to make things clearer. I make sure I don't. I want her to feel successful, no matter how small the effort.

She settles onto the floor with the box, starts to take out the cups and spoons. She pulls out the tea pot and starts pouring. She stands beside her mom, says "Mama, wan tome tea?" Mom accepts the cup. I tentatively ask "Can I have some too?" She nods and slowly comes towards me with a cup. Her tongue is pushing and moving frantically in her mouth, she is still extremely shy. "hea doh" "Here ya go? Thanks! I love tea." I'm careful to repeat what she's said. I pretend to drink, pretend it's too hot. "Oooh!! It's SOO hot!" and I blow repeatedly with some added theatrics. She is amused, and starts to imitate me. This is a good sign. If she imitates my actions, it's a good predictor she'll imitate words and sounds as well. I try to probe. "Is yours hot too? Can you blow?" She blows a tiny blow and giggles. "Hot! It's SOOO hot!" She blows harder, and I do the same with my cup. I look at mom and she joins in too. In between her blowing, she whispers "Hot." Atta girl.

I take a spoon and pretend to stir the tea, she stirs her spoon too. I repeat "Spoooon." She forgets herself and says "hoooooon." "Yes, SSSSpooooon." I figure I have her confidence, so I take a chance: "Hey, can I get you come and look at some pictures with me? I want to hear which sounds you can make. If you don't know some of the pictures, that's OK because I will help you say them. Some of them may be ones you don't know. Can you come sit on this chair?" Her mom pulls the chair over, she sits but jumps up almost immediately. She points to her mom and pushes her way into mom's arms. Mom hoists her up on her lap. Everyone is settled and I start to show her the pictures. She names the first one, then the second. Every second or third word said is praised. "Wow, you said that one nicely! You know a lot of words already." I praise the word, not the way she said it, so she knows I understand her. She does a dozen words before she slides onto her own chair. I'm encouraged that she's feeling more confident. Patterns start to emerge: sounds with an airflow, she can't do. K sounds turn into T sounds, G sounds turn into D sounds. Clusters of sounds are dropped. It's pretty much across the board that this is happening.

She starts to slump a little towards the last third of the test. She is still sort of easily defeated, I can tell by the way she slowly sags underneath the table as the test goes on. I try to get her to repeat certain sounds, and she does so very reluctantly. When her mom encourages her to straighten up, she keeps going but then slowly her head starts slumping onto the table. This is hard work for someone who has never been successful at having her words heard. Every muscle in her mouth is moving, trying, and she's really concentrating on how my mouth moves. I can see her watching me when I am talking to her mom. and I tell her we're almost done and then we can play a game. This little client is easy compared to some of the charges that come to my office. Some need a tangible reinforcer every two or three words: a tiny car to line up in front of them, a chip to put into a piggy bank, a sword to stick into the Pop up Pirate barrel. She does the rest, and I give her a break.

"We're done, what do you think about that?" High fives all around, and she slips back onto the floor for more play with the tea set. She is relieved. Appointments are made for the coming weeks, and I become the 'magic lady'. In the coming sessions, mom will complain that she can never get her to repeat what I make her do, but I think that's part of the dance I do with this little girl. And really--you can't be the therapist when you're the mom. Believe me, I know. I was a swim instructor for 14 years. I've taught literally thousands of kids to swim. My own kid? Not so much. I've never had a more uncooperative student. So yeah, I get it. I cheer, even if it's for the most minimal of attempts, however mispronounced.

I call her mistakes her "old sound" and the target sound her "new sound". I am honest with what I say and I know she senses that. Sometimes I struggle to say anything positive, because the attempt was so badly executed, but I stay honest and positive. "Wow, you really tried to repeat that sound!" and when she does get the target right, I say it to her too: "That sound was really hard! You made your tongue bunch up in the back of your mouth!" Sometimes she catches herself and says her old sound before she repeats the word with her new sound. Then I tell her: "That was great! You used the old sound, and then you noticed it, and fixed it and made your new sound! Nice work!". In me noticing that she fixed her sound, she takes the corrections one level higher, to the meta-linguistic level, the knowing about her sound production and what errors she is making.

We work on sounds, syllables, then words, unfamiliar words first, then familiar ones. The familiar ones tend to take a little longer to correct, because she has stuck the meaning of the word on her own version of the word, and it becomes a bit more involuntary due to how familiar it is. We work on easier sounds first, then tougher sounds. Some sounds are so tough we visit them once and then bid them adieu until I think she's ready again. Some kids do therapy for a few months and are on their way, others take a little longer. But I slowly give them their sounds, I slowly give them their words and guide them to the sentences they've wanted to express. We dance with confidence, courage and defeat. It's a slow dance some days, a fast one others. I know I've done my job when mom shares that grandma and grandpa came for a visit and could finally understand what their granddaughter was saying for the first time ever. I know then that I can send her on her way with confidence intact. And yes, she will talk. Now for pretty much anyone.

The A Word

2012-01-18T07:00:00.000-08:00

I am a speech therapist by trade. I see kids from 0-5, and I am often the first professional they see if a family suspects something is wrong. For whatever reason, a mom suspects something is 'off' with their child, and they land in my office. They notice that their child is not playing with other kids. They're startled to see that their child is not participating in the preschool Christmas concert. They are standing in the crowd, but they're not really a part of it. When they really realize something is wrong, it's a difficult moment. It might have been whispering this trouble for months, years even, but eventually that mommy gut just gets punched and they cannot ignore it any longer. There's Something Wrong, but they can't put their finger on what it is. All they know is, their child isn't talking, not relating to others. They are usually thinking it might be, at most, a language delay.

Before the appointment I scan the comments on the intake form. They're typical for this profile: He's 2.5, an active kid who loves to climb. "He has no words." "He repeats long sentences from TV but he cannot have a conversation with me." The form doesn't tell me much, but sometimes it tells me everything. I am already on the alert. Time to go get the family.

I go to greet the family in the waiting room, and I call a child's name in a sea of waiting people. Justin? Jacob? A mom waves and I walk over to introduce myself. Most times, the child has his head in his mom's lap, or he hides behind his mom. He's hiding from the strange lady, feeling shy and awkward but curious about who I am. When I see that, I am reassured. Not this time. This time the child is climbing on the windowsill chanting a sound over and over. Sometimes, he's sitting in a stroller, staring off without a flicker of recognition or acknowledgement that I have called his name or that I'm bending down to talk to him. This time I say hi to a little guy holding mom's hand and he doesn't seem to see me. He blinks without focus and chants a sound. My heart sinks a little.

We walk down the hall and I do the "hallway assessment". I look at what the child is noticing, how the parent interacts with the child, what the child has reacted to so far. Sometimes we have to tiptoe through a crowd of people, so I watch how he gets through, if he notices the people or if he waits to hold mom's hand, checking her face to see if she's worried, so he'll be cautious too. At this young age, kids are evenly internally and externally regulated. They use some of their own feelings to make decisions about the world, but they may also look at their mom's face to check how worried she is and therefore how worried he should be about an unfamiliar situation. He walks through a group of 5 people without a reaction. I listen to what he says or doesn't say. I ask questions and listen to the child's answer. "Do you want to see my toys?" "See my toys?" He echoes in exactly the same manner I said it. My stomach tightens. He's with mom, but suddenly he bolts and he's running ahead of us even though he's in an unfamiliar place, and he runs without caution.

It's a long hallway, but we finally get to my room. I open the door for mom and son. He walks in and notices the shining handles of a toy cupboard right away. He pulls on the handles and bangs the door open and closed several times. Then he spots the calculator on my desk and tries to reach for it. I block him and he finds the numbers on the phone on my desk. More blocking. Same with the computer keyboard. I ask "Do you want some toys?" he answers me without looking: "Want some toys?" "OK, do you want a train or cars?" and he answers "OK, a train or cars?". I'm not clear on what he wants so I get out the simple wooden train set. He drops to his belly onto the floor right away, and intently watches the wheels go by close to his eye as he pulls the train back and forth. I try to entice him with a piece of track, he takes it without a word. I take a train from his pile and he protests loudly but doesn't tell me. He takes whatever I offer him. If I make it difficult and hold the piece of track out of his reach, he doesn't ask or try to persuade me with his eyes, a pointing gesture and a sound, he just climbs on me, protesting and reaching without looking at me to find out why I might be holding the piece of track up high.

I leave the boy to play on the floor beside us and move to the table to talk to mom. She's a little difficult to read, so I proceed slowly. My first question is always "What brings you here?" and the answer tells me a lot: "I call his name, but I can't get his attention." "He loves opening and closing doors over and over, and he gets upset if you help him or take him away from his activity." "He loves to watch the wheels on his Thomas train." "Sometimes I wonder if he's deaf, he's in his own little world." "He's very independent, he gets things on his own, he just climbs up to the cupboard and grabs what he wants without asking us." We talk about early history, what his strengths are. He can read, she says. He remembers things, where they are, how to get there. He gets upset when they don't take the same way home every time.

I do a puzzle with the little guy. I hoard the pieces in my lap to see if he'll ask for them. He's intent on the pieces and where they fit, puts each piece in without a word. I hold up the next piece, he grabs it without a look into my eyes for non-verbal permission to grab it from me. He just does. He's not being rude, he is just intent on his task and doesn't really know to look into my eyes to communicate with me. The puzzle is almost complete, I have the last piece, and I quickly hide it under my leg. He looks up from his puzzle and reaches for my empty hand. He is distressed, wants to finish the puzzle. "Where is it??" I ask, and point in a big gesture to my leg, craning my neck to look under my leg. He starts to wail, looks behind me, pulls my hands open. No puzzle piece. I keep pointing to where the puzzle piece is hiding and watch. He does not look at my face to see where I am looking, he does not check to see where my finger is pointing. He looks on the floor and under the table and gives up. He starts to cry, he can't stand to see the puzzle spot empty, it makes him agitated. I'm not a meany, so I pull the piece out from under my leg and show it to him. "There it is!!" He stops crying, grabs the piece and fits it into the empty spot.

The puzzle is finished. The boy finds my hand and without looking at me he pulls me towards the cupboard of toys. It's locked. He puts my hand on the handle of the door he had seen me close with a key when he first arrived in the room. He merely uses my hand as a tool, a means to get the door to open. I open the door for the little guy, pull out more trucks and cars to keep him busy while mom and I talk. While I was busy pulling the toys out of the cupboard, the boy has found my seat and he gives the seat a spin. It's circular and lovely to watch as it twirls round and round. The tweed fabric seat forms circles as it spins. He crows with pleasure. I sit down on it despite his protests, and I resume my talk with the mom. He wanders the room while we talk. In my head I'm debating. Do I say the word out loud, do I probe and see if she's ready. I do the latter. I fish for how ready she is to hear the word, how far she's already gone on this journey on her own. I know we are worried about the same thing, I just don't know if she has found a name for it yet or if it's still a nameless idea. I start: "So, is there anything that you can think of that might be making him do these things?" She shrugs. "I don't know, he's such a stubborn kid."

Frustrating as it is, I don't have the power to officially diagnose ASD, but I can help them manouevre the system. I fight with myself: If I say the A word now when she's not ready for it, then she might flee. She might smile, nod, fight back tears and stay in the room, even make another appointment, but she may not ever return. She may nod while I talk, not hearing anything but the A word echoing in her head. She might also be ready, grateful to finally talk about what she's been thinking all along. She might be ready to take charge, meet the word head-on and fight. On hearing the A word, she might ask what's next, what she can do to go further in her journey with her son. It's a journey I will travel with her, but only in a small sense, and only on the sidelines. I don't go home with her and help her when he's awake at 3 AM ready for the day ahead. She's the one who will do most of the work, most of the fighting. If I say the word now, will they flee? If I wait, will they blame me for the time they've lost? This could be valuable time I am trying to spend building a trusting relationship, or spending it with the big white elephant in the room. It's a precarious situation. I've blown it a few times, but I'm getting better at riding this teeter totter with every family that I encounter.

My heart breaks. I know she won't want to do the work. I also know she will. I know she'd rather concern herself with bedtime battles, potty training and mealtime bargains. Instead, she'll battle with interventionists, teachers, aides, the government, funding sources and her partner. She'll feel forever scrutinized in the eyes of others; when she's at the grocery store and the boy flips his lid because of a scratchy tag in his coat or the way the lights flicker, people will stare and she will know they are judging. She does not know for sure that they do judge, but she will feel it. She'll rage about how unfair it all is, how hard it is having a kid on the spectrum. It's a tough row to hoe. Nobody knows why this family was chosen to hoe that row, nobody knows why this boy is the way he is.

I check in with her as I talk: "How are you feeling? You've been very quiet, you must have a few questions." She struggles to form words. "Is he always going to be this way? Can he be cured?" I search for my answer. "Nobody can be sure how much he will improve. All we know is that with the right intervention, we can do a lot of different things. Wonderful things. We have a ton of tricks, a lot of methods we can use to keep him interested, to keep him learning, to make him improve. How much, I do not know. I wish I could look in a crystal ball and tell you, but I can't. I do know that who your boy is, we will never change. His sense of humor, his love for you, his way of being. That will never change. Nor do we want it to change, it's who you love and why you're his mom. And the other thing I know is that he's safe here. You're safe here. He can scream, wander, struggle and cry here. So can you. It's all part of the journey, and I'll be here to guide you. Can we make another appointment for you for next week? I really want to get to know him and be beside you so we can teach him the best way we know how."

And so the journey starts.

Gluten Free Quick Cereal Recipe

2012-01-12T21:11:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to write this down before I forget it. I have been eating GF since May of 2011 and breakfast has always been a huge struggle for me. I wanted something quick, filling and easy. My friend introduced me to a chia seed based cereal. it was delicious! Problem was, for a teeny bag it was really pricey. So, now I make my own cereal:

1 part chia seeds
1 part ground flax seeds
1 part hemp seeds
1 part Pumpkin Protein Powder
your choice of milk

I pre-mix the stuff, put it in a mason jar and stick it in the fridge. I then take about 3 tbsp of the cereal in a bowl, add enough milk to make it sloppy and let it sit. It will thicken considerably over about 5 minutes. I prep the bowl and then go chase after Hannah to get her dressed. By the time I am back the cereal is ready, thick and creamy. I top it with unsweetened apple sauce and eat. Great quick way to start the day!

Ballet Recital

2012-01-09T17:15:00.000-08:00

Before the holidays, Hannah had her last ballet class. Her teacher welcomes the parents to watch them do their last class. This is very exciting for Hannah, because she gets to dance for mommy and daddy. With a silly expression on her face. I love it, because it's a pink floofy explosion of fluff and energy. It's very apparent that each child her her own style, each child has learned her own interesting things in class. Teacher looks like Miss Viola Swamp from Miss Nelson is Missing, but the kids adore her. Probably partly (OK solely) because of the candy she hands out at unpredictable intervals. She knows what she's doing, that teacher. She's taught for years and years and "Gives" Swirly, "Handwritten" NOTES that are Capitalized at RANDOM, and "Uses" Unnecessary "Quote's" and Apostrophes. They're awesome. They are little squares and they say stuff like "Jete"--LEARN Term. Or Dancer= BOY who "Practices" Ballet. I think it's secret ballet code for something. When I figure it out I'll let you know.

Random recent art.

2012-01-03T16:00:00.000-08:00

Hannah has recently brought home piles and piles of art, frankly, I am starting to worry about where I'm going to sleep. The daycare staff have been pointing at her art file. I refuse to look at where they're pointing.

Ice Cream Dress!

2011-12-31T16:58:00.000-08:00

I did it! I sewed an Oliver + S Ice Cream Dress. One of my resolutions for sewing was to start making clothes instead of dolls that go unloved. Every Christmas for the past 3 years I have made dolls that literally get tossed aside. Like, she opens up the package and takes one look, then tosses it aside. I think I watched too much Little House on The Prairie as a child when Laura gratefully hugs a corn cob doll after carefully peeling back some pretty paper on a meager Christmas morning. I try to push the doll: "don't you want to try some of the dresses on her, honey?" as she's squealing over a $5 Zhu zhu pet. Every freaking Chirstmas. You'd think I'd learn.

So--onto dresses. I've had some sort of mental block to making dresses. But no more. I'm so proud, so excited that I finished it. The pattern is designed so well. The way the pattern is drafted, the way the designer leads people though the steps in her instructions, it's so elegant and makes a dress that is really well put together. There are several sew-alongs on the net that can help you make any kind of Oliver + S dress. So cool. I'm totally thankful that there are sew-alongs on the 'nets, as I am a visual learner. After a quick Google search I followed one by From An Igloo that was pretty clear. There were times when the pattern was easy to follow, and others when my mind was bending in ways that hurt so I had to look at pictures. Totally helped.

I'm convinced Liesl from Oliver + S is a genius. The way the fabric tucks into the yoke, the way the dress at the bottom is pretty much seamless, and if you use french seams, there is not a frayed edge to be had, is amazing. She must eat, drink and sleep these types of ideas. Every single time I make something of hers I have this "Oh wow, would ya look at that!" sort of moments and marvel at how elegant the patterns are. And for a wonky sewer like me, even if you don't catch an edge and have to go over it a second time to make a double seam, it still looks like you meant to do it and wow I want to make 4 more of these today. The whole process, from cutting to finish took about 4 days. I'm a cheapskate and want to make the pattern for multiple sizes as she grows, so I traced the pattern onto freezer paper and cut that out. Now I have a template for size 5, and can make a size 6 when she grows out of this dress. (Don't make me cry.)

Bonus? She loves it too! I've made her pants before, and she sneered at them and wouldn't keep them on, we gave them to a little friend of hers who wears them daily. This dress, I had to beg her to take it off so it could go through the wash once to take out all the markings I had made on the materials. Oh yeah--tip? Crayola Washable markers make excellent fabric markers.

Playing Quietly

2011-12-30T20:24:00.000-08:00

There was a request for a blue yoga mat, then the box of blocks, I suggested the playmobil and....time passed....then I heard a whole lot of squeaking and tiny voices. She played like this for a good hour.

Change of Plans.

2011-12-29T17:14:00.000-08:00

So--what's even more fun than sewing together an Oliver + S ice cream dress? Spending the day in emergency at the hospital. I was just about to tuck into a 3 hour block of time doing some daytime sewing, which I'd never done before. I was literally just saying to myself "Wow, I've never actually sewn in the daytime before, wonder how different this will be?" when the phone rang. 'Hospital' came up on the display. At first I though it might be Hannah, as her daycare is on hospital grounds and their number is an extension in the hospital system. "Hi, this is the doctor's office, your husband has had a bit of a reaction to his allergy shot and we think you should come and see him." So much for sewing.

I grab a cab, have a teary moment, and soldier on. I pull up to the driveway at the emergency entrance, see a slow moving ambulance and realize that's the one Michael's in. I knew it was his because he's pulled this stunt before. He had a terrible reaction to an allergy shot 2 years ago, and blew up like a pufferfish. I got out of the cab and saw him on the gurney. Relief washed over me--he was about 1/5 as puffy as he was the last time he did this. I touched his forehead and told him I was here, he told me where the car was parked. Total improvement over last time when he had Michelle Pfeiffer lips, kept trying to kiss me and kept asking the same questions over and over. I settled him into his cubicle, and went to gather his stuff that was still in the other building. Got the stuff, thanked the staff over there at the doctor's office. I asked them if he passed out this time, and the front of office staff told me he did pass out but got to him before he started the "Frothing at the Mouth" stage. Glamorous.

Then it was just a waiting game, filled with people screaming about leg cramps, hacking coughs, code Blues and trying to find a bit of food for myself. 4PM and he was dismissed as quickly as he came in. The swelling in his face came down in that time. Trust Michael to do this on a rare day that we were supposed to spend together without Hannah. We'd done it yesterday, but thought we were going to have one more kick at the can today. I wanted to spend part of the day in bed, but not like this! Murphy's Law...

We go to pick Hannah up, tell her what happened to daddy. "Daddy had an allergy shot, and daddy's body didn't like the allergy shot so he had to go to the hospital to get better. He's now much better but still needs to rest at home. What do you think about that, Hannah?" . . . "Mom?" "Yes honey?" "Can I play on the iPad when I get home?"

This was a stark reminder to appreciate the health we have, to not take anything for granted, and to treasure every moment with your family. It can change in an instant. It didn't for us today, but it very easily could have if he hadn't been at the hospital when he had the reaction to begin with. I thank god for that.

Dreams.

2011-12-27T09:36:00.000-08:00

Mommy, what do dreams look like?
Well, they can be anything they want to be. Sometimes they make you fly, sometimes they put you in a house, you can be wherever and do whatever.
No but mommy, what do they LOOK like.
I don't know honey, I just think they can be anything.
But, what SHAPE are they?
I don't know honey, what do you think?
I think they're shaped like a cloud, with one big bubble, one medium and one small bubble.

Oh.

Christmas 2011, Done!

2011-12-25T23:16:00.001-08:00

Christmas came, it's now over and done. It was so lovely. We hosted Christmas Eve, had the grandparents and other family over. Hannah was so happy to see everyone. She had announced that she was allowed to open one present, so we let her. She was DYING to open a package she had accidentally pushed her thumb through the wrapping, and she had spotted a paw and a bit of fur. She shouted all through the week that she knew what it was and that she was going to unwrap a hamster! I think she thought it was a real live one. Alas, it was not a real one, but she loves it just the same. Here's daddy and Hannah, showing off the guinea pig she got to unwrap on Christmas Eve.

Eating a snack in the calm before the storm, figured I'd better feed her before the onslaught of family and her forgetting to eat. (A lot like mommy.)

You'd think a simple picture with your daughter would be easy to snap--she kept sticking her tongue out. Here's what happened:

Then, checking to see if the cookies were out, time to snuggle in for the night. She went down at 7:30, but was WAY too excited to sleep, finally dropped off at 9:45.

Christmas day was here so quickly--one of my friends lived my fear. her little guy got up at 2:30 and announced that Santa had shown up, and that Christmas was here! 40 minutes later, he was finally back to sleep, did the whole routine again at 4, up for good at 6. Painful! I didn't have a good sleep because I feared this exact thing would happen at our house. It didn't, but had a crappy sleep anyways.

Unwrapping presents! Yay! One of her fondest wishes, A Zhu Zhu pet! Endless hours of entertainment...I swear it sneezes and coughs. She eventually got 2, so they both motor all around and squeak, while Hannah shrieks with laughter...

Not sure if the beanbags were the greatest idea. I was pelted with the bags all morning.

Then, the one item she had wanted for a long time and the one thing I debated over for a long time, her wooden rainbow. Her reaction was really great. "Oh mama! Santa KNEW I wanted this!!" It was priceless. She has used that thing in a ton if different ways in one day, so I think it's a hit. I love seeing it, and she loves arranging it. What a pleasure to give...

Dad and Hannah watching the annual installment of JibJab's animated Christmas postcard using our faces:

The living room is almost back in order, the presents are all put away, and Hannah's playing with her new toys. It's been a good holiday. We love the week coming up, it's always our favorite, since we hang out together and just enjoy being a family. Merry Christmas to everyone...

Rudolph and birds

2011-12-21T20:07:00.000-08:00

Rudolph on the whiteboard a week ago:

And, we made some birds from tin foil. Smooth piece of tin foil, glue the non-shiny side with a glue stick, fold in half and smooth down. Let Hannah draw birds with a pen, pushing hard. I love how they turned out...

Gingerbread house.

2011-12-19T17:09:00.000-08:00

Hannah decorated this gingerbread (graham cracker) house at daycare. Glad I took pics of it, because it only lasted for 3 more minutes after the pictures were taken. Here she was explaining how she made it. She could not sit still long enough for me to get a proper pic of her, so I snapped away anyway. This is her normal, every day self. Enjoy.

Can anyone help me find this?

2011-12-16T20:17:00.000-08:00

Mommy this is a fairy house, with a clothes maker and a rollercoaster for baby fairies, and this little house is a house for baby fairies and then there is a swing that fairies can swing in.

They sell these at Toys R Us, right? No? Well, the elves at the North Pole will make this in their workshop.

I'm in big trouble.

Daycare Christmas Concert

2011-12-15T19:06:00.000-08:00

Konga line! No, actually, the kids assembled by using a choo choo train:

I had to battle a lot of parents weilding cameras to get these shots...

Then they lined up:

Got a bell and started singing, filled with the devil and looking quite bored with the whole thing...actually, I think I just caught her in a moment, she sang loud and clear:

Tried to upload some video of her singing, but it's not working well. Bah.

Ribbon.

2011-12-14T19:52:00.000-08:00

Hey mom, can I use this ribbon? Oh sure. After a good 45 minutes of industrious work while mom surfs the web...

We couldn't move without tripping, and Hannah was so proud. Best dollar I ever spent. I was impressed by how far she made it with the spool before she ran out!

Press Here

2011-12-12T23:01:00.001-08:00

Read this one again mommy! It's not happened in a while that I have been forced to read a book over and over, but it's happening this week. The book is like a low tech iPad in book form. It's also a book that she will read on her own--I know! Total miracle. I'll hear her recalling the story almost verbatim to herself. Readers are asked to shake the book, tap and rub dots and it's generally just a really simple concept that works exceptionally well. Total winner here these days. Visually simple, and very clever.

New Toys!

2011-11-30T20:31:00.000-08:00

Hannah scored a few new dollhouse toys yesterday. Funny thing is, she had this identical set minus the kitchen components when she was younger, but she never played with it because the set was incomplete. I also suspect that she just didn't have the capacity to really imagine what the people were doing yet. She really took to it this time, and got the set out and set up immediately after coming home. She made up stories about sisters sleeping in the same bed. She told me that one of the sisters told the other she had to go pee but ended up watching TV instead. Sneaky buggers. Take a look:

Two kids having pizza on the couch watching a show. Not pictured is the mom who cues one Yo Gabba Gabba show after another with her remote. She's a little ticked that the kids are eating in the living room again.

The bed. Rare moment when it's neatly made.

The gang eating enormous pink cookies. They first have to stare at the cookies for a long time.

The kitchen, a mess again. Who left that huge bucket of apples on the counter?

We've obviously interrupted someone. Oops!

Bear Carrier

2011-11-28T20:03:00.000-08:00

I made another something from the book Little Things To Sew. It's a quick project, and am thinking of making a few for Hannah's little friends for Christmas:

A Preschooler's Guide to Playing Monopoly Jr.

2011-11-24T20:00:00.000-08:00

It is important to shake your bum when you're shaking the dice. Also, you have to shake the dice a whole lot in your hands. It adds tension to the game and rattles the opponent.

When throwing the dice, it's like mini-bowling and shot put combined. Try and knock out as many houses and players as you can, and toss the dice as far away from your opponent as possible. Bonus points if you can make a nice arc in the air before hitting the board and/or the houses before it rolls under the couch.

When collecting money from an opponent or a square where money can be received, start shouting "Hahahahahaaaaaa...I got moooney aaaaand YOUUUU didn't!"

One must have one bill of every color at any stage of the game. Steal from the bank if you have to.

Random tip: use a container with an ill-fitting lid to store your money bills in, and feel free to open and close this container with each transaction, thereby lengthening the duration of your turn by at least a minute or two.

Make up random rules at your discretion, and solely for your benefit, such as being able to take your opponent's house off the square you've landed on. Also, counting squares does not need to be an absolutely precise affair, if you don't like the square you land on, move willy nilly to whatever space has the pink graphics, because we like pink, or any other square that suits your taste at that moment.

When you win, turn your back to your partner, stick your bum out and do a shake and dance, bending over at the waist and shouting "I have ALL the money!! Youuuu DON'T!!! I WIN! You lose!!! Ha ha ha haaa haaaaa!"

Felty Goodness

2011-11-21T21:42:00.000-08:00

Hannah went to a playdate yesterday and was completely enamored with the felt board and figures her little friend had. So, being the cheap and thrifty gal I am, I suggested we make something for her too. Got my scissors, pile of felt and asked Hannah what she wanted. "Make me DRESSES! And a skirt! Oh and a rainbow andaunicornandsomegirlsandcloudsandsunshineand...." So, now I have carpal tunnel, and she has a felt board. The fun part was her ordering me to make stuff, and me making it as fast as possible. Helps when the kid knows exactly what she wants. "The unicorn has to have wings! No, it has to have a horn! No, not like that!!"

The picnic (red square with 'plates' and 'salad' and 'cups' in picture above) on the felt scene triggered her to ask for pancakes for her kitchen. If you're going to ask for a pancake you'll want bacon to go along with that. And if you have bacon, you'll want some syrup too. And once you get that syrup, you might want some blueberries and raspberries too:

Then there was an unfortunate incident In Which Every Animal She Owned needed a bandaid: (well, not every one of them, but still a lot of them were instantly and mysteriously injured after she saw how nicely these bandaids stuck to their fur.)

Interview with a Preschooler (again)

2011-11-19T14:40:00.000-08:00

21 Questions to Ask Your Child. I've done this before And needed to do it again. Here's the answers she gave today.

1. What is something mommy always says to you? You can't cut with a knife.

2. What makes you happy? When people treat me nice.

3. What makes you sad? When people don't treat me that good.

4. What makes you laugh? When you do this (pulls mouth wide). And also when you say "loolalagadadooola!"

5. How old are you? Four years old. Four and a half.

6. How old is Mommy? Ummm, I don't remember. She is 24.

7. How old is Daddy? 44.

8. What is your favorite thing to do? Color.

9. Who is your best friend? Rowen.

10. What do you want to be when you grow up? A dancer.

11. What are you really good at? Coloring.

12. What are you not very good at? Washing dishes and cutting with knives and also putting my head between my toes. And I'm not very good at putting a pickle up my nose. And also putting my head in my mouth.

13. What did you do today? I talked to Sheila on the phone.

14. What is your favorite food? Strawberries!

15. What is your favorite song? Incey Wincey Spider.

16. What do you want for (holiday or birthday) this year? A new Zhu Zhu pet and a truck and a car and a Polly Pocket house, a fairy house, and also new Polly pockets and a Barbie doll, and a toy fluffy puppy when you touch him. And also what else did I want again? Oh yah, I want new Lego, and I want to have uhm all of the kind of toy fairies, and what next?

17. What is your favorite animal? Kitties.

18. What is love? I don't know. When people love each other.

19. What does mommy/daddy do for work? (mommy) She goes to work and she goes with her clients. (daddy) He plays music for everyone.

20. Where do you live? (accurate number) and Fraser. We live on X and Fraser.

21. Where is your favorite place to go? Mexico! Because I like to swim in the pool with mommy and daddy.

Teeter Tottering...

2011-11-17T21:22:00.000-08:00

Nothing better than teeter tottering with a friend you've known since birth.

MONSTERS!

2011-11-16T17:20:00.000-08:00

No monsters allowed? Or something?

Mommy and daddy monster? The mommy is a notsoscary one with that flower, I think. Slightly disturbed by the fact that they resemble Michael and I.

Lookit those claws....

Imaginative Play.

2011-11-10T22:21:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I am about to clean up the mess of the day and then I hesitate--because the toys left standing tell a story. There are castles and trains, people and cats, trees and towers. I thought I'd take a pic of them, some are just so fun to see. She uses blocks, Playmobil 1-2-3, plastic animals and the smaller Playmobil in this session.

Here we catch sailor dude taking a full-clothed shower while a girl sleeps in the castle.

Then we see the train leaving. Cat, bunny and dog are going on a grand adventure with the brown haired girl in the back. I wonder if they know they're leaving two cats behind. I wonder if they're sad about that.

Another angle of the whole scene. You can see the picnic area to the right in this shot.

The cats on a nearby coffee table are watching...a big block closely. TV? Dunno.

This is the best kind of play as far as I'm concerned. Several types of toys, all put together and used in a fantastic scene. Wish it would never end, this type of play. One day I'll wonder when she stopped playing like this.

The Pumpkin House!

2011-11-08T21:14:00.000-08:00

Every Halloween, there is one house in a Vancouver neighborhood that hosts a pumpkin carving party. Actually, it's the people in the house that do that I bet. We used to live really close to them and could see them appearing one by one over the course of the week before Halloween. I try and go out there to take pics of Hannah visiting the pumpkins every year.

At 5 months. She kept falling over, so we had to either hold her or prop her up for the picture. She had no interest in facing cameras at this point:

At 17 months, she kept saying "puppees!" (her word for pumpkin) and spotted the cat pumpkin, miauwed and pointed. She loved the stairs, had just learned how to walk and would not stop climbing. It took several visits to get any decent shots with ehr facing the camera, but since we lived across the street, it was no big deal. I loved that little pink toggle coat, and the pink Converse! Wish I could still dress her without much resistance.

At two and a half. She spotted a squirrel while getting pics taken, and she immediately made the sign we used when she wasn't talking yet.

At three and a half. She was fully into girlie gear mode and had insisted I tie this ribbon into her hair. So that's what that yellow contraption is. In case you're wondering.

....and today, at 4 and a half. Hannah, look at the camera!

Hey Hannah, did you see that spider up there?

(cue completely fake screaming--insert eyeroll here)

Monkey.

See ya next year!

Mister Seahorse at Collage Collage

2011-11-05T23:30:00.000-07:00

Hannah Daddy day recently consisted of a visit back to Collage Collage to take part in a beautiful recreation of the book Mister Seahorse by author Eric Carle. Daddy reports minimal assistance on the project, as one can tell by the careful outlining of the seahorse template. He held down the template for Hannah to trace. Bumps on the back of the seahorse were freehanded by Hannah, as were most other elements of the book. I think it's a fantastic little art book. See for yourself:

A few comments by the author/artist herself:

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-01T19:25:00.001-07:00

Pumpkins, carved as usual about 35 minutes before the blessed event--I don't know why we have to leave it to the very last minute!

Night train in the living room. The kitties looked totally excited.

Fully prepped in the host's living room. We live in a neighborhood full of apartment buildings, so we get to go to this really great little neighborhood for trick or treating. Not only is it a great neighborhood, we love hanging with these folks. (Sorry about all the sparkles everywhere.)

Tinkerbell and Woody!

Tink, Woody and a Very Unhappy Pumpkin....who manages to look adorable even through her tears.

Woody's dad had brought a wagon for the little one, but the two bigger ones thought it was a blast to ride in and would go to a house, trick or treat, and get back in the wagon. That lasted about 4 houses before we realized how bad of an idea that would be. Very labor intensive.

I was so proud of my little Tinkerbell, she was amazing with the manners: "Thank you! Happy Halloween!!"

We had a blast.

The Post In Which She Wants to Be In Every Picture.

2011-10-28T17:00:00.000-07:00

Hannah goes to Arts Umbrella every Monday to a 3-D multimedia art class. She loves it, and the last few classes have been spent creating this hat. They're studying Chagal, not sure how they tied making a hat into what Chagal did, but it's lovely and will grace a wall in our home...

The pics that were taken that don't have Hannah in it were taken when she was distracted. (Hah!) There were feet, hands, stuffies and faces in nearly every attempted shot. Severe cases of the giggles were had.

Update on Hannah's Art.

2011-10-26T12:00:00.000-07:00

I haven't showcased Hannah's art lately and wanted to do that--she's gotten a lot more representational, and that's been fun to watch. She has started to just extrapolate from other things she's drawn to try drawing different things, like when she drew cats, she had drawn a bear before and just used that knowledge to draw other animals (or should I say "aminals")

Her colors are a lot more pure too, and that's been a really nice thing to watch. She now tells me without hesitation that she is going to be an artist when she grows up.

A few kitties:

A helicopter:

A friend of hers holding a bunch of flowers. I love this one because it's done in the inside cover of a coloring book. If I ever worried about pre-made line drawings stifling her creativity, this should lay it to rest.

Some drawings I don't have to guess at, but this one had me stumped. Can you guess what it is? If you said an elephant, you were right. I suppose it's a sort of squashed one. With an adorable tail. Two attempts at the squashed elephant:

Hannah Daddy Day

2011-10-24T21:01:00.000-07:00

On Fridays, Hannah and daddy spend the day together. I work, daddy has the day off, so it's a day they do stuff together. This day is so good for both of them, as daddy realizes how lovely and how challenging it can be to take care of a kid all day long. I love knowing they spend time together, strengthening an essential bond and getting to know each other. We started this arrangement when Hannah was 11 months old and I still remember that first day I walked away from the house to go to work, sobbing all the way to work. Not a comment on how I thought daddy would fare with a baby, but just...it was my first day back at work and I was still breastfeeding, and it was just all so overwhelming and sad to be away from the one I'd been taking care of, my little heart outside my heart.

They've developed a totally great set of memories together. Trips to the airport, the aquarium, the beach, swimming pool, the North Shore, Science World. Last week Friday, I checked Facebook halfway through the day only to find a crazy shot of Hannah in the midst of fabrics and sparkly dresses from the Punjabi Market at 49th and Main. Apparently they went into a half dozen shops, touched every outfit in the stores, oohed and aahed about the sparkly outfits and....then daddy bought one for Hannah. Such a softie. Check out the poses the kid strikes when told she was getting pictures taken! The pants were a point of contention, she didn't want to wear them, but we told her it was an essential part of the outfit. She did go for it for the pictures, but has not put them on since. *Poser alert.*

Tinkerbell

2011-10-18T20:13:00.000-07:00

I had pinned this Tinkerbell Fairy Costume from Prudent Baby way back in the summer, hoping Hannah wouldn't change her mind on what costume she wanted. (Do poke around their site--it's nothing short of awesome.) I despaired when she announced one day that she wanted to be a mermaid. I told her where I thought the tail would go on the costume, and she wrinkled her nose at the thought. I said the tail might go on the bum, or it might go down the legs and bumping out front. She didn't like either option, so I presented the idea of Tink once more. She went for it. I bought some awful polyester sparkly stuff and some green slickery stuff, and started sewing this afternoon...Hannah hovered, bumping my elbow, pulling on the pedal, asking a million questions, serving me play doh pizza.

After much cursing--who knew the needle would matter so much!? Apparently a too sharp needle in this type of material means skipped stitches. Must try to learn using a more efficient method than trial and error. I ripped seams, stitched over stupid skipped stitches and re-sewed. Finally, the costume came together, and it was sooooo worth it seeing Hannah's face light up. I had bought her some awesome wings from Value Village to go with the costume, and brought them out as well--with great fanfare. "Hannah, what else does Tinkerbell have that's not part of your costume now?" "Wings? REAL wings? YOU have real wings?" I may have said yes, but I thought a 4 year old would know that plastic wrapped $7 pair of wings would not promise such powers. Hannah was deeply disappointed that these particular wings were not going to help her fly. She did try though--flapping and bouncing in front of the mirror, didn't work. She wailed with rage for a good 30 minutes, clinging to me until she was spent. I had no idea she had such high hopes. To be 4 and fully believe, total magic. Let's call this costume a success....I didn't follow the tutorial stitch for stitch, but it gave me the guidance I needed.

Those wings? You'll see them on Halloween...promise.

Pumpkin Patch!!

2011-10-15T21:03:00.000-07:00

We had the best time at the pumpkin patch today. We went to the Westham Island Herb Farm pumpkin Patch. we'd been there before, but the last two years we went the weather had been absolutely dismal. All I remember about those visits was running to the pumpkin pile, grabbing some pumpkins in the sideways rain and running back to the car to deal with the muddy boots, and grabbing a hot chocolate on the way home, chilled to the bone. Not this year. We had fantastic fall weather, the farm was not too busy and Hannah braved the teeny haunted house for the first time. There are some donkeys, chickens and a mama with her two baby goats. "Hey mom! It's just like a farm here!"

The best part? The wheelbarrow.

"Mom, I can't FIND my pumpkin!"

Mitties!

2011-10-10T22:23:00.000-07:00

OK--so I have trouble figuring out the size of things I make. I know I have little hands with a weird stubby thumb, but that doesn't mean I should cut out mittens meant for Kindergartener's hands. Found this sweater mitten tutorial, and had a sweater earmarked for the project all set aside. I thought I was being clever by using only the sleeves so I could use the rest of the sweater for a hat, but it looks like I will need to cut into the body of the sweater to make bigger mittens for myself. They do sort of fit, but the seam on the palm feels funny. Perhaps I need to also make the linings for these mittens to really make them fit. I'll update when I do that. They're cute, that's for sure!

ETA: I've worn them a few times and they're fine without a lining for the moment, and the seam on the palm doesn't bother me anymore. Now I have a list of friends who want them too. Christmas sewing will have to start right about now.

Good News and Bad News.

2011-10-10T21:41:00.000-07:00

OK--I saw a version of these worn by a friend and my eyes nearly popped out of my head. I loved them and thought they would be perfect for me. So when I saw This link on Sew Mama Sew I knew I had to make them. This evening, I made some Boot Socks. They fit. They're warm. I figured out that they were too long, cut them down and adjusted the fit, and made the cuff simpler to add on. If I have to sew them up again, they'll be a 30 minute job max. I will have to make these again, for the simple fact that they don't match my boots. Bah!This is how much I had to cut off to make them fit for the boots I own:

Next up: Mittens.

Cargo Pocket Pants

2011-09-22T22:22:00.000-07:00

I have been pinning things on Pinterest like mad. The projects are piling up. One project I have been wanting to try for a while is this tutorial. She uses a pattern from another favorite blog of mine, MADE. I had read somewhere that children's waist size stays virtually the same for a long long time, from age 2 to 8, so when I saw the pants pattern in size 2 on the blog I just made it longer in the legs and it fit quite well, better than most store bought pants. In fact, measuring my monkey, she has a waist of a 2 year old, the chest and weight of a 3 year old, and the length of a 4 year old. Now...how do you sew for that?!?!

As with any project, I learned a lot from doing this one. 1) I need to sew straighter. This project looks like a drunken monkey put it together. 2) I need to measure better. one pocket is about an inch lower than the other. 3) if something looks longer than the other side, don't just cut it off. (Don't ask.) 4) cut more carefully. 5) use thinner material for this project if I make them again. 6) Do not use anything other than pink if I want Hannah to wear them. She hates them, will not even leave them on for longer than 40 seconds, and was polite enough to lift her dress to let me snap a picture yesterday *eyeroll*. The pictures of her wearing the pants were superbad since she literally squirmed the whole time she wore them. All because they were Not Pink.

I picked up a new skill as well--buttonholes! I can now do a button hole. I am so proud of myself for even attempting it. Watched a few tutes online, used a scrap piece of fabric, looked at my sewing machine manual, it was really nerve wracking, but I did it. I also discovered that there is such a thing as a double needle, and that's my next purchase.

Superhero Capes!

2011-09-22T21:54:00.000-07:00

I wanted to make some fun presents for two little superheroes in my life, and when I saw Hannah running around with her cape on that I made last year I knew what I would make. Here they are! I basically freehanded the shape of the cape, cut some old sheets up, used a little fusible interfacing and sewed carefully. I seriously have to stop buying more bedsheets and actually use some real fabric:

The masks were made on Saturday morning, right before the party on Hannah's insistence. "Mama, where is the mask?!? He has to have a mask!" Uhhh, yeah. Sent husband and girl with present in hand to the party, got a call from hubby asking where I thought the party might be, opened up the email and realized the party was not scheduled for that weekend, it was the weekend after. Oops.

Drawn Dresses Come to Life

2011-09-11T21:05:00.000-07:00

Crayon To Cotton

I wonder what a dress of Hannah's would look like in real life? I want to show her this and ask her to draw me a dress....

iPad

2011-09-08T20:23:00.000-07:00

Mama, here's a picture of how I feel when you tell me no iPad:

Note the huge tears and the very unhappy face on that kid...We're cruel parents.

Little Things To Sew Bear (Mouse) Hat

2011-09-03T10:03:00.000-07:00

I am so loving that book I mentioned earlier, Little Things To Sew by Liesl Gibson. I made the Art Smock about two weeks ago, and since then I have really become obsessed with sewing. Liesl generously provides free projects to try on her blog. I will show you a few things I have made since then...I should show you the popover dress I made first, (so, like, I'm on drugs because I have already blogged about this dress. Duh. Still very excited about this one though.) but I am so excited about this very cute project. It turned out so extremely well....

I frequently try to go for a walk on my lunch break and conveniently there are two thrift stores on my walking route, so I check them both out. I had been thinking about making this bear hat for a while already, but when I found furry fabric and soft pink--I don't even know what it is--velvet? I knew I had to make the bear hat for Hannah. I made it last night in about 90 minutes, from cutting to finish, my fastest project and most fun project to date. I left it for Hannah to discover this morning and she didn't waste any time putting it on and showing it off. She told me she was a mouse. So, a mouse hat it is.

And since Hannah can be a mildly cooperative subject and wouldn't show each project seperately, I'll also be showing you the ruffled halter I made for her from the free patterns Liesl offers. The fabric is the same as for the art smock. I made both out of thrifted vintage sheets.

Made a Dress!

2011-08-25T20:40:00.000-07:00

I sewed another thing last night...I love the Oliver + S patterns and am just learning techniques and more sewing tricks from the website. I made the Popover Dress last night and am delighted with the results. It's huge on Hannah so a smaller version will be in the works for another night. She was once again completely uncooperative, so no action shots for this post:

I learned from this project: irons can be too hot for certain fabrics. Also, reinforcing seams is something I had never done before. I also learned how to adjust tension on my machine. The thread on the bottom of the fabric was just one straight thread, so I had to turn the dial to a higher number to make the stitch tension better. Thank God for seamrippers.

I Did It!!!!

2011-08-21T09:45:00.000-07:00

I made an Oliver + S pattern, from the book Little Things To Sew and I think it turned out pretty good! I made the Art Smock and I was so, so afraid of it, but Liesl does such a great job of describing the steps that it all made sense. I freaked out mid-project, put it away and ignored the project for a long time. I was talking with a sewing friend (Hi Hilary!), and it inspired me to try tackling the project again. Here it is:

I asked Hannah if she could put the smock on, and she said she didn't want to be a model, but that she did want to be in the pictures. This of course turns into a whole lot of silliness. She did love the pockets and promises to wear it when she paints at her easel.

Lessons learned: Keep going with the steps even if they don't make sense, and don't read ahead in the steps, it'll just freak me out....on to other projects!Edited to add a few more pictures of the back of the smock. I could not find any views of any other smocks from LTTS, so here's mine.

New Drawings

2011-08-20T18:00:00.000-07:00

Time for some more of Hannah's art. This was done before Hornby Island, I but wanted to show it off anyways:

"Look mom! I drew birds! I knew how to do them in my head!"

We had to draw a bunch of monsters:

2011-08-15T17:13:00.000-07:00

We are back from camping on Hornby Island. What a glorious week. For months leading up to the week's vacation, I would check the weather on the Farmer's Almanac site, and when we got closer to the actual week, I would go to the 14 day forecast obsessively. Well, we did it, we hit the fantastic weather button and hit it big. We didn't even put up a tarp all week.

We have plans to do this every year. We love the place so much, the beach is amazing, the Tribune Bay campground is family oriented and fun. Hannah was able to run to the outhouse by herself, check out the playground, and after a few days we even got brave and let her bike around the circuit of the whole camp by herself. She was so proud of herself.

Shot of the campground. It looks like a refugee camp with all the towels up, but whatevs.

General beach shots. The tide went out so far each day and it was so shallow that the water would get warmed up by the warmed sand and make the ocean nice and warm. The water is clear and lovely. The low tide made for all sorts of sandcastle fun. On the one side of the bay is Big Tribune Bay, then on the other side is Little Tribune Bay, which is clothing optional if you're into that sort of thing.

The best part? The huge swing at the playground. Hannah escaped our campsite several times to go to the big swing. She waited patiently for a turn and a lot of the big kids helped her climb up to get her turn. You've never seen a happier kid. I just about peed my pants when she stood up on the swing while the thing was still going:

What a week. Hannah found friends everywhere she went, so we had to do little or no entertaining. I managed to finish two books, Michael read a lot too. Hannah slept for 2 hours on the way home, something she never does. All that excitement, all that fun, she was completely wiped out.

We're already booked for next year. Can't wait to go again. See ya next year, Hornby!

Holy Blog Neglect!!!

2011-08-03T20:59:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I haven't posted for almost 3 weeks. Let's see if I can sum up what we've been up to the last little while in one humongous post. I'm sure grandma and grandpa, oma and opa will approve.

Lessee, first, because of the crappy weather we had in July, (Like, rain every day since October? For real?? Not cool.) The child had to be buried in sand on a non-rainy but sort of warm day at a quiet beach:

Then on another day she had to show off her purple mouth after a blueberry popsicle. It was imperative that she wear full princess gear, tiara included.

A few days after that it was important to put on her new pyjamas and show off her plastic suicidal teetery princess heels that have since "disappeared" *wink wink*. She could not sit still for pictures. She clomped around the living room with those on for a few days before I took pity on the poor neighbors living downstairs from us. I picture them being stone deaf--it makes me feel better:

Then, finally, it started to look a little bit like summer. We went to Bowen to see a few friends we hadn't seen in a while. We were on the dock, watching some bigger girls jump in the water. I heard "Hey mom, I'm gonna jump off the dock, OK?" and I said "Sure, why not?" trying to call her bluff. I still don't know my kid very well, because here's what she did:

And now for a little lunch and piano practice.

A few days later she ran around chasing her friend and getting soaked at McLean waterpark. We love it there. And YAY for summer.

Festival Season.

2011-07-11T10:22:00.001-07:00

It's festival season around here and we're smack in the middle of it. Free music at David Lam Park for Jazzfest, Vancouver's 125th birthday party celebration two weekends ago, and last weekend my absolute favorite, Folk Fest. Even though it rained all weekend, we managed to have a great time.

Festivals are a total reminder to me about how my life has changed as a parent. Gone are the days of sitting on blankets and really listening to the music, leaning on Michael and chatting about nothing, or getting into raunchy stories with my friends over a big spread of dips, bites, berries and crackers. We can still do it to some extent, but it's different with a kid. Now I spend my time locating the child who has hooked up with yet another friend, and they are vaulting over blankets and playing follow the leader among people sitting on blankets. To my relief, most look like they think it's pretty cute.

At festivals, we take shifts in childcare, invariably on my childcare shift I get a text from Michael saying he's at the beergarden having a beer with (fill in the blank). Never fails. We used to go together, but this is fine too. We all need our breaks. We still meet our friends at the festivals, but now we also meet up with Hannah's friends. She'll point them out to us, and we'll go up to introduce ourselves to the parents in case they start to play together all festival long. And that they do. Then we don't see them again until many months later, in cooler months, in much more reserved settings where they can't go tearing around a huge field like a frisky puppy.

At one point at the Vancouver Festival weekend, I look up from checking my phone and I see a posse of three 4 year olds, marching to the front of the stage. They're just too far from me to make me feel comfortable, so I circle around, stand in front of them and wordlessly point them back to the general vicinity of the blankets. It's like herding cats. One goes this way, the other goes that way, a third starts looking worried as she darts off the opposite way of where the other two are going and realizes she's now alone, standing up in a sea of amused strangers. Another time, I watch as she runs like stink around the tent for the stage for the fifth time before she veers off and dives into another crowd. Frightening. At this point, it becomes clear we have to take her home, since she's gone beyond being silly, plus it's 2 hours past her bedtime.

Current Art.

2011-07-03T10:00:00.000-07:00

The latest themes for Hannah's drawing seem to be psycho ponies:

Hanging bell flowers like the ones in our magic garden below:

And girls with skirts on:

Next up, a series of monsters. She's on a roll. A post for the future.

Electropical Weekend at Home.

2011-07-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

So, my lovely husband does a world music gig called Electropical every 3rd Saturday of the month. I love going, I get to dance and fill my soul with some fantastically happy music. It's just a happy time for me. I see friends I haven't seen in a long time, dance and sweat a little and sneak a dance or two in with Michael. I usually leave late into the night, feeling tired and happy. We usually arrange a sleepover for Hannah, and then I get the weekend off and get to enjoy the whole shebang without much hassle. Sometimes that doesn't really happen and I stay home. I never get much sleep when that happens.

I try to get to sleep at 11, toss and turn because I don't have my squishy guy to cuddle with and I just can't really sleep without him there. I fall asleep at about 12:15. At about 3:30 Michael comes home. He's pretty quiet but I always want to hear what crazy crap's gone on at the bar. Usually there's a story or two about some of the regulars, and then we get to sleep. It's about 4:15 by then, and I drop off to sleep pretty quickly. Then. 7:03. Hannah is at the side of the bed demanding TV. I find a long movie she's bound to like and I set her up and stumble back to bed for a bit more restless tossing and turning with the door open. 7:45. She's beside the bed again: "Mommy, I have a surprise for you." I murmur "What honey?" She says "I painted a picture for you."

Ohmygod. Paint. She painted a picture. What did she use? Jackson Pollock in the livingroom. God I hope not. Nononononoooo. I'm up instantly, out of bed and calmly walking to the living room. I have visions of wet colors, paint brushes dripping. What did she use? Really? What???

On her art table there's this teeny tiny box of watercolors she got from a surprise box at the dentist, with tiny sweet little pucks of paint. Six of them, complete with a teenytiny little brush. She had managed to fill a soya sauce dish with water and sweetly painted a 1 inch by 1 inch piece of paper. It's so tiny I have actually lost the tiny painting in the debris of my home.

And by now I can't sleep anymore.

Words of the Week.

2011-06-27T10:00:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week she wrote HOLIEFAVAHOLIE, and we use it quite a bit--as in "HOLIEFAVAHOLIE what a great day that was!"

The words for the week this week are:

TSLIEVA and LIBEAUTI

Next weeks word will be:

DBEFCA

God I love this age. Can anyone use these in a sentence? I'm lost.

If You Leave a Camera Unguarded....

2011-06-23T10:00:00.000-07:00

This is what you get.

A Glimpse Into Hannah's Educational Career:

2011-06-21T18:00:00.000-07:00

Sure, I can write these numbers, here's a 1, then a 2....3....4--skip that one, it looks tricky. Let's try 5. Oooh fancy. Did that one, now....hey, that 6 looks like a cherry! Here we go. 6....7.....8.....9....10 That 8, that's two circles. Hey! That looks like a butterfly! Cool! I know how to make butterflies! One more over here, a better one. Whoops, that was only one circle. These two are stuck together.

What was I supposed to be doing again?

For Ev.

2011-06-17T21:23:00.001-07:00

We have birthday buddies at work, and one of my readers also happens to be my birthday buddy. My birthday was last week. I turned /mumble/ years old a week or so ago. She got me a mug from Starbucks that you can write on and bake in the oven to make it permanent, with instructions that I let Hannah decorate it.

The moment Hannah spotted it at home it went like this: Mom can I draw on the mug now? Now can I? When can I draw on the mug? Can I see the mug? Can I hold it? Why can't I draw on the mug RIGHT NOW? I think we need to draw now. On the mug with that special marker. Now. Can we mom? Please? When can we do it? For 5 days straight, until we had a few moments that were calm and focused. She did a great job. I love it so much! Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness, Ev!

Party TIME!

2011-06-08T21:18:00.001-07:00

We finally had Hannah's birthday party. I had to cancel her party on her actual birthday, because I woke up the day before with a raging sore throat. I dreaded telling Hannah, but we sold it to her by telling her she would have TWO birthdays, and she totally went for it. I did a bit of a rainbow theme, since she loves color and rainbows.

Rainbow fruit skewers, an idea found elsewhere on the 'nets:

White cake with rainbow smarties and duckie candles that Hannah spotted at the dollar store. (Yay Dollarama!)

Her friends had to help her blow out the candles. They were more than happy to help. At least she didn't spit on the cakes like last year.

Orange juice in little bottles with butterfly straws. I was inspired by the little bottles the staff use at Little Nest so I went looking for them. I found them in an Italian food store not too far from Little Nest on th Drive. They're filled with fruit nectar. The labels come off easily and they come in packs of 6. Great for portion control when it comes to sugary juice and other treat drinks:

Happy happy birthday girl:

Yogurt popsicles with food coloring:

Rainbow balloons:

General mayhem. We did some freeze dance, had tattoos, made hats, and dressed up. After that, it was just free play. I know Hannah had a fantastic time.

The next day, we had a brunch for the adult birthdays in our lives. It's an annual event where we make a bunch of brunch casseroles the night before, tell people to bring some cheap bubbly or some orange juice and some chopped fruit, and we make mimosas and enjoy the day with friends.

Small portion of the people at the party:

Checking in on Hannah. Peals of laughter were coming from her room. They were playing "flying Jenga blocks".

It's always a great time. We'll do it again next year!

And Finally, The Sun Came Out.

2011-05-28T20:07:00.000-07:00

I'm SICK of the lousy spring we've been having. The sun came out halfway through the day today. I could feel my heart melt a little. Hannah and I got to spend the day planting a mint plant and arranging our cosy little corner on the balcony. I think it'll work. I've been thinking about doing this for a while and just getting rid of our existing huge wooden IKEA gateleg table that fits nowhere on that balcony without having to squash people against railings, and the chairs for that set are so clunky and hugely uncomfortable it's not even funny. Also, we now have a bit of space to sit and make puzzles as well, right on the balcony floor.

I've had the benches and pillows for a while already, and I loved snuggling with Hannah in that warm little corner last summer. I picked up the little blue tables last Wednesday, and have been wanting to figure out if they would work in the space we have for them. Looks like it will. Anyone wanna buy a huge wooden patio set?

eggs that we dipped and colored about 5 weeks ago, was rotting and festering in the bottom of my bag. Gag.

Here's how Easter went down at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Lots of teasing from Grandpa:

Lots of love at dinner time:

Easter egg hunt:

A walk outside "to blow the stink off" as grandpa likes to say.

Some unexpected treasures. I love robin's egg blue! Hannah had lots of questions about birds and babies after this.

She's got a yellow upper lip from smelling her beloved dandelions.

The Thoughts of a 4 year old...

2011-05-18T19:01:00.000-07:00

She starts screaming in the back seat on the way home today: "Mom MOM!! MOM!!! We forgot something at daycare!!! We forgot my special magic woodchip with invisible ink!"

Yah, not turning around for that one. Sorry Boo.

I always wonder what she dreams about at night. She tells us she dreams about rainbows, princesses and other girly stuff. She's not kidding--as I tucked her in the other night just before heading to bed myself, she was deep asleep and she sighed "Maybe it IS fairy dust..."

She really does dream about fairies and princesses.

Cake Pops!

2011-05-17T15:03:00.000-07:00

For Hannah's birthday, I made cake pops to bring to daycare. To hell with healthy treats for one day. Cake Pops?? I stumbled on these when surfing the web. I found these Hello Kitty pops at Bakerella and was intrigued. Were they cake baked on sticks? Circular muffins? How did they stay on the stick? Couldn't figure it out, so I googled "cake pops tips" and found The Crafty Penguin with some great step-by-step instructions. I was still leery of how difficult they would be to make, so I tried some simple ones first. Aren't they pretty?

Happy Birthday Baby...

2011-05-15T17:50:00.000-07:00

Can't believe I'm wishing my baby a happy 4th birthday! I'm so in love with you, your ebullience, your persistence, your artist's soul, your ability to live out loud. Can't imagine a world without you...

Today you learned to ride your new two wheeler with pedals, a wish you've had for almost a year now. It literally took you about half an hour to fly solo. Please don't grow up so fast.

Critters!

2011-05-13T12:15:00.000-07:00

First there were princesses, then there were ponies, and just in the last few days we have spotted some mice and bunnies! Take a look:

Collage.

2011-05-10T07:44:00.000-07:00

The magic word around our house these days is...collage. After visiting Collage Collage twice in about two weeks, it's all she wants to do. Preferably five minutes before dinner. With full-on body painting, and sharp scissors. I am trying to stay patient.

Here's a collage that encompassed the entire living room one rainy afternoon.

Then there was the sorting collage, with foam pieces, pom poms and doilies:

Here she got a hold of sparkle glue and a container of foam pieces.

Then there was the bag of random stuff from Urban Source that was filled a long time ago but never used:

This has to be my all-time favorite collage of all time and space, I even bought a frame for it. I think I'll hang it in Hannah's room. She made it at Collage Collage about a week ago, and I just love it. Can you tell what story Erin read to inspire Hannah? There's a stone wall, a few mice, wheat, berries, corn, sunshine and colors stored for the winter. Yep, it was Frederick by Leo Lionni. I adore the mouse, adore the art work by this man, and it made for a fantastic combination when it came to inspiring Hannah.

I think it's all an exercise in awesomeness.

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T18:37:00.000-07:00

The reason for this day:

I just love homemade cards and gifts...

Yeah, I'm all about the funny faces: As seen here.

This is what I got from Hannah. I'm wearing it now, and it's perfect. Hannah made it at daycare and was very eager to give it to me for three days leading up to Mother's day.

I got to escape the house and family and go solo to wander Got Craft for an hour. It was SOOOO what I needed for myself, it's just so inspiring! I'll list the links of the crafters I loved in a few days.

Odd.

2011-05-03T21:29:00.000-07:00

So, today we went to Granville Island to meet Oma and Opa. It's busy and hard to find a parking space. I go into a laneway and see a parking regulation guy with an orange vest wave his arms and shake his head no in a sort of pissed off way. I roll down my window and yell "What are you trying to say!?!" and he says he's indicating there are no more parking spots and that this there is no way out of this one-way lane. I told him he was doing it in a rather odd way and that I couldn't tell what he was saying. I turned around and drove off. We eventually did find parking.

Had a great visit on Granville Island, loved the sunshine today. We had some lunch, and then decided to go home. As we're driving, two hours after the parking incident, Hannah says: "Remember that parking guy? He was odd, right mommy?" I agreed. Then, about 15 minutes later she asks "Mommy, what does 'odd' mean?" I explain about numbers and I tell her that 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 are odd and that 2, 4, 6, 8 are even numbers. "Mama, I like even numbers a lot. It's much better than waving your arms around."

Art Space.

2011-04-28T17:04:00.000-07:00

Here's a recent peek into our condo. There are a few clues to show that we may need to make Hannah a functioning and practical art space. We're literally drowning in art and paper. Let's take a tour.

There's random art stuck to walls and cupboard doors:

A pretty typical sight in our livingroom. Taped down paper everywhere.

At present, this is her cramped little table and the second picture is my attempt at giving her more space, so badly executed. Cute as it is, I now know I need to get her a bigger table and stools to sit on, sell this set on Craigslist.

I'm plotting an art space. My ideas so far:

Hang her art on curtain wire.
Use a 'bins on a rail' system.
Put plexiglass on the table for easy wiping and displaying her drawings or providing her with inspiration.
Use spice racks to hold art supplies.
Put a drying rack at the end of the table.

Eggs!

2011-04-26T16:43:00.000-07:00

So there's devilled eggs, egg salad sandwiches, chopped eggs in salads...help me out here! I'm gonna need a few recipes in the next few days. Hannah had a blast dying Easter eggs with me yesterday. Yep, a bit late, but whatevs. She asks to do this about every 2 hours now. Can you imagine how many eggs that would be? Hilarious.

Interview With a Preschooler, Part II.

2011-04-25T09:14:00.000-07:00

21 Questions to Ask Your Child. I've done this before and thought it was time to do it again, since Hannah's verbal abilities have reached a whole new level lately. We set up the laptop after dinner and got some answers. I'm hoping to do this twice a year...

1. What is something mommy always says to you? You can't have cake every day.

2. What makes you happy? When people give you tulips and flowers and roses. And tulips. And crocuses and also dandelions and a leaf and also roses.

3. What makes you sad? When people don't share with you.

4. What makes you laugh? Funny faces!

5. How old are you? Free.

6. How old is Mommy? Mmm, don't know.

7. How old is Daddy? I don't know. Daddy, how old are you?

8. What is your favorite thing to do? Pick flowers and look at butterflies and when there's rainbows in the sky.

9. Who is your best friend? Sidney and Alexina.

10. What do you want to be when you grow up? A butterfly. Actually a mermaid. Actually a mermaid butterfly.

11. What are you really good at? Climbing.

12. What are you not very good at? Swinging on the high bars.

13. What did you do today? Climb on a really high wall and go down slides and also lick icecream.

14. What is your favorite food? Strawberries and cake and birthday cupcakes and lollipops and popsicles. And jellybeans and smarties and orange chocolate. And pretzels. Pretzels is a sometimes food.

15. What is your favorite song? Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

16. What do you want for (holiday or birthday) this year? A new bike with ribbons on the side and a basket with princesses on it and flower handles and the bike should be pink with sparkles on it and it should have wheels and, pink wheels and the bike should be all pink and it should have pink pedals with princesses on it. And flowers. And some nectar on it. And some butterflies.

17. What is your favorite animal? Kittycats.

18. What is love? Love is hugging and kissing and saying "I love you" and making friends.

19. What does mommy/daddy do for work? (mommy) Exercise and help people, uh you play games with them. (daddy) Help his kids talk. Play games with the kids.

20. Where do you live? In Vancouver.

21. Where is your favorite place to go? Mexico! Because it's nice and warm and because I get to swim all day and have juice all day.

Designs

2011-04-22T16:23:00.000-07:00

I'm sick! I was going to do an Easter themed craft and post about it, but I am feeling like crap. I did want to share this with you. I hope you're not getting sick of Hannah and her art, it really is her passion. I always joke that she could be in the middle of a party, and kids could be running over her, and there she'll be, drawing away quietly. It regulates and calms her, it provides her with a ton of joy. Certain themes do repeat themselves in her drawings and there are designs and patterns that show up time and time again.

There are flowers:

Ponies:

Rainbows.

Stars.

I had to ask what these were. Candies in baggies. One candy per one bag.

Nectar. She recently learned that butterflies eat nectar.

Happy Easter, everyone!

How To Draw A Pony.

2011-04-19T17:52:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lame post earlier today. Here's what I really wanted to write about.

How Do You Draw a Pony? First, you go to Collage Collage, a little shop a few blocks away from us and you attend a birthday party. The studio is only a few blocks away from our place and we've looked into the window many many times but had never been up until a few weeks ago. I think we started a love affair. Hannah is so happy and focused when she's there, it's wonderful to watch her create. She's at a stage where I don't have to help her much, and she really takes the project to heart.

Collage Collage is run by Erin, and she reads a story and picks out an element of the story to recreate. I can't even remember the story, but this book had a unicorn in it. Here's the end product after many, many layers of glueing, drawing, glueing some more and finishing off with paint and a good dose of sparkle glue. Hannah loved it all. Presenting her unicorn:

Then, we came home and she was just charged up with art juice. She wanted to keep going and asked me how to draw a pony. She watched carefully as I struggled to draw a body, four legs, a neck, head, mane and tail. She then grabbed a crayon and tried a few of her own. I'm tickled to see that some of the ponies know how to fly:

Then it was time for pastels, apparently ponies like to eat candy apples:

And we had an instant gallery.

Now, they pop up everywhere:

Evil Stinkeye

2011-04-19T17:00:00.001-07:00

Hannah's favorite game recently: giving us the evil stinkeye and watching us "jump" with surprise. It cracks her up every single time, which sends us in to giggles. Good times all around.

Imaginary Play

2011-04-14T20:51:00.000-07:00

I'm so struck by the quality of Hannah's imaginary play these days. I regularly trip over or discover a scene after Hannah has gone to bed that amazes me. Here's an example. I had pulled out her "pink drawer" and set her up to start playing with it. First, I play with her for a few minutes, and then I "have to go check on something" and I withdraw from the play. She then spends about 20-30 minutes playing by her self, making squeaky voices and ordering around tiny princesses, pink ponies and rubber hamsters. Looks like they were having a bonfire.

Similarly, she now sets up block castles and uses flowers and lovely items from around the home to decorate these castles. The scene can get quite elaborate.

Last week, she was interested in playing Princess and The Pea. If you look closely, her blue "pea" is under a pile of pillows. She needed her princess dress on to stay in the princess realm. Or something. Mostly, she just puts on princess dresses every day. When asked why she was wearing a tiara in Starbucks today, she told me "It's so people can see that I'm a princess." Well, duh!

Speech and Language 101-A Repost

2011-04-11T23:11:00.000-07:00

A lot of you have been asking how to encourage language in your little one. I wrote this about 3 years ago, but I think it's worth repeating:

I'm a Speech-Language Pathologist, and I have a one year old. I encourage language for a living, I love what I do! Hannah's babbling up a storm and saying a lot of words already. Just thought I'd share what has helped Hannah get to where she's at. Here's what I do with Hannah.

I play one-on-one with Hannah and I follow Hannah's lead and I let her be the boss. She points, I say what she's pointing to. She goes somewhere, I help her get there and we talk about it:

Ex: Hannah points at a book on a shelf. Me: 'Book? You want book? Oh BOOK! There's the book. Let's go get the book.' ("book" is always said slowly and exaggerated, punctuated and slightly drawn out so she knows that's the word I want her to know about.)

I get down on the floor with her, scooting right along side her. This way I can see what holds Hannah's attention and what is interesting. If she's interested in something, I bring a toy to my mouth and describe/name it before beginning to play with it, this way she has an opportunity to see how the word is made by the mouth. Hannah loves watching my teeth and lips move and will watch me for a long time if I repeat things deliberately and slowly. You can see her little tongue trying shapes of words out sometimes. Similarly, we sit in front of the mirror or I have her face me and I play with my tongue or say one word or syllable over and over--she loves watching my tongue move!

I comment on what Hannah is doing instead of directing her play (E.g Put it here. No, it goes like this) or asking questions unrelated to playing (e.g. What color is this? What is this?). NO QUIZZING! It's useless and really has no value. Think of it this way: It's like if you were to be in a foreign country, learning a new language. You have a friend with you who's a native speaker of that language. This friend constantly peppers you with "What's this?" "How many are there?" "What color is it?"...and you barely know what the words are. It would be more helpful if that friend were to hold up objects and say the words to them over and over again, or touch things and as she was touching them say the word for them. I bet you'd pick up that language much faster than if you were quizzed all the time! You want to fill that brain bucket with all sorts of words, and one day they will just come spilling out.

This one is a biggie and it feels a bit weird: I repeat any sounds or words Hannah makes and interpret them.

Ex: Hannah says 'uh', I say 'uh, up!' She said 'Psshhh' today, while pointing towards her crib. I look and see her aquarium toy, so I say 'Yes, fishhhh!! You see Fissh? fish, fish! Wow fish!' (Honestly, I repeat it about 5-6 times.)

She was practicing 'cracker' the other day. This is how that went: Hannah points towards objects on table, Hannah says 'Weeeeeeeee.' I look, and point to the container with fish crackers in it. I *think* she wants those, so I point to the container, ask her if she wants crackers, and I sign the word too. I wait. 3-4 seconds (count in your head). She looks and you can see the wheels turning. I repeat 'cracker' and sign two more times and I wait again. She pats her arm, and says 'ah-er'. Close enough, I say 'Yeah! You want crac-ker!! Here's cracker, mmmmm crack-er!'

A few days after this, she's standing in the crib. She's making some sort of grabbing and pulling motion with both hands and I guess 'Crack-er? You want crack-er?' (Making the sign at the same time.) Her smile and excitement tells me it's a yes. We beeline it for the kitchen, and I say 'We're looking for the crackers! Where are the crackers??' I find them, and I give her one slowly, saying 'Crack-er'. 'Mmmmm, crack-er'. I don't give her a whole bunch. I wait until I know she wants another one, and I wait some more.she points, and I wait some more.she says 'Pyah!' I say 'Yes! It's a cracker!' I reward ANYTHING at all at this time, and pretend like she totally said it. The way she reacts, it's apparent she is OK with that too.

Also, I offer Hannah choices instead of anticipating her wants or needs. For example, she's sitting in her high chair and I have a bowl of crackers, milk in a sippy, and a banana on the table. She points near them all. I ask 'Do you want Banana or cracker? Banana? cracker?' She then has to say something in order to get what she wants. This time she signed "milk" and that's what she got, along with a lot of "Milk! You wanted MILK!"

I also will give her containers with things in it that she wants that are hard to open, and then I wait until Hannah realizes she needs help and asks for help. It's called 'gentle sabotage', AKA 'playing dumb'.

That's it. I hope that helps even a little.

In summary....here's what to do:

Speak in single words, short phrases.

Talk about what your child is doing.

Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Use sounds: Moo, baa, shhh, choo choo.

Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Limit 'quizzing' questions.

Happy talking!

About Last Night....

2011-04-08T20:56:00.000-07:00

First, a little background. I was rearranging Hannah's room when she spotted her Halloween outfit. We were about to go on a walk, and I find her in her bedroom like this:

She begged me to let her wear the dressup getup, and I think--why not. On the walk, I can see cars slowing down to have a look at her, old ladies are waving at her, and we're both having a good time. I think I finally got my money's worth out of the costume, I mean, everyone should bust out their favorite costume in April!

We had a great time, Hannah recieved lots of compliments on her costume, she was giggling so much, it made me laugh too. Night time came, the bedtime routine was done, PJs are put on, and bedtime snuggles are given:

We kiss her goodnight, and we close the door once it's quiet in her room. She generally sings at the top of her lungs until she conks out. I know exactly when she's asleep. Anyhoodles--Michael and I love to go check on her just before we go to bed. She's usually splayed across her bed sideways, or she has books piled on her chest, and we usually come out of her bedroom quietly giggling at how she's fallen asleep. Last night was no exception:

Yep, she'd put her butterfly costume back on and quietly gone to sleep. Love it. Love that kid...

Dollar Store! Easter!

2011-04-07T22:37:00.000-07:00

Jelly easter cling on the window things! We bought 4 packs of them, and they've been a hit around here. I love cheap and cheerful things that keep Hannah (and friend) busy...I honestly don't know what I'd do without a quick trip to the dollar store sometimes. Reminds me of this Dollar Store Crafts website that's kinda fun.

Crocotulips!

2011-04-04T20:55:00.000-07:00

Hannah is SLIGHTLY obsessed with flowers. We can go anywhere and she'll spot a flower, and will ask if she can pick it. She makes bouquets of weeds, dandelions, I spent days and days last summer just watching her pick flowers. She's a strongwilled little thing, so there were days I just didn't feel like picking a battle over going someplace vs. plonking down beside a dandelion patch and watching her pick flower after flower.

Much like this. I should just bring a book for times like these. It's when she is
happiest.

I will pick them here and there, I will pick them anywhere. I will pick them beside a sidewalk:

I will pick them at a park:

I will pick them at a beach.

I will swindle a local gardener into giving me a bouquet of them:

I had a tiny hope that her obsession may fade and that she would stop asking to pick flowers this spring, as it can seriously hamper any schedule I may have had in mind. Well, I'm miffed to say that the obsession is not fading in the least. At the moment, our floor is covered in tiny shrivelled up daisies from this weekend's walk at Queen Elizabeth Park.

Daddy and I are now S-M-R-T enough to give her a bucket so we don't end up having to carry the teeny bouquets in cramped hands on a walk. We were walking the other day and she saw some crocuses. I told her they were crocuses, she told me they were tulips. Nope, they're called cro-cu-ses. Tulips, mama. Nope, crocuses....
silence. Two blocks later, she sees some more. "Mama! I see some croco-, cro-, crocotulips!" So now, we look for crocotulips. I pick my battles.

She's going to love having my friend Jen home from Montreal, she works at VanDusen gardens in the summer...

Can't Tell me NO...

2011-03-31T20:18:00.000-07:00

We're at a local coffee shop. She's in full princess gear: white flouncy dress, plastic tiara, pink jacket. I tell her before we order that we're here to grab a quick hot chocolate with her friend and then we're going home. She says she understands...until she sees The Pink Cakepop. "Mommy, can I have a cakepop please?" "Honey, we're having diner really soon, we're just getting a hot chocolate and staying to visit with our friend here." I WANT A CAKEPOP!!! "Honey, it's not gonna happen, sorry." I WANT A CAKEPOP, I WANT IT NNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOWWW!!!! "You can have a hot chocolate or nothing. "A CAKEPOP!! I WANT A CAKEPOP RIGHT NOW!

She runs to the back of the shop, I look for her. So do the 8 other customers who were hoping for a quiet afternoon staring at their laptops. I silently apologize and hope that a few of them are or have been parents of a 3 year old who loses it in the middle of a coffee shop. A quick scan tells me none of them are. One SNAPS his laptop shut, and starts to stare. I march to the back of the shop, find her. I grab her by the wrist. The harder I tug, the louder she gets. I WAAAANT A CAKEPOP!!!! Her slim hand slips out of my grip. I have no other choice but to grab her under my armpit, legs flailing and arms grabbing at air and walk out as calmly as I can. On the way out, I manage to say "We're going to have to go now." to my friend. My friend quickly nods.

Out on the sidewalk, she gains momentum. We walk, me gripping her wrist and pulling on her to keep her walking. It's close to dinnertime, and we need to be home in a few minutes. She keeps screaming the same thing over and over. "I want a cakepop." Blocks and blocks of her screaming, me saying "Yes, you really wanted that cakepop. That cakepop looked yummy. I know you wanted that cakepop. I know it's not fair. Maybe next time." Every 9-12 steps I would say another phrase. Half a block away from home, peace descends. She lets out one big shuddering sigh. Silence...

She really wanted that cakepop.

Mermaiden

2011-03-30T23:25:00.000-07:00

There's this Wee Wonderfuls book I have been lusting after. It's written and designed by Hillary Lang and the projects in there are simply adorable. One of the projects is a freebie: Mermaiden. Link to .pdf of the project. I thought it would be a natural great choice for me to try, and I was right. Hannah does tote this tiny doll around regularly. I could have chosen less ornery fabrics. The rose linen print was really thick and unyielding, the deep pink stuff a tad slippery, which made me use a whole lot of not-so-great words and the seamripper. Wouldn't be a project without the seamripper now, would it?? I don't think the tension was right, as you can see by the stitching on the 'hair'.

World's Worst Pedicure.

2011-03-28T17:41:00.001-07:00

Hannah LOVES nail polish. I came home with a pedicure once and she insisted on wanting one too. She can sit about as still as a three week old puppy with a sausage nearby. I'm about as good at painting as a drunk chimp. Plus, teeny tiny nails. All awesome. Here are the results. How the heck did I paint the bottoms of her feet??

Multimedia.

2011-03-27T09:56:00.001-07:00

Sometimes on her belly (I KNEW it was too quiet in her bedroom!):

Sometimes with chalk:

Sometimes on a teeny pad of paper (meet Princess Cherryblossom Jack-In-The-Box Rainbow Girl.)

Sometimes with Bendaroos:

The art just keeps a'comin.

Dolly!

2011-03-25T21:07:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to show these off for a while. I bought a pattern from Bit Of Whimsy Dolls and had it for a long long time. At one point, I hadn't used my sewing machine in a long time, I was afraid it would make too much noise in our new place. We didn't have downstairs neighbors in our old place, and now we did. The thought of making noise kept me from making things. I got brave one night and just started sewing. I'm glad I did.

I actually made this for Hannah last Christmas. I think I was more excited about the doll than she was. I made several outfits for her, and I think she turned out quite nicely:

What do you think? I think her mouth and nose need to be a tiny bit darker.

Time For Another Book Post.

2011-03-22T15:41:00.001-07:00

Confession: We rarely go to the library. I hate taking Hannah there. I usually end up needing to chase her through the adult section, inadvertently having to drag her out of an inappropriate situation (pulling one book out after another, climbing into the bottom shelf of a teetering bookshelf, grabbing piles of yoga DVD's in the process of making a castle, hiding behind a concrete pillar only small chidren can access...I so wish I was making this up.) that I just dread going. Hannah doesn't love the library as much as I used to when I was a kid. I tell her to grab books, and I think she just thinks it's a challenge to see how many books she can grab before I start complaining. I hardly see her looking at her choices. This can provide some disastrous results, like the time we came home with world's most boring book about the wind.

Last visit though, we came home with a gem, and you know it's good when you start wondering if there are more in this series, like we did when we stumbled upon Lily and Her Blue Kangaroo and Mr. Pusskins and Little Whiskers

We've now found Dolores, her cat Duncan and older sister Faye. When Hannah lets out a satisfying belly laugh at the end of the book, I know it's a keeper. And the best part? There are more adventures than just this one to discover...I can't wait to read them!

Valentines Day a Month Late

2011-03-20T17:20:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Valentines day on the correct day, I just wanted to share with you what we did. Hannah made bracelets for her very favorite girls, and I included a gingerbread cookie from one of my favorite bakeries on Main Street, Liberty Bakery. The cards were downloads from The Long Thread and Bunny Cakes:

Then, without much trouble (didn't even need the seamripper this time) I whipped up this love birdie from Molly Chicken for Hannah. I had a version of this birdie on my wishlist of projects. She was waiting on the couch for Hannah to discover on the morning of Valentine's day. In her pocket, she had a shiny stuffed mini heart and there was a chocolate kiss sitting right in front of her when Hannah found her.

Poke around her site a little, I think she makes super cute stuff and she's seriously creative. I think mine turned out quite sweet! I love that she's got a little pocket. I will certainly make varations of this one now that I know how to make a pouch:

Japan

2011-03-18T21:27:00.000-07:00

I don't feel quite right posting anything else on this blog without sort of acnowledging the state of Japan, and the terrible events happening over there. I've not posted on the blog since the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster struck partly because I simply don't know what to say. I'm so sad, I keep thinking of all the mothers there who have had to go through terrible losses, some have lost their 3 year olds while I still have mine. I watch mine lick a car door in horror and yell at her, but I bet those moms would give anything to have their child throw a huge tantrum or lick a dirty car door instead of having to relive the memory of letting go of them in that dark dirty water.

What I do and experience over here in Vancouver seems so darned trivial. Going to work, picking up my tired kid from daycare, making dinner, arguing with my husband (trust me, it happens). Having people ask me "How are you?" makes me pause--I'm a heck of a lot better than the people in Japan right now. So I've had multiple migraines the last two weeks. Nothing compared to potentially moving out of a radioactive zone or losing an entire family, or watching a wall of water swallow the only way of living you've ever known for decades.

As a friend's kid said the other day, I wish I could fix Japan. I don't have much, but I'll be donating what I can to help them rebuild and heal. My every thought is with you, Japan.

Only Child Decision....

2011-03-11T17:07:00.000-08:00

As most of you know, Hannah will be an only child. I've blogged about it before. I (I should say WE, it was a mutual decision) didn't set out to make Hannah an only, it just seemed to happen that way. Financially, emotionally, relationship-, time-, and career-wise it's exactly the right decision. We've had some wishes for another sibing recently: "Mama, did you order only ONE baby?" and "But I'm just so LONELY without a brother." but we're irreversably in the only child camp. That's why I was so happy to read articles like this one:

Mothers With One Child Are Happiest

I think that if I had a pretty uninvolved husband, the article would ring true, that I would be considerably more unhappy and that hubby would just be unaffected, but since we're equally involved in her care (he takes essentially two days to hang out with her, I hang out with her for two days as well.) our measured unhappiness could go up equal amounts if we had another. I just don't understand the sentiment always thrown at me "You'll never regret having another." I'm pretty durned happy with my life the way it is...what a gift that happiness is!

Seriously?

2011-03-09T14:20:00.001-08:00

I walk to an intersection, I look for the little button that gives me the walk light, push it, and I wait. Another person comes up behind me, and....

pushes the button again. And sometimes for a treat, againandagainandagain.

REALLY?? Did you really think that (1) by pushing the button, you would make the walking light go on faster or that (2) I had been standing there waiting for that light to change and in all that time I had somehow overlooked pushing the button or didn't even know it existed? Reallyreallyreally?????

Here's what I imagine they are thinking..."Hi, I'm here now. I see you standing there and I know for a fact that YOU have not pressed the button. So, here's what I'll do. I will now push the button for you. You're welcome. I know I've done you a favor and that you will learn from this experience. Next time you're at a light and you're staring at the red hand, you can look at waist height for that handy little button so YOU can press it next time. I'm so awesome."

Watch a kid at the crosswalk, and see what happens. Guaranteed the kid will push the button. It's a gift given to humans at birth. My (then) two year old made me lift her up to push the button. Didn't matter if she was sitting in the stroller, she would just want me to lift the hind wheels of the stroller higher so she could get to the button. My now three year old has an epic meltdown if I forget to let her push the button. It's a real compulsion. So--dare you to push the button after me, crazyhead.

Mexico!!

2011-03-05T19:50:00.001-08:00

There haven't been many posts in the last little while because we went to Mexico. Puerto Vallarta to be exact. We stayed at a small resort called Samba Vallarta. In all, we had a fabulous time, but we'll try a new resort next year, only because the night entertainment was pretty much non existent and Hannah lives for the dancing ladies. Plus, the pool was not just cold, but icy. Like, stick a toddler in the pool and watch him burst into tears icy. Other than that, things were amazing. I mean, what's not to like about having room service, drinks all day long, a fabulous beach, not cooking for a week and all the vitamin D you could ever wish for?

Some pics to give you an idea:

Interpretive dancing at the airport.

A bunny!!

Hannah, put the head back on!

Waiting for the bats at the lobby bar.

Look closely. The little black bits near the roof line in the picture are not spots on your screen, (well maybe they are). They are bats. We watched them almost every night from the lobby bar while muching on these yummy lime chili salty tortilla chips they kept serving with our drinks. They would fly out from under the roof of the resort into the sunset. We never had problems with mosquitos, probably because of the hundreds of bats that swarmed out from under the roof every night. So cool.

Dancing to a cuban band with my baby.

Cheese!

No Hannah, look this way at the man taking a picture! Look at the camera!

Finally! Cheese!!

Swimming with daddy in the icy cold pool. We regularly heard shrieks and shouts of "frijo! mucho frijo!!"

Pooped!

Hannah asked to have her hair in braids since we got to the resort, so on day 3 I took her to see Maria who was amazing with Hannah and did a great job. The braids stayed in for more than a week. It was easily the highlight of Hannah's trip.

A serious shuffleboard competition was held. Hannah ran like stink across the concrete and picked up every disc, pushed daddy's out of the way with her stick. It was classic.

Elephant!!!

Hannah was thrilled to pet Pinky The Bunny. We discovered her while Hannah was getting her hair done by the lovely Maria. We went to visit her every day after the discovery...so soft and fluffy!

On the beach I got her to look for pretty stones and shells far away from where we were sitting. It gave us ample time to read our books...

Puppy?

She conked out pretty much instantaneously every night. This was moments after we said goodnight. One evening, before she fell asleep, she popped up and asked me "Mommy, when I grow up, can I be as good as you?" Only if I can be half as good as you are, kid. I love you so much...

Giraffe or Llama? You decide.

Goofing around before dinner:

Blue drinks were had:

Many of the kid's club activities centred around beads and having mommy string them into lizards. I thought the kid's club was more about kids doing things and mommies drinking lots of blue drinks, but I was sorely mistaken. Blue drinks made this a challenging and creative activity.

View of the resort, and daddy coming back from the bathroom. This bathroom was farther away so we had to walk alll the way around the pool (I know, tough life!) We didn't have a room at this point and had to beg the front desk staff to hang around the pool for a few hours before heading to the airport. It was either that or a shrieking 3 year old in the lobby. The temporary wristbands were a smart move on the concierge's part, I think.

Future and Past

2011-02-18T18:54:00.001-08:00

The more we change, the more we stay the same....

Then and Now

I've seen these types of pics done before, I love them....so funny!

What a Great Morning...

2011-02-14T17:50:00.000-08:00

Love rainy mornings like this sometimes. Nothing to do, no schedule to keep. We usually end up at Little Nest on Commercial Drive for a tea for me, a milk in a teeny bottle with straw for Hannah, and scrambled eggs and toast to share. She grabs a chalk board, and I stare into space, or we chat. When we have enough of that, we wander off to Dandelion Kids where I check the sales rack and Hannah pokes at the expensive toys and I get ideas for things to try and make. Then we toodle across the street to Dilly Dally, where Hannah usually draws something or plays behind the pretend store counter. I love the toys in both stores...so beautiful and inspiring!

Executive Functions in Preschoolers

2011-02-10T19:08:00.000-08:00

I rarely talk about my job on here. I'm a Speech-Language Pathologist, and not only do I deal with the stereotypical clients--children with speech sound delays, stutters, language delays, we also deal with children who may have learning difficulties. Lately, I've been learning a lot about executive functioning skills. My first love in SLP work is and always will be learning about children on the Autism Spectrum. These children have a lot of impairment in executive functioning. These are skills such as planning, abstract thinking, the ability to form concepts in our minds, change the course of your own actions based on what others are doing.

I came across this excellent NY Times article recently (even though it was written a while ago): Can The Right Kinds of Play Teach Self-Control?. This article describes a program named Tools Of The Mind, and explores how to best teach self-control and self-monitoring to young children. I've been learning about this for clients on the spectrum in my private practice. How do you teach children to not forget their gym strip after school? How do you teach children to get to school on time? How do you even teach a slippery concepts like "time", "politeness" and "planning ahead"?

You can start at an early age. A fellow SLP was in contact today with Dr. Adele Diamond who studies EF at all ages at the Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab at UBC. Dr Diamond gave her some tips I'd like to pass on. By the way, if you're in Vancouver, and want to be involved in some pretty cool research, click on her website and find out what sort of subject she needs, and go be a subject.

Dr. Adele Diamond writes that exercising EF even as a baby can improve these skills (Kovács & Mehler, 2009a & b). She says that ordinary tasks encountered in daily life can improve EF skills. Merely being around adults who speak a different language can improve EF. Drills and flash cards, and any feedback that makes a child feel embarrassed or ashamed has been shown to be detrimental for cognitive development (Golinkoff & Hirsh-Pasek, 2003).

She mentions that pretend play (doctor, mailman, grocery store) is an excellent way to encourage EF skills. During social dramatic make-believe play, children must inhibit acting out of character, hold in mind the role they've chosen and those of others, and flexibly adjust in real-time as their friends take the impromptu play scenario in directions they never imagined. Thus, social pretend play exercises and challenges the three of the core executive functions (inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility).

Children can practice the EF functions of motor control and focused, mindful attention by walking on a line. Make a looping and swirling chalk line on the sidewalk for your child to follow. Get your child to walk and balance on a low wall. These functions can also be encouraged by getting your child to carry an egg in a spoon or by holding a bell that would ring if they are not careful. Some Montessori programs have young children play a simple game that is in essence a form of walking meditation. All it requires are the old fashioned silver bells with a metal handle, one for each person. The game is to walk with the bells so that no one makes a sound with their bell. As people get better, you can start walking at faster speeds. This exercise is excellent for getting a hyped up child to calm down such as for the transition of going to bed, or in school for transition from recess or lunch to sitting and paying attenion.

In the same vein, games like Simon Says, Hide and Seek, Mother May I are excellent for developing EFs. These games all require perspective taking, role playing, self monitoring and inhibitory control.

Storytelling is great for increasing attention span -- it requires sustained attention and concentration, the working memory to keep track of what's already happened, relating it to what is or might happen and remembering who is who. This could be with the adult reading or playing an audiotape (an actor reading a children's book or an actual storyteller). This taxes EF more than a movie where the visual images grab a child's attention.

Children can exercise EF by hearing a great storyteller. A parent can read from a book with the pages turned only towards them, where they read with drama and enthusiasm, often looking up to maintain eye contact with the child. This requires that the child pay careful attention, without the assistance of visual aids in the book. The child holds in mind what has already transpired in the story and relates it to what is happening in the story now. This allows the child to imagine what the characters and scenes in the story look like, so he can imagine that the brave knight in shining armor looks just like him.

One other suggestion is to find an activity a child really loves, that also requires sustained attention and concentration. If the child loves it, she will be willing to put in lots of time doing it and practicing it. This could be a martial art, sport, musical instrument, or ballet.

In other words, lay off the flashcards, be a good storyteller, enroll your child into activities she likes, and give her lots of opportunities for pretend play. Speaking a second language doesn't hurt much either.

Happy Hour

2011-02-08T17:37:00.000-08:00

I like to do these posts every now and then when I am totally living these moments, and can recite off by heart what will happen in each moment. I do this as a sort of snapshot of typical routines in our lives. They vanish all too quickly and then I can't remember what it was that happened when she was this age. Time goes by SO quickly these days...here goes.

Happy Hour.

It starts like this: I walk into the cubby area at Hannah’s daycare. Get knocked over by Hannah. There's new paint splatters on her New Favorite Dress and bonus—a New Hole from scissors. Nice. Please get your coat on. Hannah, come here put your coat on. Put. Your. Coat. On. Coat On Please. Wobbly voice, hoping to find the right threat that does not involve shrieking (me). Hannah if you don’t put your coat on then… I will…Hmph. Walk to the car with no coat on. Before we get outside, I push the door open for her. I WANTED TO PUSH THE DOOR!! I close the door, push the security button, watch Hannah struggle with a heavy door, she works it and finds the strength to push it open. Just for herself. She slips out and stands on the other side with a grin. Now I have to push the door open for myself. Little bugger.

Watch Hannah do a pole dance in the rain near the car door, because, yes, you have to keep your pole dancing skills up as a 3 year old. Get in the car please. Please get in the car. Car. Now. Get in. Do you want me to do it, or can you do it yourself. Shrieking. Now she has put her foot in the car. Not her whole self, just a foot. She’s straddling the curb doing the splits hovering over the wet gooey leaf slop in the gutter. She teeters and is about to fall over. I grab her and push-lift her toward the car. Shrieking. I WANT TO DO IT MYSELF! Back on the curb. Try again, and this time she steps her Mary Jane shoes in the leaf slop for some help.

Crying. She has leaf slop on her shoes. SHE HAS LEAF SLOP ON HER SHOES! Mom, GET IT OFF! I lift her up and get her in her car seat (Yay!! She’s in her car seat!) and click her straps on. More crying. I WAS SUPPOSED TO DO THE CLIP! Undo the chest clip, let her do it. Much better. Take leaf stuff off the shoe. Take a tiny moment outside the car to wipe off the sweat and leaf goo. Mom, it's too tight! TOO TIGHT! Shut the door, watch her lips move in silence: too tight...I get in the car myself…I WANT MY MUSIC ON THE CAR. I want some manners.

Drive. Turn the corner, I enter the traffic flow. Mom I’m hungry. Unzip Hannah’s lunch kit at a red light. Open the plastic box, see what’s left. Apple slices and chicken. Mom! I DON’T WANT The Chicken!! Don’t eat the chicken, just eat what you want then. Mooooom! Mooom! Here. I flap my hand into the back seat, feel a cold, wet bit in my hand. Chicken. What am I supposed to do with it? I lay it on the seat next to me, like, really, where do you put pieces of chicken while driving? Apparently on the seat. Moom! Here! More chicken. For 6 blocks, more chicken. All on the seat beside me, lined up. Bleah. Every time I stop I check to see if they're still there. There has to be a better way.

Mom, now can I have music on the car? Turn on the music, the song is Not Her Favorite Song. I DON’T WANT THIS SONG!!! Skip. I DON’T WANT THIS SONG! Skip. Skip. Skip. Hear the H.A.P.P.Y song. Again. Then There’s A Hole In My Bucket. Mom, this song’s funny because they’re using (she says oozing) the bucket to fix the bucket! She has to explain this every time in case I forget it. Every time.

Home. In the cave, (Condo Parkade. Somehow it got dubbed The Cave). Get out of the car, unclip her seatbelts. Get out of the car please, Chop Chop. She rolls across the seat, legs smushed against the front seat, legs in the air and she’s stuck. I grab her and pull her upright. I WANTED TO DO THAT! Back in the car to redo her drahmatic exit but she gets sidetracked. She’s slunked in the footwell, head down, she finds the lint she lost so long ago. Hannah, either you get out of the car now or I will do it for you. One…Two…and she is out. Lucky. I have no idea what I would have done. I’m always stumped with this kid.

Let’s have a race, mommy! Oh yeah, that’s fair. I have two bags full of gear, a lunch kit and the handouts from your mail cubby, plus your artwork and the keys for the house dangling from my cramping pinky. Hannah, can you carry your coat? But mom, it’s too heavy! Yes, it is heavy. Please, let me pile it up on my load and see if we can have a race. How about not.

Get to the door, I WANTED TO BE THE FIRST!!! Drop everything on the floor, find keys to open the door. She pushes the door, slips through and the door slams shut in front of me. Muffled MOMMY! On the other side. Unlock the door again, secure the door with foot, lean over to reload the crap I tossed on the floor. Then there’s the next door right after the first door. She’s able to open this one and hold it. This is good because I was starting to think of some really good threats. She hovers near the elevator button. I have to say Push It before she will push it. Some days in Hannah’s hesitation to push the button and me having a tired mini vacation in my head I will push it myself and then we have an angry crying ride all the way to the third floor. Wheee.

Key in the lock, home. TV for Hannah. Oprah did a show on a study that showed women drink a lot more after having kids. Cheers.

Links-A Crafty To Do Wishlist.

2011-02-05T16:53:00.000-08:00

I've got a few bookmarks of stuff I want to sew. Here they are in no particular order:

Kids Floor Cushion
Summer Dress for Boo
This Simple Dress
This Absolutely Adorable Softie Doll
Mermaiden from Hilary Lang's Wee Wonderfuls
Pants Made Out of a T-shirt
T-shirt To Yoga Pants
Fabric Eggs
Easter Bunny Pattern
Easter Birdy

There are sooo many more, but this is a start...they're easy patterns to follow for seamripping-happy sewers like me.

If you like these, let me know and I'll dig up some more.

More Art!

2011-02-03T19:45:00.001-08:00

I bought Hannah an IKEA easel off of Craigslist the other day ($5!), and it's been a total hit. She drew her first ever fairy today--lookit the wings!!

From daycare, she brought home "a funny bug":

Then there was a bit more practice on the princess theme, it's getting much more elaborate:

Then there was a tally of how many lollipops she wishes she could have. "What is that Hannah?" "This is how many lollipops I want to eat."

Here we have: a princess, a rainbow, a lollipop garden...and did we cover it all? A flower. Don't forget the flower.

Puzzle Art.

2011-02-01T19:23:00.000-08:00

Hannah recieved a blank puzzle in a loot bag about a week ago. She set about decorating this, and the results were a delight to discover:

World's teeniest signature:

Followed by world's smallest butterfly:

Plus, smallest spider ever, and another teeny signature:

On a totally different note, I am in such a hurry some days that when I get up the next morning and look around our place, I find some hilarious play remnants. This one was the cutest by far. Here's Millie and Nugget. I loved finding these two caught mid-snuggle. Note the baby wooden shoes and the pink baby socks:

Don't Forget:

2011-01-30T20:55:00.000-08:00

I tell Hannah to write me a note sometimes if she has suggested activities for which there are no time that day. She wanted fruit tea 5 minutes before dinner so this is the note she made for me. I wrote the "tea". Handle on top, spouting water out the spout, and a slash for each word below while she said "I. Want. To. Have. Tea. Tomorrow. Han-NAH."

OK then.

Tea. Tomorrow. Got it.

Happiness is....

2011-01-28T23:43:00.001-08:00

...finding the remaining bowls to a set you've been trying to complete for 2 years! I bought a big pyrex bowl last week, and instantly regretted getting that bowl. I had two others of the same size, there was uneven fading and staining on the outside of the bowl, and I just didn't need multiples of the same bowl. I had about 30 minutes to return it to my local Value Village before I had to be home. I told the cashier I didn't want the bowl, and the guy kept the bowl behind the counter and told me to go find something for $8.

I looked at dresses for Hannah, but nothing caught my eye. Couldn't find any boardgames I liked, so as a last resort I went downstairs to find some books. Walked past the shelf where the bowls are kept and my heart skipped a beat: A blue, green and yellow bowl! I had the yellow and red bowl at home, so I quickly scooped the blue and green one. For $8, the same amount as the big bowl I was returning. I'm sure the guy cared as I blubbered to him how long I had been looking for these very bowls. Walking out I felt like screaming "Start the CAR!!"

Sleeeeeeep.

2011-01-25T17:28:00.001-08:00

I haven't had a good sleep in about a month. Husbands are silly people. Mine gets up after a horrendous night and says "Did she get up at all in the middle of the night?" Nope, except for the wake ups at 12, 4:30, 5, and then the continuous clamoring for mommy from 6:15 AM onwards...Don't get me wrong, I love the guy, but he can sleep through a crapload of disturbances.

Then today, Hannah spots the Advil bottle with a huge pink strawberry on it. Now she has a continuous 'earache'. "I need Medicine..." /dying voice. My friend says Koolaid in an old Advil bottle will fix that. Also, if you've moved onto pills, vitamins she has never seen before will also do it. You're welcome. Anything for sleep at 3 AM.

A Day In The Life Of an Artist.

2011-01-24T10:55:00.000-08:00

Typical shot of what it looks like around our place:

Ghosts. Love the careful eyes and mouths, and the nicely closed circles.

Practicing her hands and feet on people.

Hannah loves patterns, sorting and arranging. She told me she wanted to have a collection. Of what, she wasn't quite sure.

A Note For Daddy.

2011-01-23T09:37:00.000-08:00

Daddy, I'm going to have a bath. With bubbles.

How To Draw A Princess. And A Squirrel.

2011-01-20T20:13:00.001-08:00

First, you ask your mom to draw you a princess dress. Attempt your own dress (middle left). Get frustrated and squeal about it. Look at mom's badly drawn dress again, ask her to help. Watch her draw another one (far left). Add your own princess and cover the entire thing in sparkle pen. Urge mom to help you try another one. Listen to her step by step instructions and do a pretty awesome job of making your own (far right). Add requisite princess.

The following day, ask mom to draw you more dresses and practice adding princesses to them again. Don't forget the roses on the dress.

Ask mom to show you how to draw a bow. Now you know, and will have to add it to any princess picture you draw in the future. Write HANNAH several times as well.

Draw princesses on any paper you can find, including bills and papers mommy may have to mail to somewhere important. Princesses will spread joy and goodwill to any beaurocrat.

Just to show you, here's an angry squirrel. He was the first representational drawing Hannah ever did. That was last year when she was 2.5.

Tell Me I'm A Good Mom...

2011-01-20T19:28:00.000-08:00

Because sometimes I feel like a stoopid one. We were at a friend's house the other day. My friend is super patient with her kids. She manages two kids and a dog without too much hassle. The dog's off this way into the woods, with a herd of children yodelling after him making him crazy, the older girl is leaping off of a wall twice her height, the boy is in tears becuase he didn't get a turn to go on the dizzy twirly puking ride at the playground. She's in the middle, assessing who she should go to first, guesses the correct one and gathers them all in her fold without much effort.

Me, I'm the one shrieking at Hannah that her coat is dirty. Don't mind me. We did have a great playdate with this family, Hannah adores these kids. Then. It was--time to go. I, being a Good Mother, give her 5, 4, 2, 1, half a minute warnings. Time to go. She's on her friend's bed. It's one of those IKEA loft beds with the hiding canopy places, and she scurries into it. Now I'm in a bind. She's in there, laughing at me, and I'm thinking of ways to get her out. Playdate mom is loudly hinting that it's dinner time and it might be time to go. Hannah doesn't think so. I got nothing. No treats, no threats.

I start thinking of ways to get her to come with me. My "Bye, I'm leaving" schtick, it don't work. I end up grabbing her ankle, drag her out by her legs, body under my arm, head out front, legs flailing in the back, square mouth, red face because hey-good way to get her to come with me, right? Downstairs at the door, she is on her back, legs up, kicking wildly. I get one shoe on, the other one's on too, look over and the other one is off again. Crap. She folds her arms over to 'help' me with the coat. I finally wrestle her down. I win. Crying blubbery tears she comes with me and we get into the car. A miracle onto itself. We're halfway home and she finally stops crying, conks out dead asleep.

Nononononooo. No can do. Sleeping at 5 equals disaster later. I grab her ankle--reach backwards driving down the highway. Us moms are trained in that. Reaching backwards to meddle in child situations 101. I jiggle her leg and try "Hannah wake up!" Still sleeping. Then--brilliant. I tell her "I turned the music of!" Brilliant. Her eyes flip open and she says "Why?" She's awake. Awesome.

Then it's I AM NOT TIRED!! I'm nooooooot tiiiired....tears. Again. But, she's not asleep. At least she's crying. Bonus. We sing all the way home. She has an epic meltdown at home, I pour her into bed, and she's asleep in seconds. I'm exhausted. Ridiculous. What parenting book tells you about what to do in these situations??

Funny Girl.

2011-01-11T13:20:00.000-08:00

She's a well spoken little lady for a three year old. These are all pretty random, but all great qoutables nonetheless:

At that point, were you angry with me?

He has a little brother?!?! Brilliant!

This music is getting old, can I have the Naked Bear Ladies now?

I want three. Because of my age.

Hannah's Art.

2011-01-07T22:41:00.000-08:00

Hannah has been drawing up a storm lately.

Typical drawings include bugs:

Multimedia including sparkle glue and markers--looks like she drew some people here:

And then, there's my portrait. She drew teeth for the first time ever. I love this one. On my dress are leaves. We discussed what she would draw on my dress, and it happened to be the same thing as what was on her dress at the moment she drew this. She's SO proud of it, and she should be!

Here we have a mommy butterfly with her baby butterflies. She did draw some male ones the other day. When I asked her what the sticks on their tails were, she just rolled her eyes and told me they were boy butterflies. Of course.

For Crying Out Loud...

2011-01-01T20:23:00.001-08:00

I frequent a board where the question was asked whether your child cried every day. I was surprised that some people's kids didn't!

Not to brag, but Hannah cries very freaking day.
She cries:
About not getting to push the elevator button.
About not having the right leggings.
About shutting the TV off.
About needing to have a bath.
About having daddy talk to her when she wanted mommy instead.
About not getting to the door before I did.
About dropping a toy while sitting in her car seat.
About not having music SHE has chosen in the car.
About having to go to daycare.
About not having to go to daycare.
About having glue on her hands.
About singing along with her.
About not singing along with her.

One day it was because she didn't want to actually give a gift she picked out at the store for someone's birthday party. And also because I didn't want to put any yellow sparkly glue on an ornament we were making. Today it was because I didn't have a pink cup for her--it was purple. I will also pay for the time I put *purple* leggings on her. Or the time I made her walk forwards when she insisted on attemtping to run backwards. Oh the injustice and abuse I heap upon her tired and weary preschooler head. I'm sure it's something she'll need therapy for later. *eyeroll*