Our New House!!

I should say, our new carpet. We had new carpet installed on Monday and Tuesday. It is nothing less than beautiful... cottony soft... luxurious. I don't think I have ever felt like this before about carpet, but if you had seen our original carpet, you would understand. The color was harmless enough, so it was tolerable.It was just very, very tired. It was 15 years old and supported two 100 lb dogs for three years near the end of its life.

I don't know if it is a rule that installers must arrive late and stay well past your bedtime, but this is the second time it has happened. This time the carpet made up for it. And the installers did an awesome job, in spite of their tardiness.

And now, let's see how long the carpet lasts. Supposedly you can clean up spilled red wine with mere water, but that is one test I am not trying any time soon. That would be a waste of some perfectly good red wine.

Fool Me Twice ....

The other day, while Kevin was out of town, I thought I would let Sabina color at the counter to occupy her time while I fixed dinner. I gave her some paper and some washable markers (thank you Crayola!) and immediately became distracted with cooking. A few minutes later, when I stopped to look at what she was doing, she had purple lips and had colored all over the top of her left hand.

"Sabina, don't put that in your mouth. If I see it in your mouth again, I will take the markers away."
"'Tay," she said. Wet wipes on the face and hands, all clean, start cooking again.

I turned around again a few minutes later, and her lips are blue. "OK, Sabina. No more markers. Mommy is going to get some crayons." Crayons! I am so clever! Why didn't I think of that before? Set her up with the crayons, start cooking again.

I checked on her a few minutes later, and she was coloring on her fingernails and then blowing on them to dry. Oh, how cute! She thinks she is painting her fingernails! "Are you painting your fingernails! Oh, they will look so pretty!"

Did you know that washable crayons, when mixed with saliva, can create a paste that looks a lot like nail polish? Fortunately it washed off.

A few days later, we were at the easel drawing on the whiteboard, side-by-side. Surely I would notice if she began to draw on herself. But no, Mommy is all caught up in drawing a tree with some flowers. I look over at her and she has a big blue mark across her cheek and has colored her hand again.

Let's hope I learn something before she starts sneaking out of the house.

A Monumental Event

Obama's inauguration was a historical event. We have seen a lot of coverage on the news and Leila understands that he is the president. She doesn't understand, however, why it is a big deal. I am going to wait to explain that to her. She doesn't understand racism yet, and I don't want to have to explain to her why some people might think less of her because of the color of her skin. I know it will be a lesson she will have to learn, but I am just not ready.

The Dewdrop Report

Sabina's classroom at school is called the Dewdrop room. (The next room up, full of 2-year-olds, is appropriately called the Hurricane room.) Every day, we fill out an information sheet about how she slept, when she woke up, last diaper change, etc. The teachers fill in other information throughout the day about what they ate, how long their nap was, potty times, and general notes about their behavior.

Sabina's notes always say something about being silly. She is an extremely silly child and loves to laugh, but I think even more, she loves to make other people laugh with her. The other day, in addition to the usual silly comment, the notes said, "Extremely talkative! She even said 'no' to Miss Katie and also asked her 'why'!!!" You mean she has just now started doing that at school?? We have been subject to it for months. We have to specifically ask her to say "yes" just to get some practice in. Something is askew here.

And then I start thinking... how did I view my teachers compared to my parents? Who did I talk back to more? Ah. I think I get it now.

The Challenging Fours

On Friday, January 2nd, Leila turned 4.

On Saturday, we had her first real birthday party with friends. It was an absolute success and the number of toys that Leila now has officially reached the level of obscene.

On Sunday, she outgrew half of her clothes.

On Monday, she suddenly started informing us (me, actually) what she would or would not do. She did it twice within the span of an hour. "No Mommy, I am not going to wait until after dinner to have my eyeball. I am going to have it now." (The eyeball was frozen vanilla pudding with a life saver for the iris and a jelly bean for the pupil. Pretty clever actually.) Excuse me? Did you just disagree with me and then tell me what you were going to do instead? Where did she learn that? I thought only other people's kids did that. Is there some sort of terrible 4's that nobody bothered to tell us about?

Fortunately for every sass moment there are 10 melt-your-heart moments. Like when I look in the rearview mirror and Leila and Sabina are quietly holding hands. Or this one: