It's the little things

I may have mentioned this before, but Zoë is not really into traditional toys. And if she does like something she plays with it in a way other than it was intended. For example, Legos. She loves her Legos, but she doesn't usually build anything with them. Instead she sorts them by size. That can occupy her for quite a long time.

But really her favorite things to play with are little things like rubber bands, straws, and loose beads. I actually put rubber bands and straws in her Christmas stocking and she could not have been more thrilled -- that may actually have been the two best presents she got.

A couple of weeks ago I took her into Toys R Us to pick out a present for being a really good girl. In my mind I had set a spending limit of around $20. Without much hesitation she picked a bag of lanyard strings that cost $2.99.
"Mom, can I please get this?" she begged.
"OK, but only because you've been so good," I conceded. I almost felt bad because she could have spent more, but she was so happy to have those strings!

Of course, this is a pattern that I hope continues well into the teen years. Doubtful, I know. I'll just have to try and remember these trips to Toys R Us when I am buying her her first $100 sneakers or similar.

Dangerous Liasons

I just finished reading "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" also known as "Dangerous Liasons." What an excellent book! I can't believe I never read it before. It is kind of hard to believe this book was orignally written and published in the 18th century. Talk about risque. It was a selection from my book club and it is definitely the best book I've read with the club and the best book I've read in awhile. I definitely recommend it to just about anyone.

Must have been those 2 years I lived in Dallas...

Your Linguistic Profile::

50% General American English

35% Yankee

10% Dixie

0% Midwestern

0% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Thanks to Queen of Slackers for that highly amusing link!

Justice in a book review!

The New York Times review of Curtis Sittenfeld's new book, The Man of My Dreams is out today and it is not good.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/18/books/18masl.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

The very critiques given to this book could so easily have been applied to her celebrated (especially by NYTimes) debut novel, Prep. Just when I was starting to lose faith in the NYTimes book reviews, they finally do some justice. They even compared her unfavorable to Melissa Bank saying...

"The Man of My Dreams," like the similarly quotidian but more varied and
assured oeuvre of Melissa Bank, is set up as a string of lonely-hearted short
stories rather than a fully imagined novel.

(Ms. Sittenfeld gave a scathing review to Melissa Bank's book The Wonder Spot back in June of last year.)

Baby Doll

Zoë: I wish Baby Doll would hurry up and grow up.

Me: But Baby Doll is a doll, honey.

Zoë: I want her to be a big girl, like me.

Baby Doll is, of course, Zoë's baby doll. I would say favorite if there were another, but she has never wanted another baby doll. I once bought her one and she completely rejected it -- going as far as throwing it out of her room into the hallway. It was a beautiful doll, too. Finally, I gave it to my niece rather than see it constantly rejected. Zoë has the whole kingdom in stuffed animals, but there is only one Baby Doll.

So, how do I explain that she will never grow up?

Mother's Day

Spent Mother's Day at the Yankee game this year. It was a fantastic way to spend the day. Beats brunch hands down. Plus, it was Zoë's first baseball game and she loved it! She lasted until the end of the 7th inning and then had a complete meltdown followed by a very good nap in the car on the way home.



It could only have been better if the Yankees actually won.

3 sentences

Zoë read almost 3 complete sentences the other night! I can almost declare that she can read. It was amazing to listen to her sounding out each word. And then when she got it all she was so proud of herself. I almost started to cry. My little baby is reading! I remember when she couldn't hold her head up on her own. Wowza!

For anyone starting to teach a child to read I highly recommend the Bob Books published by Scholastic. They are perfect. Start with: Bob Books First! Level A, Set 1

Getting dressed

What is it about getting dressed that is so awful? Seems like every morning when I tell Zoë it is time to get dressed it is like I am telling her it is time to stick pins in herself. The whole operation takes less than 3 minutes, but she spends much more time than that in complaining about it.

This, of course, is completely different from playing dress-up. Zoë will gladly spend as much time as needed to put together the perfect Princess, Bumble Bee, Fairy, etc. costume from her dress-up box.

Garbage Cow

I know the warm weather has officially begun because we paid a visit to Garbage Cow after dinner last night.

Who's Garbage Cow? He's the big cow that stands next to the big garbage can outside Sunny Daes ice cream, of course. The first time we went to Sunny Daes, Zoë was about 1 and just learning to talk. She saw the big cow and the big garbage can and identified each "Garbage" and "Cow." A couple of days later we were driving by and she saw Sunny Daes out the car window and she shouted "Garbage Cow!" And the name has stuck from there.

I'm not sure which Zoë loves more about Sunny Daes -- the chocolate ice cream or the Garbage Cow. When we left last night, as is the case every time we're there, we had to stop and hug and kiss the cow. She told him (no convincing Zoe that cows are girls) not to worry, she'd come back and visit soon. I never thought it was possible to love a big fake cow, but clearly it is.

I hear myself everywhere

Just spent the weekend in NYC with husband. It was our first weekend away without Zoë in at least 2 and half years and it was truly wonderful. I could go into lots of romantic details, but I won't.

Instead I will go into listening to all the other parents and kids I saw. NYC is definitely a melting pot and I saw parents of just about every description and the thing I noticed is that all parents (myself included) say the same things! I couldn't help but giggle every time I heard a parent say, "Are you listening to me?" or "Pay attention" or "I told you to stop that." Frankly, it made me feel so much better to hear those same phrases that spill out of my mouth repeatedly on a daily basis. At least I am not the only one. And it wasn't just the exact phrases, it was the same tone of voice. I try to be a very conscientious parent, but sometimes it is hard to know if what you're doing is right. I'm not saying that just because everyone else is doing it, that makes it right, but it does make me feel better anyway to know my child isn't the only one who needs to be told these things.

Questions about Easter

Zoë: Where does the Easter Bunny live?
Me: At the North Pole of course.

Why is there so much Easter candy in the store -- doesn't the Easter Bunny bring the candy in baskets?

Yes, the Easter Bunny brings baskets for little girls and little boys. Grown-ups have to buy their own candy.

Does the Easter Bunny know Santa Claus?
Of course, they both live at the North Pole.

Yes, but the Easter Bunny lives underground at the North Pole and Santa lives in his village and all the elves are like his children. Right?
Right. And the Tooth Fairy lives there too.

Spring Fever

I feel like I am suffocating in my office. It is so stuffy and quiet! No more so than usual, but now that some nice weather is here, I just want to be out wandering around and enjoying it. I couldn't be happier that Zoë's daycare is closed tomorrow for Good Friday so I am forced to take a day off. I have not accomplished one thing of note this entire week.

All Partied Out

Yesterday we had the third and final party in an almost month-long celebration of Zoë's 4th birthday. Yesterday was the kids party and I think it came off pretty well. Aside from the glitter glue myniecee got in her eye (and all over her face and the wall, the floor, the table, etc.) there were no tragedies. Poor Sophia was still glittering when she left the party, but it didn't seem to slow down her good time. I think Zoë had a ball and she got some good presents too -- including a complete trunk of Princess play shoes. What a great idea that is.

Many members of my family have birthdays this time of year so there has really been a lot of celebrating lately and a lot of cake. With Easter and Passover impending, the celebrations show no sign of stopping. More cake! (Followed by many hours at the gym to pay for it all.)

Babysitter

We went out to dinner tonight and had a babysitter for Zoë. The babysitter is a very nice girl who works part time at day care. She is also a college student and Zoë just adores her. As young as this girl looks to me, and as long as it has been since I've actually babysat, it still cracks me up to be the "grown-ups" going out and not the babysitter in this scenario.

Strange Creature Found in Family Room

She's ready for a flying underwater mardi-gras adventure!*


*Thanks to JKo for that excellent description.

Mission: successful

I feel like it is some kind of triumph that I went into a Toys R Us store on Saturday and managed to purchase the exact booster seats I was looking for. I didn't even have to wait more than 10 minutes at the customer pick-up counter. The gods were smiling upon me.

Zoë's 4 year check up was this morning and she came through with flying colors. 100% healthy and completely precocious. Not even a flinch at the finger prick and very short-lived tears after the two shots. I was really impressed with her. I think the fact that we didn't tell her she would have shots until the last minute really helped because then she didn't have a chance to build up anxiety.

I have a cold

Did you know it is nearly impossible to sleep when you can't breathe through your nose? I've lately discovered that fact.

I can't remember being quite this stuffed up before. I'm not a big fan of taking cold medicine because it leaves me feeling so completely out of it no matter how non-drowsy it claims to be, but I think I may have to break down and buy some.

The thing that really annoys me is that I have been well all the cold and dreary winter long and now that some beautiful, sunny, warm Spring weather has finally come our way, I'm feeling rather crappy and not much like getting out and enjoying.

Oh well. I should probably find something real to complain about.

Big plans for the weekend include buying a booster seat for Zoë! Bye-bye old car seat, my little girl is growing up. Zoë is not the only one excited about this.
I've chosen this one:
Graco Turbo Booster
I'm sure buying a booster seat doesn't sound like such a big deal, but every time she grows past some piece of baby equipment (like the high chair, bottles, etc.) I feel it is a milestone of her growing up. What everyone says is, in this case, actually true -- it goes by so fast!

Birthday party hell

This past Saturday I took Zoë to one of her daycare classmate's birthday party. It was at a kid's music class place in Wilton. It started off well. The kids all sat around in a circle while "Robert the Guitar Guy" played music and used puppets and silly voices. Zoë was very into it and she was her usual boisterous self and a bit dominating in the area of answering questions or offering suggestions when Guitar Guy asked for them. Nothing that she was doing was aggressive or out of turn, however. She was just very involved and hasn't learned to contain herself.

Then, at one point all the kids were supposed to be sitting up and Zoë pointed out that two of the little boys were still lying down. Guitar Guy turns to her and says, "Zoë you know what? Your job is Zoë." And it was in this nasty tone of voice. Thank goodness my daughter came back with this, "My name is Zoë, my job isn't Zoë:."

And thank goodness that she isn't old enough to have been embarrassed by a comment like that. I wanted to throttle the guy. He is neither her parent nor her teacher and had no right to speak to her that way. It was a birthday party! A few of the other mothers commented on how inappropriate they thought he was which made me feel better. I am still in the middle of composing my nasty email to "Robert the Guitar Guy".

The Food Channel

Is it just me, or does it seem completely counter-intuitive to watch cooking shows on the food channel while working out at the gym?

It's good to be home, but...

it was kind of nice to be away too.

I just got back from a quick business trip to Boston and the best part about it was going out for drinks last night and not having to worry about getting home, or driving, or getting up the next day, or even paying. It felt a little like my old single days and it was fun.

It also didn't hurt that my hotel was quite nice -- The Westin at Copley Square. The rooms have modern decor and they have what they call the "heavenly bed." I am happy to report it lived up to its name. I slept dead center in that heavenly bed and was very happy not to have to share it. We were discussing the beds last night and I commented that when you're single and you walk into a hotel room and see a bed like that you wonder who you can get to join you in it, but when you're married with kids, you look at a bed like that and smile knowing you get it all to yourself.