5 Things I Think I am Doing Right

5. Every single day I do some silly running around the house with EFP. This is after a long work day or early in the morning (on the nights I teach late) so that EFP has a really silly funny Mommy.

4. EFP brushes and FLOSSES every day twice a day. We did dodge the cavity bullet and her DDS (wonderful pediatric dentist with lots of IA experience) said her teeth look good but her enamel is probably thin. She was great and EFP bit her but she laughed and went right on. EFP was fine though cried a little and has 16 teeth with 2 molars coming in on the bottom - and the barest hint of the top. She said they are really killer for the two-year olds.

3. EFP has never had any really junky food and her only taste of candy has been chocolate - twice. She eats really healthy for the most part and loves fruits and veggies. She has never stepped foot inside a fast food restaurant - though she has eaten the nuggette de chicken and the fries de la francais... LOL on a few rare occasions. I really try hard to provide healthy balanced meals for all of us but I feel I am succeeding with her at least!

2. I really don't sweat the small stuff and most of the time I do recognize when the stuff is really small. I can see how easy it would be to get really caught up in the details of a toddler's life - but I am doing a good job at not worrying about all the stuff that I shouldn't be.... toys, clothes, etc. Now if I could just stop sweating the not so small.... sibling, school district yadda yadda.

1. I just love this baby - for who she is in all her silly, funny, smart and lovable glory. I do think we are giving her freedom to develop her sense of humor and compassion, her intellect and her imagination. I hear her playing with her animals (4 billion little people animals and people thanks to Fither Pruce! And no none of these were recalled!) and although she is nearly always putting them in some danger (Help me! Help me! I am stuck! A lot like she did when she was pre-walking and confined to her excersaucer) she always sends a few other animals to help them out. She is loving and kind, concerned when the kitties don't get their 2 treat each a day ration, she checks me for boo boos and kisses them if there are any. EFP shares a special snack everyday with her center friends and seems very concerned if any one of them is upset when Mommy/Daddy leave (like she was for a few weeks a month ago!). But I really think that we are giving her a great foundation of love and trust to build on. I probably shouldn't say this is something I do well.. since It is effortless to LOVE her so much, but I know one can love and still not be a good parent. I am not as good a parent as I wish to be all the time - but I do try all the time to be better.

Where is who?

"Mei Mei, Where are you?" I am not JOKING at all!! This is what EFP has been saying (more like shouting) all day! We have not said much about our second child - both because we felt that EFP is too young and the wait is too long... So, now what? And what if Mei Mei turns out to be Di Di? Yikes?!

We had so much fun this weekend... we took EFP over to a spot I know too well from childhood and had a scrumptious seafood dinner by the sea... EFP was truly impressed by the big boats and the gorgeous sunset over the water... she is so sweet and loving.. today was a veritable love-fest and I am overwhelmed by the depth of feeling and laughter that bubbles up whenever she starts the kissing and big hugs..... silly baby. My silly baby!

What I did on my summer vacation

Well, I survived a vacation away with my DH and Toddler! We went, we saw, we splished, we splashed and we rode on the rides till the cows came home… LOL

It was a load of fun – I am more tired now than before we left and EFP officially is a Rocket Girl! Have I mentioned how similar in personality we are? We share so many traits it is uncanny! For instance…. I hate trying new things… I mean I LIKE to try new things but I am always reluctant to do something new the first time. After I have conquered the first time – it is gangbusters after… but I really hate doing things the first time. Well EFP turns out to be exactly the same in this regard. She did not like getting in the rides initially – but as soon as she did, we couldn’t get her out of the ride! We did every single ride (appropriate to her age etc) twice because every ride she was on was “THE BEST EVER!” So we managed to be able to go twice without having to wait – though I must say that with temps reaching into the 100s it was not surprising that very often there were NO lines anyway…!!! LOL

We enjoyed our resort – but I have to say that it was not as much fun as it could have been IF pitchers of Margaritas had been available (again, WHAT was I thinking?). The suite was comfortable and if you didn’t count the 100 decibel wedding happening just at EFP’s bedtime….. well, that was just great. I will also not mention much about the disappointing food… but again a thought for another day. We enjoyed ourselves…. EFP had a blast and the only real downside is that after being with Mom and Dad for all those days in a row she sees absolutely no reason why she should have to live any differently – which has made daycare drop off a bit of a nightmare actually!

More Silly Pictures!

Wigglicious!

Tears streaming down my face, a blinky flashlight hits my head (3x) and screams of joy are everywhere! Flashbacks to a former life are playing in my head when I am not singing at the top of my lungs (oh, there was some of that in my flashbacks as well) and I am surrounded by about a million other doting parents and 3 or 4 million screaming adoring fans... at the Coliseum to see the Wiggles! I was teary because I was so grateful and so aware of how close we came to not being blessed this way... grateful that I can provide these precious memories for our child and so very aware of what a precious gift our daughter is and how very lucky we are.

We had a great time with our friends and the Wiggles really are amazingly entertaining. I wasn't annoyed once - OK, well getting hit on the head a few times by the large flashlight blinky thing - that was annoying. What was also annoying was the response from the parent... NOT I'm sorry or anything - Just "well, he dropped his flashlight!" But -such is the magic of the Wiggles that by the end of the show we were all great friends.... especially when the Red Wiggle strummed Led Zeppelin on his silly guitar... then tried some Hendrix and everyone over 30 was hysterical! My baby is a rocker so she was rocking out as well. I should take a picture of the gelt but - suffice it to say that she made out... there is nothing Wigglish that is not in my house at the moment... hey, I waited a long to time wait on line paying good money for plastic cr*p with the name of mythological creatures or in this case Australians on it!! I, indeed felt I owed it to the universe. In a way - as the kid who never got to go to the shows or get the goodies - I think I will turn out to be a bit more indulgent in this arena than most parents.

On a happier (as if!) note - we had to take EFP to the Imperial Physician today and she is 34" tall (75th percentile) and 29 lbs (90th percentile) so she is growing nicely. She told me this morning that her ear hurt (of course it does! We leave for our mini break tomorrow!) and so I scheduled an impromptu visit with her MD. Of course - I woke up with no voice so I also had an impromptu visit with the MD - WHATEVER.

We are having some fun... EFP has begun speaking in paragraphs and she is every bit as funny and smart as I suspected. She even tells jokes!!

EFP: Knock Knock

Me: Who's there?

EFP: Orange

Me: Orange who?

EFP: Orange Banana (followed by hysterical giggling - from both of us!)

We have dancing time every day and the other night we watched Happy Feet - and I am fairly sure that she is interested in become the younger, female and Asian Savion.... I wish! Delightful is just too mild a word...I am in awe of her all the time. She picked out some fabric (finally getting to finish my Quilt squishes) and I am going to make her some rompers for school. I am so looking forward to our little trip! Of course the ear infection will put a tiny cramp in our style - but I am sure that she will have more fun splashing about then dunking under anyway.

Some cute pix to amuse! The flowers are Stargazer Lillies - my favorite - and they finally bloomed in our garden. EFP was so happy to see and smell the beautiful flowers. The large person is Daddy - we were shooting pics on the most beautiful day... and our flowers in bloom and we were saying hi to neighbors and having a great time!!