Today was Suzanne's last day of school--summer vacation has officially begun! For some strange reason she just walked past me and whacked me with her Curious George. Sign of things to come?
Here is a partial list of all the things Suzanne has learned at or around preschool this year:
1. Shoes stay on--all the time. On the bus, at circle time, out on the playground, on the bus.
2. Lots of songs--Wheels on the Bus, Row Your Boat, Baby Bumblebee, Twinkle Twinkle and the ones that she makes up on her own.
3. Clean up--we make it easy with a big plastic tub to put stuff in. She also knows that baby wipes can fix those "personal" stains that a girl encounters now and again.
4. Waving--at the bus driver, her teachers, other kids at school. Everyone likes it when Suzanne waves!
5. Kleenex--she loves a clean face. Too bad Kirk never learned this lesson.
6. ABCs--she made it all the way to G yesterday, with a pause at LMNOP and ZEEEEEEE.
7. Colors--fortunately she colors a lot using green and yellow, which are daddy's faves.
8. Sympathy--if one of your classmates is crying it is a good idea to give them a hug and pat on the back.
9. Better table manners--no more sippy cups for Suzanne and she prefers the real forks and spoons.
10. How to group objects together, line them up, and count them. This works for toys, books, baby dolls, potato chips and shoes....which should stay on...maybe we still need work on No. 1.
We are having her first kid birthday party tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it. Our theme is Hello Kitty, which we love. I'll post some pictures after the event.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Monday, June 2, 2008
Big Juicy and the Froggy
As I write this evening, Kirk and Greg are at a Portland Beavers baseball game in a "luxury" box. With my one good eye (and I do only have just the one) I am watching hunky Robert Redford in a forgettable 1970s era movie, but mainly I'm just watching Robert Redford. Suzanne is snoozing in the most uncomfortable chair in the house. She's not quite in the froggy position, but almost. If she goes full froggy, she'll probably roll out and then there will be hell to pay.
I haven't blogged in awhile because May was a horrendous month in terms of getting through the day without some badness from Suzanne. I've spent most of the month cleaning one thing or another and it still doesn't look like I've done a darned thing. It's like treading water--you may not actually sink, but you don't make any headway either. You're just out there hoping that a boat will come along before the sharks do.
She's so sweet when she sleeps. She snorts a little (tiny nose, easily clogged) and rolls around quite a bit. She's a good snuggler, but hot. Both the kids prefer to sleep next to Greg because he's an ice cube and appreciates the heat.
Oooh, Robert is trying kill a hit man with a fireplace poker--his longish 70s hair is falling over his eyes. Mmmmmmmm....
This child is such a puzzle. Some things she learns quickly, others not so much. The things I really want her to learn, she doesn't (potty training, complete sentences). Other things she picks up very quickly. It's a puzzle and I am hoping to solve it sooner rather than later. If only I could see inside her little head to figure out how things work in there. I don't want to change anything about her--but I could sure use a GPS.
I am thankful for a few things, though. I'm thankful that she has the ability to show love. I'm thankful that she is healthy and physically fit. I'm thankful that she is sociable and caring and that she has sympathy for those in distress. I love her beautiful smile and the way she squinches her eyes up when she's really happy about something. She is sunshine and she just radiates.
Except for this moment. She just woke up long enough to complain and remove her shoes and socks. It's jammie time, so I'd better get to it. I like this part--when she's really snuggly and just wants me to hold her and make everything nice. She's learned to give sloppy kisses--big juicies. I suppose that is an acquired taste, but I really like them...when her face is clean and free from snot, that is. She's not quite 4--I'm still working on cleanliness...
I haven't blogged in awhile because May was a horrendous month in terms of getting through the day without some badness from Suzanne. I've spent most of the month cleaning one thing or another and it still doesn't look like I've done a darned thing. It's like treading water--you may not actually sink, but you don't make any headway either. You're just out there hoping that a boat will come along before the sharks do.
She's so sweet when she sleeps. She snorts a little (tiny nose, easily clogged) and rolls around quite a bit. She's a good snuggler, but hot. Both the kids prefer to sleep next to Greg because he's an ice cube and appreciates the heat.
Oooh, Robert is trying kill a hit man with a fireplace poker--his longish 70s hair is falling over his eyes. Mmmmmmmm....
This child is such a puzzle. Some things she learns quickly, others not so much. The things I really want her to learn, she doesn't (potty training, complete sentences). Other things she picks up very quickly. It's a puzzle and I am hoping to solve it sooner rather than later. If only I could see inside her little head to figure out how things work in there. I don't want to change anything about her--but I could sure use a GPS.
I am thankful for a few things, though. I'm thankful that she has the ability to show love. I'm thankful that she is healthy and physically fit. I'm thankful that she is sociable and caring and that she has sympathy for those in distress. I love her beautiful smile and the way she squinches her eyes up when she's really happy about something. She is sunshine and she just radiates.
Except for this moment. She just woke up long enough to complain and remove her shoes and socks. It's jammie time, so I'd better get to it. I like this part--when she's really snuggly and just wants me to hold her and make everything nice. She's learned to give sloppy kisses--big juicies. I suppose that is an acquired taste, but I really like them...when her face is clean and free from snot, that is. She's not quite 4--I'm still working on cleanliness...
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Everyone has a Talent
It is fun to watch children as they grow up because everyday they evolve into the adults that they will someday be. Whenever I would get frustrated, my mom would tell me that everyone has a talent and I needed to be patient. Patience is not something that I have an abundance of, so this usually just added to my frustration, but I'm happy to say that over the years a couple of talents have finally emerged.
Suzanne has a talent already, and she is using it as much as she possibly can. Suzanne's talent is being Kirk's sidekick. She is Robin to his Batman, Tonto to his Lone Ranger, Jerry to his Tom. Suzanne is ready and willing to do whatever Kirk wants and to put her own particular spin on things.
We had a baseball game on Tuesday and Suzanne is a regular on the bench. The boys don't pay any particular attention to her most of the time, but Tuesday was different because Kirk decided to have her sing for them. If you live in Oregon or Washington, you have probably heard the ads for Sleep Country U.S.A.
"Sleep Country USAAAAAA. Why buy a mattress anywhere ELSE! Ding!"
Suzanne actually only sings the Ding part, but it really cracks up a crowd. Kirk's friend Noah has seen this little performance before, so he helped Kirk with the singing and then Suzanne chimes in with Ding! I hate to say it, but the boys on the bench were not paying attention to the game because they were busy watching Suzanne sing her part of the song. Even after Kirk went up to bat and got on base, they kept singing in order to get Suzanne to say "Ding!"
This isn't all Sidekick Suzanne can do. She's a really good fetcher as well. Kirk doesn't have to fetch the balls that he doesn't catch because Suzanne is usually hovering around ready to do the job. She also helps him clean up his room, although he never helps clean up her room. She even cleans his toothbrush! Of course she does this by swishing it in the toilet--we've been going through a lot of toothbrushes lately.
As Greg likes to say, behind every good man is a woman kicking him in the, uh, derriere. Well, behind Kirk is a sister intent on side-kicking him to the top. I just hope that is where he wants to go...
Suzanne has a talent already, and she is using it as much as she possibly can. Suzanne's talent is being Kirk's sidekick. She is Robin to his Batman, Tonto to his Lone Ranger, Jerry to his Tom. Suzanne is ready and willing to do whatever Kirk wants and to put her own particular spin on things.
We had a baseball game on Tuesday and Suzanne is a regular on the bench. The boys don't pay any particular attention to her most of the time, but Tuesday was different because Kirk decided to have her sing for them. If you live in Oregon or Washington, you have probably heard the ads for Sleep Country U.S.A.
"Sleep Country USAAAAAA. Why buy a mattress anywhere ELSE! Ding!"
Suzanne actually only sings the Ding part, but it really cracks up a crowd. Kirk's friend Noah has seen this little performance before, so he helped Kirk with the singing and then Suzanne chimes in with Ding! I hate to say it, but the boys on the bench were not paying attention to the game because they were busy watching Suzanne sing her part of the song. Even after Kirk went up to bat and got on base, they kept singing in order to get Suzanne to say "Ding!"
This isn't all Sidekick Suzanne can do. She's a really good fetcher as well. Kirk doesn't have to fetch the balls that he doesn't catch because Suzanne is usually hovering around ready to do the job. She also helps him clean up his room, although he never helps clean up her room. She even cleans his toothbrush! Of course she does this by swishing it in the toilet--we've been going through a lot of toothbrushes lately.
As Greg likes to say, behind every good man is a woman kicking him in the, uh, derriere. Well, behind Kirk is a sister intent on side-kicking him to the top. I just hope that is where he wants to go...
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