July 4, 2009
Minty Fresh! (or, Why I need a new flat-iron)
Here’s a cautionary tale for you.
When you are scrambling to get ready for a party, after you take a quick power nap and after you feed your baby on one side while pumping the other side, make sure you look carefully at your flat-iron before you bring it into contact with your hair. If there is a travel-size tube of toothpaste close by, you may accidentally pick it up. When you put it in your hair and squeeze together the ends of the flat-iron, release immediately if there is an obstruction caused by a tube of toothpaste’s melting plastic casing. Close your eyes immediately to lessen the exposure of the fumes of minty freshness to your unsuspecting eyes.
(and when you have big hair and helmet head, just be happy that at least your hair isn’t minty fresh)
June 20, 2009
The family that…
…sits in a giant rocking chair (that doesn’t really rock) together,
ROCKS! (figuratively speaking, only)
June 12, 2009
Bird’s eye view…
Or really just bird view…
Saw this hawk creature today in my parents’ driveway and had to stop for a picture:
and a little closer:
Wow.
June 12, 2009
mug shot
It looks like we’re trying to organize a family reunion of sorts. In July. In Turkey. WHAT? So many things must be done before that can happen! The firts item of business: a passport for Daryoosh.
Passport hunting was our morning adventure. So much for my early start since Daryoosh decided to sleep in until 8:45.
Stop 1: Go to the office to get authorization paperwork notarized so that only ONE of us has to take the morning off to get the paperwork done. You see, technically, both parents must be present for a passport application. (For anyone needing a passport for your child let me know if you have any questions. I’m a pro now, having done this twice in as many years). This stop was painless. I didn’t even take the kids out of the car. Bonus: Yago and Grandpa had a few laughs before we headed to our next stop.
Stop 2: Go to Kinko’s for the passport photo. This was truly fun. An adventure for all involved. Daryoosh was all smiles and giggly and squirmy. At least he could sit up on the little stoop thingee they had! I held his hand and we had to take photo after photo. She tried 3 photos before her memory was full. She deleted a few photos but then the battery died. We changed the battery and took more photos. Nope, he looked away on that one…nope, he stuck his finger in his mouth in the other one. Finally we got a good shot! (Well, good enough…) It looks like a mug shot. He’s under arrest for stealing our hearts.
There were a few other delays, such as printing a 4×6 photo first instead of 2 2×2s (a photo of that photo is pictured) and then figuring out how to get back to the right settings. Oh yeah, and a special thanks to my iphone and the clerk who gave Yago the lollipop to keep him occupied.
Stop 3: Off to the Post Office. Take the boys out of the car and into the stroller once again. The boys were getting restless and Daryoosh didn’t want to stay in the stroller any longer. A few M&Ms and my iphone kept Yago in the stroller while the paperwork was completed. Once we were done and I got to the car, I couldn’t find Daryoosh’s SS card. It must have fallen out of the folder. Ugh. Retrace steps, no. Where could it be? Looked in my purse. Oh yeah. I took it out of there didn’t I so that it wouldn’t fall out since I knew I wouldn’t need it…
So, 2 hours, 2 photos, and 1/2 a bag of M&Ms later, we completed our adventure. Our morning adventure will seem like nothing compared to the international travel with two kids we have ahead of us. Especially if Santi can’t get the vacation time on such short notice! ACK!
June 11, 2009
School Daze
As I drive away from drop-off, I watch as Yago slowly walks with his teacher to the playground. He stands around as if in a daze, as he regains his courage to continue. He looks back to see if my car is still in sight. The traffic on Granny White keeps me from turning out of the driveway. I watch him through the rear view mirror as he turns around and joins his classmates.
The drama days of morning drop-offs are hopefully a thing of the past. Honestly, I expected that this would take weeks and weeks; not just days. Yago is sad when we first get in the car. He tells me, “not Montessori, Mom. Mot’s house, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease.” Then we take a look and get excited about what we have packed for lunch.
“Doesn’t that look yummy?” I usually ask.
“Yes!” he answers, only half-enthusiastically.
I also let him choose one or two items to put into his backpack for the day. Today’s items: a book about dinosaurs, and the manual for the Wii Play video game (you can judge all you want–I don’t care)
I am proud of him for many reasons! Among them are:
1. He chooses music over movies EVERY morning on the way to school. I know. Never say never. This morning he asked for Cars and since I didn’t want any additional drama, I gave in to his request (I’m choosing my battles carefully today). Within five minutes he asked me for music. I knew he wouldn’t let me down! (We alternate between 2 different Putamayo Kids CDs and a CD that came with a book I bought to teach Santi some American nursery rhymes. We act silly and laugh all the way to school.)
2. Yago will still smile for me even when he’s sad. Here’s proof. The sad eyes gave away his true feelings this morning, but he gave me the best smile (and best semi-enthusiastic high-five) that he could.
3. He will come home from school and tell me that “he had a good day.”
Each day will get a little easier for him and before I know it, he’ll be begging me to stay.
June 3, 2009
School debriefing
When I went to pick Yago up from school, I was just a little bit early. He had just sat down to eat lunch. I was invited by his teachers to have a seat at his table while he ate. Some kids were sitting one to a table and others two to a table. Everyone had his/her standard issue lunch box on the floor by the table. All of the kids had plates with food arranged neatly on them. It was cute. There are a LOT of kids on Wednesdays. I guess it’s the middle of the week and since they suggest consecutive days, Wednesdays are popular. When I got to Yago’s room there were 4 teachers there helping out all of the kids. They were patient and caring. I spoke briefly to one of the teachers to see how Yago did today. She said that he cried the first fifteen minutes or so and then he was fine. She also said that he really loves music and responded to it very well. She said she even caught a smile or two on his face throughout the day. My favorite thing of all that she told me, “Yago’s really coming out of his shell.” It makes me feel really good to hear that. I’m happy that he’s happy. In fact, he wanted to stay and play a bit more, but I told him that we’d be back tomorrow. I asked him if he wanted to come back and he answered with an enthusiastic “YES!”
Here is an excerpt of our post-school debriefing:
Mom: Yago, how was school today? Did you have fun?
Yago: Yes
Mom: What did you do today?
Yago: Dance, music, outside
Mom: Did you cry at school yesterday?
Yago: Yes
Mom: Did you cry a little or a lot?
Yago: A lot.
Mom: How about today? Did you cry a little or a lot?
Yago: A little.
Mom: Do you want to go back to school tomorrow?
Yago: Yes.
“Eventually” will be here sooner than we think…
June 3, 2009
What a difference a day made!
Yago had a great day today! He only cried 15 minutes and then wanted to “stay and play” rather than come home with me.
His teacher said, “Yago is really coming out of his shell.”
I wanted to tell her that sometimes I wished he’d stay in his shell… ;)
He wants to go back tomorrow too!
