Big Girl Sheets ...

... on her big girl bed! After 2.5 years, I am realizing how lucky I was to have had crib sheets that zipped on and off (thanks to my cousin, Stacy, for that gem of a recommendation!). Changing a fitted sheet on a crib mattress, especially when there is a bumper still there, is a royal pain in the patootie ... even with the front part of the crib gone! I'm pretty sure the sheet Kendall slept on would have been washed about every time it took itself off, walked up to me, and begged for mercy. But my big girl LOVES her new sheets!

Not the best of weeks ...

This is how my poor little girl looked for most of the week. I had kept her out of school the previous Friday because she had a dry cough and was snotty, but the 102+ fever she had on Monday got her taken to the doctor and strep tested. Was "just a virus" ... but a nasty one. Caused me to lose my voice and require antibiotics to stop coughing up thick yellow goop. And daddy didn't escape healthy either ... despite heroic efforts consisting of dousing himself in various hand sanitizers after coming into contact with me or Kendall and relocating to the guest room to avoid me "breathing on him in my sleep." He moved back to our room once he started coughing too and it became clear that his efforts at staying healthy were in vain.

I attempted to go to work on Wednesday and was politely told to go home and rest. What they failed to realize is that my nice quiet office was significantly more restful than my germ infested home with my pitiful and very needy little girl. My mom was most helpful this past week and Grandmother brought enough food for several days. By Friday, I was concerned that Kendall's fever was still returning every time I missed a dose of Tylenol or Ibuprofen and took her back to the doctor. Of course, just as I was telling the doctor that "the child hasn't eaten in a week" she requested her snack and proceeded to down it in front of him. She also had no fever at all, was singing when he walked into the exam room, and announced "I ALLLL better now!" as she threw her hands in the air and then wished him a happy birthday in song, first in English, then in Hebrew. I hope I don't ever have to see this particular pediatrician in this office again. Pretty sure he's still laughing at me. Here she is at her second, and pointless, visit to Pediatric Associates of Dallas last week.

She officially missed 4 days of school with this illness. Since both Chris and I were still feeling "unwell" on our normal Saturday "Family Fun Night," and we didn't want to risk any potential for a relapse that might keep Kendall out of school any more days, we kept "FFN" low key and at home. We ate pizza and watched the first Toy Story movie - well, Chris watched it while Kendall played in the general vicinity of the television and I watched her to make sure she wasn't destroying anything (or any dogs) in the house. Mid-movie, we paused it and made ice cream sundaes. Kendall was ALL about this and, at least temporarily, set aside her beliefs that "ice cream is too cold for me." She had rainbow sprinkles, chocolate sauce, strawberry sauce,
chocolate sprinkles, chocolate chips, bananas, and whipped cream on her sundae.


It was a nice end (setting aside the high decibel screaming fit for a binky right after the sundae) to an otherwise miserable week for all of us.

Binkaholics Anonymous

"Hi. I'm Kendall. And I'm a Binkaholic."

I'm seriously starting to worry that the child may go to college with a box of binkies. And I have to admit that it's more than likely my fault ... some weird genetic flaw she inherited from her mother, who went to college with a teddy bear ... and on her honeymoon with the same teddy bear ... and to the hospital to have binky-girl surgically extracted ... with the same teddy bear. Only when Kendall was old enough to have a stuffed "friend" in her crib did I break myself of my 30+ year Bo Bear habit. So maybe she'll give her binky to her baby? Bo Bear is on his last threads. I wonder if a plastic and silicone "comfort object" might last 30+ years?

So many people have offered advice on "breaking the binky habit." The best, of course, was from her doctor when he told me to "just get rid of it" before she turned a year old and before she could talk. Ahhh .... hindsight. I attempted the binky fairy route and told her that when she's ready, the binky fairy would come at night, leave her a BIG PRESENT and take her binky to a baby who needs it. The words "BIG PRESENT' went largely unheard and Kendall started pointing out various and random babies we came across saying, "THAT baby NO get MY binky!" I didn't like the way she started to look at babies. So as protection for all babies upon whose paths Kendall might accidentally cross, I dropped the binky fairy concept.

I tried "breaking" the binky by cutting the tip off so it didn't "work." She demanded that I go to the store and buy her a new one. Don't think that method is going to work now that she knows binkies come from the grocery store and are there in great quantities.

For the past year, she really only has used them for naptime and nighttime. She doesn't even get them in the car anymore unless she's expected to sleep there. But some serious binky regression occurs when she's sick. And she's been sick A LOT since she started school. So every time she recovers from a various illness, the following week is brutal. And with each illness, it's worse. This time around, she's having 3-4 screaming fits daily that last anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour. And she's asking to "go bed" all the time ... so she can have a binky. She even asked to "brush teeth" at 10AM this morning because after she brushes her teeth at night is when she gets her binky for the night. When she was finally told that, yes, it is NOW bedtime this evening, she climbed the stairs faster than I've ever seen her climb. And at the top, she smiled this huge smile and said, "I get my binky now! SO (ex)cited!!" It about broke my heart.

I'm running out of patience with the screaming fits. I may or may not have given her a ring pop (picture below) to stop the fit in the middle of Family Fun Night this evening. Yes I realize that a ring pop is essentially a binky with a crapload of sugar added, therefore damaging her teeth exponentially.

Really might have to hire a psychologist to help with this one. Anyone know of a Bink Shrink??

1st Movie Theatre Experience = FAIL

Well, not a 100% failure, but most definitely a waste of money. Going to the Northpark mall movie theatre to see the new Winnie the Pooh movie was my brilliant idea for "Family Fun Night" last Saturday. Here is the sequence of events:

1. Purchased ridiculously priced tickets ($33 total) online early in the day to ensure that we could get in if the (children's) movie was sold out when we got there on a Saturday night at 4:30. (it was)

2. Stopped at 7-11 for reasonably priced candy to smuggle in. (Twizzlers, M&M's, bag of Hostess powdered donuts = $7)

3. Got to the theatre before it they even opened the doors so we played games on my iPhone until we could get in.

4. Purchased 2 small drinks at the concession stand. ($10)

5. Secured awesome seats.

6. Took the 5 pictures seen below before the theatre filled up.

7. Patiently sat through forty minutes of commercials and previews (some appropriate for children, some not) and one mind numbing and very disappointing Disney short about the Loch Ness Monster that purported to portray some inane message about it being ok to cry.

8. Kendall regularly asked "Where is Winnie the Pooh??" I finally stopped answering, "He's coming up next" after the first 5 previews, and just started saying, "I really don't know!"

9. Winnie the Pooh FINALLY started.

10. Kendall grinned and sang along (quietly and appropriately) with the song. Was SO cute!

11. Immediately after the song, Kendall got out of her seat and announced (none too quietly) "I ready go home now." We attempted to reason with her but she started down the stairs so we gathered up our luggage with which we had arrived carrying our smuggled food.

12. Immediately after getting into the car, Kendall announced that she wanted to go back to the movie. I'm pretty sure Chris's foot got just a bit heavier on the gas pedal at that point.

She has asked regularly to go back to see Winnie the Pooh over the past week. I have now purchased a $1.99 Winnie the Pooh movie (the 1977 version) from Amazon.com to view on my computer. We'll try that next before attempting any more $50 Family Fun Night movie failures!

The Age of Excuses?

I don't recall anyone telling me that Kendall's ability to make excuses for EVERYTHING was going to flourish starting at about 2 and a half, but boy has it ever! Here's a list of various excuses from just the past couple of days:

1. "It's too cold for me" - given as to why she wouldn't drink a milkshake.

2. "All the food in there is for dinner" - given as to why she refused to eat anything out of the refrigerator.

3. "It kinda scares me" - this one is given for a lot of things, but yesterday it was the excuse for not taking a bath.

4. "I have bad dreams there ... about trucks taking my poop away" - given as to why she didn't want to nap at school. (okaaaaay??)

5. "I soooo sleepy" - also given for many things but was especially amusing this morning when it was given about 30 minutes after a 13 hour sleep as to why she didn't want to eat.

6. "It's too spicy for me" - given as to why she wouldn't eat watermelon. (when that excuse was rejected, she then decided it was too cold)

7. And my favorite: "It's too OLD for me" - given as to why she didn't want to watch the news and insisted that we watch Dino Dan instead.

God help me, I think she might have the makings of a politician.

A new way to wear a swim suit

Kendall wore this suit on her head for a good 30 minutes this morning. Turning down all offers of assistance with its removal. She did, however, remove her pants.

"Look Mommy! My have ELEPHANT EARS!"

I thought this was a particularly astute (and accurate) commentary from the backseat on the way to camp the other day.