stretching boundaries

I don't know if it comes across here or not; but I'm a bit of a homebody.

Sure, I like to get out, have a little excitement , see people, do things, but overall I also like to hunker down and stay close to home. Of course this can lead to a severe case of being a Hermit and that's really no way to raise a child.

The Peanut has been showing some signs that she's got good rhythm and some other very clear signs that she loves music. She danced almost all night when we went to watch the Husband and his band practice one night. So the only thing to do was to get her into a dance class. This of course meant that I had to venture out from our little neighborhood and into other parts of town.

So we get ready for her first dance class today and we're waiting for the bus to come and it's there at the top of the hill just sitting there and it sitting there and it's the only bus that can get us there and it's still sitting there and ten minutes after the scheduled departure time at our stop it pulls away from the stop at the top of the hill and I am officially starting to panic because the community center is a few block away from our stop and even though I told myself that we'd do a dry run trip there before the class started; one thing and another happened, and we just didn't get around to it, and I have only a vague idea of where I'm headed and the 20 minutes I thought I'd have to get there from our stop turned into a lot less and we walked into the class a few moments late.

And on the way to the class there are a bunch of little shops here and there that I'd like to poke into and a specialty shop across the street that carries different types of flour that I'd like to go to; what with my quest to bake the perfect loaf of bread this year. So the point I was trying to make? Getting out of my neighborhood to get the Peanut dancing is looking like a good thing...

Dinosaur Fred

We're still coughing, still with a fever and still dripping from the nose but not as bad as we were. My basil and the onions have sprouted and we've been making art:

Meet Dinosaur Fred and his pal the plain squid.

It's been a while since I've shared the Peanut's artistic creations. It seems that lately every time she picks up a pencil, marker or crayon she's drawing something equally fantastic and amazing, from ol' Fred to the cherry tree in our back yard to a hill with a princess and under the light of a full moon and stars. Speaking as a proud Mom I'm absolutely sure that at three she's leaps and bounds beyond anything her peers are drawing. Of course once I step off the Mom box I'm bound to admit that I just might be a little biased but did you see those teeth and the shape of that head? It just screams T-Rex and the three fingered claws? Awesome!

I'll stop with the gushing now...

The trick is...

to let the Peanut know beforehand what's going to happen at the optometrist before you go, making sure to tell her what is going to happen two or three days in a row so that on the day you go in she sits in the elevator chair and looks straight ahead instead of over her shoulder to cheat.

Today we went to the Peanut's second appointment to confirm that she needs glasses. So our family is going to be a household of four eyes. It's a good thing that we all look good in glasses...

it's all started out wrong

that's how it seems today anyway. Of course it's early and there's still time to turn it all around. It's spring break in our neck of the woods which means that the teens who live next door are partying (which means drunk and banging on the door while yelling in the backyard on the weekend) or in the back yard at 6AM dropping f-bombs as loud as they can in the backyard (that's right, this was how I was woken up today).

Either way, my sleep is interrupted. Today that meant all our sleep was shortened by at least an hour as the Peanut's attitude this morning is evidence that she was more than likely going to sleep a little later this morning than 6. Either that or she's turned over night into the whinge-miester.

Well, the whinging isn't really new today, it's been going on for a little over a week now. At the drop of a hat, or the first sign that the Peanut's will is being flouted we break into the nasal whine. This whine grates on my nerves and despite plenty of discussions about deep breaths and using words to express how we are feeling, the whine returns. on a related note I'm looking forward to some me time this weekend, just me, some paints and some glass.

So anyone else going through the whinge-fest? Gone through it? What are you doing/did you do to get past it?

IIIIIIIIIIII Love you I Looooovvvvve you

I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you

It fills my heart near to bursting when the Peanut Butter goes into "I love you mode". She'll go on for as long as possible at bedtime, when Daddy is leaving for work or I'm headed off somewhere without her. Well actually I rarely get I love you's on repeat, I get the guilt trip sweet enough to break your heart: "Why are you going? Because I love you" delivered with her biggest eyes and a small pout.

I'm concocting a sourdough starter today, we'll be having fresh bread by the weekend fingers crossed. I've also managed to get our beds made on a daily bases, crawling into a made bed at night has been a nice experience. The trick will be to keep it up on days when we are headed off on play dates and other expiditions and of course on the weekends when one or the other of us is sleeping in, napping or taking some time off to read a little...

My weekend was full

of screaming and tantrums galore. The Peanut has reached that stage where a total meltdown is a millisecond away at any given instant. Do you want to go to the playground? Yes? OK put on your shoes...... and we have tantrum, full on throat tearing screams, earsplitting nerve grating tantrum. My sweet little Peanut Butter Pie has become that kid.

She's also become the kid who will get into the worst possible mischief as soon as my back is turned. Yesterday brought a "I have something special for you Mommy; come and look" which turned into a whole jar of sugar sprinkles spilled on the floor in front of my drawing table. Later I heard an excited "look at me Mommy" and turned to find a new roll of paper towel unrolled in a carpet down the hall and into her bedroom and back. Both of these happened while I was in the process of making breakfast and then dinner. Keeping track of what she's got in her hands where she is and and how she'll manage to push her boundaries is... well there are no words because at one and the same time there's frustration, laughter, exasperation and joy and a billion other thoughts and feelings...

On that note, I can't even begin to tell you how pleased I am to have AnyMommy's blog on my reading list. I've been following anymommy for quite a while; her posts are full of all that stuff I mentioned above; written with more eloquence and grace than I am able to muster most days; and she does it with four beautiful children to my one little peanut.

I look forward to Stacey's posts because she makes me laugh and cry and squeal with glee sometimes all in the same fifteen minutes. AnyMommy is, as her blog title refers a mommy blog about a Mommy who didn't always want to be a Mommy, who refuses to sort laundry and only recently caved and started pre-treating before washing among many other but not so recent things.

When I found Anymommy she was pregnant, living with her three children in paradise and dealing with poop in the public swimming pool.