Here she is....

If she ever enters the Miss America Pageant she'll have her talent routine ready to go. But then again, of she ever wants to enter a pageant she and I are going to have a good long talk about self esteem.

Chinese, It's What We're Speakin'

And by we I mean Natalie and Alyssa. I remember the first time Natalie saw an episode of Dora the Explorer. She drank in every word, name and happening like a true two year old. Dora has been a good friend around here and now that Alyssa is two she has also become familiar with Dora, Boots and the rest of the gang. But there is a new girl in town now and it looks like she's going to take over as Queen of the neighborhood. Enter Kai-lan. She and her animal friends go camping, build toy car, and play with whirly flowers all the while teaching a nice, neat lesson. The best thing about this show, however, is that my girls are trying to speak Chinese. Natalie already has hello (ni-hao), the numers 1-5 and slippers (tuo xie) in her newfound vocabulary and Alyssa imitates as best she can. Now, I will give Dora credit for all the "gracias" and "por favor" action that we've had for the past few years but, heck, I could do that when I was a kid too. Hearing the girls speak Chinese, however, feels very fresh and modern. Aside from the total cuteness of this show, the biggest think I've gotten out of it is a craving for dumplings.

Have It Your Way

I think every person who has a child knows that at some point their child will not eat anything they cook. Seriously, nothing. Since my oldest child is only 5 I still consider myself in the realm of "new" parents and it seems like there is something new to learn almost every day. My general rule about meals is "eat what I cook or don't eat" but occasionally I have to admit dinner really sucked and I'll make them something else. One thing I have learned, however, is that they will eat anything if it starts with the words "Make Your Own". They happily ate their "Make Your Own" turkey sandwiches the other night and "Make Your Own" sundaes are of course a no brainer. "Make Your Own" tacos or pizza are always a hit. I think next I may try "Make Your Own" pork chops or worse yet "Make Your Own" chicken breast with green beans and see how those go. For some reason I don't have high hopes.

Where has this been all my life

Or the last 5 years anyway. We were away this past weekend and my husband who is travelling this week left straight from NY instead of MA so we could stay an extra day. So here I am, home again, with a 5 year old who has no school this week and a 2 year old that I am attempting to potty train. Because of this we are house bound and when we arrived home yesterday I realized there was almost no food in the house. Because I would rather stick bamboo skewers in my ear than take the two of them grocery shopping I decided to try my local supermarkets online delivery service. I went online last night and carefully made my selections. I looked at the prices to see if they were comparable to those in the store and I made sure to order the appropriate quantities of each item (for example if you order "1" in the banana column you will receive a single banana, not one bunch). I completed my order and logged back in this morning to get my 2 hour delivery window. When I saw the truck pull up 20 minutes before the delivery window was scheduled to begin I was as excited as any parent can be when their kids are starting to gnaw at their own arms. The driver was very pleasant, brought everything into my kitchen and aside from one slightly mushy banana everything was perfect. I dare say the produce was actually fresher than what I would have purchased in the store. The only con is that my delivery came in 18 bags. Yes, 18 plastic, landfill filling bags. I will be bringing these with me on my next trip to the grocery store and throwing them in the recycle bin. While this certainly isn't something I would do every week, in a pinch this service is a winner.

I'm a lucky girl

Most women only dream about getting the four C's for Valentine's Day but I'm not most women. What? Ooooh, you're thinking those four C's. Carat? Cut? Color? Clarity? No, not in this house. These are the four C's I'm talking about....

Cake...

Cookie...

Candy (pardon the foot)...

Chocolate...

Like I said, I'm a lucky girl.

Spork, anyone?

Is it a spoon? Is it a fork? Maybe it's going through some sort of identity crisis and is stuck in the middle but I can tell you that you can't help but smile when you see a spork. The other day my 5 year old was telling me about something her classmate had brought with her lunch. "It had a spoon *and* a fork on it" she told me with amazement. I instantly got excited because as a mom I get excited when my kids learn something knew, especially when it is something as intriguing as this. Did it have a spoon on one end and a fork on the other I asked her. No, she said, they are on the same side. That's called a spork I told her with maybe a bit too much enthusiasm. Her response...."no it's not!". I spent the next few minutes trying to convince her that, yes, it *is* called a spork but I'm not sure it worked. I'll have to ask her about it in the morning. How funny that something as silly as this can spark a real debate between us (or at least as real a debate as you can have with a 5 year old). I wonder what would happen if she ever saw a Knork?

Rights of Passage

When we think of rights of passage, things like being left home alone for more than 30 minutes come to mind. Or going to the movies without your mom sitting five rows behind you or driving to the mall with your friends the day you pass your drivers test. Today, however, was a right of passage for my 36 year old self. For the first time in 5 1/2 years there is not a crib in my house. For the first time in 3 1/2 years no one is sleeping in a toddler bed. I can do away with the crib sheets, bumpers, mobiles and everything else that goes with a house that has a baby in it. My almost 3 year old is sleeping in her big girl twin bed tonight and the girls bedroom finally looks like a "girls" bedroom. It is moments like these that make me excited to imagine what the next right of passage for them and us will be.

Well this can't be good

Finding a big clump of hair under your dining room table can never be a good thing. Especially when it so obviously comes from your 5 year old daughter. I have to admit though that I didn't see the hair (or even notice that she looked different) the night she cut it off. I noticed the next morning that she had bangs which she has never had before and once I got her to admit that she had cut her hair she showed me where it was. Her story is that while she was coloring and cutting out pictures it was in her way so she just cut it off. I personally would have gone the route of a pony tail, a clip or even a twist tie but that is not the logic of a 5 year old.