Word

It seems that we have an explosion of language happening here in Jajville. Every day Thumbelina has a new word that she'll say all day long. The other day, it was toilet. Don't ask me why. She would just say toilet. And then she'd yell, 'Mommy! Toyet!' And then she'd run to flush the toilet, all the while saying toilet. We've also had sauye (sorry), cheek, cayon (crayon), and I don't remember what all else this week.

AND last night she said her first 3-word sentence - 'Juice fall down'. How cute is that! I'm not sure if the juice was a legitimate drop or if she threw it on the floor. This morning she yelled at Tigger, 'ME do!' She hasn't figured out the pronoun I yet (not the part about it being a pronoun, just that it's a word to refer to oneself instead of me), because every time she hears the word I in a sentence, she goes around and touches everybody's eyes, while saying 'Eye!' Again, very cute.

So yesterday our social worker was over for her last visit. It was kind of sad, in a way, that this was our last visit because it's been a really positive experience for us in every way. Our social worker (SW thusly hereafter) was quite impressed with all the tricks of our Little Miss, and our Little Miss put on a fine show for her, despite only sleeping maybe 45 minutes for her happy nappy. She sang, she coloured, she bossed her brothers, she hung off the edge of the peninsula and swung while saying 'Weeee'... she bossed her brothers, she counted and played Seek! Hide!, she bossed her brothers ... it was a fun time. Really.

Her first recommendation was to slowly adjust Thumbelina to sleeping in her own bedroom instead of the living room (which is on the agenda soonish rather than laterish), and to get a 42" plasma TV to mount on her wall so that she'll have the noise throughout the night ... do we have an awesome SW or what! Actually she only said that for Zoomer's benefit. He just looked at her with one eyebrow raised and couldn't quite figure out if she was serious or not. I'm going to start looking for a TV/VCR combo to put in her bedroom. I know. I know! I've always been against TV's in kids bedrooms, and I was horrifed when I saw pink TV's and VCR's in the toy section of Wal Mart a few years back. Now I'm thinking it was a desperate adoptive parent who came up with that brilliant idea.

And her second recommendation was to put Thumbelina into some sort of program or activity with other children where she can learn that she's not Queen Bee and she can't go around bossing everybody. Because she is a smidge bossy. And on more than one occassion, our SW said, 'Boy, she just rules the house, doesn't she.' Not that we give in to all her demands ... but she's a girl who knows what she wants and doesn't mind telling you in no uncertain terms.

Word.

New Help

My assistant called in sick today, so the temp agency that we use sent over someone new for today. I think we'll keep her.

She's been doing a fine job, even if her work attire isn't 'professional'...

I think she likes her new job, too!
So Shaggy mentioned to me on Tuesday - 2 days ago Tuesday - that he needed to do a demonstration speech for today. Today. And he didn't know what he wanted to do, other than something 'Scientific'. I scoured the internet and came up with 3 options for him - dancing raisins, fake blood, or slime. He thought the dancing raisins were cool, but didn't think he'd be able to talk for 3-5 minutes about it. He really wanted to do the fake blood, but ours was a hideous mess that looked nothing like blood, so then he was pretty excited about the slime.

Our first experiment with the slime turned out pretty well, except it used up the glue that I had, so Thumbelina and I had to go shopping yesterday to buy more glue. When Shaggy came home from school yesterday, he immediately made another batch of slime...without my knowledge...with what little of the old glue was left. This batch turned out better than the first batch. So after supper, he wanted me to sit and watch him so he could practice in front of an audience. It was disastrous. It didn't turn out at all and was just a hard clump of solidified glue in a bowl of green liquid. I bought a different brand of glue, so I promised Shaggy that I'd buy him more glue before today. He was okay with that and told Mr. Happy that it was a pretty good speech until it all went horribly wrong at the end.

So back to Wal Mart I went in search of glue. I found the same brand as the first bottle he used, so hopefully his speech went okay today without his experiment going horribly wrong.

Tigger's speech about how to make a banana split went very well, thank you for asking. But we all knew it would, right? Nobody quite has the gift of gab like Tigger.

Switching gears, let's talk about chicken pox once again. Remember how I said that Thumbelina's little friend didn't actually have the chicken pox and it was just a false alarm? Well, it still is a false alarm. However, a second kid in Tigger's class is off school with the pox. And the two siblings of the first kid who contracted the virus are now both off school with the pox as well. And because I'm being all paranoid about missing our playdate on Saturday, I noticed a red spot on Thumbelina's belly when I was changing her diaper for happy nappy time (which she is rebelling against).

And because my daughter is rebelling at the moment, I have not been able to dust or wash the kitchen floor...because she still sleeps in the living room and the living room is right off of the dining room, which is right off of the kitchen. Not a big deal, except that our social worker is coming over this afternoon for our 12 months post-placement visit. Do you think she'll notice the dried ketchup on the floor??

Out of the Loop

So my much younger cousin, who turns 19 this summer, has recently acquired a tattoo. He has pictures of it posted on his Facebook page and one of his friends left a comment. And I quote, "Sick Tat". What on earth does that mean??? When I was a kid, we called things righteous, and rad. And we thought we were uber-cool when we said, "no guff" (see, look at me being all hip with the uber talk). But sick tat? I don't get it.

I think I'll go put some moisturizer on my old lady hands now.

Tids & Bits

I have nothing of substance to say. Be warned.

• My hands look old. It's true. I'm starting to get the old-lady bumpy vein look.
• The other day, somebody asked me if I was 40. Forty. 40. No, I'm not. I'm younger, in case you were wondering. I guess my old-lady hands are telling a different story.
• Mr. Happy won 2 tickets to see a Toronto Raptors game (it was a door prize at a dinner meeting he went to). Zoomer was going to go with him but has since gotten himself grounded, so then I thought it would be a nice father/son thing for Mr. Happy to do with Shaggy.
• Is it selfish of me to want to go on a date with Mr. Happy, even though I'm not interested in basketball, instead of Shaggy doing the father/son thing?
• But then we'd need to find a babysitter for the kids.
• Tigger broke his glasses. Again.
• I don't trust people who smile at me. I think they have a hidden agenda. Or that they're laughing at me.
• My basement is mostly cleaned out, except for a somewhat large desk. Next on the agenda is stripping. Wallpaper. Get your mind out of the gutter.
• Whoever inveted wallpaper should be hung by their toenails and publicly flogged.
• Except for the modern stuff, because that's pretty cool.
• It's a pain where the sun doesn't shine to take off the walls.
• Yesterday Mr. Happy asked me how come we have so much laundry. We have 4 kids (I just typed in 34 and had to change it - some days it feels like 34, especially when I'm doing laundry).
• I think it's safe to say that Thumbelina is now starting the Terrible Two's. They're not all that terrible, especially compared to Shaggy's Terrible Two's...but she sure can be disagreeable by times. And bossy. And whiney. But she's still cute.
• There are no chicken pox on our horizon. Thumbelina's little friend that she plays with in the nursery didn't actually have them, it was a false alarm.
• Unless, of course, Thumbelina or Tigger break out this week with them, but then I'll be really bummed because we are going to a playdate with our travel group on Saturday.
• Zoomer graduates from Grade 8 this year. Grade 8. Soon he'll be able to drive legally.

I can't really think of anything else to say, so I will end my post now.

Yay For Sweater Weather!

And new swings!

Just Junk

So it's Friday. The boys have just left for school and my goal is to make it through the day with my sanity intact. Why, you ask? Because it's raining, I'm tired, and we've been living with Miss Crabby Von Crabberstein for the last week. In all fairness to her, she has been exposed to chicken pox - her little friend that she plays with in the church nursery broke out with the spots yesterday. So maybe she already has the virus working it's magic inside her little body, making her miserable.

And I think it's probably time to retire the highchair. Our beloved highchair is now a hated contraption of belts and trays. The wailing and the thrashing that took place yesterday at lunch as I tried to strap Miss Von Crabberstein into it...I tell you it just wasn't worth the effort. I did get a big hug as she was gasping for breath once she realized she would not be subjugated to that form of torture.

Tigger has to give a speech in his class next week. A demonstration speech, no less. Tigger has no talents when it comes to anything involving manual dexterity...I'm not being mean, I'm just stating the obvious. He was born at 24 weeks and weighed a whopping total of 734 grams (which is 1 lb 10 oz).

I'll have to scan the pictures we have of him wearing Mr. Happy's wedding ring on his little foot. So as a result of Tigger's prematurity, his fine motor skills are somewhat lacking. And I've been trying to think of an easy enough demonstration for him to give his speech on, and then as I was looking at the bananas on my counter turning all brown and gross, it hit me. A banana split! Guess what we're having for dessert tonight...and Saturday...and Sunday! Tigger's got the whole weekend to practice.

And speaking of Tigger. There's a kid in his class who has the chicken pox - it's an epidemic, I tell you - and since Tigger has not yet had them, he is convinced he is sick to the point where he is even trying to force himself to puke. My poor little hypochondriac. There are no spots yet and no fevers yet, so he's off to school today.

And I'm in the mood to get rid of all the junk in my basement. I'm in the mood to have a giant dumpster come to my house so that I can shovel everything into a heap and toss it all in.

I'm also in the mood to go back to bed.

Untitled

I seem to be in a bit of a blogging slump. Not to worry, I'll get my groove back soon enough and then you'll all be wishing I'd just shut-up for a bit. It's okay, I'm not offended. So I'll just leave you with some pictures of the Princess.





China must be so proud!