Going, Going, Gone

This morning Sarah came into my room rather distressed by the fact that she could not find the tooth that had been loose the day before.  I didn't think it was that loose, but apparently it was because she lost it overnight.  I'm pretty sure she swallowed it, as she has done 2-3 times before, but she thinks maybe she took it out and put it somewhere - "oh wait, maybe I just dreamed that."  Anyway, she has now lost all eight of her front teeth (she also lost one two days after Thanksgiving) and she is only six and a half.  I'm pretty certain there are kids in her class at school that haven't lost any teeth yet and she's lost all she's going to lose until she's twleve.  I know neither one of us had anything to do with that, but I'm happy that for once she's got a leg up on her classmates and is able to do something that (right now) they can't.  She doesn't have many opportunities to beat them at anything, so it's nice that she gets a little win.

Unfortunately, the female half of the Tooth Fairy used her last $1 bills to tip the pizza delivery man tonight since she was too lazy to cook, and the male half is in Boston on a business trip, so I'm actually going to have to borrow $1 from Sarah's piggy bank to put under her pillow.  I could just give her $5, but that would just set a bad precedent and Andy would get very angry.  Just not worth it.  Because she has no tooth to leave for the Tooth Fairy, Sarah wrote her a note on a orange sticky note that says:

Dear Tooth Fairy,
I can't find my tooth, please come anyway.
Love,
Sarah

Straight and to the point.  Lucky for her the Tooth Fairy always comes, assuming she remembers.  Sometimes the Tooth Fairy comes a day late because she is so busy in other parts of the world.  As of right now, it's etched in my brain.

One other thing that's missing in Sarah's life is her curly hair.  It was long and wavy and I thought it just wasn't that curly because it was too heavy.  Right before Thanksgiving I took her to get her haircut and asked them to take four inches off, thinking it would be lighter and thus curlier.  They did, and the curl is gone.  There is a tiny bit underneath and some of her wisps are still curly, but that's about it.  When it's up in a ponytail from the back it looks totally straight.  It's still thick and beautiful, the most amazing colors, but I'm so sad to see the curls gone.  I really thought they would stay forever.  She loves that her hair is straight now and was so done with the curls.  Supposedly your hair changes every seven years and can do all sorts of crazy things.  Hopefully at some point those curls will decide to come back out.

I'm trying not to make too big a deal of it, because I don't want her defined by her curls or her hair, but I really did love them.  Probably because I've never had curly hair and would love to have it myself.  It can be a pain to brush and take care of, but it's so low maintenance otherwise.

Just two more signs that my little girl is growing up.  Now if the whining would just go by the wayside, my life would be so much more zen.

Sleep With One Eye Open

I was washing the dishes from dinner tonight while all three kids were in the office together.  They all wanted to play on the computer, which was a problem because we only have two.  Remember when it was a big deal to have two TVs and now it's not even a big deal to have two computers?  Crazy.  Anyway, Andy started yelling at Amanda to stop whatever she was doing and then he yelled some more and then Amanda got really mad and I heard someone (her) banging on the keyboard.  The next thing I know Andy was carrying Amanda out of the office and she was crying.

I decided to stay out of it since nobody was hurt and see where it went.  Andy and Sarah fight all the time and it usually ends up with Sarah crying, because honestly everything makes Sarah cry, but he rarely fights with Amanda.  So Amanda is crying and yelling at Andy and trying to go back to the office and Andy won't let her.  Eventually I convinced Amanda to come over where I am and Andy tells me that she was clicking buttons like crazy and he was worried she was going to delete things and so he took the mouse away from her and she went ballistic.  That part I had figured out.

I don't remember exactly what happened next but I told the kids it was time to go up to bed and nobody was allowed to play on my computer anymore.  Which means all three of them have to share one computer (you know, the KIDS computer), oh the injustice.  It was about then when Amanda turned to Andy and said something close to, "You are going to die in your sleep".

Andy and I looked at each other with amazement and kind of asked one another if she just threatened him, which it pretty much sounded like she did.  I'm not sure where she learned that, but it freaked Andy out just a tiny bit.  He wrapped his arms around me and asked me if Amanda was going to kill him in his sleep.

I'm pretty sure that couldn't happen, he could overtake her any day, but hopefully he has learned that he should not mess with her.  Now if only Sarah could learn some of that attitude from her we might have a little peace in this house.

Kid Quote of the Day

ME:  I'm going to eat you.  Nom, nom, nom, you taste like chicken.

AMANDA:  No, I taste like cake!

If the saying "You are what you eat" is really true, she's pretty accurate!

Warp Speed

We made it home safe and sound after a very long day of flying yesterday.  We survived the weekend (the fact that they stayed up really late everyday was buffered by the two-hour time change), I got to read an entire book and I became proficient in Plants vs. Zombies.  What more could I ask for?

The next several weeks are going to fly by.  Hanukkah starts a week from Saturday (luckily I think I have most of my shopping done, I need to take inventory some time this week while the kids are at school) and then Christmas is just a couple weeks after that.  I already got my holiday cards out because I wanted everybody to have our new address and not send our cards to the cranky people who bought our house and may or may not forward the mail.  Otherwise, that would still be looming over my head as well.

For some strange reason, I'm feeling abnormally calm about this holiday season.  I don't know if it's because we got an extra week after Thanksgiving this year or I shopped really early (but I do that every year) or that I decided we aren't going to get the kids as much this year.  I say that every year, but I think this year I've actually stuck to that.

I don't  know, we'll see.  The tree and decorations go up this weekend so maybe my attitude will change.  For right now, I'm not stressing about anything which for this time of year is really, really nice.

Let the crazy, fast, loud, hectic holidays begin!

To Grandmother's House We Go

Amanda has been asking me on a daily basis if today is the day we are going to Grandma's house.  Are we going to the airport?  Are we getting on a plane today?  Everyday I have said, "not today" and then told her when we are leaving.  Well, today is the day.

All three of the kids are so excited to go so they can see Grandma and their uncles and cousins, go to the beach, eat Grandma's yummy food and see friends who live in Florida.  They are also excited because when we are at Grandma's house during Thanksgiving they get to stay up really late and go do lots of fun things and basically come home from vacation as one big hot mess from which it takes about a week to recover.

I like going to Grandma's house for all of those reasons (except the hot mess part) and because I have built in entertainment for the kids and the pressure is completely off.  They are having so much fun with everybody else that they pretty much ignore me for most of the weekend and I get to spend a little time reading or shopping or surfing the web without anybody pulling on my pants or asking me for something.

That is one of the many things I am Thankful for.

Spinal Defects Clinic

I know I've said it before, but we have found some wonderful doctors in Colorado through Colorado Children's Hospital.  They have such a seamless network that you can talk to one doctor and the next doctor you speak to picks up exactly where you left off with the first one.  I continue to be amazed by the service and care that they provide.

Today was no exception.  This morning I took Sarah to their Spinal Defects Clinic.  This is an all-morning clinic that is set up for kids with spinal cord injuries or spina bifida.  They check you in, assign you to a room, and then one by one a large rotation of doctors and nurse practitioners comes to your room.  You get all of your appointments done at once instead of going to multiple appointments at different times on different days, and all the doctors are there in one place to discuss your case.  At one point we had at least five people watching what Sarah was doing and discussing the best course of action for her.

By the end of the morning she was tired and didn't want to talk to anybody else, but I felt like they truly had a good understanding of what was going on with her and what her needs were going forward.  I don't know that I have ever felt that confident with any of her doctors in the past.  Not that they weren't good and didn't ease my concerns, these guys just did it better.

I cannot explain how happy I am that we have found such a fabulous medical staff.  And I know that even if we were to leave Colorado sometime in the near or far future (no plans to do that right now, just saying), I am confident that we could keep coming back for our yearly visit to the Spinal Defects Clinic and continue to get exactly what we need.

When you have a child with crazy medical needs that you think nobody understands, this is huge.

Picture of the Day

Sorry it took me so long to post this picture, I was having some trouble uploading pictures from my phone to the new computer.  This is from last weekend's 1/2 marathon, within 30 minutes of us finishing.  Of course John finished almost two hours before April and me, so he looks just a little happier than we do.