C.C. Loses a Tooth

The toothfairy has been a huge thing in the house lately. Beignet often walks around with the two notes and the two dollars she has received from the toothfairy. So when C.C. lost a tooth, it was natural to expect that the toothfairy would come to him too.

"C.C. has to go to the vet to get his tooth pulled."
"Is the toothfairy going to come for him?"

The vet was kind enough to save the tooth. We wrote a note to the cat toothfairy asking her if we could keep the tooth so that we could continue to look at it. (Bug has already shown it to her daycare, her mom, her caseworker and our friends today). There was some discussion as to where the tooth should be placed for the toothfairy to find. The decision was to put it under my pillow since that is where C.C. sleeps at night.

The next day, the girls quickly ran into my room to check under the pillow. They were so excited to find the tooth still there with a note and cat toys for C.C. and Stubby beside it.

"Here is a toy for C.C. and Stubby since cats can't spend money. Love, The Toothfairy"

Finally, something she doesn't like

As far as activities go, Bug is really easy to please. I find that Baby B and I don't often consult Bug when making plans. I've never found an activity she hasn't liked...parks, swimming, playgrounds, bike riding, zoos, you name it.

We finally found something though. Sunday was Museum Day in Austin--a chance to tour several (or in our case, two) museums for free. Most museums have special activities for the kids. Our first stop was the Texas Memorial Museum, aka The Dinosaur Museum. I'd been here with Sass, but not with these two. Walking in the front door, we saw the skeleton of a flying dino suspended from the ceiling. It was very large. Someone's eyes were VERY large. Grabbing my leg and yanking me toward the door, Bug said: I NOT like this. We go home now??

So dino bones are not at the top of her list. Oddly enough though, at our next stop at the LBJ museum--yep, a display of all things presidential and LBJ-ish, B and I heard: We stay here more? We come back 'nother time? Please?

Huh?

Baby Pictures

"I need a baby picture for my project" at afterschool care. Baby B is excited about her "All About Me" project. "Can you give me one?"

um....we don't really have any baby pictures of you.

"Well, why not?"

They are with your other mom (yes, that is how it comes out of her mouth, so that is how it comes out of mine).

"Well, what can I bring then?"

Good question. So I thought on it and thought of three choices: draw a baby picture, ask a friend for a picture of her daughter that might--on first glance--resemble B, or find a baby picture online.

Google "black baby girl" and see what you come up with.

We ended up doing all three things. B and her therapist drew a cute baby picture, but because it was on an 11x14 piece of paper, it wouldn't work. Our friend emailed us several pictures of her daughter as a baby, but the printer wouldn't cooperate with the photoshop program. Last night, I relied on Google to save us.

Baby B was putting her pictures in her backpack and looked at them one last time. "I'm gonna show these to my teacher and tell her that this is what I looked like when I was a baby. I bet I was cute like this. Do you think so?"

Absolutely. At least that cute.

Through the Looking Glass

I had an unusual opportunity today. It was presented through a changed schedule, a rainy day and a backed-up highway. Bug and I were 25 minutes late to her weekly visit with her mom. After being escorted back to where Mom and Baby Brother were playing, I said my good-bye and started down the hall. Bug's caseworker popped out of the observation area, where she can watch and hear everything during the session through a one way mirror, and said: Do you want to watch?

She asked this, I guess, because we have had many o' discussions about how mom interacts with Bug. CPS has assured me that, despite how this story ever began, there is a Mom in here that adores her child, interacts with her appropriately, and appears to just flat out love being Ladybug's mom.

Sure enough, I watched for 30 minutes as Bug and her mom played, sang (rap songs!), laughed, ate junk food, gave kisses, bonked heads, held the baby...Mom clearly adores Bug. She laughed at her and with her and was 99% attentive to her kids the entire time. Yaay for a young mother figuring it out!

The transition home is coming soon. She'll leave and Beignet and I will still be devastated. But it's helpful to know that she's going somewhere where she is adored just as much as she is here.

Tantrum like you know how, Baby Girl

If you spend an hour in my house, you are bound to hear something to the effect of: Uh-oh. You are throwing a fit. Fits are ok but they have to be thrown in the other room. Fits hurt our ears.

Ladybug knows this drill VERY well and she hates it VERY much. By now, when I get to the 2nd sentence in my monologue, she is screaming: No! No! I NOT throw a fit! while walking down the hallway to her room.

Tonight the usual trigger happened. Beignet was first in the tub and Bug was MAD. "Uh-oh, you are hurting our--" "NO NO NO!!!" and off she went.

Minutes later, she is wailing, absolutely WAILING from her room: I done cryin' Mommy. I done cryin'!!

Hmm, really? You could have fooled me. Tantrum perfected.

Flattery Gets You Nowhere, Kid

Bug and I were getting ready to meet Beignet and friends at the pool today. I seem to have worn out my two favorite swimsuits this year. I dug into the bottom of my drawer and pulled out a speedo from years ago.

Mocking Bug's tendency to put on something (fake hat, fake tail, real clothing, etc.) and fish for a compliment, I went out to the living room and said: Like my bootiful swimsuit?

She looked. Her mouth hung open. Her eyes were so sparkly and excited. And then that darn cute girl exclaimed: (gasp!) You look like SHAMU, Tammy!

Luckily, I know that, in her eyes, looking like Shamu is a great, great thing.

All Hail King Robert

There was a guest at story hour last week. A big fancy frog puppet named King Robert. King Robert let the kids pet his "favorite spot" (his arm) and blew kisses. Bug was too scared to touch King Robert, but you'd think he was her best friend as much as she spoke of him all week. "We see King Robert li-berry?" "Bug not touch King Robert." (I should add here that you really need to KNOW King Robert's name to know that that is what she is saying.)

King Robert made another appearance tonight. Beignet was the first to give him a pet. Bug waited and waited to be called up. I was sure she'd back out at the last minute, hand waving and nonono-ing. She didn't though. She got up, petted King Robert's leg (oops, not his favorite spot) and beamed all the way back to my lap.

"I pet King Robert this day. Not last night, right Tammy? Today? I pet him today! King Robert love Ladybug!"

Now we all have King Robert stamps on our hands. A couple of us, I think, will avoid washing the back of our hands for a while. Long live King Robert!