Teaching Lila to Text

I turned my old iphone on for Lila so I can keep in touch with her while she’s with her dad. Part of the process is teaching her to text message. It strikes me – when do we begin to incorporate our vernacular shorthand into our everyday language? Lila text back to me, “don’t call me LOL! my name is Lila!”. LOL!!!!

Kid Creativity

My Lila, “Kids can be creative, just like humans.” I knew she was different!!!!

Glitter Pens – Lila’s way of laying claim to things in the fridge

Glitter Pens – Lila’s way of laying claim to things in the fridge, originally uploaded by jezmynne.

Dale buys Gatorade for his lunches, and when I went to pack Lila and I’s lunch this morning, I saw this. Apparently she wants his pink Gatorade and has laid a claim as such with a glitter glue pen.

Miss7 and Money

So about a month ago I see my daughter wandering up and down the street with a bucket full of things talking to people and ringing doorbells.  Yes, I felt compelled to investigate.

Mommy:  “Lila, what are you doing?”

Lila: “I’m selling things, Mommy.  I want some money.”

Mommy: “What?!?  What are you selling? (looks in bucket, sees a half chewed gum pack, dead glow in the dark sticks, a half used craft project) And why do you want money?  You cant pander to the locals!  That’s not allowed here!”

Lila:  “I just want money.  I can sell these things.”

Mommy:  “No, you cant.  There’s a No Solicitation rule for this park.  Besides, if you want money I’ll give you chores and you can earn money.”

Lila:  “Oh, I dont want to work, Mommy.  I just want money.”

Sigh.  However, I make her come in the house, and we develop a chore list.  It’s pretty easy, mostly involving her doing her reading and homework, picking up her things, giving the cats food and water, putting various stages of laundry in its appropriate spot – that stuff.  She eagerly went about filling in her excel spreadsheet with star stickers as she acheived her chores, and has followed through over the last month.  Between the 12 bucks she earned (three dollars a week) and the six pounds of change she’s managed to accumulate we went shopping at Target with her 21 dollars.  It was way fun to watch her choose what to spend her money on.

She bought:
1.  A Hello Kitty doll from the dollar bin
2.  A bendy metal velvet flower thing from the dollar bin
3.  Some gel cling stickers from the dollar bin
4.  A butterfly wallet to keep her money in (this was the most fun to watch – “What?  That one is ten dollars!?!? I’m not going to spend ten dollars on a wallet!  Target has lost their mind!  Where’s the cheaper ones?”)
5.  The crappy new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory dvd

Oh, and that bucket?  I later found it out at the end of the driveway full of that half used crap with a sign that read, “Take one, leave a dollar.”

Got Milk?

When the hell did they start serving school milk in BAGS?

The “Cat” Toy

For those of you who know me, you know I’m fairly odd. So of course I dont have a normal child, no no. That would be too, well, odd, to have a normal child who would then think her mother is strange.

So let me give you some background. A few weeks ago I bought this 3 dollar cat toy that consists of some nylon fabric, some dangly thing, holes on all sides except one, and a catnip scent. Did the cats play with in? No. They sniffed in distain and went back to fulfilling their goal of becoming a LOL cat. Lila, however, loves this thing. She’ll wear it around the house, her head sticking out of one hole, her arms out of others, and her legs out the bottom. She calls it her ‘Robot Clothes.’

This morning, I go to wake her and found this – yes, she is sleeping in the cat toy.

Shrugalicious!

I made this cute little shrug for Lila not too long ago from this pattern. I poked along at it, taking 2 weeks. Bad, Mommy! She’d near grown out of it between the time I took the measurements to the time she put it on. Sigh.

cute, tho! Baby Poo Poo (the younger cousin) will love it, and soon get it. =p

An Indication That The Child Is Feeling Better

Mommy leaves the room

Child begins to jump on her mini trampoline

Mommy returns

“What? There is no jumping on the trampoline! Sick children do not jump on the trampoline! Sick children lie quietly on the couch under blankets, drinking fluids and letting their little bodies rest and recover from their colds! You have a fever. Where are your socks? It’s too cold for no socks! Locate your socks! Return to the couch! This is not a Fun Day, this is a Sick Day!”

Child stamps, flails limbs about and wails

“You never let me have any fun!!!!”

Child finds socks and returns to the couch, pulling its knees up to its chest, crossing its arms, protruding its lower lip from its face, and glowers at Mommy

Yea, she’ll be just fine : )

Yea, I know… “Where You Been?”

This time of year is always full o sparse postings as I’m busy getting things made for xmas gifts. Luckily, my fam always gets together AFTER xmas, so I get a few days of extra Hooker time, which is nice.

Work’s been crazy busy – I’ve been getting rid of the many flavors of Rats (those pesky buggy things that always pop up and multiply like rabbits that arent super important but must be taken care of nonetheless) this week, as well as catching up and keeping up before my lovely 10 day break from work. Yaay, xmas. : )

Lila is such a good girl. I attended an assembly last week at her school where she received a merit award for reading. What a good girl! I am so proud of her. : )

I got a new phone… an iphone, if you can believe that, which rounded out my istuff quite nicely. It’s a glorious little toy that everyone loves to play with. The best part – work is going to reimburse me for it since I use it for text, IM, and phone contact with my peeps who need library stuff. Even Lila loves the little thing and runs around the house snapping pics like crazy. Here’s some of my Lila iFavs:

And my Favoritest of all…

Oh yea, speaking of iStuff, you *so* have to check out the The 2007 Holiday Guide To iCr@p

Been really busy pumping out hat n scarf sets. Like this one, for my niece. I figure it’s safe to post it here, cuz she is 3 and definitely doesnt read my blog. =P

Tattooed Lila

So….

Apparently, *THIS* is what happens when you leave your child unsupervised with the temporary tattoos she got last night in her Halloween goody bag….

When I asked her about her reasoning for putting it there, by her mouth, on her face, she replied, “I wanted everyone to see it, Mommy.” Yea, you sure covered that base, Lila!

Note to Self – stuporvise the child/temporary tattooing application….

Bubbles

Few things are sweeter than watching your lovely child chase bubbles in the yard….

Fired!

I got fired today. *lol*

It was not a good morning, not by any means. My little one was sleeping in, and pushing our time table into the danger zone, so I go in and try to gently wake her. She, my happy creature, buries her head under the covers and ignores me. This is not a good sign.

I finally rouse her and we sit down at the breakfast table over oatmeal.

(child glares)

“Mommy, I didnt want oatmeal! I wanted waffles! How could you give me oatmeal?”

“Well, Lila, I thought you could use a little variety, and besides, you like oatmeal. It’s peach.”

“Well… not this orange kind! I dont like orange!” (mind, this is the exact same peach oatmeal we’ve been eating successfully for years)

“Okay, I’m sorry. However, it is too late now to make a new breakfast (Mommy glancing nervously at the clock, as we are now officially 5 minutes over schedule). I suggest you eat what you’ve got. I will make you waffles next time.”

(child takes bite.)

“AAAUGH, Mommy! This is too hot!!!” Um, have I mentioned that it’s been sitting for nearly 15 minutes as I wake the child, then proceed to argue with the child for the remaining 10?

“Really? Interesting. Well, tell you what. You go get dressed and I will put this in a tupperware for you to take to daycare.” We then ‘discuss’ this for 3 more minutes until the child finally stamps away, waiving its limbs and carrying on about not liking to eat breakfast at daycare.

5 mins later -

“Lila, how would you like your hair brushed today? A ponytail? Braids?”

“I cant decide, Mommy! You decide for me. You pick.” I then proceed to brush her hair and pull her bangs out of her face, pinning them with a bobby pin. I brush the rest. It looks really lovely.

“What is this? Mommy, this is awful! This is horrible! Why didnt you do a pony tail? Or braids?”

“Well, you said it was my pick. Get your shoes.”

“But Mommy, my hair is ugly and I hate it! It’s awful!”

“Okay, then fix it at school. We dont have time now. GET YOUR SHOES, PLEASE!”

“But Mommy -”

“GET YOUR SHOES ON THEY’RE RIGHT THERE BY THE COUCH NOW OR YOU WONT GO TO SCHOOL WITH SHOES!! NOW NOW NOW!!!”

(child bursts into tears, gets shoes, and finally makes it to the car)

“Mommy! You were supposed to do my hair in a way I liked it! Not like this! A pony tail, or braids!”

“Lila, you did say it was my choice. So, I chose. I love your hair and I think it’s beautiful. If you dont like it, have a teacher re-do it for you at school.”

“Mommy, it’s not what I want!”

“Well, you said it was what *I* wanted! So I picked it, and I like it! If you wanted just a pony tail or braids, you should have said something. You need to work on your communication skills, Lila.”

“That’s it! You’re fired!”

(Mommy laughs hysterically, enraging the child)

“YOU’RE FIRED, FIRED, FIRED!!! YOU’RE FIRED!!!! AAAUUGGGHHH!!!!!!”

Daniel suggests I unionize so I can strike if I’m unhappy with conditions. : )

Catchin’ Up

been busy… work was crazy with stuff after xmas break, and then i’ve had a pretty nasty cold distrubuted by some beloved member of the household. but, today is a rare luxury – Lila is with the Luceros and Daniel is working. yup, i have a day of quiet all to myself. : ) and Daniel was soooo quiet this morning, i slept till 10. wow!

so i’m tired of Pogo for the time being and relatively caught up on my crochet and email, so i think i’ll catch up on post i’ve been meaning to do.

of course i crocheted gifts for the family. : ) I made Gramma a nice lap ‘ghan/shawl out of Bernat’s Galaxy, in Saturn. It was hateful yarn to crochet with as it got all tangled up in its gobs of fiber that makes it nubby boulce. but, the shawl turned out pretty nice and very warm.

I made a plain hat n scarf set for my Dad out of TCL Amore in Navy, and a doily for Mom. I was just kinda messing around with pineapples, and the doily started to bowl, so I ran with it. it would be perfect for holding potpouri or under a bowl or vase, and i think it turned out pretty cool.

we also took a marvelous trip to Salt Lake to visit with the fam; everyone was there as Gramma, Dad, and StepMom drove up from Albuquerque. it’s cold there and Lila needed a hat and scarf. I whipped one up in record time on xmas day out of Moda Dea Wild in Hot Tamale and Aunt Lydia’s size 10 cotton in Red. It’s a very interesting combination and made for a sturdy, warm, and heavy combination. We’ve already lost the hat (dammit!), but i’m hoping it will turn up at Mom’s somewhere. Turned out really cute, though, and Lila was so excited to open it.

we all had a great time hanging out with the fam and Lila really came out of her shell. : )

Before:

After: