Handwritten lunch note

Now that Astrid can read at 5 years old, I'm sending her off to 1st grade with a handwritten note in her lunchbag. Today she got her 1st one & asked me to keep it up. :)

Astrid is a gift

I told my daughter tonight that she's a gift. A gift to the world & a gift to her Mama. She's an enduring source of happiness in my life.

I want her to know that and to be full of unconditional love always.

Astrid is learning to spell & read

"Papa? How do you spell Dragon Tales ?"

U. shared with me tonight that Astrid was being clever, asking him how to spell Dragon Tales.
"I know she wanted the spelling so she would look it up on the iPad. She's sneaky like that & I love it."

Not bad for a 5 year old.

Silent Night (bedtime lullaby)

I sang to Astrid every night at bedtime when she was a baby. Still at 5 years old I sing to her to ease her into the sleep transition when I see she needs it, or just to mix it up so it's not just a book & bed. She winds down, feels nice & cozy, and most of all loved.

Tonight after singing "Silent Night" to her she said:
"Mama you sing so beautiful when you do that one."

Oh, thank you. Good night sweetheart. Sweet dreams...of rainbows & butterflies.
Mama loves you.

Deep thoughts by a 5 year old

After dinner tonight Astrid announced that she no longer wanted to be a mom & here is the conversation that ensued:

Astrid: I changed my mind; I don't want to be a mom.
Me: How come?
Astrid: I want to be a Veterinarian instead.
Me: You can be a mom & a Veterinarian.
Astrid: Are you sure?
Me: Yes, you can be both. And I definitely want grand kids.
Astrid: (whispering into my ear like it's a secret...) Are there still mans (men) in the world who aren't married yet?
Me: (laughing) Yes, of course. You're already thinking about that? You're only 5 years old. You shouldn't be worrying about available men in the world yet.
Astrid: (big mischievous smile)

And this is just a month after she announced that Elmo (on Sesame Street) is for babies, claiming she's a big girl now. I couldn't believe at 5 she's already outgrown Sesame Street. And now the mature conversation above. What's next?

Happy Mother's Day 2010!

The first thing Astrid (5 yrs old) said when she woke up this morning was, "Happy Mother's Day Mama. Do you know what I wish for? I wish I was a mom today."

I guess it's all the presents, hugs, kisses & attention us moms get on this day.

Forever grateful I'm surrounded by my loving, little nuclear family. Mother's Day for me, now that I'm a mom, is really about enjoying the day with my family.

U. reserved a Mother's Day brunch for us and afterward I'm being treated to a massage. It's a good day.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers of the world.

I'm done! (aka please come wipe my butt)

I have to jot this down, as one day Astrid will stop shouting this from the bathroom, and I'll have completely forgotten all about this sitcom situation with the little one.

Before Astrid goes to the bathroom she will tell U. & I that she is going pee and/or poop and then says she will tell us when she's ready. After a few minutes we hear "I'm done!" shouted from the bathroom. Meaning - Mama/Papa come wipe me!

Sometimes it's a false alarm and as soon as we rush to the bathroom we're met with "I mean I'm not done yet!" or "Just kidding!"

It's classic stuff. Sometimes U. & I will be eating dinner, or right in the middle of something when we hear "I'm done!" being shouted from the bathroom and we'll both look at each other - no words are exchanged - and one of us will say, "I'll go."

U. asked me by what age do kid's wipe themselves. I have yet to google this. Astrid has started wiping herself at school, but when she's at home she prefers Mama & Papa wipe her (and if it's #2 we prefer it as well.) But just like the diaper stage, it will be nice when the wiping stage ends, and then we're off to yet another stage.

Awww...parenthood.

Cat has 2 T's?

Tonight Astrid (aka my 4 yr old spelling bee queen) was adamant that the word "cat" has two T's. I heard her arguing with her dad and getting so frustrated that she came upstairs to tell me Papa was not listening to her.

I got her to explain to me what she was saying and then of course agreed with U. that "cat" has only 1 T. But my role as mom (aka Sherlock Holmes) means that I must not rule anything out, especially if Astrid is so adamant about being right - experience has shown there's either a misunderstanding or some truth to what she's saying. That means not ruling out that cat has two T's.

So she said, " Yes! I'll show you!" And I was happy that she's at an age where she can show me exactly what she's talking about. Rather than having a tantrum she can explain it to me in a different way to make me understand what she's trying to say.

So Astrid went to get her little kid laptop, that has words and letter games. The word she pointed out was "kitten". Yep, it has two T's.

All in a day's work

Every morning is hectic getting a preschooler ready for school (and myself ready for work), but especially this morning.

Never mind that I had reminded her 10 times at least to be ready, that I had an early morning meeting at the office to attend. And as I was getting ready in the bathroom, Astrid got into the diaper rash cream. I spotted her running to the downstairs bathroom with 2 very white hands and white stains all over her sweater. When I asked what she was doing she shouted, "Nothing!" I could smell the Desitin. I think she was trying to play with it with one of her dolls as she was telling the doll to go poop in the toilet just before.

Then, just as we were putting on our shoes & getting ready to leave the house, Astrid announced that she couldn't find the Valentine's Day card she made for her teacher Ms. Parima.

So as I watch my 4 (almost 5) year old burst into tears and refuse to leave the house without the card, my heart is racing because I know I'm going to be late for my meeting, and I'm weighing that with Astrid's preschool being closed Friday and Monday for President's Day - so if we were to bring the card on Tuesday, Valentine's Day will have passed. Plus my kid put all that work into making her teacher a beautiful card. So I made a split second Executive decision...

"Okay Astrid - let's go to school and after my meeting I will pick you up for lunch and we can come home, look for the card, have lunch together, and then you can give the card to Ms. Parima."

It worked. My kid happily agreed through her tears.

I had 3 back to back meetings this morning and when I looked at my watch it was 11:40, so I made a mad dash to Astrid's preschool to pick her up. We're at home now and as I was helping her look...she found the card! YAY!

Now lunch with my daughter and then a mad dash back to the office to finish a few projects before my evening appointment.

All in a day's work...

Kid's Yoga Class

A few weeks ago Astrid started taking an hour long kid's Yoga class every Sunday.

I've been practicing Yoga for a few years and Astrid likes to stretch with me "Let's do Yoga together mom!". And she'd do "downward dog" on her own. We had tried another kid's Yoga class (Family Yoga at the Y) where adults participated too, but there was very little Yoga being taught and more just running around and was a bit chaotic. We didn't go back. But this new class really teaches Yoga to the kids - the words as well as the poses, and it's for kid's only which is great.

Astrid at 4 1/2 is the youngest kid in the class but she holds her own - by listening to the instructor, following instructions and just soaking it all up like a sponge.

After last week's class she excitedly told me she learned "Namaste" today, and showed me how she did the "tree pose". So cute! And she learned a new mantra - "I am calm. I am at peace. I am focused."

She loves it and I'm happy she's being introduced to something she can do her entire life.

(We also signed her up for Karate classes on Saturdays. More to come on that. And she is continuing to take a Musical Theatre "Pop Star" class during the week.)

Birthday all year long

Astrid has been talking about & planing her birthday constantly since her last one in April. She talks about where it's going to be, creates her list of invitees, and all the details. At first she didn't understand why everyday couldn't be her birthday. I tried to explain to her it's because a birthday celebrates the one day you were born & everyone has just 1 birthday which is celebrated once each year.

I've never seen any kid so obsessed about having a birthday party. I can understand after the birthday party being excited and wanted to talk about it. Or when your birthday gets close to want to start planning. But she has been planning her next birthday the day after her birthday and it has continued throughout an entire year.

"What are we going to do for my next birthday mom? Who can we invite? What kind of birthday cake should I get?"

It's kind of sweet in that I know we've created a very special day for her that she loves & gets excited talking about all year long. And looks forward to all year long. All her friends can come, they play, have cake, decorations just for her party, and everyone sings happy birthday to her. I even come to the school with cupcakes so her class can sing happy birthday & celebrate with her. And sometimes when her actual birthday falls on weekday, U. & I take her out to a restaurant for dinner.

All of this constant birthday chatter has made me look forward to the day too esp. when the date gets closer, and keeps me on my toes thinking about all the details...place, theme, goodie bags, cake, balloons, games, food, face painting.

For Astrid's 1st birthday we had a traditional Korean 1st birthday at our house & Astrid, myself & my mom were dressed in Korean Hamboks (traditional Korean dresses).

Birthday #2 - We celebrated her birthday at home with the family. Astrid & I baked a bran muffin in birthday cupcake wrappers & she got to blow out her candle and eat her muffin. U. surprised Astrid by blowing up a bunch of balloons to fill up the upstairs room just for her.

Birthday #3 - We had her birthday party at Peekaboo Playland (indoor & outdoor playground) & the theme was the circus. So much fun playing in the bouncy house with slide, dress up & coordinator to setup & cleanup.

Birthday #4 - We had her birthday party at Amy's Playground (indoor playground) & the theme was Hello Kitty. The kids had a blast running around and playing & we had a face painter there who painted a Hello Kitty on Astrid's cheek. This time I dressed Astrid in Hello Kitty socks & tiara.

Birthday #5 - Coming up in April - at the new Peekaboo Playland location on Colorado Blvd. in Eagle Rock. www.peekabooplayland.com. Theme will be butterflies.

So now her birthday is coming up in a little over 2 months - and this year I've already made all the arrangements. Astrid wants to have it at Peekaboo Playland, and since they moved to their new location it'll be extra fun for her. Same setup, but new location with more things to do.

I decided that this year I would rather pay a little more and have Peekaboo Playland take care of the goodie bags for the children, print up invitation flyers for me (rather than having to hand write them out for all her classmates in preschool), provide the plates (real plates with lady bug, monkey, elephants on them that they wash afterwards - more green earth friendly), utensils, tablecloths, food, juice & balloons. And again this year we are going to have face painting. New this year will be musical chairs, limbo & parachute games. I paid for an extra hour (3 hours total) since Astrid is a little older now & the kids need more time to play.

The only thing I need to do is buy the cake (and buy drinks for the adults). We went to our local bakery in Eagle Rock (Ruby's bakery) and picked out a cake - One with a rainbow & butterflies. Very whimsical & kid appropriate (without Disney commercial junk). So the theme this year will be "butterflies". I even picked out some really cool, big mylar butterfly balloons from Balloon Emporium.

When I tried to place my cake order at the bakery & put down a deposit - the lady behind the counter looked at me and chuckled and said it was WAY too early.

My kid is rubbing off on me! But at least we're all set & pretty much all the details are taken care of and my kid will have another great birthday this year. The most important thing is that she's surrounded by her friends and family who love & adore her.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Today Astrid was telling me what she wanted to be when she grows up.

Astrid: "I want to be a Yoga teacher, a classroom teacher, and a mom."
Me: "What happened to wanting to be a Veterinarian?"
Astrid: "Oh yeah. That too."

Martin Luther King Day (from a 4 yr old's perspective)

Astrid: "Is today Martin Luther Day?"
Me: "Yes, it's Martin Luther King Day."
Astrid: "Is today his birthday?"
Me: "I don't think so. It's just a day to celebrate him & his life."
Astrid: "He says - No fighting, no hitting, we all need to get along with each other - right Mom?"
Me: "Yes, that's right. And everyone should be treated fairly & equally."

I could tell she's been learning of MLK in preschool. A pretty good way to explain his belief in non-violent protests by explaining it to preschoolers as "no fighting & no hitting", and civil rights as "getting along with each other".