Chicken in the Yard!

Today it all changes

All grown up

Little Miss Isabelle is now a Kindergartener! How did this happen?! Where did my baby girl go? Last week was her first week of Kindergarten, but it was only half days to ease them into it. And as you can see she loves it! Can that uniform be any cuter? Yes, it can actually. She has saddle shoes to go with it but isn't wearing them in that picture.

Today is also a big first, it's her actual first FULL day of Kindergarten. Like she had a lunchbox full of snacks for recess and lunch for lunchtime. What a day! I made sure to explain which was for snack and which was for lunch so she didn't eat it all at once or something. To which she replied: "Oh, I get it Daddy, this side is for snack and this side is for lunch." Yes indeed child, you do get it. You get everything and now you are going to learn even more.

And here I sit, at home, having eaten lunch all by myself. And Belle sat at school and ate lunch all by herself, or at least without me. She used to be my lunch buddy. My shopping buddy. My kick it on the couch and watch a movie buddy. My grab an ice cream at the beach buddy. I really missed her today. I can't wait to scoop her up after school and hear about all her adventures.

 

Taste butts

So I got Isabelle to try eating avocado again recently. This is something she used to love but won't eat now. So I figured let's give it another shot. And this is what Belle had to say: "I used to like to eat avocado as a baby but now my taste butts have changed and it's disgusting."

"Um, your what?"

"My taste butts."

"You mean your taste buds?"

"That's what I said, my taste butts."

"Oh ok. Good."

Our kid is growing up fast. Too fast. But I'm so glad these little glimmers of her babyhood still pop up now and then.

FOUR

Happy Birthday Isabelle! Today is your special day, we love you so!

"Can I do typing?"

There are a few things Belle likes to do all the time. One of them is typing. Usually it's typing on the computer or Katie's laptop, but this can also include Katie's phone... since it's also basically a computer. This morning Belle wanted to do typing because Katie was working on her laptop. So I had the genius idea to pull out her little kid Vtech laptop thingie that has basic word and number games and a little keyboard. I found the typing game and off she went.

The typing game involved typing the letters to the word that was displayed on the screen and as she was typing the letters she was sounding out the different letters. So the word "DOG" comes up and she pronounces "duh... duh... oh... oh... guh... guh..." and then says, "D-oh-g" and then "dog." We were impressed. Our 3 year old reads. A few words later "ZEBRA" comes up. She looks at it for a second and says: "Oh, that one is zebra." Katie and I just sort of stared at each other with shocked expressions. We figured that one must have been word recognition and not reading but still was a bit freaky.

So, yes. The answer is yes whenever Belle wants to do typing.

Happy Mother's Day Weekend!

Belle and I have been busy today getting ready for Mother's Day weekend! As you can see we made a delightful dessert and wrapped a few presents. Baking with Belle is always "fun." It's nice to do something together but also very very messy. Though she's getting better at it. We bought these special sprinkles the other day at Belle's insistence. Then she proceeded to drown each cupcake in them. Thankfully most rolled off. Of course you never can have too many sprinkles though right? Right.

We just got back from meeting Katie downtown for dinner. We went to The Yard House at LA Live which is the new shopping/dining area around Staples Center. It is quite nice and would be tons of fun for a night out with a bunch of friends. We had a delightful meal coupled with tasty brew. There was a red carpet event at the Nokia Theater right outside of the restaurant so it truly felt like a night out in LA.

So, tomorrow we plan to spend the day hanging out together. The morning will start with scrumptious waffles, apple chicken sausage, and hot coffee. The afternoon will be consumed by tidepooling in Palos Verdes followed by a picnic on the beach. Finally, we'll wrap up the night by eating a nice dinner out or cooking in, not quite sure which yet. Either will be tasty. Sunday we head out to Riverside to see our respective Moms and BBQ it up with the family.

I have to say that sounds like a jam packed weekend of food and fun. It just started and I'm loving it already, but more importantly Katie loves it too! And now it's time to consume cupcakes and open more presents. Happy Mother's Day weekend!

Our kid can spell?

Apparently Isabelle knows how to spell her name... oh and write it herself. We went on a leaf hunt the other day and after we glued them all to this giant piece of paper Belle proceeded to put her name on it. And she got all the letters right! You can see it in red crayon at the top right corner. Sure the "S" is backwards and the "L's" are spilling down the side of the page where the last "E" is hanging on for dear life, but it's all there! She then moved on to take notes next to each leaf in her normal scribble method. Thank goodness, because if she started breaking down the genus and species of each leaf I would have freaked out.

A different day she asked me to draw her a flower while at CPK, her favorite restaurant by the way. So I drew a little green flower. She then picked up the blue crayon and busted out two blue flowers copying exactly how I drew mine. I just sat there wide eyed for a few seconds. She then said: "The second flower has extra petals." I of course enthusiastically praised her flower drawing skills while in my head I'm thinking: "Extra petals!? Hell girl, when did you learn to draw flowers and why wasn't I notified!?"

Honestly, I'm with this kid all day every day and all of a sudden she pulls this stuff on me. I should see it coming, but I don't. Maybe her little brain just clicks and then BOOM! Whatever it is, it's awesome. Scary, but awesome.

Poo poo emergency!

As a parent you learn to ask your kid early and often if they have to go to the potty. You ask as they wake up in the morning, before you leave the house, at restaurants, grocery stores, museums, parks, right before they go to bed, and just about every other time of the day. You soon learn that the answer is always the same: "No." Though it's delivered in more of a: "No! Get out of my face about it, sheesh!" manner.

So today as we were strolling around Trader Joe's I didn't even bother asking whether she had to go or not. And it was about when I got the bananas in the basket that I heard the panicked cry: "I have to go potty!" Which in kid terms means "I know you ask me all the time and I say no but now I've waited too long and if you don't get me to a potty immediately you're gonna be buying me some new undies, pants, and mostly likely socks and shoes." So, being a seasoned parent, I kept my calm and steered us in the direction of the bathrooms. That's when the chant began.

"Poo poo emergency! - Poo poo emergency! - Poo poo emergency! - Poo poo emergency! - Poo poo emergency!"

I turn to locate the source of the alarm only to see my daughter following slowly behind me, stop, face one direction and shout her announcement. Then she'd take a few more steps, stop, turn the other direction and shout her announcement again. This continued until we finally reached the stockroom where the bathrooms were located.

Thankfully we made it and all was well. Though I'm not too sure Trader Joe's appreciated a little kid yelling "Poo poo emergency!" while heading into the stock room. That can't be good for business.

The wee artist

Like most kids Belle loves to draw, color, paint, play with Play-Doh, or do any sort of crafts. Kids and crafts always go together. Well, lately Belle's been doing lots of it at Preschool and at home. This little masterpiece was created on her place mat while we were all out to dinner at Mama D's. Thus the oil stains splattered throughout.

Not to say Belle is a genius or anything, but she's a genius. Notice the eyes, nose, mouth, belly button, arms, and legs. I mean, it's all there. Sure there's a torso issue, but not too shabby right? I mean, it's almost the spitting image of the "Pizza Pizza" guy from Little Caesar's. 

Lately Belle's been coming home with tons of art from school and I really need to start organizing. I feel the need to put dates on them and save them in a special folder. Something we can keep and add to as she gets older. Some feeble attempt to hang onto these precious years as our daughter rapidly grows right before our eyes. We can't stop it, but we can try to capture it. I guess that's why I keep this blog. A snapshot of Belle, what she did, how she effected our lives, and just how much we love her at this moment. Not nearly as much as I'll love her tomorrow.

Indecision

I've been feeling a bit conflicted lately. You know, like when you enter a room and don't know what to do so you just stand there and do nothing hoping something will clue you in soon so you can make a move. Mostly I've been struggling with whether I want to draw something, or write something, or animate something, or make something, or paint the back room, or wash the dishes, or update this blog. It's like being overwhelmed and underwhelmed at the same time. There are so many choices and yet none have been sexy enough to pursue, or maybe I just haven't been motivated. So, the end result is no updates, as you may have noticed. But at least I left you with a cool Karate Kid clip.

Of course this doesn't mean I haven't been up to anything. I've been up to plenty. Mostly everyday mania that comes with parenthood. Taking care of Isabelle, both of us getting used to the preschool routine, finally getting back to the gym to get some exercise, and of course keeping the house running, etc. So it's not like I've had nothing to do... maybe it's just I haven't had anything creative to do. That inner designer is screaming to be heard, and yet I'm almost scared to let him out. Maybe I've been off the job too long. Doubt sets in. Though I do some stuff now and then, so I haven't been totally idle. There were the t-shirt designs, poster designs, and other random stuff I've done for folks.

I don't know... I guess I need a personal project to focus on. Something I want to do for me, not because someone is having a contest. Finally start a project that's been on the to do list for far too long. To pour all my creative energy into for a set period of time. I need homework. Not just more housework. Time to pick a project. And I better pick one soon or else you are going to see Isabelle in a lot more of these get ups in the near future:

I call it paper bag wild thing. Although it started out just as bag boots and kind of took over from there. Belle said she didn't want to be a wild thing but then proceeded to draw a one-eyed, razor tooth, monster face on the bag so she's to blame. Maybe I'll stick with the paper bag medium for awhile. I can make a series of these costumes. It might be therapeutic.