The Best Part of the Day

One of the questions I ask Angelica daily, as part of our "end of the day" routine is, "What was the best part of your day?" Only, I don't always save it for the end of the day. Sometimes, I ask it throughout the day, like, "What's been the best part of your day so far?"

I find that, no matter what we've done during the day, whatever we're doing right then is the best part of the day.

Example: We had just come back from one of her friend's birthday parties -- which was amazing! An hour and a half of bouncy house fun followed by cake and ice cream! We got home, and went outside to blow bubbles, and during a moment to breathe, I ask, "What's been the best part of your day so far?"

"Blowing bubbles with Mommy!" she replies.

Later this evening, after going to the grocery store and having dinner, we headed to the park for some playtime.

After the park, we stopped for ice cream, and I asked her what was her favorite part of the day.

"Eating ice cream!" she replies.

Then, as I'm rubbing her back after reading bedtime stories, I ask her what her favorite thing was about the day.

"Snuggling with mommy," she replies.

I feel like there's a lesson to be learned there. Four year olds have such a zest for life that whatever they're doing at any given time is the best thing ever. When do we lose that? What if we still had the mindset that right now is the best part of our day?

Wow.

So...guys and girls reading this blog...

We just printed Angelica's kindergarten registration paperwork.

Four weeks from today she will be five.

FIVE.

My baby is gone. My toddler is gone. My preschooler is gone.

I have a full blown school aged kid.

My heart is so full with joy and broken into so many pieces all at once. The past five years went by so quickly.

4 years, 11 months

3 months

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Champagne Taste

My girl has it.

Last Friday I took her out to dinner for a mommy/daughter date, and afterward, we went to Sears to look for some summery clothes for the trip we're taking at the end of the month. On the way out, she noticed a table of perfumes -- and singled out a bottle of Coach Poppy.

"Mmmm! This smells good, Mommy! Smell it!" she said, lifting the tester up to her nose. And so I did. And then coaxed her over to the cash register so we could pay for our purchases and leave.

As we're walking out, we walk past the table with the Coach perfumes again.

"Mommy? Can we buy that next time we're here?" she asked. I crouched down next to her, and pointed to the sign.

"That says $65. Do you have $65?" I asked.
She shook her head.
"Here, why don't I put just a tiny bit on you so you can enjoy it for now? $65 is a lot of money!" I said, and sprayed a tiny bit of the tester on her tiny wrist.

She was overjoyed.

The next day we went to Target as a family, and I was relaying the above story to Scott. She was listening intently and looking up at me with those beautiful brown eyes and I said, jokingly, "You're going to need to marry a rich man!"

And what did my little princess reply?

"Yes! I'm going to marry a rich man! Like DADDY!"

I think we both simultaneously busted a gut laughing.
(And I fear for her future boyfriends!)



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Angelica's First Blizzard

About two weeks ago, we got hit by a blizzard named Nemo, which dropped about 24 inches of snow on us over a 12 hour period. We were literally snowed in from the front -- the snow was piled up so high in front of our front door that we couldn't open it. Fortunately, we could get out the back, and so we had a little fun!

While we were waiting for the snow to stop, though, we had to make do with what we had in the house and had a little fun there...

We made Valentine's Day cookies

Angelica practiced her "confused" face

We painted pictures

And played with castles

And played dress-up

And made up stories with our story cubes

And went shopping

And played with ALL of our toys.

And then it was time to go outside! I'll just let these pictures speak for themselves...

This was at midnight, before we went to bed, shortly after the blizzard started. By the next morning, we couldn't even get the door open.

The front of our building. THIS is why we couldn't open the door.

The view from my front door. The snow is flush with the bottom of our screen, which is about two feet above the ground.

The day after the blizzard, Angelica had a playdate with her friend Nora and they went sledding. A LOT. It was awesome.

Queen of snow mountain!

The people who do snow removal dug out just enough space to open the door on the day after the storm. This is Angelica standing in the little crevice they dug for us.

A tree right outside my front door.

Trying to make a snow angel in the super deep snow

Heading back up the hill they were sledding on

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Angelica's Belated Age 4 Check Up

Two weeks ago, we finally got to have Angelica's four year old checkup at the doctor. Yes, I realize she's almost five. We had a few hurdles to jump over to get this appointment -- first, getting her records from her pediatrician in Florida was harder than we thought it would be, and nobody would make an appointment unless we had them in our hands already. The first time we requested them, they never came. The second time, we got a blank CD. The third time, we finally got the CD and made the appointment...and then the fates worked against us and we had to reschedule the appointment.

So, finally, we got to the doctor's office a few weeks ago...brought the CD with the records...and their computer couldn't read them. Lovely. But, they continued with the appointment anyway, and just to make sure she was up to date on vaccinations, contacted her old pediatrician and had her vaccination records sent over.

Waiting patiently for the doctor

After all the records/vaccination drama drama, we finally got her appointment underway. First, her stats at age 4 3/4:

Height: 41.5 inches (50th percentile)
Weight: 33lbs, 14 oz (18th percentile)
BMI: 13.83 (9.18 percentile -- first time she's had this measured)

She also had a vision check and passed with flying colors!

The good news is that height-wise, her growth curve is steady, and weight-wise, she's actually ON the curve for once. At her appointment at age 2, she wasn't even on the curve, and at age 3, we didn't get a weight or height because she was freaking out. (she had just been in the office 2 days before for nursemaid's elbow, can you blame her?) Since she's finally on the curve for weight, the doctor wasn't worried at all about how lean she is and said we're doing all the right things as far as introducing new foods and giving her healthy options.

We then went over her development. She wowed the doctor left and right! She showed off with a book how well she can read. She showed off her physical abilities by hopping, skipping, jumping, running, walking, so on and so forth. At the end, the doctor called her "precocious" (a perfect word for her!) and said she should have no problems excelling in school from a social, physical, and academic standpoint and our challenge will likely be keeping her from getting bored. (And since her current whine is "Mommy I'm boooorrrrrrrrrreeeeeed!" I can definitely see that being a problem.)

Finally, she got two vaccines...the last MMRV, and the flu shot. She didn't flinch or cry or anything. She just sat there, got the shots, and then said "Hey! That didn't even hurt!"

I was really, really proud of her for how she handled everything. As a baby and toddler, we sure had our fair share of traumatic doctor visits, between her cyst and the subsequent surgery to remove it and the many times she had to be catheterized to be checked for her urinary reflux (and she has been off of antibiotics she was on to treat that for two years now and has not had another UTI, so we're in good shape with that)...and then the nursemaid's elbow right before she turned 3. By the time we got to her 3 year well-check she was just DONE with doctor's visits and was in hysterics. This time, she didn't even cry. She's come a long way emotionally and it shows.

...and later that night, we got hit by a blizzard that dropped 24 inches of snow on us over a 12 hour period, and I have many, many pictures of that to share in a post coming very soon.


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Funny/Cute things said by Angelica

I haven't done this in awhile, but Angelica never fails to say some of the funniest things during the week. Here are some of this week's funny/cute/sweet moments:

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After I had a really, really bad day:
Angelica: You know why I want you to do my bath and bedtime? Because I love you the mostest.

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Angelica: Hey mommy, where'd you get your necklace?
Me: The necklace store! (I couldn't remember where I got it).
Angelica (to every random object in the room): Hey! Where'd you get this plate? The plate store? Where'd you get this shirt? The shirt store? Where'd you get this chicken nugget, the chicken nugget store? Oh wait! I have to go potty!
(goes potty, flushes, washes hands, sneaks back downstairs)
(peeks head around corner and motions for someone to come upstairs)
In totally serious voice: Where'd you get this toilet? The toilet store?

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Angelica and Scott were discussing the Super Bowl, which she says she wanted to watch. 

First she asked if the Rays were playing, which was adorable. 
Then:

Angelica: "Daddy, which team is the good guys and which team is the bad guys?"
Scott: "Well, tonight the Ravens are the good guys and the 49ers are the bad guys."
Angelica: "Oh, I hope the good guys win!"

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Angelica has a picture book of old friends from Florida that I made for her before we moved. One night, she started insisting that she wanted to send the pictures of her and her "boyfriend" Aidan back to him. 

The next morning, Scott was in her room picking out her clothes when she woke up. The first thing she said was, "Daddy? Remember you said we could send the pictures to Aidan today?"

He eventually talked her down to only sending one picture, but also wanted to know why she was so insistent that she had to send him a picture. Her answer? "Because I love him, and I miss him."
 
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This wasn't something she said, but something she did:

Angelica runs in the kitchen, punches Scott in the stomach, grabs the box of cookies off the counter, and runs off laughing. It was a mugging by preschooler!

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Scott, while putting Angelica to bed: "I love you, sweetie. "
Angelica (to Scott): "I love you more. Also, I love you mostest. "

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Me: What was the best part of your day?
Angelica: Staying home with Daddy. (I was at the grocery store.)
Me: I'm so glad you had fun with Daddy!
Angelica: But you know what made me sad? When you weren't here. I was a lot happy staying home with Daddy, but I was a little sad that you weren't here.
 
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Angelica, to Scott: You know how I like you better? With your glasses on.

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Angelica: (running upstairs) I'm going to turn off the lights!
(seconds pass)
Hey! Mommy! What did I say I was coming up here to do?

(Been there, done that kiddo!)

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Scott: "Alright, Gellie. I need you to just do one thing for me and put on your shoes while I go start the car and take the trash out."
Angelica: "Awww, but that's BORING!"

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While watching She-Ra on Hulu Plus
Me: I used to watch this show when I was your age! 
Angelica: How old was I when you were my age?

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Angelica: "Mommy...I'm hungry. But I don't want to eat."
Me: Umm...I can't help you there, kiddo.

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Angelica: Did you know the hard part of your body is your skeleton?  
(my goodness, she is smart!)

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Said multiple times a day:
Angelica: I just want someone to SNUGGLE with me!

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Finally, this, created as she was randomly laying out letter cards. Totally and 100% unplanned, unprompted and inappropriate. But funny. One day when she can read, this won't be so funny.
 

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Angelica can read!

Last weekend we were at Target, and because Angelica loves books so much, we cruised over to the kids books sections for her to entertain herself for a few minutes. I knew they had been learning a few "popcorn words" at school, but I had no idea she could do THIS. 

SHE CAN READ!

I was pretty sure I was annoying the other people in the aisle by standing there and recording her, so I only caught a few moments, but she eventually read through this whole book, which she had never seen before.  She read each "regular" page and had Scott read what was under each of the "flips" (which is what she calls the "lift the flap" part of books). I was SO  impressed by her ability to read!

There were a few words that she got caught up on, but she even took the time to sound them out, letter by letter and syllable by syllable.

I am a proud, proud mama. My little girl is so smart! She'll be at the top of her class when she starts kindergarten later this year!



By: Andrea Caruso

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Good thing I'm a quick thinker...

I live for Wednesdays. On Wednesdays, Scott works late and I get to pick up Angelica from school. If he's working really late, we go do something fun, just the two of us. Tonight was dinner at a local restaurant, a trip to the Apple Store, and a trip to the scrapbooking store.

The scrapbooking store I went to tonight has some novelty books. First, she ran to the "Goodnight iPod book" all excited, thinking it was "Goodnight Moon". Unfortunately, the other book she ran to was the "Go the Fuck to Sleep" book. Upon seeing it, thinking it was a kids book, her face LIT UP.

"Oooh Mommy! What's this book called?" she asked.
"Um...'Go to Sleep.'" I replied.

She looked at me quizzically and then back at the book. Unfortunately...she can now READ. Which makes avoiding issues like this a lot more challenging.

"Go...the...ffff...ehh...hey mommy, what's this F-word?" she asks.
"It's a grown-up word." I reply.
"Oh. Hey can you read this to me?" She asks.
"Hey! Look at this cute book with puppies over here!" I reply.

Whew. Quick thinking, Mommy. Quick thinking.

It did set the mood for the night, though, when I was trying to get her to go to bed and she was very loudly singing "I LIKE TO MOVE IT MOVE IT" over and over again. For ten minutes.


By: Andrea Caruso

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Happy 2013!

Whew, time really got away from me! The last time I posted was right before Thanksgiving, so naturally, a lot has happened since then!

On Thanksgiving, I ran in a local Turkey Trot 5k race. If you've been reading for awhile, you know that the last race I ran was the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge, which was actually 3.5 miles, and I completed that in 59:53. That was back in July. The Turkey Trot 5k (3.1 miles) took place after some training and preparation, and I completed it in 45:08, which means when you adjust for distance, I cut about 12 minutes off of my race time. It's my personal best to-date, so I'm happy with it -- but my goal for 2013 is to run a 5k in under 30 minutes.

Me, after the 5k. Wearing the same shirt I wore for the JP Morgan Chase race. I look like a hot mess.

After the race, we went home, I cleaned up and we drove down to Connecticut to have Thanksgiving dinner with family down there. And I was so exhausted that even though I brought my camera, I didn't take pictures of the feasting. After all, I had been up all night cooking, and then got up early and ran 3.1 miles before making a 3 hour drive...what can you expect? I did take some cute pictures before we left though...

See, I clean up pretty good. But if you don't think I look cute, just look at my kid.

Of course, following Thanksgiving entered the craziness of the holiday season.

First and foremost, I GOT A PROMOTION!! I was super excited to have gotten promoted so quickly at work. My 1 year anniversary isn't until the end of February, so it was truly an honor. I love the company I work for and I hope to be there for quite some time. I also have some work friends to thank for helping to encourage me along the way, so anyone from work reading this -- THANKS!

We started off December 1st with a bit of snow, we went to a holiday party at a local rec center, and then to the Holly Faire at our church. Santa was at the holiday party, however, Angelica was freaked out by him so I decided not to force the issue. No Santa pics for us this year! Maybe next year...

Coloring a stocking. Sitting across from Santa. Trying to get the courage to sit on his lap.

Catching snowflakes on her tongue

A snow-touched tree on our patio.

Making an ornament for the tree (and a duck face)

Candy cane tattoo!

Santa is behind her (out of frame). This is as close as she would get.

She had just about had it at this point.

Later in the month, Angelica and I made a "gingerbread" house made out of graham crackers. It looked pretty but it did NOT keep well. Nevertheless, we had fun.

The finished product! That's a snowbathing gingerbread man on a green blanket, by the way.

And then came...CHRISTMAS!! Angelica got TWO Christmases this year...one in Connecticut at her Grandma and Grandpa's house, and one here in Boston. We started the day just the three of us, and Angelica opened the ridiculous amount of gifts that she got. Then I Skyped with my family back in Florida, and got to see my parents and sister and brother in law, and my amazing niece and nephew.

Later, all three of Scott's sisters came up to Boston to stay with us for a few days...which was AWESOME. I'm lucky to have three amazing sister-in-laws, and Angelica's lucky to have FOUR amazing aunts!

"Uncle"Mark (Aunt Jenn's boyfriend) got her a stylus for Daddy's iPad!

Grandma Tammy got her Princess Candy Land!

Grandma Tammy and Grandpa Joe got her a sled! This came in handy...you'll see!

She went through each and every candy in her stocking, arranged it by type and color and the one with the most "won".
Also, she got her much-wanted "glow sticks". That was all she asked Santa for this year when she wrote him a letter.

Angelica with (L-R) Jenn, Shannon, and Tarah

Family picture taken in front of a huge Christmas Tree at Fanueil Hall in Downtown Boston

Making ice cream with (L-R) Aunts Shannon and Tarah!

Kisses for Aunt Shannon's doggy Frankie!

Then, came the GREAT SNOWFALL OF 2012. Seriously, six inches in one 24 hour period and that was the most snow that fell in all of 2012 here in Boston. Angelica ATE IT UP.

And that catches us up to present! We had a pretty laid back New Year's Eve...we had a couple of friends over and played board games (and Angelica played her Leappad, which was by far her favorite Christmas gift). Scott and I went back to work on January 2nd, and then on January 5th I came down with THE FLU. Ugh. I got my flu shot and everything. And then Angelica caught it. But we're all on the mend now and ready to embrace the rest of what 2013 has to offer!

By: Andrea Caruso

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