MERRY CHRISTMAS 2O11

Dear Weeb,

Merry Christmas! Daddy is home! Santa came (and he spoiled you rotten again)! Woo hoo!

More Monster High stuff? You like it almost as much as the enormous, pink Barbie plane that Santa brought you! You're a happy girl!

You're seriously just the cutest girl, EVER!

After opening a ton of presents at home, we went to open a few hundred more at Grandma and Grandpa's house. You and Cousin J did some Christmas wrestling, or hugging - there was a lot of giggling and it was hard to tell. Merry Christmas!

CHRISTMAS CARDS 2011

Dear Weeb,

We like to make our own Christmas cards - we've been doing it since you were born. Here were the favorites from this year.

CHRISTMAS PARTY 2011

Dear Weeb,

We had a good time at Grandma and Grandpa's 2011 Christmas Party. It was a shame that Daddy was still out of town, but he'll be home soon! You and your cousins were dressed up pretty and were so cute and so fun!

I'm not quite sure what was happening here (below), but you guys were cracking up and had me laughing. I think I instructed you to look excited about Santa coming soon. Some of you, scratch that, ALL of you should consider becoming actresses!

HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY

Dear Weeb,

Happy 6th Birthday! I really wanted to make this birthday special for you since Daddy is in England again. It's a shame that Granny passed away so close to your birthday and it's sad that Daddy couldn't be here with us to celebrate, but we did our best to have a wonderful day!

You woke up to a bouquet of helium balloons and a big birthday banner that I put up for you. I also blew up a dozen balloons and they were all over the living room when you came down to eat breakfast. We brought mini cupcakes to school (it's amazing I didn't burn them!). I had the day off work, so I came to meet you for lunch and we ate together. Then after lunch was your school Holiday concert. After school we went to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner, cupcakes and presents!

You had instructed me, when we were buying a birthday card for your Cousin J, earlier this month, that THIS was the card you wanted for your birthday. It amazes me that you read every single word in every card you get. You are such a terrific reader!

This year was all about Monster High. I think they had one show (animated) on around Halloween and it wasn't too bad. But the commercials for the dolls are run constantly and you love them!

The other thing you REALLY wanted for your birthday were this Bizu beads. You string them into bracelets then you can twist them into animal shapes. Grandma and Grandpa got you a load of them and you were more than thrilled. We spent an hour putting them together.

Daddy usually does the cupcake making in our house, but since he was away, I made mini cupcakes so you'd have enough to take to school and enough for us to enjoy for the next few days. Yum!

BLISTERS AND LITERARY TERMS

Dear Weeb,

For Home Reading, you brought home a book about Blizzards. It was a nasty little book - it was long and described some of America's worst recorded blizzards and did not cover up the fact that people suffered and that many died.

After we finished the book, I thought we should talk about it. I asked you what you thought about what we'd just read.

You thought a moment, and said, "Momma, did you know that blister books are NON-Fiction?"

"Blizzard books are Non-Fiction, yes. Very good term, Weeb! Where did you learn that?"

"I call them blisters."

"Blisters are sores you usually get on your feet, baby."

"Well I call BLIZards BLISters."

You won't budge on the topic either. And I'm still mighty impressed that you know what Non-Fiction means!

TOOTH LOSS #3

Dear Weeb,

Your top middle teeth have been wiggly for quite some time, but the past week or two, the one on your right had been VERY wiggly. When we were out for breakfast the morning of your birthday party, we realised just how loose this tooth was and I was bugging you, not for the first time, to just pull it out. You'd been having a bit of trouble eating and there was no way I was pulling this one out. I'd been spending days pretending I thought it was gross, just so you'd be amused and want to wiggle it.

So you used a napkin and tried to yank it out. There was blood. You were surprising cool about it, but you have lost a couple of teeth before, you know that some blood wasn't anything to worry about. I felt bad though because it was SO loose, but it was just not coming out.

After your birthday party, we went to Grandma and Grandpa's and hung out with your Aunty M and Cousin J.

As we were getting ready to go home, we went to the bathroom and you wiggled your tooth at me again. It was just barely hanging on. I asked you to try pulling it out one more time. You asked me to do it and I encouraged you to do it yourself. We plugged up the sink, closed the toilet lid and then... it just came out!

You were shocked that it was so easy!

There was much rejoicing!

And your cousin J was thrilled to see it because she hasn't lost a tooth yet, despite being older than you.

It's not going to be easy getting used to this gappy smile of yours. I'm not ready for you to be this grown up already! Plus now your other tooth looks like an awesome fang! Your favorite thing to do now is to grin big and stick your tongue out the little tooth gap. Your new adult tooth is growing in, very nicely, too!

BIRTHDAY PARTY 2011

Dear Weeb,

This year, we decided to have your birthday party in November, to avoid a busy December. However, given that you'd been sick for two weeks, your cousin is having her birthday party early (at the end of November) and that you've got another birthday party to go to on Monday, it's proving to be busier now than December is going to be!

We've not really done a 'big' party for you before. This time we invited 13 kids, including you and your cousin J and cousin C. A few people did not RSVP, which was unfortunate, but we asked an older sister of one of the kids in your class to stay and I got to make a couple of extra shirts for you, which was nice.

Your Aunty M had a wonderful idea for your cousin J's party and didn't mind if we used the same idea. So we had your party at a craft shop. I got t-shirts for the kids coming to the party and some paint. The plan was to paint t-shirts. Sounds easy, right? Only problem is you guys all went nuts with the paint and there was no way it was going to dry so there was a lot of splotchy paint art (read: mess). But you guys all seemed to like it.

You had a lot of fun! The party seemed to go well, though you blasted through the painting much faster than I had anticipated, so we ended up putting paint on the hands of everyone and doing hand prints on an extra shirt for you. That was cool. I wish we'd thought to finger paint right from the start! We had rainbow cupcakes and you got to open presents and then we took some photos of the group. You were thrilled to have a 'big' party for your 6th birthday.

Just about everyone did a hand print on this shirt for you. It worked out quite well. Your print is the red one in the middle. Mine is the dark green one underneath. Your cousin J did a sparkly green hand print right beside you. Your cousin C didn't want to do it. Some of the kids were mixing colors which look really cool, close up.

Most of the group with smiles, some with Raspberry Blue Kool Aid tongues!

This is one of my favorite pictures of the group. I had instructed you all to look as though you were deep in thought over important world matters. And deep in thought you were! Well, for about ten seconds, then everyone got silly again.

You and your cousins. I have to say I was very impressed with how you didn't want out help reading your birthday cards. You'll have another party with me and Daddy on your real birthday, but I'm glad that you enjoyed this party. I think next time we'll do it in the summer when it's nice and warm and we can do something outdoors.

SATELLITES

Dear Weeb,

Tonight, at bedtime, I reminded you that I really, REALLY wanted to sleep in a little bit tomorrow. I'm not asking for much, just maybe something past 6:30AM. Granted, usually you are pretty good about letting us sleep in a little bit on the weekends, but with your recent cough and time change, you've been up early.

You asked if you were allowed to wake me up if there was an emergency.

"What kind of emergency?" I asked.

"You know, like if a satellite fell out of orbit and crashed onto our house and through our roof and onto Daddy?"

After I stopped laughing, I said, "If a satellite falls out of orbit, crashes into the house and onto Daddy, then yes, you can come and get me."

No more Phineas and Ferb for you!

SMURF INVASION

Dear Weeb,

This made me smile.

MY LITTLE SICKY

Dear Weeb,

I think we overdid it last night. You're on day three of a fever over 101. It'll go down when you've got Advil or Tylenol in you, but it's easy to tell when it's worn off.

Home again. Poor thing. I've certainly seen you sicker than this, but you are certainly fighting something rotten.

HALLOWEEN 2011 EVENING

Dear Weeb,

You weren't feeling too badly this evening so we went over to Grandma and Grandpa's to get some photos of the pumpkins we'd carved on the weekend. We told you that you could answer the door to trick or treaters for a while and go to a few houses if you were still feeling okay.

We made it out for a bit. It was cold, and you wore yourself out with excitement and we came back home with your fever back over 101. Poor girl. You had a bit of fun, anyways.

Here are the pumpkins that Daddy carved.

Here is the pumpkin you and your Grade 7 Buddy carved at school, last Friday.

Answering the door to trick or treaters.

Princess Peach, all dressed up (you looked like a pretty, pink Hulk!) and posing.

That bright light behind you is the moon.

Back at Grandma and Grandpa's when it was clear your fever had gone up again

and it was time to head home.

Happy Halloween, Weeb. I wish you had been feeling better, but you said you had a good time, even if it was a bit short.

HALLOWEEN 2011 DAYTIME

Dear Weeb,

You developed a rotten fever yesterday morning and it's been sticking around. This morning it's been getting better and you're still not quite yourself, but we kept you home from school.

Since you were feeling not too bad, we dressed you up in the indoor costume we'd bought for you, and you and I walked to the school so you could hand out the Halloween pencils we'd bought for your classmates. Your teacher (who I really like) said she didn't mind the interruption and your friends were pretty happy to see you. Many of them said they felt bad for you that you weren't feeling well on Halloween.

As long as the fever stays where it is (low with Advil or Tylenol), then we are going to pop over to Grandma and Grandpa's later. Depending on how you feel, we might answer the door to trick or treaters or maybe we'll go down the street. We'll see. It's VERY windy and cold out there today! But you were so upset about maybe missing Halloween that I'm quite happy that, so far, I think we can pull off going out for an hour or so.

You carved this pumpkin with your Grade 7 'Big Buddy' at school on Friday.

We got a Barbie Sorceress costume to wear at school. You only got to wear it there for a few minutes, but you were still pretty happy to wear it. You won't take it off. I told you that you could wear it to Grandma and Grandpa's house. If we go out, you can change into your outdoor costume (one you can put a coat under!).

This face... You asked me so nicely to go to Grandma and Grandpa's for a little while tonight and how can I say no? I can't. Not to this face! Happy Hauntings!

THE WIZARD OF OZ AND WEEB

We're watching the Wizard of Oz. We've watched bits of it before, but not the whole thing. You're on the fence about the whole thing, so far.

Weeb: "Is this going to be in color?"

Daddy: "Eventually, when she gets to Oz."

Dorothy sings Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

Mummy: "Is she singing about going to a nicer place?"

Weeb: "Yes, probably somewhere where there is color."

HALLOWEEN IN STEVESTON 2011

Dear Weeb,

We went Trick or Treating in Steveston with your cousin J, Aunty M and Aunty C today. It was a sunny, warm day, a perfect day to join several hundred other kids a walk around for a couple of hours collecting candy that I won't let you eat (because of your nut allergy). But it's collecting that's all the fun, right?

You were thrilled that at least four people knew that you were dressed as Princess Peach, from the Mario games. We actually bumped into one other little girl dressed in the same costume who was equally delighted that someone finally recognized her costume. You cousin J dressed as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz again this year. She seems to have the same shoe obsession as your Aunty M. Who can blame her? Sparkly red shoes are awesome!

Below, after Trick or Treating, we went back to Grandma and Grandpa's house and played some games and did some Halloween crafts while Daddy carved pumpkins. Aunty M helped clean the pumpkin guts out of a couple, which was much appreciated. We had a LOT of pumpkins!

You and Cousin J were playing a game of Pumpkin Toss with these little pumpkin decorations (which are basically colored plastic bags stuffed with shredded paper). You were both trying to get them into a basket until suddenly the game erupted into a game of throwing pumpkins at Grandma while she threw them back at you. I'm not sure who started it, and I can truthfully say I haven't heard so much giggling in a long time!

It's always fun at Grandma and Grandpa's house! And I'm really glad you had a good day because you're going to wake up tomorrow with a rotten fever that keeps climbing all day (I am not as much psychic as I am just typing this post Sunday night and dating it as Saturday). I hope you get to go out Trick or Treating on Halloween night, but if not, we sure had fun today!

SCOOTERING TO SCHOOL

Dear Weeb,

I've been walking you to school this week while Daddy is on a course, downtown. You've convinced me, most days, that you should be able to ride your scooter to school because you've eaten breakfast without my threatening to turn off the TV (I'm mother of the year, you see).

It was so nice this morning. Autumn has definitely arrived. You looked so cute and were so pleased to be riding your scooter. It's been a pretty nice week.

SLEEPWEEBING

Dear Weeb,

I woke up around 1AM to find that you had snuck into Daddy's bed. You were obviously very good at the sneak because he clearly hadn't noticed.

You didn't bring your pillow or Captain Huggy Face, which I found odd. So I got them and brought them to you, and lifted your little head onto the pillow. I am pretty sure you smiled at me, though I have no doubt you were sound asleep.

This morning when I woke you up, Daddy was surprised you were there. What was funny was that YOU were surprised you were there. You told us you didn't remember having a bad dream or waking up and you thought we were tricking you and one of us had moved you from your bedroom.

Does this count as sleep walking? I'm not sure. Gave me a giggle though. And then I was glad that we still have the baby gate up at the top of the stairs.

PS: For future reference, your Daddy and I love each other very much, but his snoring and bed sheet tossing don't allow for the restful sleep your overly delicate light sleeper of a mother requires. Plus he hates my fan being on all year. If we tried to sleep in the same bed, I would turn into a psychotic harpie.

HEARING TESTS

Dear Weeb,

Last year, just after you started Kindergarten, we had your hearing tested on the advise of your teacher.

Your hearing is perfect. Apparently it is BETTER than perfect.

I find it amusing that now, when I get mad at you for not listening, you 'innocently' suggest that it must be time to get your hearing tested again.

Your hearing is fine, kid. You are just rather selective, it seems, in what you choose to hear.

COUNTING DINOSAURS

Dear Weeb,

A couple of years ago, I bought you this set of little plastic dinosaurs meant for teaching counting and patterns. There were red ones, green ones, blue ones and yellow ones. They aren't exactly accurate examples of dinosaurs. For example, the triceratops only has two horns.

We brought them to Grandma and Grandpa's so you and your cousin J could practice some math over the summer.

We went over there for a party and this is what I found on the toy shelves.

Your Grandma is funny.

BEDTIME WORRIES

Dear Weeb,

I do not have all the answers to things in life, but it is my job to keep you safe.

At bedtime, trust me, me and Daddy have covered as much as we can to keep you safe and sound through the night. The doors are locked. The alarm is on. The smoke detectors work. The carbon monoxide detector works. We have an earthquake kit. We are as safe as we can be. You worrying is not going to make us any safer and frankly, it's not your job. It's my job.

Now, I am well aware, though you are a worrier like me, what you are doing at bedtime, by expressing your many worries, is called STALLING.

There are, I can assure you, NO secret agents in the house. Whatever you think you heard, it was NOT a secret agent. No more Phineas and Ferb before bedtime for you.

Secret Agent 'Little Weeb' types a secret message

to headquarters after everyone has gone to bed.

There are NO snakes in the house. I've lived in this city for over 30 years and have NEVER seen a snake in the outdoors, much less sneaking around in somebody's house at bedtime.

There are NO vampires lurking around the upstairs. There are NO vampires. Period. Thanks to Grandma for that one. Next time you review what words start with the letter V, please ignore her terrifying vampire laugh that convinces you that she MUST be a vampire because Grandma would NEVER laugh like THAT! She did it to us when we were kids too and it was just as freaky. But she's just fooling. She's tricky, your Grandma.

Your toys are NOT staring at you. Every kid thinks this at one time or another, but trust me, they're NOT staring at you. Neither are they whispering to each other.

You do NOT have to be afraid of the little blinking light on the smoke detector. All that does is tell us the batteries are working. Things that blink are not necessarily going to lead to a scary noise.

You do NOT have to be afraid of every noise. We live in a noisy complex, you're going to hear a lot of noises. Noises can be warnings (like the smoke detector or the house alarm), but it is OUR job to take care of you if something is happening. But those kinds of things almost NEVER happen.

You do NOT have to be afraid of the toilet overflowing. I used to be afraid of the same thing when I was little. But even if it did happen, the house would not flood. If it did happen, we'd turn off the water or something; but the point is we'd take care of it. It's not that big a deal. Things happen and you deal with them. No big whoop. This is not school, we do not have a bunch of dumb kids trying to flush unflushable things, so it's unlikely our toilet will overflow.

Your bedtime worries remind me of what I was afraid of when I was a kid, and except for the secret agents, it was mostly the same kind of stuff. They remind me of what a vivid imagination you have. They remind me of how scary the unknown and the dark can be.

Now I will say to you what my father used to say to me when I admitted my silly fears to him at bedtime, "Stop being ridiculous and go to bed." I'm paraphrasing. When you're older, I'll tell you what he really said. Regardless, it always made me feel better, because if HE wasn't worried, why should I be worried?

Years later I learned that half the time that would just set off HIS bedtime worrying, but he had to act tough because he was a parent and convincing kids that there is no boogeyman is what we do.

I look forward to chuckling at your next batch of bedtime fears/excuses, even if half of them keep me up, worrying, just as I had done to my dad. Until then, it's my job to take care of the scary stuff, it's your job to brush your teeth, go to the toilet and just go to bed. I love you. Goodnight.

HOLES IN THE KNEES OF YOUR PANTS

Dear Weeb,

Though I appreciate that you did not get this hole by crawling around playing 'kitty', which is how you managed to get holes in most of your pants over the past two years, the two hour conversation that resulted in you admitting that you MIGHT have been using scissors at school and they MIGHT have slipped to the knee of your leggings makes me want to scream.

I have informed you that if scissors MIGHT be involved in future naked knee displays, YOU will be paying for the replacement pants / leggings.

"That's okay," you say to me, cheerily. "How much do they cost?"

I don't know! I don't think you're appreciating how angry I am at this, and your nonchalance is not helping (mostly because I'm trying not to laugh). 14 bucks, I say.

"That's okay," you inform me, again. "I have lots of money in my piggy bank."

Later, when your father got home, he was talking to you about the scissors. You told him you were cutting out a running shoe shape for the Terry Fox run and the scissors MIGHT have slipped.

As the conversation continued, we learned that you were cutting, on the table, you were sitting in your chair nicely (first time for everything) and the scissors just jumped out of your hand and cut a hole in the knee of your pants on the way down.

So we're not quite certain if this was an accident, an experiment or you just snagged it while you were playing on the playground.

I hope you remember this moment, this hole. I hope it was one of those moments of discovery for you. It's certainly reminded me that I need to let you have the freedom to go out and live life and find who you are and what your place is. More than anything, it helped me step back and remember that kids get and put holes in their clothes.

ROCK JUMPING

Dear Weeb,

They've added a new attraction to your school yard - boulders.

Now, as a worrisome parent, I don't quite see the appeal. I see boulders and it equates to broken bones, stitches and concussions.

I suppose we played on rocks, boulders and worse when we were kids and we lived to tell the tales. Of course, many of those tales involve broken bones, stitches and concussions.

The great big world. I have a bit of a problem letting you into it without my supervision.

You assure me that you are very careful on the boulders. Of course you tell me this, then run off to jump from rock to rock.

I'm posting this just as a preemptive 'told ya so' when you require your first arm cast. And if it never happens, then you can roll your eyes and remind me that I can't let you live in a bubble.

GRADE ONE

Dear Weeb,

Welcome to Grade One!

You were so excited last night that you had trouble falling asleep. When you woke up this morning, you were in a fantastic mood and very excited to start Grade One. Students had to go back to the same classrooms, though the same teacher wasn't there. The school's staffing isn't confirmed by the District until Wednesday, so they don't think they'll have new classes / teachers assigned until Friday. Until then, you get to hang out with your class from last year.

It was cool this morning, but the sun was up and shining. By the time you got out of class (today was only an hour in school) it was quite warm out. Today is supposed to be the warmest day of the entire summer. You and your friends played on the playground while I chatted with a few of the moms I used to chat with last year. It was no more than five minutes before I spotted you chasing boys. That's my girl!

A few days ago, you picked out your outfit for the first day of school. It's a pretty pink two piece outfit that Aunty M had bought for you in the spring. You have such a strong sense of self; gone are the days when I get to chose your outfits.

Summer really flew by fast! I can't believe you're already in Grade One! What an amazing journey you're on! I can't wait to see what this year brings you!

WHO'S THAT BEAUTIFUL GIRL?

Dear Weeb,

I took you out shopping for some new clothes for school, today. When we were in the fitting room, there was this girl who had me in stitches. She kept saying, "Who's that pretty girl in the mirror? That's ME!" She kept saying it over and over again and I just thought it was the most hilarious thing and was trying so hard not to laugh.

I don't know if this girl really thought she was beautiful or was more enamored with just chatting with her lovely reflection as she tried on clothes.

Well it certainly gave me a chuckle.

That little girl was you.

KITTY SISTER

Dear Weeb,

Just before Halloween last year, we lost our little black cat, Wee Hobbit McNasty. You and Hobbit weren't terribly close, but her death upset you quite a bit.

Since that time, you've bonded more than I expected with our remaining pet, Tibboh the Terrible. She's around 15 years old, now, I think. You two aren't exactly cuddly, but she does come to you for head scritches.

Today you were on the floor, drawing a picture on a large piece of cardboard and you had some sticker sheets strewn about, beside you. Tibboh thought it would be a good place to sprawl out, which annoyed you. I thought it was funny how you two were acting almost like siblings. "Daddy, Tibboh won't get off my stuff!"

It will be interesting to see how your 'friendship' progresses as you both get older.

ANIMAL CROSSING AND VANITY

Dear Weeb,

For the last several months, you and I have been playing Animal Crossing together. I have a long history with Animal Crossing and was delighted when you were old enough to be able to read enough to enjoy the game with me.

We've been playing the DS version - Animal Crossing: Wild World.

Anyone who plays Animal Crossing knows that you can have up to four characters in one house, in this game, and when you start a new character, they have to work for Tom Nook.

I had started your first character for you more than a year ago, hoping you would enjoy just running around. And you did, for a bit. But it wasn't until just recently that you really started loving it.

You've been really eager to start a second character and do it all on your own. This morning, I told you to go for it. Your second character, Cutie, showed up in town and got to working at Nookington's. When Tom Nook instructed you to put on your uniform (below), you replied, in true diva fashion, "I have to wear THIS? You have GOT to be KIDDING me!" You were terribly disgusted.

Suck it up, buttercup. I'm sure this is only the first of many uniforms you'll be wearing in your lifetime. Now please excuse me while I continue to chuckle.

DEEDERS & THE WEEB

Dear Weeb,

Your sister D and brother L came to visit last week. It was very hard to detach you from your sister; you were like her little mini shadow. They went home almost a week ago and you still miss them, especially your sister (who doted on you for most of the visit). We miss them, too.

D drew this lovely picture of the two of you (I believe at your request). I'm going to put it in a frame and hang it in your room. It is a fantastic picture!