Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from my favorite little monkey!

Several weeks ago, I asked Jentry what she wanted to be for Halloween.  Every day she would tell me something different.  Princess, Dora, pumpkin, witch, Scooby Doo...etc. (I still have no idea how she had even heard of Scooby Doo!)  Finally, after some motherly convincing, I got her to stick to one idea.  She said to me, "I want to be a monkey with monkey ears and a monkey tail and a ban-nan-a."  I, of course, encouraged this monkey idea, because Cousin Isaac had been a monkey a few years ago and I knew we could reuse the costume.  Perfect!  The pant legs were a little short but Jentry didn't seem to mind.  It turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself.  EE-EE-OO-OO-AH-AH!

Princess Jentry

Is it just me or does this dress not exactly match the way this princess is carrying herself?  Something about her body language just doesn't quite match the code of the dress.

 

Last Saturday night we went to the McKenzie's for supper. Much to Jentry's surprise, a special princess fairy left this beautiful teal dress hanging in Jan's closet.  The dress came complete with a sassy, matching headband and ballerina slippers.  Luckily it was just the right size for Jentry!  (Shocking, I know!)  Even though the pictures above would prove differently, Jentry was absolutely ecstatic about the dress.

She immediately took it for a spin!

Perfect Day at the Pumpkin Patch

Last Saturday was a Perfect day for the Pumpkin Patch!

Perfect for.....

Pouncing in the bounce house.

Palling around in the wagon.

Posing silly in the cut-outs.

Plummeting down the hay slides.

Plopping in the nest of hay.

Pondering why your crazy Parents brought you to this strange place.

Playing with the Piggies.

 

Powering tractor wheels.

Pretending to be big enough to ride.

Portraits of the family.

Pictures with mommy.

Picking just the right one.

Patiently waiting for others on the hay rack ride.

Pretending to be "hood"lums.

Plowing in the corn.

Peering over the corn.

Parking yourself right in the middle of the action!

Bathroom In The Night

An amazing milestone happened in our house last night.  To most people this may seem like a minor everyday event, but to this mommy it was definitely an alleluia moment. 

Drum roll please............ Jentry got up, used the bathroom, and went back to bed all by herself!

I heard Jentry get out of bed, open her door and walk down the hallway.  The next thing I am used to hearing is a sleepy little voice saying, "Mommy."  However last night ,as I was waiting for the little sleeping voice, I heard the toilet flush instead!  I anxiously waited to hear what she would do next.  Would she go back to her bed by herself or would she call for me?  To my surprise I heard her little feet walk back down the hallway and her bedroom door shut.  Not a single peep as she drifted back to sleep.  Amazing! 

Is It Weird?

Is it weird that my three-year-old daughter....

Uses the word actually?

Put herself in think time for more than 30 minutes without making a sound?

Chews at least one piece of gum a day?

Puts her "nola" bar in the freezer before eating it so that it doesn't fall apart on her?

Insists I read Little Red Hen every night before bed?

Has to make the entry key-card beep three times every morning at daycare before I can open the door?

Got upset that her cousins were making too big of a mess with the toys in her room?

Hides her treats on top of the sugar containers in my kitchen cupboard?

Uses bubble gum flavored Barbie mouthwash at least three times a day?

Never forgets to pray before eating a meal?

Has ten tubes of lip gloss in her purse?

Always wants to know what direction we are going...North, South, East or West?

Asks whether people she has not met are big or little?

Doesn't believe me that the mummy in her Halloween book is a boy?

Whispers so that she won't scare the "squares" and bunny rabbits in the yard?

Asks me "what's your name again?"

You Get What You Get

Jentry is now old enough to understand the concept of chewing gum, so I allow her to chew the sugar free kind at home under adult supervision.  Much to her disliking, she is not allowed to chew gum at school.

Last night Jentry asked me for a piece of gum and I said sure.  Having already made the horrific mistake of handing her just any piece of exactly identical pieces of gum in the pack, I handed her the entire pack so that she could make her own selection.  I wonder how she ever determines which one is best?  Anyway, she made her choice and handed the pack back to me.  She then said, "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit."  I immediately started laughing and asked her where she had learned the fun little saying.  I had certainly never heard anyone say that before, in my 28 years.  She said, "What is so funny?  Why are you laughing?"  Jentry probably did think I was crazy for laughing.  I am willing to bet that the teacher, from who Jentry first heard this clever saying, was most likely not laughing.


Last Friday was Fall Picture Day at daycare.  Since Jentry was staying with her dad Thursday night, I was a little worried that the pictures may not turn out the best.  I packed the entire new outfit I purchased, specifically for the picture, in a separate bag so it would be easy for Joey to dress her Friday morning.  The outfit included an undershirt, dress, tights, head band and specific shoes, so I was a little sceptical that the entire ensemble would still be on the child by the time the photos were taken.  It was also cold the day I bought the "fall" outfit and of course picture day was upper 80s and sunny.  Perfect for thick tights, right?  I even called Joey Friday morning to tell him kindly remind him to brush her hair really well. He told me, "Don't worry mom, dad has this handled."

When the proofs were available to view on Monday, I was a little pessimistic to say the least.   I told myself not to worry.   If they were that bad, we were only out the $5.00 sitting fee.  You get what you get right?

You get what you get and sometimes a whole lot more! The picture turned out just fine.  In fact, it turned out pretty great.

A Note From The Teacher

A couple weeks ago I picked up Jentry from daycare and, as usual, I gathered her things from her cubby.  Miss Celeste prepares a summary of the day on this lovely form so the parents are able to stay in the loop of what their child is learning / doing while they are away.  Usually, I love seeing this paper because it helps me decipher what is real versus fiction in Jentry's version of the day.  However, on this specific day, there was a not so lovely note on the bottom.  Not exactly what a parent wants to hear about their precious little pumpkin.

At first I wanted to believe that the teacher was slightly exaggerating and that Jentry would never act like the note described.  I wanted to be totally shocked, as if this kind of behavior was totally uncharacteristic of my angel.  Unfortunately, I have witnessed this kind of behavior at home and knew that the teacher had written a fairly kind description of my strong willed little girl at her worst.  This side of Jentry does not come out often, but when it does it can look pretty ugly.

Miss Celeste is a fairly new teacher to us as Jentry just moved up from the Big Turtles room to the Koala Bears room this past summer.  I asked Jentry about her day on the way home.  She said, "It was fine."  I then asked if maybe she had a rough day.  She said, "No."  Then I asked her if she, by chance, had to go to the office.  She said in a whiny voice, "Well, maybe I don't want to be a Koala Bear, maybe I want to be a Turtle again."  I asked her why she didn't want to be a Koala Bear and then the truth finally came out.

I called Jentry's dad to tell him about the note and he was shocked.  He said he had never seen her act like that for him.  I couldn't help but think to myself.....Really?  That night I spent quite a bit of time thinking about the note, Jentry's behavior and parenting.  I wondered if  maybe I was doing something wrong in disciplining her.  Maybe she was starving for attention. Maybe this was just the beginning.  Maybe she would one day end up sitting in front of a psychologist blaming her mother for everything bad in her life. OK, so maybe now I was being a bit dramatic.  Maybe every three-year-old acts like that from time to time.  Maybe she wasn't feeling well that day. 

The very next day I was elated to find this in sitting in Jentry's cubby!

A HAPPY NOTE!  Complete with a star, wearing sunglasses, sticker.  This was exactly what this mother needed.  That night I reminded myself that no mother really has all of the answers.  There is not one, for sure, way to properly discipline children.  Every child is different.  I am sure that every parent knows these things, but sometimes we need a HAPPY NOTE to remind us that we are doing just fine.

Sweet Anna Jean

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of spending 13 hours with my adorable niece Anna.  Chad and Kelly drove to Kansas City to take Isaac to his very first NFL football game.  Isaac was bursting with excitement, however Anna, not being a football fanatic herself, graciously opted to stay with her favorite Aunt JJ.  So when Kelly asked me if I would take her for the day, I of course said YES!  Jentry was with her dad for the weekend and Nathan was on a fishing trip with guys, so in reality Anna was really watching me.  It was so fun to have a little one-on-one time with her.  How quickly I forgot what it was like to have a one-year-old in my house.

Anna arrived at 7:00 am.  We spent the first hour in our jammies and she was nice enough to play quietly while I finished reading the Sunday paper and sipped my cup of coffee.  Jentry usually does not let me have such a relaxing Sunday morning.  I don't think Jentry would have been too happy about sharing all of her toys either.

Next was bath time.  Anna's parents never give the poor kid bath, so I decided to give her a good scrubbin'.  OK so not really, they just didn't have time the night before.

Then it was time to get dressed and ready for church.  I decided to take Anna to the nursery as she is somewhat of a busy body now.  I was worried about her being scared when I left, but she was already busy playing with the toys and said, "peace out, Aunt JJ." 

Anna is squatting in this picture because I was squatting to take the picture.  Monkey see, monkey do.

After church and a quick lunch, it was time for a nap.  She did throw her binky out of the pack-n-play once, in protest, but soon quieted and slept for almost 3 hours.  I don't remember Jentry ever napping that long!

Ah, so sweet when sleeping.

After her nap, we went outside and she quickly spotted the swing.  She was very good at saying weeeeee.  She continued to say it the entire time.  So cute!

Next we took the "baby" for a stroll.

After all that heavy pushing, she decided she needed a snack. 

Then we loaded up in the car and went shopping for groceries.  Anna sat very nicely in the cart the entire time.  I am absolutely certain Jentry has not, nor will ever do this.  OK so maybe when she is 25 I will attempt to bring her along to the store again....maybe.

After putting away all of our purchases, I got out the bigger stroller and took Anna for a longer walk.  I was tired of going up and down the small section of sidewalk.  We enjoyed a beautiful fall evening in the quiet little neighborhood.  We even got to see some, "puppies, puppies, puppies."  This made Anna light up.

Lastly, I put Anna back in her jammies and let her pick out a few books to read.  She loved reading the books and could identify with a lot more pictures than I had expected.  After reading the last book, Anna crawled down from my lap with her blankie and binky.  She walked straight to the front door, looked back at me, waved her tiny, little hand and said "bye bye."  I would like to think that she had great day with Aunt JJ but was really happy to go back home too. 

Sweet Anna Jean

I just love her!  And her Cabbage Patch teeth too!