Pink Pencil

Who would've thought that a pink pencil would give me so much grief and heartache?

Lulu has been asking to go to dance class since at least the weekend.  I've been reminding her that dance class is on Tuesdays and when I picked her up this afternoon I showed her the special pink and black bag Nanny bought her at IKEA for her dance stuff--she was SO excited!

I even had her there about 5-10 minutes early, so we could watch the earlier class finish up their tap dancing and make sure that Lulu's ballet shoes were on nice and tight.  Perhaps it was the preparation and anticipation that did us in....?

The class was smaller than normal today, too--only four little girls, including Lulu.  I think that she sometimes struggles in a larger class because she's not very patient and having to wait her turn leads to inattention.

But it became clear after about 10 minutes that today was NOT Lulu's day.  She kept talking animatedly during their circle exercises (a mix of who's-here-today rhyming and ballet stretches) and eventually when she balked at participating, her teacher opened the door (mistake #1in hindsight) and asked me, "She keeps talking about cookies?"  Lulu followed her outside and kept saying that she wanted a cookie, "Plätzchen, Mama!"  I told her that I didn't have any cookies, not even in my purse, but we would get a snack once class was over.  That seemed to mollify her somewhat and she went back in and re-joined the others.

But when it came time for them to line up 2-by-2 and do some line exercises (a series of moves along parallel lines across the room), Lulu didn't want to wait her turn.  After a comment from the teacher, she opened the door, came outside and said that she couldn't dance "because it's not my turn."  Sigh.

This proceeded to devolve into a farce of Lulu coming in and going out over and over and over again, much to the frustration off her teacher.  The last time Lulu opened the door, I heard the teacher say, "This is the last time!  You can't keep coming back in!"

Thankfully, at this point, there were only 5 minutes left of her 45 minute class.  So, I managed to keep Lulu on my lap, watching the other little girls until the end when she went back in to get her hand stamped (a favorite part of dance class).

The worst part?  This week was apparently "pencil week," meaning that each participant received a pencil "prize" at the end of class for good behavior.  The teacher had written their names up on the mirror in dry erase marker and put "points" next to them for good listening with three points resulting in a prize/pencil.

The other three girls had 3 points and Lulu had 2.  As they came trailing out the door, my little girl was the only one with the crestfallen face and empty-handed.  I think at that point, I could actually feel my heart breaking in two with disappointment on her behalf.

The teacher then came up to me with the pink pencil Lulu had pointed out, hidden in her hand.  She said, "I don't know how you want to handle this--would you like to take it and do something with it at home or have her not get one at all?"  I decided I didn't want the responsibility of that decision to rest in my hands, and I told her that Lulu didn't earn the points, so she shouldn't get the pencil.

I think my heart broke a little further.

Her teacher made me feel a little better when she turned to Lulu and said, "I'll keep it here with me and if you do a good job of listening next week, you can have it then."  But I had to endure the toddler "walk of shame" to the parking lot as everyone else (and I mean, every other little kid) in the gym/dance studio was waving around their pencil.

I have always maintained that I thought that honorable mention trophies and a ribbon for every participant were dumb, that we weren't doing our kids any favors by molly-coddling them into thinking that everyone's equal and everyone always wins.  But putting your money where your mouth is on that score is harder than it appears in abstract.  Lulu and I both met Walter at the door when he came home--she out of happiness he was home, me with relief that he could take over so I could slink away and cry in heartache and frustration.

(Somehow I don't think letting your kid see you cry and telling them when they ask, "Why" that you're disappointed by their behavior is necessarily a great parenting technique)

I really hope that she gets that pencil next week.

Breakfast

Given the state of our kitchen plumbing on Sunday morning, I wasn't cooking *anything*. So, we did what most Americans would do in that situation--we had coffee and treats from Starbucks. (unfortunately nothing more elaborate than that because we had plumbing to do!)

Walter and Lulu grabbed a bench outdoors and waited for me to bring their treats to them.

Cherry yogurt but her favorite part was the granola (that's my girl!)

eyelashes

telling us something *very* important, I'm sure....

Third B-day Part, cont....

Here are the long-awaited photos of Lulu's party I promised earlier.

We had a Tigger cake with candles:

And then LOTS of present opening! The largest present was opened first--a set of "fairy" wings from Tante Hellen and Onkel Derek. They drove all over town looking for purple ones and finally settled on pink ones onto which Hellen attached a purple bow. She did that in part to prevent Daddy from being able to return them! She's so diabolical.

someone couldn't wait to wear these to dance class this week!

Next up was a bunch of new clothes from Mau-Mau and Nanny and Auntie Kate for her to wear to school this year. I don't think Lulu thought they were nearly as exciting as the potential for new toys the unopened presents offered, but I know that she'll appreciate them as she grows out of her old stuff this year:

Auntie Kate wanted to see all the new school outfits

Next up came the presents from Oma and Opa:

watering her garden

dog, cat, and bunny

And ein Zug from Mau-Mau and Umpapa:

complete with noises and trains that go off-track on our tile floors!

Mama and Daddy saved the best for last though. She was really excited when we pulled the dollhouse out:

after some debate, we settled on the Caucasian großfamilie--nuclear family + g'parents

Oma looks a little plastered there!

And once the excitement died down a bit, I opened my present from Mom and Dad. It was a Nambe copper canyon bowl that Gropius and I had been drooling over when we were in Taos earlier this summer!

Band-Aid

After we all got back from Lulu's ballet class this afternoon, Nanny fixed herself a drink (The Nanny, in case you were wondering) and went to sit outside on the patio. An unfortunate characteristic of our freezer is that when you pull the drawer with the ice reservoir out, some ice gets pushed out of the back of the drawer and falls out (curse you, Korean first-year engineering student interning at LG who designed our fridge!). Nanny didn't notice the ice cube on the floor, so it melted.

Melted ice + a freshly cleaned tile floor = slick disaster waiting to happen

Luckily, it happened to me and it wasn't that disastrous. I slipped on the wet spot and slammed the side of my left ankle into the bottom of the fridge. D'oh!

Lulu was quite concerned though--she wanted to know, "What happened?" When I explained it to her, she went into our bathroom, found the Band-Aid container and put one on my ankle. When Walter got home, she made sure that he noticed Mama's "owie foot."

It was such a sweet moment of concern and compassion and a nice reassurance that, at least on some level (during an evening filled with tantrums), whatever it is that we're doing is helping her grow into a little girl with concern for others.

Third Birthday Party

The Birthday Girl turns THREE!

We held a small get-together for Lulu's birthday this past Sunday afternoon. It worked out so that Lulu was the only toddler at her party, but somehow with all the cake, ice cream, presents and adult attention/fawning/adoration, I don't think she minded!

Auntie Kate and Uncle David from next door and Tante Hellen and Onkel Derek came over to join the three of us, MauMau and Nanny. I remarked to Kate that I thought it was a nice-sized party because it was small enough that everyone had a chance to talk to everyone else and feel included. Gropius cooked hamburgers and hot dogs out on the patio while everyone circulated and caught up with each other.

Mom and I spent some time the day before decorating a Tigger cake for Lulu. It was a big hit with the birthday girl (who has requested it at every meal since!).

After we ate cake and ice cream, Lulu opened up her presents and enjoyed playing with them all. Unfortunately, my camera battery chose that moment to die (D'oh!), so I will have to rely on my mother's camera for those photos. I'll post them soon, but in the meantime, here's a picture of the table with some presents, cake, and birthday hats!

The Two Josephines

Lulu (aka Louisa Marie-Josephine) and her great-grandmother (aka Nanny) have had a wonderful time playing with each other this past weekend.  As my mother commented, we think they might be the same age--3 and 83 for those who are counting.

There has been lots of ball and balloon playing in the backyard, but the moment that I thought was sweetest was catching them deep in conversation on the patio on Saturday:

the zip-loc bag of hair ribbons is serious business!

Lulu is telling her that the ribbon says "Lulu."
(for the record, it says "Baby Star.")

It's especially poignant given that both my grandfathers died within the first 6 months of Lulu's life, so Nanny is the only great-grandparent she'll ever know.  I feel so fortunate to be able to witness little moments like this and am grateful my mother brought her along to visit.

Third Birthday Photos

Hellen and I took Lulu to the mall to get her annual birthday portraits done at the Picture People. This was our first time at the Picture People and we had a really good time and got a TON of great photos:



The photographer encouraged me to enter this photo in their Cutest Kid Contest:



Apologies for the low-res on the photos--you'll get the prints of them soon!

Project Runway Friday

New PJs, bling, and sunglasses--check!

Someone got a new set of pajamas just in time for Pajama Day at School on Friday. Apparently the "homeless chic" look is giving way to a more glamorous sartorial style....

And these two are my personal faves from Friday morning (even though the sunlight is really harsh from the window). I can SO see her giving me these looks as she gets older....

Hmmm, no, you don't make the cut!

Happy Third Birthday, Lulu!

Happy Birthday, Lulu!

first birthday party flashback

Someone woke up in a wonderful mood and wanted to crawl in to bed and snuggle with Mama this morning.  We read a Sunset magazine together and talked about the pictures and what we saw until we shared a breakfast of oatmeal together.

she still has this expression when she's reading....

Lulu was very helpful and anxious to help get the cupcakes safely in the car so that she could share them with her friends.  (I made sure to show her that we had more still in the fridge so she would still have more later, even if she shared!)

And I had a very powerful thought during my Pilates class this morning--I can handle anything this teacher thinks she can throw at me because this time 3 years ago, I was giving birth!

Love you, sweetheart!

Dance Class

Lulu attended her first dance class this afternoon. I was pleased to find a gymnastics/dance studio offering pre-ballet/creative movement classes at 4:30 in the afternoon on Tuesdays. And, it's right around the corner from Merryhill. Score!

We were trying it out this afternoon to make sure that she liked it before enrolling her in the class. We even had a hand-me-down dance leotard that I brought along, but she refused to wear it this afternoon (of course!). There was even another girl from Merryhill there in the next classroom up, Allie (the one with the long, blonde hair and petulant expression in the slideshow below).

As you can see, Lulu had a great time and will be going back next week!



And when we got home, Bow-Wow had to wear the leotard so s/he could join in the dancing, too.

taken with my cell phone, so apologies for poor picture quality

Insert Tarzan yell here...

On days when I want to grab Lulu by her feet and swing her in circles around my head like a chimpanzee, I try to remember these sweet faces: