The Birthday Party

What I really wanted to call this post? Phew! (it's over, I can now breathe again.. [you know, buying and making and cooking and organizing and all])

An additional possible alternative title after trying for too long to put a very excited little girl so sleep is  Finally! 

Before I go on and tell you what a rookie mummy I am (but also how people told me it was a great and well organized party, as I said above, phew..) let me tell you about her new two word sentence. Well the nanny (V) taught Butterfly to say - toda (thank you) V. I don't consider that two words as it is not from her own initiative. But then the other day she said to me - toda mummy. Which is so sweet and lovely. And yes, that is hers and a new two word for daughter :-). And then yesterday we were driving in the car and she was saying (with our "help") thank you to this person and that, and I suggested her name so she went toda A.nnie [her second name and how she calls herself] and since we laughed because it was too funny, she went on and on :-).

But the party you are saying....

Well rookie mum me forgot to give the first set of kids (brothers) that left  the little goodie bag (a custom here for the party child to give out, as children leave, a little surprise bag, usually filled with sweets and maybe a little toy [but I had some bubble bath, bubbles and a little toy]). [but hey, better from last year where I didn't even prepare such bags].

I also forgot to pick her up on the chair (another custom - birthday child is picked up the amount of age s/he is plus one for next year) and well kind of remembered at the last minute.

I was also a bit awkward about how and when to do things. At one point my mother was pushing to bring out the cake. I wasn't keen as it is a sign that the party is almost over (and it was, imo, still early).

But you know, the cake, as in blowing out the candles.. While I practiced with Butterfly earlier in the day [with me at first holding the candle and her moving back just as she tries to blow it out, then letting her hold the burning candle and blowing it. yes, success. And then me sticking candles on the floor and asking her to blow them out. no success] didn't think we'll succeed in the party. Well she did!!

Yes, three candles. One for next year...

And oh cake #2, can you play guess where the chocolate was? I prouded myself with a no chocolate (and no usual party junk food) in the party. It's an orange-carrot cake, with a topping of a vanilla cream and fruit on top. Okay, back half a sentence. Vanilla cream and chocolate (chips) that is. Well I made the cream with a packed of vanilla pudding. Only when I was about to make the topping, on a very hot Friday morning when I have done enough shopping (only that morning went to get last minute milk and coffee, oh and Friday - that means shops are only open till about noon) did I see it contained chocolate chips (didn't see that when I bought it). Oh well.. There were also the mosquitoes, which however much I tried battling them, were still awful!! And the pretty necklace Butterfly didn't want to wear (because holy shmoly I tried taking off her amber necklace to put the other one on. this amber necklace has been round her neck since she was about 4 months, never [except once in the past and now] taken off since she was 5 months old.)

The party theme was bubbles. Originally I had a few ideas. around the subject, in addition to just blowing bubbles but I think they would have been mostly above my child's head at two. Maybe in the future... Anyway, I filled a big tub with bubble liquid I've made, had some wands and some bought bubbles, and the kids had a nice time blowing them. (Except one poor little girl whom I shall not name except tell you she is now sleeping in the other room with her party dress on,who got the solution in her eye and we kept rinsing it but she kept putting her soaped hand to it..) But all in all, it was a great party. There was plenty of food (I was a bit afraid there won't be enough), good atmosphere and most important, I think Butterfly had a great time!!

story behind pic: cleaning up after the party, we saw her sitting on the step ladder with this cheeky grin of hers (the one saying I'm doing something not allowed..), well coming closer, we saw a hole in the cake. So of course the camera had to come out....

!! TWO !!

Did you realize that my daughter has just doubled her life, going from 1 to 2? LOL. Scheduling this post as I want to dedicate the day for her :-).

Two. How amazing is that? I mean only yesterday you were born. But then I look at pictures of you when you were a baby, and oh my! that was a long long time ago! Surly more than two :-).

You are a very very clever girl, amaze me how quick you pick up things. You have a very clear idea of how things should be done. More so, who should be doing it. For example, when the nanny comes while I'm trying to dress you, it is now nanny's turn and only she may dress you! And I am told that in their house if one says that s/he's going to feed you or take you for a walk or whatever, then you will only allow that person to do so!

You are very curious about the world around you. Experimenting the WHOLE TIME. And you are very adventurous but also careful. But well, you are also very mischievous, Dennis the Menace :)). And that grin of yours when you're doing something "naughty" :-). Socialization is also beginning to be more important in your life, and you love watching other kids play and copying them. The other day you learned to spin round and round by watching another kid do so, and you are like to practice. You also love running around an object in circles, you just run and run and run :-).

You also most certainly have a mind of your own. But dear girl, you have always had one, so.. hmmm.. why the terrible twos?? You will pull me or my shirt if you want something/want me to come, and I will add that you are very strong, and that not always it is possible (or I don't always want) to give you what you want.But you understand pretty quick that I am more stubborn head that you, lol.

You are very generous, you will take out two plums from the bag (for example) and hand one to me (but then you don't really like if I decide not to eat it. lol..). You really love your cousin A [and today you finally pronounced his name fully to the end!] and love helping Savta* take care of him. And you are so not jealous when I help Savta take car of him. You will be a great big sister one day!!

Brushing teeth is still something you hate. Not sure to say if we are making progress or not but I found something that (mostly, ouch when it doesn't!) works for me. I take one of your socks, wet it and put a bit of toothpaste on the tip. Now comes the tricky part - trying to hold you down while keeping the toothpaste on the sock. And yes, even with this method I have to hold you down :-(. Anyway I then rub your teeth while you cry/try and protest. Luckily you don't usually try and bite me.. [I am also trying to write a little personalized book for you so you understand the importance]

You are still very much behind on your talking [we haven't really had another two word phrase since that more ze a month ago (that is you say more ze all the time, and sometimes, though quite rarely, more something else but nothing more)]. Anyway, it will come. I am sure :-).

*Butterfly's grandmother who sometimes takes care of the baby while sister does this or that. 

P.S

Blogger - I am starting to like, even very like, the new you (well at least with writing posts with pictures and all, so much easier!)

P.P.S

The green in the pictures - sometime ago I played around with my camera, trying to learn, and well I'm not sure what I did.

100%

Was going to title this post 98% or 99.9% or 98.23% (because who wants to jinx things?) but you know what? She is 100% toilet trained!!! It was a very long process and a very short one. But we are there now :-). And yes, while this post is an all-sorts and nothing much for me to say on the subject, my daughter's pee still deserves the title!



Many many years ago when I was just beginning to go out into the real world I talked to everyone about how with the money I am now earning (I did do babysitting as a teenager, but that was peanuts :-)) I will buy a second hand bicycle. And I was so excited about it! Then one day it's my birthday and I'm surprised with a bicycle. The look on my face.. I was so so so disappointed. Apparently they  they heard I wanted a bike. They didn't hear that I wanted to get myself a bike, that I wanted to find a decent second hand one, that I wanted to buy it. Well something similar happened this birthday. Fortunately I managed to fix it.




Butterfly is becoming much more sociable! There's this playground with stay at home mum's and kids her age I like going to. Most of the  apparatuses(?) are in the sun but where we sit it's nice and shady. Sometimes one of the women brings papers and paint for the kids to draw, but mainly it's just about being sociable. (though will add that lately there are less women there - maybe we just miss them or maybe they found some other place). Anyway, when I go to a playground with Butterfly (not just the above), Butterfly will go "talking" to whatever kid in Gibberish, while pointing high up. I have no idea what she wants (and I am mostly not exactly next to her), but it's kind of funny watching the other kids reaction..And today with her cousin E (3.5), they were actually communicating kind of playing together which is very new!
Now that she is toilet trained I am hoping to find (homeschooling or other) groups to join!




We're soon going to the sea to celebrate my nephew's birthday, which is a last minute change of plan, which also means I'll have to wake Butterfly up from her late afternoon nap. I hate waking her up.




I will end with a positive update - I managed to get my endocrinology's appointment earlier (mid July)! [that and I suddenly remembered they also asked me to do an HSG  so now I have time to get that done and then the endo and then I'm ready to start :-)].

12 Months 12 Challenges - June

Ooooo June is OUR month! We [are having a very bad night, waking up every quarter an hour or so] are just two weeks shy of our second birthday!!!
I ordered Butterfly's present on my birthday (because how fun it is to do that, and three weeks prior to her birthday seems reasonable) and surprisingly it got here today. Well I'm actually getting her three things - a playmobile (one of the simple ones, so that in a year or two when she can play with it, she'll already have some); something small(ish..) for her to open in bed in the morning of her birthday and the big one, a balance bike (balance bikes, if you don't know, are bikes with no pedals). So today we got the bike and I assembled it /icon of proud mama, although it really wasn't hard../ and then called Butterfly to try them. And.. Now let me tell you that the site (from which I bought the bike) did mention a number, 37 centimeters the height of the chair but it also mentioned it;s good from 2 years plus. Now my daughter she is very very tall for her age [a week ago, which is three weeks before her second birthday, which is when if you double the height you get the estimated adult height, she was 90 cm. that would make her 1.80 m. in adulthood which in feet (oh, I know that one lol) is six!]. So as she is a tall two year old, I didn't bother measuring her legs. Well, a big bummer as the bike is too high for her. She's shy of about 5 cm to reach the ground (and actually should be a bit more as her legs should be a bit bent, but at least let her get to the floor). I suppose a shoe would give another centimeter, but how fast can she grow those extra four?? /icon of a disappointed mother/

[must have been the heat. I've increased the fan speed and, touch wood, she's still sleeping. oh the sticky hot summer. is there any room down under? I think Australia also has hot summers, and I've always fancied New Zealand, so, okay wake up! you have a blog post to finish, some posts to read yourself, a house to tend to blah blah blah] I would also like to give a little update on the toilet training situation. I reckon she is 93.2% toilet trained. As for number two, she is long since "trained", going to the potty/toilet to do her stuff. It's the pee that's been a problem. Well we are now much better on that front, much much better. She now also goes to the potty/toilet for pee (but not always). I am not liking how the nanny is dealing with it [she forces her to go and I am so against forcing my daughter. if she says no, then it's a no. And once Butterfly does something in the potty, the nanny does a very big circus clapping and cheering (I don't like making a fuss of something so natural. besides I want it to be from her own will and not due to outside motivation] and just hope we can say 100% soon. (and please before that second birthday :-) )

As for this month's challenge - I would really love to arrange and put stuff in tab on the top. [nope. damn. her she's calling me again. I really don't know what's bothering her. I'll finish this post and join her to bed. urg. ]. Tabs (that's where I was). I've been wanting for quite some time to do something (okay and will admit that wanted for a long time to delete existing tab [and started to delete stuff on that tab] as I opened a photographing blog [not that I post there, but still] and haven't yet done so when Tiara you commented [thanks!] which means that I can't delete that tab, lol.. So I'm hoping very much this month to add some tabs to my blog. (only please, not more nights like this one. I'm thinking maybe a growth spurt?!? [I think she heard me request her to grow 5cm  more for the bike]).

Let's do some more waiting!

Had my meeting today at the fertility department in the hospital. And ohhhhhh.. First we were there over two hours. We, as in me and Butterfly as I didn't have any arrangement for her.And mostly she was a really good girl! (we even went twice to the toilet, coming home in the exact same clothes in which we left!!*). But even a nice girl gets tired (added it being a very hot day) and bored and starts screaming and pulling mummy's shirt because we just have to go right now which of course happened when I finally got to see the doctor (thankfully half way through the meeting). And going back to the over two hours being there and then seen first by I guess an intern and only then the doctor herself (btw, same doctor I saw at the fertility clinic some time ago..). Erg!

But besides that they annoyed me on two issues. First there's the genetic screening. I took about 18 such tests and as I was found to be a carrier of one of them, I chose a donor who is not a carrier. In fact, not being a carrier of my genetic disease was the ONLY thing that mattered to me when choosing a donor. So they want to see the test result saying I'm a carrier. Why??? He said something about if they have to match me with a donor so they would like to know. But I HAVE a donor! One chosen because he is not a carrier!!
The doctor later continued to want to see the whole list of genetic screening I took, saying how it's in my interest. She then tells me how just the other day this woman who thought she had done all the tests, showed them to her and it seems she's only done a few basics. Pleaaaaaase. At least she ended up saying it's not a must and really I do have these tests results at home and it's no problem bringing them, it's just the principle that annoys me.

And then there's the TSH. They won't start treating me or even creating a plan before I see an endocrinologist. The one I was supposed to see around March and was sure I had an appointment and I probably goofed and forgot to make the appointment so now have to wait until the end of August!!! Yes, that's how long. And I can't start any fertility treatment until I see the endo... [I will try to phone and see if perhaps someone cancels and maybe I can "grab" their appointment time].
And I will say that I agree with them on this point, it just totally sucks having to wait so long. On the positive side I will add that I decided that it would be very nice, kind of closing a circle, if I gave birth to #2 on Yom Kippur (around Sep-Oct), as Yom Kippur eve was when I got my second beta and hence knew I was pregnant. So I have until about December to get everything running and to conceive, lol.


Oh wait, before I hit the publish button (too late, but oh well..) let me tell you about my big sister Butterfly. How she is so great with Baby A, her newborn cousin and how I look at her with him and know she will be a wonderful big sister. And you know, no jealousy. I even did a bit of breastfeeding Baby A (my sister tried breastfeeding, she didn't succeed so she more or less stopped) and she accepted it without any problem! (I guess if I don't get to do tandem breastfeeding, that would be as close as I would get!!).

* no nappy, yeah? I was actually debating if to put a nappy on her or not Yes for nappy because I didn't believe we would stay dry. No because I have totally stopped using nappies on her so putting one on her would be  a very big step backwards. I am so glad she proved me wrong :-). [I think we are 93% toilet trained]

three firsts and a last]

Warning: child mentioned. If you are from ICLW and reading about another person's child is too hard for you, then don't read this post.
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My daughter had a few firsts today. We went to visit my sister where she lives, and since it's Shavuot (a holiday) the small community in which she lives was celebrating it and we decided to see what it's all about. They had all sorts of fun competitions like building the tallest tower from cardboard boxes or moving water from one big container to another using plastic cups, etc. We were outsiders so we didn't participate, but looked like a real joyful day to those who did! (what was really nice about it, the teams were all made of families so there were men and women and older children and younger children). Anyway we were just watching.


At one point my daughter goes off, gets to this table (which wasn't so near where I was but in full eyesight) and I see her taking some fruit from the table and eating. She then wonders back to us (my mum and sister were there too) with hands behind her back and a sneaky smile. Yes, she was hiding some sweet bread or something behind her back, taking it quickly out for a bite and back behind the back it goes! And that grin, a total mischievous I've done something naughty grin! That was just too cute :-). I mean I'm sure I won't like when she's older and lies to me and I hope that's not in our future, but the innocence of her trying to fool mum.... [and isn't it also a developmental step? to deceive means you know that others see the world differently than you!]


And then she wondered off while I was getting us some food (at the end of the competitions they all came to eat). And I lost her. for real. I mean she is fearless and independent and does wonder off and I always keep an eye on her getting her back when/if she goes too far. But there were too many people and just one minute of not looking and she was gone. Kind of scary even if you believe these are good family people and even if you know the road is too off for her to accidentally get to the road. Anyway I go up to the man with the microphone and ask him to announce her. Just as he started to announce, I see her sitting in the middle of the grass, enjoying a popsicle she found!


And then as we were leaving I got myself some ice-coffee. It was either that or a cocoa drink (or yes, water, but I fancied something nice :-)) and I'd rather she doesn't have chocolate (not yet, anyway). Well it was quite obvious she would want some, just didn't expect her to drink so much!


And a last. Well was supposed to be a last if a little madam would go to sleep on that first attempt (yeah, coffee, not the best idea..) and then not wake and want the breast while mummy* is trying to type. But wait, I have the advantage of technology and I can simply "re"schedule this post a couple of hours earlier! So here we are, an hour or two before midnight and the last hour (or two) of me being 41 :-)).




* She seems to call me ima (mummy in Hebrew), and my mother - mummy. I assume because she hears me call my mother mummy..
And she speaks more Hebrew words than English, although she is more with me than with the nanny. I think she understands that Hebrew is the language spoken around here (while I do speak to her in English, I obviously speak to others in Hebrew and she sees and hears) so while she knows and understands English [and she never stops to amaze me at what she knows and understands] she rather focus her efforts on obtaining the dominant language..

nature X 3

Ants

There are these big ants building their nest in the street outside our house (under a rose, to be exact), and it is just so amazing! They march quite a distance (maybe 100 meters?) to get these little pieces of straw and then march back to the nest. The other day there was a big pile of straw outside the nest but also ants coming back and going into the nest itself with the straws (and struggling with the long pieces of straw). And they've been doing this for days! 

Birds

Another type of nest building. Suddenly yesterday* I look up and I see above my window, on the air-conditioning pipe, two birds flying around a nest. How did they build it without me noticing? Can't wait for their eggs to hatch! (just hope that now that I've discovered them, that I won't scare them too much..)

* I wrote this post more than a week ago. After writing the post (that is after I discovered the nest!) it looked like they abandoned the nest perhaps thinking it is a dangerous spot. However! There is now a bird hatching in the nest!!

Plants
Yes, nature very much fascinates me!! Anyway, last summer I (well a worker) dug a hole in the ground to put this little pool to be used as a sand pit. And last summer we played some in that sand pit (but not too much as that corner also happens to be mosquito heaven :-( ). And then came the winter, and the rains. Not thinking ahead, the material I covered it with was enough to make sure cats don't poop in it, but not enough to stop the rain. And during the winter it was too cold to deal with, and then it got really dirty and horrible I didn't even want to think how and what. Once towards the end of the winter I tried emptying some of the water, discovering worms (my reaction - wow worms! how cooooool!) but what was more cool were these pecans [it is right under a pecan tree] that sent out little roots. Coming back again some time later when the days got hotter, these plants have really grown!