Parenting is a trip!

Amy is learning how to be hurtful. I think this is a natural consequence of socialization. I'm sure you Mom's out there are thinking, I haven't seen anything hateful from a 3.5 year old, relative to what a teenager can dole out. Heck, I know! I was a hateful teenager. Are there any mom's reading this?

But Amy did two hurtful things this week. At one point I was asserting my authority, and she said, "You are not going to be my friend, ever!". I had to fight laughing while telling her she can't talk to her mommy that way. The other hateful thing is that when I ask for kisses now, she says she doesn't need one and RUNS FOR THE HILLS.

Here's a picture of the angel getting her hair cut. Kids today! She gets to pick what movie they play on a flat screen monitor, she gets to pick what chair (airplane, firetruck, etc), and she gets to pick a prize at the end. No wonder she doesn't mind outings to get her hair cut.

The Ever-ready Bunny (not Amy) took his batteries out

First a little scholastic material.

Every marriage has its firsts. We had a first today. I think fatherhood is changing Don. We biked to the oceanfront, had breakfast, and then went onto the beach. We were like tourists at the Hilton. We rented a chaise lounge and an umbrella. We both watched Amy play on the fantastic playground (jungle-jim type thing). Then we went to the umbrella, and found a cool, public, 6-umbrella-shaded, beach toy-laden area. Amy and I played in that, and an amazing thing happened. Don sat on the lounge chair, under the umbrella, and chilled out. We actually went into the ocean and came back to the umbrella. Then Amy and I went back to the playground, and Don was still chillin' on the chair. What is a first about this? We probably spent two hours on the beach, which is two hours more than I've ever spent with him in 15 years of marriage. Don was SO laid back, I had to pry him off the beach. There came a time, that if I didn't bike home that very minute, I would stay at the Hilton beach-front until picked up by a car. Amy has been a dream-boat.

Jacob's 3 and Cancer Free

I was away since Tuesday, and I'm amazed at how she has developed in just 5 days. This morning, Amy said, "Did you go to the airport Mommy?". It was so cute. We went to Jacob's party today to celebrate his third birthday and the fact that he is considered cancer free. It is wonderful to be home, it was fantastic to see Amy have so much fun, and Don and I loved the party. To kick the party off, Jacob took a water-gun in the eye, and he may need to get it stitched. As if Jim and Susan need to go to the hospital one more time, on his birthday-yet. Alicia, thanks for reading and commenting and I'm sorry we won't see you too. There is too much going on and we just can't do everything. Thanks for saying the sweet things you say.

Fire-station tour and Kung Fu Panda

We have a new fire station less than a mile from our house. We took our new booster seat and Amy to the fire station, to have the nice fire-fighters help us confirm the safety of the new seat in her car. While we were there we had fun touring the station and sitting in the fire trucks.

Today we escaped the narly heat by going to Kung Fu Panda. There are so few G movies. I was afraid that Amy would be repelled by the previews or the scary scenes of this PG movie. Well, to my surprise she LOVED it. I mean LOVED it. Don and I loved it. The animation was beautiful, and the story had a positive message. We all laughed out loud throughout. This family gives Kung Fu Panda two thumbs up.

Community carnival: Joy and tears

Joy = The ferris wheel: where Amy can sit like peanut butter, in between the family sandwich of Don and Janet. The RED snow cone. The loot (a tiara, a candy necklace, a candy ring, a frog, and a ducky stuffed animal) she received from duck toss and frog fling, etc. The super-fast slide that worried Mommy a little. The ferris wheel again.

Tears = When Mommy went on the "Zero Gravity" ride, which Amy wasn't tall enough for. When Mommy jumped on the Euro Bungy, strapped into a harness without Amy. When Mommy left Amy's side for anything longer than a second. Same thing happened today at the beach. She's in a phase where I can't do anything without her (to her knowlegde).