My Best Cousin's B-day

Yesterday was my nephew's birthday. He turned 5 yrs old. I can remember when he was just born and weighed in a barely 5 lbs. It was a very happy day for everyone. My sister rented a jumper with a water slide. There was a ton of food. It was a blast and the kids loved it. The theme was "Transformers". My nephew was so happy! My little one was another story altogether. She had a fever beginning last wednesday and was still not feeling her best. Saturday looked like she was feeling better. I was even able to take her and my nephew to the park and McDonald's to play; however, in the evening, she was feeling very tired and I noticed signs of rashes on her body. Sunday morning the rashes flattened out and I began to worry because she has had a case of this before and the doctor prescribed steroids. I called her doctor and recommended over the counter medication. He warned me that it would knock her out for a little while and it did. She was out for the entire b-day party. When we got home, she slept another hour and was back to her good ole silly self. The doctor suggested that she come into his office if there were still signs of rashes. Fortunately, they were gone. I had her stay home from school to rest a little more and on Wednesday, she'll be back to school.

Playdates...Same But Better This Time Around

Yesterday, we had another opportunity for playtime for my little one and her friends (Kelly & Jackie). This time I planned ahead of time and picked up her cousin from school first and then took the both of them over. In addition, it was such a warm day that I bought water balloons for the kids to play. It was a hit! The four of them played together very well for about an hour to an hour and a half. Afterwards, they were so hungry that they ran in and ate their dinner (pizza) without a fuss. :) We stayed until 6:30 and then took my nephew and my little one home for a bath.

Playdates

It's really funny how little ones grow and mature so quickly. It was just 3 months ago that my little one was looking forward to spending time with her friends Kelly & Jackie. Kelly is 7 and Jackie is going to be 5. My little one is 4. We decided to have a playdate on Thursday because my little one would not be able to attend Kelly's b-day on Saturday. So, we went out and bought her a present and 3 little cupcakes for each of the girls. It was apparent from the beginning that their was a social / maturity gap. When my little one gave the girls a cupcake, each one said that they didn't eat sweets. Keep in mind that the older one was just finishing a Butterfinger Crisp. I'm not sure if my little one heard it but even if she did, she didn't fully understand. Later, they went out to play ball. Because my little one is a little younger and not as skilled at catching the balls, the older girls complained that she was too slow at the game and went into the house to play something else. My little one came in ready to cry. I told her that it was ok and that the girls just wanted to rest. Even the girl's mother tried to encourage the girls to go out to play but they both said that they didn't want to. My little was stubborn too. She kept nudging me to ask to have one of her friends come out to play on the swing with her. It was a no win situation. We distracted all 3 by asking them if they wanted to go out and play with the scooter. They agreed. The 2 older girls were much faster and my little one was slow. Eventually, she stopped riding because she couldn't keep up. Kelly and Jackie's mother suggested that I bring my nephew over which was a wonderful idea because my little one and nephew are really close. That was the answer to our troubles. When my little one saw him, she was so happy. They played and played very well until the end of the evening when they fought for the computer. Oh well. It's 8:45pm and time to go home anyways. My nephew fell asleep as soon as he jumped into bed and my little one was fast asleep even before we arrived home. :)

Baking Cookies!

Yesterday, my little one and I had alot of fun just bonding. We spent the day just playing and relaxing. I had an appointment in the early afternoon and asked uncle to babysit for about an hour and a half. After my appointment, I called my little one and she was so happy to hear from me. I told her that I would be back soon and she yelled "OK". As soon as I got back, I couldn't believe it. She was sound asleep on the couch. Gosh, I had just spoken to her a few minutes ago. I can't remember the last time that I was able to just fall asleep like that. After she woke up, we had dinner. Apparently, all day she was telling uncle that mommy and her would be baking cookies today. So, after dinner, she excitedly asked me about it again. I told her yes we would. I took the prepared dough out of the freezer and baked the cookies. My little one had a wonderful time putting frosting and chocolate chips on the cookies. The funny thing is that I think more of the chocolate chips ended up in her tummy than on the cookies itself. These are the cherished memories. :)

4th of July!

Yesterday was a wonderful day spent with family and cousins. The early part of the day we camped out at Torrance beach with my little one and her little one yr old cousin and his mommy and daddy. We literally camped out with a tent. The kids loved it! My little one kept insisting on zipping everyone up in the tent! With the temperature being so warm, it was not a good idea. We splashed in the water and watched a school of dolphins swim by. After about 2 hours, we headed home. That was plenty of beach time for the little ones. Time to go home and nap before the big firework show at the park.

My little one was looking forward to the firework show all day and insisted that her uncle come along too. We called him 3 times during the day and even went to his house to look for him. I told my little one that if he doesn't come home before 8pm then the 2 of us will head off. She didn't like this idea so we waited. Fortunately, on her piggyback ride home we saw uncle coming home. We called him right away and he came over. We headed out to the park and parked by the high school. The only problem with this was that my little one insisted on being carried. I piggybacked her all the way to the park. Boy, my back aches. Of course, no fault of hers. Only mommy's because I love my little one so much! My little one was fine until the show began. They had to turn off all the park lights. As soon as they did this, she wanted to go home. We convinced her to stay for another 15 minutes and then headed home. Again, piggyback to the car. As soon as we got home and cleaned up, she was fast asleep with her teddy bear. :)

She's Back!

My little one is home again so we're back to "Mommy and Me" Adventures again. Over the weekend, I asked my little one where she would like to go with mama and surprisingly, she told me Chinatown. I gave her a handful of choices. Those being the Long Beach Aqaurium, The LA Zoo and the beach. She chose Chinatown. I think she's just like me when I was younger. It's not that Chinatown is all that fun, it's the environment, the people and mainly the culture. Of course, the wonerful dim sum too! The summer is beginning to get pretty warm and I'm not sure where our next trip will be...maybe Disneyland.