I love it when I get a Saturday off and I get to spend the entire day with my little one. Last month, our Saturday together had a few precious moments...
I got to sleep in until 10:30 ~ that's a rarity! It was at that time, a little one crawled into bed with me fully dressed, grinning with a big smile and just wanting to cuddle. She was thrilled to hear that there was no school, no work, no appointments -- just time together.
After watching Sleeping Beauty for the umpteenth time, I got dressed knowing daddy would soon be home for a lunch break. Kristina loves to see daddy's big FedEx truck pull up to the house!
Then our mid-afternoon excitement: we went to our first "mommy/daughter only" movie. We saw
Winnie the Pooh. Ah, yes...I've seen 2 movies in 2 years and they have both been rated "G". I think Kristina loves going to the movies for the popcorn because after the first 30 minutes and having her fill of the buttery goodness, she announced "
ok, I'm ready to go home." We lasted through the remaining half hour but I think Kristina found the "light-up shoes" on the kid next to us more interesting.
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| After the movie, Kristina pulled some modeling moves to music played throughout the area. |
I had to run errands so off to Wal*Mart we went. D'oh!!! That darn pet store next to Wal*Mart. It was pet adoption day! Ugh...I knew Kristina had to see the doggies and I knew I'd be in tears. But I figured better me in tears than her so we approached the dogs. The dogs were all rescued and were surprising mostly calm considering they were all in cages. My heart breaks at this sight - heck, I cry when I see the ASPCA commercials on TV! (I dare you to watch
this clip and not have your heart tugged...)
It was a sweet 10 minutes of watching Kristina. She pet the dogs, talked to them, and I slipped her a few dollars to put in the donation jars. I fell in love with two of the pooches: one was a 7 year old Bearded Collie (just like my beloveds, Bonnie and Bluebelle, when I was growing up) and the other was an 8 year old Lab/Collie mix named Molly Ann. (sigh)
If only we weren't away from home so many hours each day, if only we had a yard conducive for a dog, if only I had the energy to take care of another "child", if only.... Someday, Kristina, someday. With tears in my eyes, we somehow finished our errands and I had to explain in child's terms why these weren't happy tears for me. I'm such a softie.
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| Kristina and Molly Ann...sigh... |
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This doggy reminded me of the dogs we had growing up:
Bonnie and Bluebelle.
She was such a gentle doggy...hopefully now in a wonderful home. |
This past Saturday was another Mommy/Daughter day. (I stay home one Saturday per month to give Nana and Grampa a break from Hurricane K.) Our ritual of sleeping in, watching a video and making lunch for daddy held true. It wasn't until we headed to the store that I realized it was Pet Adoption Day again- d'oh!! Kristina is oh, so polite asking
"May I pet your doggie?" but this time she realized that not all doggies are like Molly Ann from our last visit. One dog let out a bark that nearly left Kristina shoeless! On a positive note, I didn't shed a tear this time while checking out the doggies. Yes, mommy is growing up.
One thing Kristina enjoyed this last weekend was putting tattoos all over her body and three on me. (I can't believe I actually went around town with cupcakes, "
Sweetness", and hearts adorning my arms and didn't think twice about it!) Later that day, I was doing laundry only to find she added about 13 tattoos to her legs in my absence. The upside? She's really, really good at counting to 30 now (the number of seconds one must put the damp cloth on the tattoo for it to stick!).
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| LA Ink....a la Kristina style!! |
I love these days off with Kristina. I wish I could afford to do it more. But bottom line is: I treasure every moment and look forward to more Mommy/Daughter Days before she grows up and goes through a stage where
"it's not cool to hang out with mommy!"
Breaking News: Thumb-Sucking Update!
Right now, my husband is in awe of me...you'd think he was applying me for sainthood over the "miracle" that I have performed!! From the moment I put the Mavala on Kristina's thumb up until now, we have had only one incident in which she started to suck her thumb. And when she did, I hadn't had the Mavala on her thumb for over a week and she was sound asleep next to me. I heard that all-familiar sound, looked over and gently removed her thumb (ok, not so "gentle" -- this girl had a death-grip on the thumb!). She didn't even flinch.
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| Now our angel sleeps peacefully, minus the thumb in the mouth! |
So, I believe we've been successful so far. I want to thank EVERYONE for posting messages and sending e-mails of support. I truly felt bad discouraging her of her main method of self-soothing. Now she tends to hug me more...
I'll take it!!!
