July 29, 2009 by Barbara.

Reid’s birthday was a celebration from start to finish. I brought her breakfast in bed as I read about a Andrea at A Peak Inside the Fishbowl doing for her children. I’m particularly proud of myself for remembering the idea over the last couple of months. Reid, who had already cuddled into bed with Ken, was tickled to see me with the tray. She said that it was good that she was in daddy’s bed so that her bed, with it’s new sheets and quilt, wouldn’t get anything spilled on it. I’m pretty sure that this was the sort of thought she should have kept to herself, no matter how true it was. Reid was careful as she ate her Cheerios and banana and drank her orange juice from its wine glass. Only one Cheerio got away from her. Given the number of Cheerios that end up on the dining room floor in a given week, one was a good number. After breakfast, Reid opened birthday cards from Aunt Karin and Uncle Dave (and Shea, Adam and Sulienne), Uncle Rick and Aunt Stephanie and Grandmama. She was excited to hear what each one said and who they were from. Separating the card opening from present opening made the cards seem more special and brought excitement to breakfast.

Reid went to swimming lessons wearing the birthday cake hat that I got her from the Dollar Store. She took it off before she got to the pool deck but she told her teacher it was her birthday. He’s a bit odd. He didn’t wish her “Happy birthday” as I do reflexively when I’m told about someone’s birthday. Maybe I’m odd, too, but he is odd in other ways. The other little girl in Reid’s class was absent and so Reid enjoyed a private lesson, almost like I planned it. We stopped at the Dollar Store on the way home for a few more balls for loot bags. Parents replied to the invitation as late as Thursday and so I scrambled a bit at the end. I was ever so grateful that Grandma Joyce insisted that she should make as many cloth bags as kids that we invited, even though people say attendance at summer birthdays is low. We had two left over but it was a near thing.

Reid’s party started at 10:45 at Cosmic Adventures. Unlike last year, when I dallied a bit and Ken was forced to speed across town and we were still later arriving than the first couple of guests, we got there before anyone else. We milled about in the lobby, collecting 12 of the 13 kids who were coming in the first 20 minutes. Each person entering the play area required an wrist band and I asked people to fill in “Hello my name is” stickers. It gave me hope that I’d be able to call the other adults something other than “M’s mom” or “J and L’s dad”. Unfortunately, most provided the kid’s names only. Still I did learn the names of 2 moms and one dad as well as one uncle. That uncle had never been to Cosmic Adventures before, was doing his sister a favour, and Ken told him that it was going to be very loud and that his sister would owe him big! (Sort of like I did last year, when Uncle Roger helped out at Reid’s birthday party.)

With all but one straggler accounted for, one of the party people led everyone to the little arcade to explain how the debit card thingys worked in the games. It would have made more sense to gather the parents close as most of the kids - the ones close enough to hear - didn’t understand the directions and the parents who probably could have understood, didn’t hear. Not that it’s rocket science; there are a finite number of ways to swipe a card. From the point of view of the kids’ experience, I think it was better when they got to feed tokens into the machines to play and then received a ribbon of tickets when they won. Environmentally - and economically, I’m sure - the debit cards are a better choice. As a parent who isn’t keen on the arcade, I missed seeing the supply of tokens dwindle, to mark the time I’d spent in that area. Our last guest arrived while we were still in the arcade and so we had 14 kids in total. Reid finally left the arcade without redeeming her card for the little plastic and rubber doodads that we absolutely don’t need in our house. All of the kids had some time in the climbing structure before we were called to the Mars room for lunch. Ken told me that at one point Reid went into the area reserved for kids 4 and under and he showed her the sign and told her she was too big. I bet that she liked being too big for something since she is still too little for many other things.

In the party room, everything runs with a military-sort of precision but the kids don’t seem to notice. They were enticed to all sit down by our party host who pointed out the crayons on the table that could be used on the paper that covered it. He got them to choose apple juice or Fruitopia by touching their nose or raising their hand, respectively. He made a crown for Reid out of balloons but involved all of the kids in stretching out the balloons and letting some filled ones go zooming around the room. No one seemed to mind at all that Reid was the only one with a balloon hat. The pizza was passed out efficiently - there’d been a choice between pizza and hot dogs but I’d decided it was too complicated to have both and ordered cheese pizza for all - and then another party host arrived to start painting faces. Each of the kids that wanted to got a small design on their cheek and didn’t mind interrupting their pizza-eating to do so. The party host gathered everyone together to show them the cake, a rectangle with a green and purple alien in one corner, and then asked if they were still hungry for their pizza or if they wanted cake. Reid went against the crowd and went back to eating her pizza.

We sang, “Happy Birthday” and passed out cake. Reid was excited to receive the first piece (told her dad about it later, even, though he was right there) but didn’t even pick up the fork to try her cake. This worked well because it meant we had time for a group photo and the present unwrapping. The party host sat next to Reid as she unwrapped her presents, recording who gave what on an official Cosmic Adventures form. It was like we rented a maid-of-honour. Once presents were unwrapped it was 1:00 and time for the official part of the party to end. The kids were welcome to stay with their parents until the 8:30 closing but we weren’t responsible for them. The moms were impressed by the cloth lot bags (I confessed Grandma Joyce had made them when asked) and the kids seemed to like the smiley-face ball, funny pen, notebook and Franklin story that was in each.

A surprising number of the kids had to leave immediately. I’d have been taking advantage of the no-admission-fee chance to let my kid run a bit more. A tired kid is the kind one wants at bedtime, no? Of course, there was the one kid whose parents had delayed the start of their family vacation until after the party and the others who had stayed home from the cottage in order to attend. Cosmic Adventures is a very popular birthday party location! We ended up staying until about 2:30 when the four who were allowed to stay longer left. We picked up the left-over cake and bag of presents at the desk on our way out. Birthday party packages are pretty expensive but the service is excellent.

Reid and I dropped Ken and the presents off at home and then went to buy some food for our planned picnic supper. It’s been raining so much and so often that I hadn’t wanted to commit to buying what we needed until I knew that we’d actually go. Sandwiches, cheese, veggies and the like are good for a picnic but seem weird as at-home birthday dinner offerings. It’s popular wisdom that you shouldn’t shop on an empty stomach and I can attest to the fact that it’s even worse to do when your stomach is empty and you’re tired. Everything that took *no effort to prepare* looked good. The only thing I was willing to buy that required me to expend energy were the cherries that I had to wash.

Melissa, Peter and Ben picked us up about 5:00 and we headed down to see Natalie MacMaster and the National Arts Centre Orchestra playing at one of the Orchestra in the Park concerts. We were early enough and lucky enough to find a picnic table to eat at and we enjoyed our supper and then I put a candle in the pie Reid had chosen at the store. We sang “Happy Birthday” and Reid tried to blow out the candle but the wind was so strong that the candle went out as soon as I lit it two or three times. Finally, I asked Reid to pretend to blow out the candle so that I could take the standard photo. (I’m such a cheater.) Reid refused the piece of pie that she was offered and also the ice cream that was all soft and creamy from its time in the cooler without ice). We offered extra pieces to the people sitting near us but most looked more than a little surprised that we offered and declined. One lady accepted and then her friend did, too. It was nice to share our celebration.

We tidied up and then left Peter and Ken to guard the chairs while Melissa, Ben, Reid and I went to see what else was going on. We found a water fountain that had way too much water pressure and a misaligned spout. The water’s arc was twice as large as it should have been. (I mention this only because there is a very good thing that Reid and Ben would say that it was the most memorable part of the evening. When we were walking, Reid asked me to carry her. I said “no” and noted that she is getting big and soon I won’t be able to carry her. Reid said, “Probably when I’m 20, I’ll be too heavy and too long for you to carry.” I told her that I was thinking more like 10 or maybe 7. I don’t think Reid believed me.

We saw some modern dancers (from The Dance School - Dancing in the Streets) performing on the grass. Reid watched a bit and then began emulating their poses and movements. We also went into a tent for the kids to try a guitar, ukulele (I think), drums and a violin. I’m pretty sure the Ottawa Folklore Centre provided the first instruments but I’m not sure from where the violins came. Having whiled away an hour, we headed for our seats. Reid couldn’t walk by the porta-john, despite our visit to the posh facilities (by comparison) of the Canadian War Museum. While standing in line, we got to see two people dressed in historic costumes and so it was good all around. We had to pick our way carefully to our chairs as the crowd grew dramatically while we’d been away. People were good natured about shifting, like they *should* be at outdoor concerts but sometimes aren’t. Reid and Ben had their chairs in front of ours. Reid has discovered, or maybe more accurately, finally noticed that Ben isn’t a fan of PDA (public displays of affection). He defines “public” as any situation involving more than himself and his parents when it comes to hugs or kisses. Reid likes to threaten to kiss him, she may actually carry through if she were able, and I have to tell her that everyone has the right to decide what happens to her/his body instead of smiling and remembering when little girls used to chase little boys and vice versa and it didn’t mean anything.

Once the concert started, Reid had trouble staying in her seat. She wanted to dance, had to dance, in fact. Unfortunately the closest good place for dancing was in Ben’s sight line of the stage. Still Reid listened some, danced some and talked some (it’s Reid, the talking was inevitable) for the 90 minutes the concert lasted. The sky looked increasingly ominous as the time passed. By the time Natalie MacMaster came out for her encore, people were getting antsy. As the last notes died away, the crowd began packing up their chairs and heading out. We got to the van - carpooling saved such coordination headaches - and Reid and Ken each got to open their presents before we went to out house. I was amazed that Reid didn’t fall asleep on the way home but I guess it’s hard to sleep when you’re talking non-stop.

Reid went to sleep quickly at home, or I think she did, I was out in no time flat, myself. She even slept in an hour on Sunday. It was a birthday full of happy happenings. I’m so glad that Reid had fun (and also that we only do it once a year).

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May 25, 2009 by Barbara.

Sometimes I decide that we can do more in a day than really we should take on. I did that on both days of this past weekend. On Saturday, Reid and I were up early to make rhubarb cake and lasagna for supper. She even set the table for supper so that we’d be ready. I managed one of the fastest showers of my life and we got to Reid’s swimming lessons just 2 minutes late. Immediately after the lessons finished, we headed to the Melon Heads at Place d’Orleans so that Reid could get her hair cut. Reid had asked on Thursday to get her hair cut like Ken’s - basically a long brush cut - but we said “no” to that but did offer a shorter hairstyle. I hunted through Lands End catalogues and parenting magazines but couldn’t find any pictures of girls with hair shorter than their chin. The Internet let me down, too. Lucky for me, Reid had decided that she wanted her hair still “long” just shorter than it was. In the end, her hair is cut to chin length and she is cute as always.

Next, we went to the photo studio at Loblaws. I’d forgotten to make an appointment for Ken and Reid to have their pictures taken for Mother’s Day. It was late enough that we decided that we might as well do Father’s Day pics, too. We all smiled and posed on cue. Reid had asked me if I’d brought any things for the pictures. I’m not sure what it means that she knows to ask if I’ve brought any props. I didn’t, if you’re wondering.

We had a late lunch at the food court and then Reid and I took a bus to the National Arts Centre for the last concert in the TD Family Adventures series. This one featured Veronica Tennant, the former ballerina, as the co-host and was called “Dance with the NAC Orchestra”. A local dance school supplied dancers for a number of the pieces, including the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from the Nutcracker and a work by Bach that featured a tap dancer and contemporary dancer. Many a child, especially the little girls, left the concert hall spinning and planning their own dance career.

On our way to the bus stop, we saw some of the Ottawa Race Weekend crowds. They’re the reason we took a bus; with the races, there were many road closures. I’ve been meaning to travel more by bus on the weekend, since I have a bus pass and kids 5 and under ride for free but hadn’t been that organized yet. Driving allows for more poor planning ;+)

We walked in to the smell of almost-cooked lasagna and in that instant, I decided that I’m going to make lasagna for company more often. I’d cleaned the kitchen hours earlier and wasn’t stressing out just before people arrived. Stephen had a school project to work on and Peter was out of town, which meant that only Sarah and Ben were with Melissa. The kids sat at Reid’s little table and were well-behaved with only one small kicking incident. Maybe there were other troubles but they weren’t noticeable from the table the adults were at. I highly recommend separate seating for kids and adults. The kids do, too, since sitting at Reid’s table was offered as a choice this time. Ken disappeared upstairs to work on his French while Melissa and I enjoyed our tea from fancy china cups. Tea tastes better or you drink it slower or something when you use the fancy cups. Reid and Ben conned Melissa into reading a couple of books and then it was time for bed. As busy as the day was, I was happy not to be super-tired. It was hectic but not stressful.

Which was good, since we had a few things to do on Sunday. Reid and I were at the garden centre/nursery before it opened on Sunday and took our time selecting vegetables, seeds and decorative plants. Reid was happy with our plant car - she was boxed in on the one side by plants and on the other by stuff that usually rides around in the cargo area and there were plants in the front. We’d barely got the plants unloaded when Bruno showed up to help. I don’t know how parents with two kids manage the eagerness. I was reminded that I haven’t spoken much French lately. Sigh. We did get some flowers planted before lunch, though. After lunch, I took Reid to M’s, a friend from school. Reid was so excited to be going to a friend’s house when it wasn’t for a birthday. I didn’t point out that she’d only been out to one at-home birthday party. The mom said that I could run errands or whatever as she thought the girls would occupy themselves. From all reports they did just that, spending most of their time in the backyard. I returned from my trip to the consignment store and St Vincent de Paul store where I’d made drop offs in time to hear the girls starting to get on each other’s nerves. Three hours was just long enough, I think. We’ll invite M over right away. Reid is thinking that she now has Sunday afternoon plans for the rest of her life. I’m not shutting out the possibility of activities that don’t involve M but I don’t think I’ll be killing Reid’s dream quite yet.

Bedtime was welcome on Sunday. I’ll try and plan for somewhat less this weekend. I guess.

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February 26, 2009 by Barbara.

Reid and I went skating with Melissa and Ben at an outdoor rink in their neighbourhood on Sunday afternoon. Ben was eager to play hockey with the big kids but spent some time skating on the “puddle” with Reid first. The 3 years difference in their ages and the fact that one is a girl and the other a boy aren’t really barriers when they’re playing outside - or at least not in Reid’s mind. Unfortunately, despite the weekly skating lessons since September, Reid is not as proficient a skater as Ben. When they did go to the rink with boards and nets, Reid tried to skate and handle the puck a bit with the big boys and then decided to play goalie instead. The older boys, who were 13 or 14, refused to take shots on my pink-suited 4-year-old girl. She didn’t tell them that she was 4 *and a half* but I doubt it would have made a difference. I talked Reid away from the net and Ben even agreed to shoot on the net at the other end for a bit. She wanted back into the game, though.

Back at our house, Reid had lots to say about skating and said that she wanted to play hockey in the fall when Ken asked her. I wish I knew other hockey families in the area. I don’t know anything about when to register, where to find used equipment of any of that. Luckily, it’s spring and the right time of year for a young girl’s thoughts to turn to hockey. Far better than September …

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December 7, 2008 by Barbara.

I finally figured out what Reid has been singing off and on this past week. It’s “mega, mega clipboard.” I think that I’ve always heard it and known what it was but since it didn’t make sense I decided I was mistaken. Friday night, though, I made the connection between her song fragment and the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer play we saw on Sunday and it finally clicked. Santa used a clipboard and every time the word “clipboard” was mentioned, the other actors would sing “mega, mega clipboard” a few times (or maybe they said, “magic, mega clipboard” which is how Ben remembers it). It was funnier to see and hear than to read, I think.

Reid has also been asking for what she calls “the Christmas song” but what is actually “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”. We sang it at least a dozen times Thursday night alone. Now that we’ve moved the tv to the basement (and by “we”, I mean Ken), I can’t listen to the Christmas music channels that we get via cable and I’m not sure where my few Christmas music cds are. I’ll have to find an “all Christmas music, all the time” Internet radio station since my repertoire of songs is much more limited than Grandma Joyce’s.

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November 5, 2008 by Barbara.

View More Wordless Wednesday Participants, look at my previous Wordless Wednesday entries, or check out the Wordless Wednesday HQ. You’ll find lots of cute babies and kids at 5 Minutes for Mom.

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June 5, 2008 by Barbara.

We woke to the sound of heavy rain on Saturday. My first two thoughts were: 1. From the sound of that rain, we might need to build an ark and 2. Poor Melissa! What a weekend to be at a Beaver camp. The latter led me back to a conversation we’d had about Reid joining Sparks or Beavers next year. I have no real experience with Girl Guides or Scouts - other than attending a couple Brownie meetings with Janet - but I want Reid to try it out. Aunt Pam’s kids certainly seemed to get a lot out of Scouts. We’ll need to figure out whether Reid is a Spark or Beaver, though.

The rain didn’t affect our plan, though. Reid and I braved the weather to go out for breakfast and then we had work to do in the basement. And we actually did it. I moved some of my stuff up to the guest room that will double as my “space” (office sounds too much like work) and some of Ken’s things down to his “study” (again, I have the problem with work). Ken worked to set up his area and he and I both carried quite a few things up to the garage to be given away. Reid played quite autonomously - something that is happening more and more often, though not always when we need it as much as we did on Saturday.   I learned the word for “to get rid of” last week and I’ve used it quite a few times and will continue to need it, I hope.

Reid and I went to have our picture taken on Sunday morning. She’d sat patiently while I braided her hair and accepted the dress I’d chosen and so I was very much surprised when she began to cry when we sat down on the bench outside the photo studio. She didn’t want her picture taken that day, she said. Well, we tried a couple shots of just me and eventually enticed Reid to join me. We ended up with a couple of good shots but nothing as cool as the pic of Ken and Reid’s silly-faces. But maybe I’m too self-critical.

Bruno stopped by just as we were getting ready to plant potatoes. He helped for awhile even though he was quite concerned they were poisonous because they’d sprouted. I’m not sure if it was my limited French vocabulary or his strong preconception but he wasn’t convinced of the wisdom of the undertaking even at the end. Reid was disappointed when Bruno left only a short visit even though she doesn’t speak directly with him. She asks me (many times), “What are you saying to him?” and also “What did he say to you?” Bruno mostly watches what Reid is doing with casual interest and doesn’t ask what she says. I suspect he grasps much of what I say to her.

I made curry for supper with whole grain rice. My better half was considering a rebellion over the rice, I think, but Reid didn’t object. As she sometimes asks for a ridiculous amount of rice (or spaghetti), I’m trying to switch her to the whole wheat stuff. Since we had made rhubarb mini-cupcakes before supper, we had dessert for a change. I wouldn’t recommend mini-cupcakes to anyone baking with a kid who likes to put the batter in the cups as it’s quite difficult to get just the small amount of batter required into the cup. That said, Reid loved the tinyness of the cupcakes and I think she’ll lobby hard to use them again.

In addition to the mini-cupcakes that Reid and I made together, I baked a pie on Sunday. I mention that it was I who made the pie because Reid had intended to help and had, in fact, helped make the dough. Ken intervened when it became apparent that I was having trouble with the dough and Reid was having trouble getting her turn to roll it. I’ve made pie dough before but it’s been years since then. I never could have imagined a softer dough - it was like brand new Playdough, the real stuff, not homemade. After a few colourful comments and a few attemps, I got the bottom crust in the pieplate and then added my rhubarb. The top crust required the same combination of attitude and effort. And *I* had worried that Reid’s assistance in making the dough itself would lead to tough crusts. The fun continued when I turned the oven off rather than turning it down 25 degrees. The poor pie didn’t come out of the oven until Reid was in bed (by which I mean “lying on the floor” since she has decided to sleep on the floor again).

Of course, the pie coming out of the oven so late meant that we weren’t able to eat any Sunday night. Reid and I addressed this further insult to the pie on Monday morning by eating a piece for breakfast. It’s true! I’m shameless about it. Grandma Joyce knows I eat pie for breakfast. I’m not afraid to tell you I do. (Ken does it rarely, perhaps because I don’t make the kinds of pie he favours often enough.) Reid thoroughly enjoyed her rhubarb pie and tried to exchange a lovely smile for a second piece. My mama guilt kicked in and I told her she had to drink her milk and choose a piece of fruit instead. It only *seems* that Reid makes all of the decisions.

All in all, it was an enjoyable weekend. Really, how could it not be, having started with an hour of snuggling and reading in bed and ending with pie for breakfast? While Saturday morning was very wet, there was only a bit of rain on Sunday, for all the skies threatened. The only rain that fell on us came when we were nearly back from our walk to pick up the photos. All this to say that we didn’t need the ark and had a good time despite cloudy skies.

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December 3, 2007 by Barbara.

As we were getting ready to leave Melissa’s on Thursday, or at least when I was telling Reid it was time to leave Melissa’s on Thursday, I told Reid that she needed to give everyone super-good goodbye hugs and kisses because we wouldn’t be seeing them for 10 days. Reid started giving each of the kids and Melissa and Peter without any prompting a few months ago. Sarah, Melissa and Peter accept them with enthusiasm. I suspect Stephen likes them but can’t let on because he is a very nearly 10 year old boy.

Ben is certainly the least enthusiastic recipient of Reid’s affection. He stoically accepts the hug but avoids the kiss. Last week, Sarah was trying to hold Ben down while Reid tried to kiss him. When I noticed what was happening I made them let him go and explained that people get to decide for themselves what happens to their bodies. This week, Reid was stretching herself as tall as she could, all of the way up on her tiptoes and could only reach the underside of Ben’s chin. She reached up and tried to pull his head down but wasn’t tall enough for that either. Poor kid, she needs to grow just a bit taller. I told Reid she needed to ask Ben if he wanted a kiss and when she did, he said “no”. The answer seemed acceptable to Reid as she gave him a squeeze and went in search of Stephen.

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October 19, 2007 by Barbara.

Ben is starting to read but has so far refused to to read a story to me or Reid. Last night, though, he wanted to have one of the mint Girl Guide cookies that I had bought from Sarah. Sarah is in Brownies but they don’t have their own cookies. Don’t ask us why. Go ask your mother. Peter told Ben that their family doesn’t like the mint cookies and would buy the vanilla/chocolate boxes in the spring. Ben was undeterred.

Seizing the opportunity, I offered him a cookie in exchange for a story. Stephen said that Ben wouldn’t eat the cookie and I said that it was all the same to me as long as Ben read the story. Ben hunted up a book and read it to Reid and me. He knew many of the words and sounded the others out like a pro. Who puts words like “cigogne” in an early reader for immersion kids anyway?! (Note to self: Figure out what a “cignogne” is. It seemed like a crane or maybe a swan. The illustrator wasn’t on my side either.)

After supper, I gave Ben the cookie he’d earned. He took one bite and made an awful face. Peter grinned and took the rest of the cookie away. I wish I’d congratulated Ben on trying it but was distracted at the time. He was also the only one to try the Turkish Delight. It was also not to his taste but he did give it a go, at least.

All in all, I don’t think I’ll be getting any more stories in exchange for mint cookies from Ben. In fact, I don’t think anyone in their family would do anything for a mint Klondike bar. Maybe to get out of eating one though …

In any case, I highly recommend that you seek out a nearby Spark, Brownie, Guide or Pathfinder and buy some cookies. If you don’t like them, your local food bank will find someone who does. These links are Canadian. The same information will be available for other countries.

Edited to add: Cignogne is “swan” in French.

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July 6, 2007 by Barbara.

Ben asked us for weeks if we would come to watch him play soccer. Unfortunately, his games and Reid’s swimming lessons conflicted. Reid’s swimming lessons have wrapped and so when he asked on the Thursday night after swimming lessons were over, I said that I’d check with Ken to see if we could come. Ben called me himself (with Melissa’s help I imagine) to ask for an answer on Friday. I was flattered and caught up in his excitement. Ben is only one of the kids to invite us - or if the others asked when they were his age, I’ve forgotten. I think I’m closer to Ben because he was born here and Reid and I spent so much time with Ben and Melissa when I was off on mat leave.

Unlike so many other days lately, that Friday was mild and sunny - instead of hot and humid. We got to the soccer pitch about 6:30 and were still able to find a place right on the sideline. Reid watched a bit of the game but spent a good deal of the time kicking a soccer ball back and forth with her dad. I enjoyed watching the boys play and hope that Reid will have as much fun if/when she plays soccer. I know no rules other than you aren’t allowed to touch the ball with your hands unless you’re the goalie but Ken follows soccer and so will be able to educate me. Provided I can pay attention and not interrupt. I’m a poor student when Ken is trying to teach me things. (Surprised? ;+)

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January 15, 2007 by Barbara.

Reid had a rotten night’s sleep Saturday night. I think she was experiencing a “grumbly tumbly” as Winnie the Pooh might say, though his is only ever “rumbly”, meaning hungry. Poor girl had many bad dreams, was awake enough to be aware she needed to use the bathroom (usually I can soothe her back to sleep faster) and out and out cried at one point (almost never happens). At 5:30, she declared it to be “no sleeping time” and got up to use the bathroom, for the third time. We went downstairs and watched a couple shows from the PVR and played with Potato Heads. At 7:30, Reid decided it was time to sleep. I thought it might kill my afternoon nap but was too tied to put up a fight. I closed my eyes at 8:00 and opened them again at 9:30. Reid slept until 10:00. Ken wandered down about then as well.  Quite an unusual morning in our house. After lunch, Reid wanted to nurse and so I told her that we’d have to go up to her room but not expecting her to nap. Two and a half hours later, I woke Reid when I coughed too hard for too long. Boy, that was a pleasant surprise. Less so maybe for Melissa and Ben who were waiting for us to meet them at Chapters. Melissa said that they read many, many books. Reid and I went to have tea and treats at Starbucks and then got groceries, including a deli chicken and fries for supper. After eating and trying more Potato Head combination, it was bedtime again. Yep, she went to sleep again without fuss and so did I. I decided to go straight to sleep in my own bed just in case and was unfortunately proven right. I’ve decided that she is experiencing growing pains since I read about another kid with them on a blog.

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