Pearly whites!

AK and I had a nice lazy morning... we didn't have to be at the dentist until 930am and I didn't see the point of going to preschool / work before then. We (I!) took our time waking up, had a leisurely bath, watched some cartoons... but before we knew it, we were on our way to the dentist!

For the longest time, AK was pretty excited about her dentist appointment. But just a few minutes before we left, she said that she no longer wanted to go. Tough, I told her!

She did great... she sat on my lap once again, she's not quite convinced to sit in that big chair by herself just yet. But the dentist is really happy with how things look. The cavities have not progressed further, and even though AK has some stains on her back teeth from food, that's okay. I'm trying to figure out what AK is eating that would be staining her teeth like that though? She used to eat lots of blueberries but I haven't bought any lately as they've been too expensive. Grapes, maybe?

Anyway, AK's pearly whites got a bit of a polish and AK picked out a Princess Tiana sticker, and we were on our way! AK was at school by 10am, and I was at work just after. Not too shabby!

This is the life...

AK's got it pretty good, I have to say...

Lounging in bed, watching Dora on "that pink thing"
Out for supper - chocolate milk as a treat!

We stopped at the grocery store on our way home from supper but left without buying a thing... AK was drawn in by the Halloween candy display at the door and demanded candy... my "no" didn't go over well... and I wasn't giving in! AK thought that she could still ask for candy when we got home... ha! Off to bed she went. Hopefully the next few days will be whine-free as AK now knows I won't put up with it!!!

AK has a dentist appointment in the morning. I'm actually pretty excited for it! Fingers crossed the dentist gives us the all clear once again. xo

Some pics from school!

Just got an email from Wee Care with these photos of AK hard at play and at work!

Singing Happy Birthday! This looks like a "red" day (the children are encouraged to wear certain colors on some days as they focus on that color in their lessons).

Cake time! AK is second from the end on the left. Her friend Marley is sitting next to her.

Playing in the breezeway! AK is off to the left. This must have been a "yellow" day.

It is great to get these photos from school... makes for a nice break during the work day!

Tapped out!

What a whirlwind of a weekend!!!

On Friday night, we headed over to the Doghouse for supper and playground. AK didn't eat at all but she's been eating her leftovers ever since so her meal wasn't wasted! We only lasted about an hour and a half, the mosquitos came out once the sun went down and they were fierce! AK helped me rent a movie and pick up a few groceries and then we came home to chill on the couch and hit the hay. We were both in bed pretty early that night.

Yesterday, AK had ballet lessons, which were fantastic as always. One of the ladies said that the new stock had come in so I walked around to the office behind the studio and picked out what I needed for AK. Imagine my surprise when she came out of her class wearing the exact outfit I had just bought! I waited outside after I made my purchases as it was so hot in the viewing area, so I didn't realize that they were pulling the girls out one by one to outfit them properly. I said "You changed?!?!". Poor AK didn't know how to explain away my confusion.

She realized that her tights have holes on the bottom which allow her to pull her feet through and the tights up so that shoes don't make them dirty. She came into the Foster's pharmacy with me looking like a hardened ballerina, with her tights rolled up and her new ballet bag on her back. Ha!

We got ourselves prettied up and then took off for a very special "Princess and the Cow" birthday party for Isabella and Leo. It rained and rained and rained... but the sun came through a few times and it was a pool party so it's not like a bit of water really ruined anything! Margaret did a wonderful job of being creative with the theme. She had wanted to do the "Princess and the Frog" theme but I guess there aren't a lot of frog decorations out there... and Leo prefers cows anyway! Margaret had signs for all the food that had princess themes (eg: Rapunzel salad and Mermaid Ariel Pasta Shells) and the drinks had cow themes. Margaret had a beautiful Barbie / princess cake for Isabella and cow cupcakes for Leo. Wow. AK came home with a lot of loot as well, including a tiara and a wand!

I left AK with Mike while Julie and I went to a baby shower... Baby MacD is due in early November but I'm hoping he arrives a little earlier than that... Mommy Mo is quite uncomfortable and ready to meet her little (big) guy! The shower was lovely and Baby MacD is quite spoiled already!

I got back to Mike's find that AK was still napping!!! I tried to wake her up and she was having none of that. Julie and Mike both tried to wake her as well. Wasn't worth it as AK was a total bear once she got her eyes open! I had to give her a time out there - eek - but as soon as we got in the car, she settled down. AK has acted up around others lately, mostly whining and disobeying, but it seems like sometimes she just needs to get away from it all in order to calm down and transform back into her usual angelic self!

On the way home, AK asked to go to Hunter's house. That was good news - when I initially told AK that she was going to hang out with Uncle Mike, she cried some great big fat alligator tears. Of course she waved happily to me as I walked out the door. So I was worried that she might not want to go to Hunter's house for a sleepover... a bunch of us moms got together for supper last night and Ben agreed to babysit. I was a bit bummed to have to get two babysitters in one day but the guilt was alleviated by the fact that all AK pretty much did for either Mike or Ben was sleep :)

So AK had a quick supper at home and then we headed over to Babbs. AK quite happily, once again, waved as I walked out the door. Whew. Dinner was wonderful, sushi is always good! and it was really nice to get some plans firmed up for Christmas! I know it's a few months away yet but us accountants are a bit anal, I guess.

Jess and Ben convinced me to leave AK with them last night rather than wake her up to take her home... I was tired enough that I ended up giving in. The logistics of getting her into the car, out of the car, into her bed, just seemed too much at the time! I had a nice sleep-in until 730am (sad what passes for sleeping in now) which felt really nice.

AK pulled her whiny act again this morning and I was forced to bring AK home to save the Babbs' eardrums. Once again, she calmed down rather quickly once we got home. She told me she was tired so I put her down for a nap but when I checked in on her a few minutes later, she was up playing so I got her ready for church and off we went. She left me with no fuss at all in her childcare room, why can't she be like that for preschool??? It is amazing how quickly her mood can change from sunny to stormy, and back again. The teenage years promise to be a TON of FUN!

AK went to another birthday party this afternoon with her daddy so I got a bit of time to myself to hit up a yoga class and watch a movie. The movie was "Mao's Last Dancer". It is based on a true story of a ballet dancer from China who was granted permission from the Chinese government to do a session of summer school for ballet in the US and ended up staying beyond his time. As a result, the Chinese government pretty much disowned him and barred him from returning to China or communicating with his family. It was a really enjoyable and moving film.

AK was sitting in the car this morning, chattering away. I didn't catch what she said and asked her to repeat herself. She said "I'm TALKING to MYSELF, Mommy". Ha ha! She kept mumbling to herself, then finally said "Okay, I'm talking to you now!!!".

Alright, I'm done... I'm heading off to bed soon! xo

Friendship Friday

AK was to wear yellow to school today, and bring a fruit to help make a "friendship" salad today to celebrate this month's theme of "We have Friends at Pre-School". How awesome is that? I can't wait to see AK today and hear all about it.

I am halfway through my challenge already! I'm on Day 12 and have completed 15 classes. Woohoo! I will take tomorrow off, as we have a busy day with ballet, a birthday party, a baby shower and dinner out, plus I'm kind of tired! But I will be back at it on Sunday.

Now just to get through a couple hours of work before the weekend starts! xo

Tiny Dancer

My little ballerina is the cutest thing ever. I fully realize that I am biased!

Not sure what was going on here - looks like they're pretending to be elephants?

Pretending to be kitty cats, down on the ground

Twirling around

Floating like a butterfly

More dancing

AK is meant to be a dancer :) xo

Try a Tri!

I was thinking about last night and realized that AK is well on her way to "trying a tri(athlon)". She ran from the car to the apartment, then we took a spin on the bike to the pool and then she took a good swim in the pool. I realize the order is completely backwards too but oh well!

Gotta watch out for those path edges!

Doesn't she look like a serious racer?

Swimming her panties... I've started an awful trend here!

Showing off her fine form

AK wanted me to come in the pool with her so we went back into the apt to change into our bathing suits and spent a bit of time just floating and swimming. AK refused to put her face in the water and just barely washed it. She half-heartedly got some of her hair wet. She's regressing so quickly from the stuff she learned at swim lessons this summer. What a bummer.

AK ate a great supper of noodles, tuna and vegetables... guess all that exercise helped her work up a good appetite!

Barbie Doll

Last week, AK asked me to "do her hair like Barbie's". It's hard to see in these pictures but Barbie has two little ponytails at the front of her head so I duplicated that for AK! She was thrilled!

Check out how long her hair is getting!

Showing off the identical hairstyles

I picked up AK from daycare early yesterday - and she was sitting at one of the tables, working on a coloring project. It was a picture of an alligator and she was very carefully and diligently working hard to color it all in while keeping the crayon within the lines. The teacher was chatting with her about the picture and mentioned that it was an alligator and alligator starts with the letter A. She asked AK what else starts with the letter A, and AK threw her arms up into the air and shouted "ME!". Super cute!

AK seems like a well-liked little girl at school. Her teachers absolutely dote on her and all of her classmates really seem to enjoy her company as well. The classroom AK is in is a really lovely bunch of children and they seem so happy to see each other every day.

When I was buckling AK into her car seat, she looked over at me, and said "Mommy, I like your skirt. It's very nice!". I said thank you and then she grabbed my shirt in two fingers to rub it and said "And I like your shirt too!". It was pretty funny. It's not like this was a new outfit or anything!

We had some lovely evening adventures which I've put into the next post! xo

Monday blues

Back to Monday again... even when weekends are quiet, they still go by way too quickly.

As a continuation of the Discovery Channel adventures, I've seen a baby iggie in the house a few times. Yuck. It runs away from me so I've had no luck getting it out the door. Haven't seen it for a day or two though, so I'm assuming the little guy found its way out.

AK had another successful ballet class. She practically ran into the studio without a backwards glance towards me. She still gets distracted when she sees me watching, or when she sees herself in the mirror, but she is otherwise very focused on the teacher and the assistant, and on the moves she is supposed to be copying. She loves it!

Today is Day 8 of the challenge and I'll have 9 classes done after I go tonight. I'm contemplating doubling up a couple of days this week so that I may be able to get through the 30 days without needing one babysitter... wish me luck!

When I picked up AK on Friday, I stopped to admire all the artwork on the wall where the teachers display the projects for the week. The kids painted stoplights, colored in an apple, practiced the number 1 and made alligators out of paper bags. The teacher said that AK is doing very well with these sorts of projects. The only thing that worries me now is that they are starting to learn Spanish words for things and I will not be able to help AK with any of her Spanish homework!!! I may have to learn it along with her!

I finally unpacked my last suitcase from summer holidays yesterday. I purposely unpacked the bag all over AK's room so that I HAD to clean it up. In doing so, I finally found the harmonica that Baba had given to AK. Yay! I was sad when I couldn't find it previously as it is a pretty thoughtful gift.

I got a lot of other stuff organized too... put some stuff aside to give to friends, and other stuff to donate... pretty boring stuff yesterday! xo

Back on the Discovery Channel again

I've mentioned in the past that it sometimes feels like we're living life on the Discovery Channel here... I've had encounters with manatees, sharks, turtles, puppies and all sorts of other animal life here in Cayman. In the past few days, I've had the following experiences:

• I came home from work the other day and walked up to my door to find a black snake hanging out on the walkway. Thankfully it slithered away when I approached. I made the mistake of telling AK about it and was quick enough to reassure AK that it was a "friendly snake" that I saw. She happily agreed that "we like friendly snakes!".
  
• We took the garbage out one rainy wet-ish evening and counted no less than 5 snails on the walkway and on the building. I think I may have also stepped on one or two and AK also pointed at a "very still snail" (which I think I stepped on earlier in the day...). They are sneaky little critters, they just happen to find themselves under my feet sometimes!
• Last night, I looked over and saw what I thought was a big ball of black fuzz on the floor... then my first thought was that it was a big fuzzy spider, as I've encountered some of those in MB before... then I realized it was a teeny tiny frog. AK was kind enough to keep an eye on it while I ran to get the broom and then she jumped on up on a chair as I swept the frog out the door. Yikes. I think I was more freaked out than AK was.
• We've also seen a lot of little iguanas recently, which isn't really new, but AK really enjoys pointing them out and stopping to say Hi to them.
  

We are having Mike and Julie over for supper tonight. I am trying two new recipes on them so fingers crossed they both turn out! I need to leave work early as I am getting a service call from the Internet guys... finally... which works out nicely as it gives me more time to prep for supper!

Talk soon! xo

Same old, same old!

Nothing is really new here. Get up, rush to get ready, go to school/work, rush to come home, supper, bed... rinse and repeat!

Yoga challenge is going well. 4 classes in 3 days so far.

AK continues to be a little stinker but more often she is full of giggles. She was SO happy this morning, even when I spilled a WHOLE cup of coffee. She stood and watched me clean up and kept telling me how she was "helping me". Well, the giggles and smiles did take the grumpies over spilling the coffee away!

We hit up the Doghouse for playground and pizza last night with Babbs and Forsyths. That is always fun. We even got to pick up Hunter from school and bring him with us! He very kindly helped AK with her bag, even when she got upset because she didn't want help (womens' rights advocate already?) and the more she complained about it, the more I laughed (silently) at her.

I sent AK off to school today with a french braid in her hair... success! It is pretty tough to get her hair done up at all so I consider this a victory!

I just got the info for her first school fundraiser yesterday - it's a gift and gift wrap catalogue. I need to go through what I have first to see if I really need to buy anything. Christmas is looking like it'll be a bit pared down compared to what it was like last year... some of us moms have decided we'll do a gift swap for the kids rather than everyone buying for everyone... that will help the wallet a lot! I don't plan to buy much for AK myself either... I've got one larger gift to bring back with me from Toronto next month, and a couple of smaller things in mind... will just then maybe buy an ornament, Christmas PJs and a new book. AK has WAY too much stuff.

Comedy Act

I think AK should open for Seinfeld these days... she's got some great one-liners!

Me: The panda bear eats eucalyptus and bamboo.
AK: I've seen that movie! Bamboo!
Me: The movie Bamboo? Do you mean Bambi?
AK: Yes! Bamboo! Bambi? Bamboo-Bambi?

AK also said "Mommy, I like your singing a little bit, not a lot". Nice...

Internet is still down at home unfortunately. I think I will have to pay a visit to the internet office in person...

AK and I had a wonderful weekend. Our Friday night was our usual movie and "fun" supper... Saturday was ballet (I have some pictures to share from that, will try to remember to bring my camera to work tomorrow to upload the pics), babysitting Hunter and then back to the Babb's place for supper with the Forsyths too. Sunday was church, lunch out and then beach. All simple pleasures... but very fun ones.

The kids went down to the beach on Saturday night to look for wee little crabs hiding in shells. They spent forever searching in the sand... so much fun. The sunsets have been particularly beautiful lately. We watched it on both Saturday and Sunday.

Exciting times today - I'm starting off a 30-day yoga challenge today. And my parents celebrate their wedding anniversary! Happy Anniversary, Grandma and Grandpa!!! xoxo

Score!

I looked through some flyers yesterday and noticed olive oil was on sale at one of the discount stores here. I went there after work and couldn't find any signage on the shelf about the sale item, so went and asked at the customer service desk. They had no clue which flyer I was talking about ("You know, the flyer that was in the paper today?") so they called in the manager. He (very gently!) let me know that I had been looking at a competitor's flyer but he was willing to price match.

Wow. I got 2L of olive oil for 9.99, $5 off of their price!

Not too shabby for a crazy lady ranting about the sale price in the flyer that didn't even exist for that store!!!

Internet is down at home, has been since Tuesday, so I hope it is up this weekend.

I'm so glad it's not in my head

I've been noticing a rather alarming upward trend in my electricity bill, despite no apparent changes in my habits. I'm glad that this article in the newspaper today laid my worries to rest.

Article about costs

So I'm not losing my marbles, but and it's not a unique problem to be dealing with rising costs... but it is good to know it's not all in my head :)

My water meter was removed for testing after last month's $200 water bill. This month's bill is $26. Coincidence??? I'm still waiting on the results of the meter testing, which take at least a month. Fingers crossed all will work out (again!).

First day back at school!

Sounds like the first day back at school was just fine... AK seems happy to be hanging out with her school friends again. I asked if I could take her picture and she said "No, I don't like having my picture taken a lot". She shut that down pretty well!

However... I was able to get some photos of AK enjoying her "new room". I went to Kirk's Home on the weekend and bought a new comforter and sheets for AK's big girl bed. She loves it, as you can see below!

Taking the new sheets for a test cuddle

Making sure the bed's bounce hasn't been affected any by the new sheets - you should see this kid jump on the bed - she's ferocious! (and I just realized you get a peek at her first day of school outfit!)

Windchimes that tie in all the colors and the circle theme

AK poked around in her bed for a while and then asked "Mommy, where's the purple?". She remembered that I had asked if I could buy some new pink and purple sheets for the bed. I explained that the only purple sheets were for a smaller bed and so I could not buy them. AK was satisfied with that but was even happier when I suggested we buy a purple throw pillow for the bed. This girl likes the color purple!

There will be more pics of the room to come when I get around to hanging things on the wall. I think I have a pretty good idea of how I want things to go now, but still have a few things that I'm not sure about.

A lady came by to look at the toddler bed tonight and ended up taking it. I was a bit worried about her coming by when AK was around as I didn't want AK to change her mind about me getting rid of the bed and get upset, but she was totally fine with the whole process. She even helped us carry it out! I had prepared AK for this lady coming, we talked about her buying the bed, and AK was really quite okay with it all. When she puts her mind to something, it's great. It's just a matter of helping her put her mind to everything I want her to put it to :)

AK wanted to take a walk down to the pool to "dip her toes in". We sat down and put our feet in, and then AK gathered her dress up and walked down to the next step. I cautioned her as her underwear was about to get wet so she came back up to the top step. I thought "what the heck" and took off her dress and let her get wet in her underwear. AK thought it was so daring that she was allowed to get her underwear wet after I'd told her not to! She played on the steps for a while and I was able to just sit and relax with her. It's so warm here that the pool is like bathwater.

I'm off to bed now!!! xo

Princess Cookies

Hunter's grandma very kindly brought along supplies to make princess cookies! It was a nice surprise after work one day to pick up AK and find her busy at work in her chef's apron icing cookies. Actually, truth be told, she was very busy eating icing...

But check out the end result!

TGIF - Sunset Cruise!

On Friday night, AK and I went out on the town in style. We hopped on a Red Sail sunset cruise with the Babbs!

Hunter and AK waiting to board the sailboat. See how they are holding their passes in their hands?

AK and Jess - Jess got lots of cuddles that night!

Hunter with his Nanny and Papa (who were the best babysitters AK could have wanted last week!)

This is the life!

Hunter and AK loved the boat. AK spent most of her time sitting on the mesh that you see in the picture above. She snacked on goldfish and chips, and drank water. She loved watching the sail go up and talked about how the wind was pushing us. She also talked about how slow or fast the boat was moving. She watched the pirate ship go by and braced herself for it shooting its cannon - which it never did. AK only dropped one thing through the mesh... a ring with lipgloss in it. I kind of gave it to her knowing we may never see it again... that didn't stop AK from ordering Ben to dive in and find it for her! Ha. That didn't happen.

Hunter wasn't so impressed with the flashes going off on people's cameras... he thought it was lightening and was quite frightened. Apparently he's not doing so well with lightening lately and we've sure had more than our fair share of it. Poor guy.

As soon as we got off the boat and into the car, I showed AK her outfit and shoes for ballet the next day, which Gill so kindly lent us. AK wanted to put the slippers on straightaway and she loved them so much that she didn't even take them off to sleep that night! She was so excited about the lesson, and poor girl had to tag along with me to the bank and to do some baby gift shopping before we could (finally!) go to ballet! It was well worth the wait... as I said yesterday, AK is completely in love with Miss Anita, the teacher. She's got a lovely foreign accent and is so very prim and proper... she runs a tight ship and I am really looking forward to seeing how AK manages with the lessons. The moms were allowed in the class with the kids yesterday but going forward, we are to watch from the observation windows and not participate. AK (and I!) enjoyed taking part in 4 different dances and listening to a story about Melody Bear, who is a bear taking ballet lessons.

I spent part of the weekend with my friend Jenni and her children... Kevin is away for work right now so I went over to give her a hand. We had a good visit last night after the kids went to bed (can you believe her kids eat chicken curry?) and then I went back this morning to go to church with them. It was a full, fun weekend.

Ballet Sneak Peek

AK slept with her ballet slippers on last night, she was so excited.

She loved it and is mesmerized by the teacher. I think we have a winner on our hands!!!

Silliness

That's what we are... between the grumpy, we are silly.

AK and I have had some really lovely mornings / evenings where we are just silly.

For example, someone on holidays (can't remember if it was Grandma or aunties) put AK's pullups on backwards. So AK keeps telling me that I'm doing it wrong, but then I say I'm doing it right, and then she just cracks up.

AK is also talking with a Jamaican influence... "what that is?" and "where that is?". I've got to put a stop to that!

For the grumpy, well holy cow, we both sure woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. I was happy to drop her off at the Babbs today (it's okay to say that, right?). AK couldn't open her mouth without whining coming out and I was just too tired to deal with it well. Hopefully tomorrow is better!!!! It should be - TGIF!

It sounds like AK and Hunter are having a whole lot of fun together. The sun has come back out so there has been lots of swimming and playing outside. There was also a trip to the gym today for free play, and lots of baking going on this week! I have some photos of the baking which I will share in another post. Actually Carol has a lot of good photos that I will try to get copies of.

AK is really enjoying her time with Carol and Arnie... I think she will miss them when they leave! I joked with Jess that the Babbs seem to have a genetic issue that seems to result in AK having each and every one of them wrapped around her little finger!

AK and I will, weather permitting, have an adventure tomorrow night! We've been invited to join the Babbs on a Red Sail cruise on a catamaran. AK's never been and I think she and Hunter would really enjoy being on the boat. If tomorrow is like today was, we'll be fine.