The "Yay! Yay! Yay!" Story

Yesterday, Jupiter and I went to church. The weather was suprisingly nice. Expecting cold showery weather, we ended up with sunny weather and temps in the sixties.

After Communion, Jupiter had to go to the bathroom. She was being independent, so I let her go by herself. She hadn't returned in five minutes, so I went out to search for her, and found her heading out the propped open door. So I made her come sit down. We did the recessional hymn and the announcements.

Then Fr. Tim said, "Our celebration has ended. Go in peace...."

I didn't hear anymore of what he said. What I heard was my daughter, shouting, "YAY! YAY! YAY!" Then I didn't hear her anymore, because she was outta there. She may have waved at Tim on her way outta there, I'm not sure.

I guess it's a good thing that she can recognize the end of the service by the words. Though she was going in something much more like jubilation than peace.

I have to admit, I wish I had it on video. Or MPEG or whatever it's called now.

Two wheeler

Since last summer, Jupiter has been flirting with her two wheeler. Her real bike still had the training wheels on, because she just wasn't confident that she could ride a two wheeler. She is outgrowing the bike, but they don't make bigger bikes with training wheels, so I've been encouraging her to work on the whole two wheel thing. Last summer I picked up a used bike for a few bucks at a yard sale so she'd have one without training wheels to play on and practice balancing.

Yesterday, while I was out planting peas (yipee!), she took the bike out and balanced it up and down the driveway. She finally started to get it, and managed to balance and pedal a few times. Her confidence exploded, and she decided she could do it.

She got Mimi to take her training wheels off her other bike during the day today. When we got home, we ate and then went outside so I could work in the garden some more. (don't think I don't WANT to help her ride her bike. But she gets much less frustrated if she does it on her own.) She kept working on the bike, and finally got to the point where I told her she should ride down to the frog pond at the dead end of the street. The driveway is just short enough that she has to stop as soon as she gets the momentum going.

I gave her a little help balancing until she got pedaling. And she rode all the way to the frog pond. And back. Several times. She finally gave it up when she popped a blister on her thumb. But she keeps saying how much she loves her bike and how proud of herself she is.

Love it love it love it.

Also in the last week, she made it accross the monkey bars at the school playground. She's a solid kid, so she's had a hard time holding her own weight up to cross the monkey bars. Not anymore. We are very proud of that too.

wish I had been there

This afternoon, Jupiter had an adventure. I'm retelling the story secondhand, so I'm sure it's nowhere near as exciting/frightening as it was firsthand.

The spring weather means that Jupiter has been outside a lot. This afternoon, she was outside with Mimi and Feather, a golden retreiver dog about a year old who was visiting. Jupiter had been running and playing with Feather. Then, Jupiter got into her wagon. She had evidently, unbeknownst to Mimi, attached a leash to both Feather and the wagon. Then the dog got spooked.

Jupiter got to go for a ride. The dog zigged and zagged all over the yard (not broken to pull wagons) trying to get away from the big noisy thing behind her. The wagon tipped and Jupiter fell out (onto the grass) and still the dog ran. She did eventually stopped and was seperated from the leash and the wagon. The dog promptly hid behind Mimi and didn't want to play with Jupiter anymore.

Jupiter is fine, by the way. She got some dirt on her pants. Knowing Jupiter, she thought it was great fun and will want to do it again.

We think the dog has PTSD. Not sure that my sister will get to keep that dog sitting job.

Bad Timing

Today, after I picked up Jupiter, we went to the pharmacy to buy her a new toothbrush. Last night at bedtime she decided to throw her toothbrush (with toothpase already applied) into the crack between the vanity top and the wall. (and as to why there is a two inch space between the vanity top and the wall, let's just say I should not be allowed to orchestrate diy home improvements.) So she didn't brush her teeth last night or this morning. That'll go over well at the dentist tomorrow.

Anyway, we went to the pharmacy to buy a new toothbrush. I told Jupiter that she would have to replace the toothbrush with her own money, since she made the choice to render the toothbrush I bought her useless. Of course I had forgotten to bring her money, so when we checked out and the toothbrush she chose rang up at $3.99, I said, "Okay, when we get home you have to give me $4 for the new toothbrush."

Teenager cashier was a little startled, I think. Maybe I should remember not to say things like that out of context. She probably went home and posted on her facebook page about the really mean mother who makes her six year old pay for her own toothbrush. I did not feel the need to explain myself too her, so if anybody happens to see that facebook post from Teenager cashier.....

If the cashier had been a mother, I might have explained myself.

One time, when Jupiter was about three, I did happen to pick up a toothbrush for her one day when we were at the store I hate most in the world. She sat in the cart and cried, "THANK YOU MOM FOR THE NEW TOOTHBRUSH!" So of course all of those people thought I never bought my child ANYTHING, she was so darn happy about the toothbrush.

And since she goes to the dentist tomorrow, she'll get a new toothbrush anyway.

Tooth update

Just in case you're keeping track, Jupiter has lost yet another tooth.

In case you've last track, that makes 8 teeth.

She goes to the dentist on Tuesday. I don't think it will take long.

Blowing off Steam

Yesterday, Jupiter had a full blown screaming tantrum.

It's been awhile since that's happened.

On Sunday, we were home most of the day, and it was a great day. Jupiter used a nice polite voice and words all day. She said "I forgive you," when I had to do some work (pulling the waterlogged carpet out of the basement before the next storm) instead of playing with her. Later that day, we played the matching card game and she kept giving me her matches. It was so sweet.

Monday evening was another story. Jupiter couldn't get settled and into bed...she'd been rocking and I disturbed the rocking and then it was all over. She wanted me to read to her again, (I'd already read a whole Magic Tree House book), and she wanted the soft sheet off my bed to put on her bed. Then she couldn't or wouldn't go back to sleep. My take is that she was just feeling stubborn and defiant at that point and wouldn't go to sleep because I told her too. So finally, at 9pm, I said, "Fine. Stay up. Don't go to sleep. Tomorrow you will have natural consequences. But I'm going to bed."

I fell asleep somewhere around 9:30. When I woke up at 11:30, she'd fallen asleep with the light on. So I don't really know what time she actually fell asleep.

I woke her up at 6am as usual. She got ready for school. She got through school without any major issues (she claims she fell asleep twice, but I don't have confirmation). After school, at Mimi's house, she lost it. Her blanket fort fell down and she wasn't able to ask nicely for help to get it fixed. So she didn't recieve any help.

Hence the screaming tantrum. 10 minutes. When she was done, she had something to eat.

When I picked her up, she was exhausted, but very mellow. She had a shower, ate her supper, listened to one chapter of a story, and went to sleep.

Sometimes I think she just needs to blow everything off. Even if the goal is no loud screaming two year oldish tantrums, I have to think that yesterday the tantrum served a purpose. She felt better afterward.

"You can't just do nothing with your life."

Jupiter said this to me in all seriousness on Sunday. I wish I could have blogged about it at that moment, because the entire conversation is now lost. I just remember the earnestness in her tone when she told me that, followed by a whole listing of things that qualfied life as "something." That was after she told me that the cinnamon bread I made out of the leftover pizza dough was the best ever, and maybe we could even bring some to the White House and there could be a law. I'm not sure what kind of law, exactly. Some kind of law regarding cinnamon bread, apparently.

This whole conversation was after I came outside to play soccer and discovered that Jupiter, in a huff because I had a couple things to do before I could come out and play soccer, trampled and uprooted 1/4 of the daylillies that are coming up over by the mailbox. We had discussed the daylillies in depth on Saturday when I looked over and saw her stomping on them, so we had to discuss that despite the fact that they are not in the "garden", they are still living garden plants and needed to be respected. Perhaps the daylilly patch needs a clearly defined rock border, since she doesn't bother the plants in the gardens. But then again, since we had the conversation, I know she attacked them on Sunday to express her displeasure with me. I expressed my displeasure with the wrecked flowers by choosing not to play soccer at all.

Did I tell you that on Saturday we found soccer socks with the shin guards already inside them at the kids consignment shop? For $1.99? I bought them on the off chance they fit. They fit perfectly. Couldn't ask for better. So now every time she wears them she appears to turn into Mia Hamm. A month from now, when soccer actually starts, she'll probably be done with them.

I just got House Rules from the library on Friday. (Along with 21 other books, but that's another whole story). One of the main characters in the story is on the autism spectrum. Jodi Picoult does such amazing, complete research when she creates a story and its characters. Although Jupiter is not on that particular spectrum, the character also has the sensory issues, the literal thinking, and the need for routine. LOVE LOVE LOVE this book. I'm only on page 117 and already I'm trying not to peek ahead to find out who killed the social skills tutor. I have yet to get through a Jodi Picoult novel without peeking ahead to find out who did the killing or who dies. Check back, and I'll let you know if I make it through this one. Not likely.

Speaking of routine. I went on Jupiter's field trip to the Planetarium on Friday. At lunchtime, I left to go do some errands. 25 minutes later, I got a call. I missed the call, because when I was in the classroom I put my phone on vibrate instead of its noisy ring. The missed call was from the school phone number. Of course.

Friday is pizza day in the lunchroom. Jupiter has hot lunch on Fridays, and only Fridays, because it's pizza day in the lunchroom. (She also refuses to eat my homemade pizza anymore because the school pizza is better. That's just mean.) This Friday, however, the cook was cleaning the kitchen, and created something called "Quesedilla pizza." Jupiter looked at the aide and said, "THIS is NOT my pizza and I am NOT eating this." And she didn't.

Normally we would do a natural consequence. But hunger is not an okay consequence for Jupiter. Hunger, either because her blood sugar plummets or because it causes a subconscious fear reaction in her going back to the time when she was hungry all. the. time. and not fed, causes her behavior to tank. The classroom aide dug through the box of snacks and found a package of peanut butter crackers so she would at least have something. I got back to school about 1:45 with a full lunchbox. She decided she didn't like the group snack either (vanilla animal crackers, so she was just being cranky and stubborn about that) but ate some of the lunch during snack, some after recess, and some in the car after we left school.

She now refuses to eat hot lunch even on Fridays because she doesn't trust the lunch people to make pizza when they say they will.

She labled me with a name tag. Since I almost never get to go to school, she stuck a piece of masking tape to my shirt and wrote Mom on it so everyone would know who I was.

I saved it.