love bites

Happy Valentine’s Day

February 14, 2012

Ahhh, Valentine’s Day.

Over the years, we’ve learnt to navigate our way around this very delicate day that is Valentine’s.

The first year we were dating, the husband (being the sweet romantic that he is) went the whole nine yards. Flowers, chocolates, a movie and the usual overpriced set meal dinner reservations. I appreciated the thought, even though I didn’t really know what to do with the flowers except to put them at the corner of my hostel room. Incidentally, a week later, they produced the most unbelievable stench I could imagine and I chucked them out discreetly. I wasn’t really a fan of chocolates (give me chips anytime) and we somehow managed to miss our dinner because our movie ran late.

So the first time we spent February 14th together, we had Burger King for dinner.

He looked absolutely mortified that we missed our reservations and the best part of that day for me was laughing over our missed dinner plans and making him admit that this whole Valentine’s Day shebang was a complete rip off. I also told him never to buy me flowers again. Instead, an ipod or a tech gadget was a more acceptable gift option.

For many years after that, we had Burger King for dinner every Valentine’s Day, until we mutually agreed to ditch the sentimentalism and have Carl’s Junior instead because they have better mushroom burgers.

We’re romantic like that.

To be fair, he does make up for it a week or two later with a nice dinner or a short getaway just so we have time to stare into each others’ eyes and whisper sweet nothings.

Now after having spent 10 Valentine’s Days together, with 2 kids and a third on the way, I dare say that I’m starting to appreciate the day a little more than I used to.

When we were younger, we had all the time in the world to be sweet and romantic throughout the year. Who needs Valentine’s Day when it can be Valentine’s Day every day of the year? Every week, we were out for movies and dinners. We spent hours watching Days of Our Lives and making jokes about the bad acting because it was an excuse for us to spend time together. Every day, we felt like we were in love.

But now that we barely even have time for a quiet dinner without getting thronged by kids, it’s nice to have a day to stop and have some time all to ourselves.

Sure, it’s commercialized and gimmicky and terribly overpriced, but there’s magic fairy dust in the air today. And we remember that in the midst of all this craziness, we’re just two kids who are in love.

We’re probably having Carl’s Junior for dinner tonight, and whatever you’re having, I hope you have a good one.

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the breast things in life are free

Park and Ride

February 13, 2012

When Truett woke up on Saturday morning, the first question he asked was “What day is it today?”

“It’s Saturday,” I said without opening my eyes. “And on Saturdays Mommy gets to sleep in ok.”

“SATURDAY?? YAY YAYYY YAYYYYYYY there’s no school today let’s go to the park!” he yelled as he jumped around the room, making a royal din.

By this time, Kirsten had woken up and was joining in the celebrations.

“No park…tired…need sleep…” I said as I pulled the pillow over my head.

“Ok, I will kiss you then you need to wake up.”

Oh, they were good and they knew this story was ending with us going to the park one way or another.

The kids have different favorite activities at the park. Tru prefers to zip around on his Strider, showing off his moves on the slopes. When I asked for a photo, he insisted on taking one beside his precious bike.

In a couple of years, he’ll be doing stunts on his BMX (do people still ride BMX bikes these days?). How did my baby get so big so fast?

Kirsten has 2 favorite activities. The first is making daddy swipe the sand from between her toes. Every few steps, she stops and yells “Daddy there’s sand in my toes. You need to clean for me.”

She knows to ask for daddy because I’m all “it’s fine, just keep walking, we’ll clean it when we’re done ok.” While daddy is all “ok sit down, daddy will help you.”

Her other favorite thing? The swings. Which daddy has to push, obviously.

Or sometimes we get Tru to do it because it’s one of those things big brothers have to learn how to do. Once he pushed her right off the swing and she got really mad but he’s getting really good now.

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Kidspeak, stuff best described as not safe for parents

Open Sesame

February 9, 2012

At 2 years and 6 months, Kirsten was still unable to open the door by herself. Considering that her brother has been opening his own doors since he was 20 months old, she’s like way behind the in this particular physical development area.

being short is no fun at all

This wouldn’t be so bad if not for her penchant for locking herself in rooms. She does it both at home and in other people’s houses. One time, we had to smash the lock with a hammer to get her out, which was a harrowing experience for everyone involved.

Recently, she did it again and this time, it had to be my bedroom, which happens to be the only room in the house without an access key (we had the doors replaced for the other 2 rooms). Naturally, I was reluctant to go through the whole door smashing debacle again, so we tried to talk her into opening the door on her own.

Me: Baby, open the door!

Kirsten: I’m too short, I cannot reach.

Me: Yes you can. That’s how you locked it in the first place. Now I need you to try your best to unlock it yourself.

Kirsten: I tried, I cannot open it.

Me: Go grab the mattress and stand on it, you’ll be able to reach.

Kirsten: The mattress is too heavy, I can’t…push…it…ARRGGHHH *grunting sounds while attempting to push the mattress*

Me: Ok, stand on your tippie toes and try, you can do it.

Kirsten: I’m too tired, I’m going to sleep.

Me: NO WAKE UP! Don’t sleep, you need to open the door first.

Kirsten: *silence*

Me: Sweetie, listen to me. You need to get off the bed and come to the door to try again. Mommy’s right outside, we can do it together.

Kirsten: *silence*

Me: Hey are you there? If you come out by yourself, I’ll give you ice-cream.

Kirsten: I get ice-cream? Ok.

Me: Yes, you’ll get a whole bowl of ice-cream. Promise.

Kirsten: I think I need to find a card to open.

Me: No, you don’t need a card. Just tiptoe and open the door. Come on!

Kirsten: *scraping sounds at the door*

Me: What are you doing? You can’t scrape your way out, you’re not a ferret. Just reach up and turn the knob with your fingers.

Kirsten: Mommy you do it, I cannot open.

Husband: Ok, this is futile. I’m getting the hammer.

Me: No wait, give her a chance. She’s tall enough, she can do it.

Me: Kirsten, mommy’s here. Just turn the knob, I’ll count to 3 and we do it together. 1, 2, 3! TURN NOW!!

Just like that, she did it. She opened the door and walked out looking mighty pleased with herself.

Kirsten: I opened the door by myself, you know. Now I get ice-cream.

Me: Why, yes you can. But after that, we’re practicing opening the door 20 times so this doesn’t happen again.

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