A good start

I declare that today will be a grand day, for the Starbucks gods has blessed me this morning. As sitting in the car watching the clock and realizing I was going to be late to work, I waited for my turn at the drive-thru at Starbucks. I ordered my chai latte and a plain bagel when I was devastated to hear "sorry we are out of plain bagels, would you like a cinnamon raisin one instead". I resisted the urge to lecture this barista about why I do not eat raisins or grapes and instead just got the latte. Then I drove up to the window and the most wonderful barista in her green visor and apron asked me "sorry about the bagel. would you like a breakfast sandwich, on the house". Whoa! Of course I would. Now I know how marketing works. Starbucks just introduced these breakfast sandwiches a few months ago and they must not be selling good and giving them away is an attempt to get people hooked. But it was still a great way to start my morning!

Ours and theres

We took The Phi out to a park out by the University near us. It is a nice park with a great toddler play area and even better big kid play area, lots of trails to walk, trees to hide behind, and even a gorgeous rose garden to wander through. PR Dad noticed the playground and commented on how different our playgrounds were back in the day...

For all the over 25 crowd. Doesn't this look like the playgrounds we use to play on. Remember the Briggs School metal bars where people would do cherry drops from. And the giant metal slides that were impossibly hot to play on during the summer. Well people I am here to tell you, that this next generation has it made. They will never know the feeling of the back of your legs burning against the hot metal as your scrap down a slide like the one in the picture above. Their little palms will not be calloused from grabbing onto burning metal bars. Instead of a slide, some bars and a few broken swings The Phi will play on playgrounds like this.....

No joke, this thing has 2 levels. like 4 plastic slides. No hot metal, just some static electricity to deal with. It looks like a ride from Magic Mountain. This monstrosity of a playground equipment was complete with new modern teeter-toter's, a bridge, a balancing bar, lots of climbing stuff and on and on. This playground even had a mini rock wall for kids. And you know what else they get?? Soft cushiony stuff on the floor to land on.

The Phi sent her time on the toddler playground set. It was a perfect size for her. Challenging enough for her not to get bored. But small and safe enough for Pr Dad and I to be able to sit close by and watch and not be on top of her the whole time she played. She even went down the slide about 5248631 times all by herself.

At only 23 months old, she already knows the importance of stopping to smell the roses.

Painting the roses red!

We're painting the roses red.

Oh, pardon me.

But Mister Three

Why must you paint them red?

Huh?

Oh! Well, the fact is, Miss We planted the white roses by mistake

And...The Queen she likes 'em red

If she saw white instead

She'd raise a fuss

And each of us

Would quickly lose his head

Goodness! Since this is the part we dread We're painting the roses red

The Phi even interacted with other kids!!

**Special PRP shout out to anyone who can tell me where that painting roses song comes from**

Sistahs

I have two little sisters. My sister Cari was born in 1980, only about 2 1/2 years after I was born. My youngest sister Mercy was born in 1985, when I was almost 8 years. I can remember some of Cari as a baby, and I can vividly remember Mercy as a baby. Even though the house we grew up in a had 4 bedrooms, Cari and I shared a bright yellow room with matching canopy beds until I was about 9 or 10 years old. I got my own room when Mercy was old enough to be in a bed and share a room with Cari. For the most part we always got along. There was the time Cari and I fought over the phone and she threw a remote at me and we made a hole in my parents bedroom wall. And things were a bit tough for Mercy and I when she was going through her "play with me","watch Barney with me" phase and I was going through my "i am in high school now and I am too cool for you" phase. Cari and I went to high school together one year. She was a freshman and I was a senior and we got along fine. Even those mornings while I yelled at her to hurry up so that we wouldn't be late to school. Once I moved out of the house we all became good friends. I have watched my sister Cari go from a little grungy, wearing lots of necklaces, and dark lipstick to a mother of 3 and college graduate. And not just a Mom but a really really good Mom. I have watched Mercy go from a Barney loving kindergartner to a hard working, hard playing, sensitive and creative young woman who takes every opportunity to have a fun and full life with a bright future ahead of her. But I love watching each of them be a Tia to The Phi. The Phi is Cari's first time being a Tia and she has been a great one. She is The Phi's Tia Dayday and Cari calls The Phi Dayday. I love that they have nicknames for each other. I love how Mercy spoils her (and Chone, Lili and Felix) with clothes, and The Phi always remembers the dance moves that Tia Mercy (aka Tia Uh-laine) teaches her. Mercy always shares the songs and dances she learns from her job with The Phi and The Phi loves it. Mercy has been responsible for her "Peanut Butter Jelly Time" and "Hot Potato" obsessions. I have been so lucky to have 2 little sisters who I love very much. And even luckier to have them both as good friends. And The Phi is super lucky to have 2 Tias who love her very much. Who teach her, and have fun with her every time we get together.

Happy Earth Day!

We planted some new flowers!

Fine then..have rotten teeth

I find myself saying this to The Phi almost every night. And this (please refer to picture above) is how we have to brush her teeth. It is like surgery and it is a struggle every night, but necessary because The Phi's idea of brushing her teeth is sucking the toothpaste off the toothbrush. No actually brushing involved. And teeth brushing is not the only thing that is a struggle with The Phi. Oh man I am waiting for the cops to be called when I clip her nails. She screams, and kicks pulls and basically just goes crazy and what should take about 2 minutes takes about 15. I try to sneak the clippers into a game we are playing, or I will trim my nails first so she can see it doesn't hurt. I try making up songs, doing a little dance, anything. But it also ends with the wrestling match. So The Phi will probably grow up with with rotten teeth and long finger nails because we have traumatized her so bad.

The Phi never ceases to amaze me. The other day we were enjoying a piping hot homemade lasagna (okay okay it was a heated up frozen Stouffers!! Leave me alone, I work too people!) PR Dad and I were talking and The Phi was sitting in her chair and all of a sudden she started singing. She was singing a legitimate song in tune and everything. Her first really song she sang on her own. And guess what it was!? "Happy Birthday". I have no idea where she even learned it from. And she also learned the word "butt". She like to point and her butt, say "butt" and laugh.

An Early Mother's Day Gift

The Phi has given me the best Mother's Day gift. Yes its a tad bit early, but The Phi is still not really good at reading calendars. After months of agonizing about it. Months of going to bed sad about it. Months of having my heart break with each passing day, The Phi has started to say "MOM" and she is saying it to me, and it is so freakin' awesome. She would slowly slip it into a conversation and I have been not wanting to talk about it or blog about it in fear that she will stop. I remember when she was born and thinking, 'when will I feel like a Mom'. And now every time The Phi calls me "Mom" I don't just feel like Mom, but like Super Mom. Watch me carry 12 things in only 2 hands. Watch me type and take calls and make lunch. Watch me feed the dog, feed the fish and feed The Phi all at the same time. Apparently The Phi is much to cool for silly kid names like mommy and daddy. I mean those words are for babies. This almost 2 year old calls her parents "Mom" and "Dad".

My little parrot.

On Friday the 13th we buried my cousin. It was harder than I could possible have imagined. I am left with images in my head on my family in mourning. We ended the day the only way we knew how, by eating, drinking Coronas and boxed wine, talking and being together. And now we learn how to live and be a family without our beloved Roman on this earth, but as an angel in heaven.

The Phi was not really effected by it all. She has recently become a quite a little talker in the last few weeks. PR Dad has always wanted a African Grey Parrot, because they can talk and repeat. Well for a little while anyway we have our very own little parrot. The Phi repeats everything we say these days and its pretty entertaining. She has also been amazing me with her memory. She remembers things that I have shown her maybe once, and weeks ago. My sister showed her the hand gestures for the "Hot Potato" song by The Wiggles and she learned that right away. Oh and speaking of The Wiggles. The Phi really liked the hot potato song and so we put together a CD of kids songs for the car and as we drove down the freeway with The Wiggles playing we watched our coolness drifting away.

And The Phi was officially initiated into the little kids crew. In my family The Phi's generation is made up of a lot of adorable little boys. While we were at my aunts I got up to look for The Phi. My cousin Melissa told me she was in a back room with the kids so I walked into the room where the kids were playing video games to find little Matthew dumping blue Gatorade on The Phi's head. I said "What are you doing?" He just stopped and I grabbed The Phi and her drippy hair. It was so funny. She just stood there and let her cousin pour sticky liquid on her head. And now The Phi is one of the gang!

A resourceful but messy bunny

Looks like Bunny Tracks!!

The Easter Bunny found all the kids in Santa Barbara.

Lil' Lili enjoyed her first Easter. Look at all those chompers. I seriously cannot get enough of that smile. I made her show me her teeth all day.

Luis and Cari were tired of the twins being mistaken for 2 girls, so poor Felix got his first haircut from Daddy on Easter. He looked so cute afterwards when Pepe spiked his hair with some gel.

We all met up at my Tia's house and had a big Easter Egg hunt. Here is The Phi please notice the grass in her basket. Yes the Easter Bunny forgot to buy the plastic grass even though they were selling if for like a quarter everywhere! But that smart bunny just shredded some green paper. Man that is one resourceful bunny!

It was a very bittersweet Easter for us. We spent the day together and sang Happy Birthday to my cousin Roman. His sister cut his cake and his brother opened his gifts. It felt good just to be together.

In Loving Memory....

Our cousin Roman passed away this Saturday. My father and uncle just got back from a trip where they thanked a saint for allowing my cousin Roman to live to be 19 years old. This saint kept her promise and he lived until the last day of his 19th year. He passes away in the early morning, one day before Easter, one day before his birthday. Our family will never be the same. I tried to go about a normal Saturday morning after I heard the news. But with tears in my eyes all I could think about was the hurt and tears that I knew every single family member was feeling. We had lost one of our own. Even though we knew the lose was coming, the pain is still so strong and so deep. I could imagine the hearts of my Tio's, Tia's and cousins crumbling as they each got the call. As they heard the words that we knew one day would be uttered, "Roman passed away". I heard the news from my aunt herself and I tried to imagine the pain she was feeling despite the strong facade she had. What she must be going through. I looked at The Phi, and the pain was just unbearable. My family is a team, a unit, a force. It started with 2 people, my Nana and Tata, who fell in love and had 9 children. From there you were lucky if you were born or married into this force of a family. We love each other with something so deep and true no matter what. Despite petty arguments, misunderstandings, and even though because of age, or proximity or interests, some are closer than others, in the end we are all one family who stands together. We lost one of our own. And we cry because we miss Roman already. We cry because we lost him to a disease that had no cure, something that even all of us together could not beat. We cry because it is not fair and he did not deserve this. We cry because even though Roman now has no pain and is at peace, we have lost one of our own.

Making it Legal

It is official.

Mr. and Mrs. C

Congrats to my sister and my new brother Luis!!

Hi! Hello! Hi!

Hi! Hello! Hi!, originally uploaded by Shannon K.

Last Saturday The Phi and I were out in the front yard washing the car. Well, I was washing to car and she was playing. While we were out there a young boy kept whizzing by us on his skateboard. He must have passed by like 15 times and everytime he would come by The Phi would drop what ever she was doing and wave frantically at him yelling "hi!". Adorable. Well this kid ignored her, every single time. It broke my heart. This precious little girl in pig tails is waving to you how could you not smile and wave back! Everytime he ignored her the urge to grab him and yell, "hey you little shit, that little girl is waving to you, get your head out of your ass and wave back asshole" just grew and grew. But I didn't. (When I told PR Dad the story he too wanted to kick some pre-teen ass!) Finally my heart couldn't take it anymore and I went over to The Phi. I told her that she was a great kid and a very very nice person for waving and saying hi to that kid. I hugged her and kissed her and inside I knew that I will not be able to sheld her from getting her feelings hurt by mean kids.

demoted!

The Phi has been demoted. The sleeping crisis is still in effect. PR Dad has resorted to laying on her floor until she falls asleep so he doesn't have to hear the bloody murder screaming. On Saturday she figured out how to get over the little bed rail and would not stay in bed. So she was demoted from big girl bed back to baby crib. I just didn't know what else to do. So until her nightly screaming tantrums are over. She will remain caged in her crib. Its a step backwards and it sucks.

In happier news I want to give a shout-out to my new reader in New York. Thanks for stopping by (even if its not really to see what I am up to!!)

**Check out http://knitterplease.blogspot.com for a new finished blanket!**