Category: My World (Page 9 of 15)

Something about my life now, the girls.
They are on vacation, which means I have them with me full time. We’ll see how that goes.
Today I took them to Rockridge. Around noon. Mike took us to BART.
We first went to Crepevine. I thought the girls would be very excited about the crepes. Mika was very thirsty, though, and all she wanted was something to drink. The lemonade was too sour, she drank water instead.
I ordered a nutella and strawberry crepe. It was very good, it came with cream and ice cream. The girls ate part of the cream and ice cream, but they didn’t even finish it. They wanted nothing to do with the crepe. They must be sick (Mika has been pretty lethargic lately, and I think she run a fever a couple of days ago).
We then went to a bookstore and I gave in and bought them books – Captain Underpants for Mika, some floppy age-appropriate book for Camila. I think I spent $4 between the two of them 🙂
Then it was the toy store (after changing Camila). They played for a while and Mika insisted and bargained for a toy – I ended up buying her some $1 tattoos – better than nothing and they are very cute, butterflies, haven’t put them on yet.
We stopped by the marketplace, Mika wanted some free samples. She either didn’t like or just didn’t want the vegan german chocolate cake available. I liked it, so did Camila.
She didn’t want to go on, so we went home. She was a trooper walking home, no complains at all even though she was very tired. Camila fell asleep at the end, but woke up when we got home. Mika went to sleep on the couch for a while. Camila, as usual was whiny.
Now, as for them, let’s see.
Mika continues to be in the age of asking questions. Today it was why they were patches on the sidewalk. As usual, I have no clue as to the answers. She is extremely observant of the world around her, and pays a lot of attention to our conversations. She is always asking for clarification or explanations of what Mike and I say to each other. She is usually very obedient, though continues to have transition issues. She is very shy when approaching new people – even girls with whom she’d like to play – and hides behind my legs – a problem if I’m wearing a skirt. I think she’s very intelligent, she thinks a lot about things and tries to come up with conclusions herself. She seems quite good at drawing parallels which indicates to me piagetian intelligence. She is usually very good with her sister, and the two girls play very well together – though they have fights over objects. It’s generally Camila’s fault, she wants something Mika has. Thay may include mommy. It’s very hard for me to give Mika all the affection I’d like and feel for her, because Camila is always physically interrupting us. She’s hard to get off me.
Camila is great too – in a very different way. While Mika had the most amazing social skills at 2 years old, and was everybody’s best friend – Camila tends to be more of a loner. She does play with other kids, but she doesn’t seem to need them as much as Mika did and does. She likes dirt and she loves water play of all kind. My wood floors are not happy.
I’m concerned that Camila is not talking enough for her age. Half of her communication, if we call it that, is babbling. All she does in the phone, for example, is call daddy, kathy or nona and babble, there doesn’t seem to be an intention of communicating something. When she does talk, much of what she says is unintelligeable (sp?) though she is getting better. I have no idea how Mika was at her age, so I’m worried. I haven’t called the Dr. to make an appointment yet, though. She has become easier, she will usually stay in the stroller when some months ago I couldn’t go a block without her trying to get out.
Yesterday we went to the Alameda county fair – Camila stayed in the stroller most of the time without complaint. There were many things to see, so that may have been it. Our walk home is much more boring. We saw the Village People. The girls didn’t have that much fun. They were both/tired, sort of sick. Camila danced along some, and laid on my shoulder some, but she couldn’t really get comfortable. Mika slept for a while on daddy – though she did wake up for YMCA. I made Camila do the signs – she was somewhat amused by that. They didn’t go on many rides, Mika wasn’t up to it (she had to be sick), and we ended up with a bunch of extra tickets. They are extremely expensive ($50 for 80 and most rides take 3 or 4). Mika “won” a big stuffed animal (it cost us $15) and Camila a little one ($6). There is this game in which you throw water at a target, and the first one to reach the top wins. We play against each other so we can get a prize and make Mika happy.
Tonight is the Argentine/Colombia soccer game. We are going to go to the Englander to watch it – or part of it, I don’t know how well the girls will do.
Anyway, time to get ready.

Yesterday we had a crash. We rear ended a car that apparently stopped suddenly in front of us. Our fault, of course. It was my first real crash.
It was strange, one moment I’m looking out the side window at a radio station that had set up business outside the Mi Tierra supermarket. Next moment I hear Mike saying “Oh shit”, I look in front of me and see this stopped car in front of us. Then I feel the pull of the seat belt and start coughing. I was pretty disoriented at first. It took me a minute – but then again, i couldn’t really tell time – to figure out what had happened, to realize that the smoke inside the car came from the air bag, to hear Mike asking how I was, how the kids were (everyone was fine), to figure out that I could open the door and get out to escape the smoke, before it reached the children.
Once we got out we ascertained that everyone was fine. Our car had been basically destroyed – the damage is far greater than what the car is worth – but none of us had been injured. Seat belts are a great thing. Today we hurt a bit from the seatbelt marks, however. Better that than the alternative.
Mika was a little bit traumatized at first. She kept crying because we wouldn’t be going to the Discovery Museum – where we were headed when the accident happened. Later, when she found out our car was going to the dump, she cried about that too. Finally, once we put her to work helping empty the car, she felt better. Camila insisted on being held all the time. Mike did more of that duty as I was still a bit shocked and had a headache. Plus it’s always hard for me to hold her.
Eventually the police came, they were very pleasant and did their business. We emptied the car and our friend D. picked us up with our belongings and took us home. The tow truck took the car away.
And then, after we came home and put everything away, we got into our other car and went to the Discovery Museum.

Today’s Daily Review has an article about the Warriors visiting the library to read to the kids. At the end of the article, they mention Mika and Mike:
The best part of the event, some parents said, was that nobody had to force their children to read.
Mike Katz, who was at the library event with his 4-year-old daughter, Michaela, said he could think of no other way to enjoy a great night out in San Leandro, especially on a Wednesday.
“Anything that associates fun with reading is good,” Katz said.

It’s 10:00 pm and we have only 2 hours of Christmas left. It’s been nice. Yesterday, the day of the big celebration, I spent much of the day cooking – as well as washing dishes and cleaning up the house. We had a great Cristmas Eve dinner, with our wonderful friends, and then hang out in front of the remains of the fire, admiring the Xmas tree for one last time.
This morning Mika woke me up with a kiss (as we’ve taught her to wake us). We’d told her she couldn’t open her presents until we were awake, but that she could go through her Xmas stocking. Unfortunately she opened mine instead – she wasn’t as thrilled by the soaps Mike had bought me, as by the little toys and candy I’d left in hers. She was very excited, however, because she’d heard Rudolph’s hooves on the roof. In reality, it was just Kathy going to the bathroom, but of course the fantasy is so much better.
She was super excited by her first present – the one she had asked Santa for – a (My Little) Pony on a walker. Yes, the mere concept is ridiculous (don’t horses start walking as soon as they are born?), but it was soooooooooo cute. She’s been hanging out with her pony ever since, though I haven’t really seen her playing with the walker.
She opened more presents, being happy about some and extremely sulky about other ones. Yes, she’s only a 4 1/2 year old, but it did get frustrating. Kathy had a talk with her and she was better after that. Kathy is very good at talking with Mika in a way she accepts and understands.
Camila was very excited about opening presents and happy with everything she got – but she liked that so much that she’d insist on opening all the presents out of turn. Keeping her away from the tree proved frustrating as well.
But in all – and despite the fact that there were simply too many presents (grandparents really went overboard) – we really enjoyed our morning. In the midst of it Mike and I cooked breakfast – pancakes, french toast, bacon and sausages.
I got some terrific presents. In addition to the food ones, I got pajamas from my sister, a comforter and scarves from my other sister, portraits, a scarf and a book from Lola, a flashlight from Lotty and a bunch of presents from my mother. I’ll have to look at the list to remember them all 🙂
We spent the day mostly hanging out in our new pajamas. Mike and Camila took a long nap, Kathy and Mika played and baked some cake in her new EZ-bake oven, and I hang out on my computer and didn’t do anything much – just like one should on Xmas. Later on we went to dinner at the Oriental Teahouse, then to look at Xmas lights. Mike and I tried to put Camila to sleep (it took quite a while) and then they watched Lord of the Rings while I blogged some.
Oh, I did do some cleaning, but not too much – tomorrow will be cleaning day. With the girls, as they are on Xmas break.
My only regret is that I didn’t get to talk to Gladys, we called her and she wasn’t there. We’ll have to try again tomorrow.
Merry Xmas everyone!