Dear Aimee. Re: Thanksgiving weekend.

Dear Aimee,

How can I put this nicely? Thank you for a .... memorable Thanksgiving weekend.

To my family and friends that don't have young children at home, I have something to tell you:

The Terrible Two's. They don't wait until your child turns two.

Lots of events this week.

1. We have 2 more teeth. That's a grand total of 8. Most kids her age already have a full set. She can keep up with the best of them though, eating just about anything you put in front of her. Her favorite "sneak" food that she only get's when visiting my mother's house? Chicharones. Gross. If you don't know what that means, it's probably for the better.

2. I am probably going to babysit my friend's baby 2 days a week. We did a small trial run yesterday and it was lots of fun! Aimee spent the day hugging and petting him. No jealousy except for when I had to change him at the same time that she woke up from her nap and she didn't get her usual post-wake up cuddle time until after the diaper was changed.

3. I start my consulting gig with my previous employer today. It's just 3 days a month for the next three months. I'm a little nervous about leaving Aimee with a new sitter and about getting to work on time today. The new sitter is a friend that we visit every week for a small playgroup. She is a professional nanny and I'm sure she will do fine. I just don't want Aimee to be upset that I'm not going to stay to play with her. I'm starting to regret having accepted this contract. Hopefully, I'll feel differently at the end of the day when my friend tells me that Aimee didn't even miss me. (hope hope).

4. My sister Stephanie leaves for a semester in Spain in less than 2 months. I feel sick with anxiety just thinking about it.

5. We are cleaning out some of the garage and posted a sale announcement on Craig's list. We've gotten a pretty good response so far. Hopefully, we'll sell lots of stuff and Brian will be able to get the mack-daddy penthouse shed he wants this spring.

For Stephanie

So Stephanie called me and she's at Purdue right now waiting for Yoli to come get her. She wanted to come home for the weekend and was able to get a ride to Purdue (which is about half way home from Bloomington).

When I was in school, Stephanie was about 10 years old and my mom allowed her to come and visit me. Stephanie would stay with me for the weekend, and once, she even stayed for her entire spring break, which was over a week.

I really treasure those moments we had. I don't really know what the experience was like for her, but I imagine that it was a completely different world. My friends thought she was the cutest thing and some even had "dates" with her. One friend in particular will always have a place in Stephanie's heart. Her name was Natalia and she took Stephanie to the hippy card store and let Stephanie have a sticker shopping spree. I think she spent something like $20 on stickers, an amount that was astronomical back then. I remember saying something about Stephanie not being able to keep a secret in front of Natalia, so while they were on their little shopping spree, they came up with this elaborate story about a secret that Stephanie was going to keep from me about Natalia. It was so well orchestrated that to this day, I am not sure what was made up and what was true.

Another memorable moment was when Stephanie noticed that my side of the pantry of the apartment that I shared with a girl from a rich family was much more humble than my roommates. Bags of beans, rice, tuna, and other staples from Aldi sparcely lined my side of the pantry; while my roommate's overflowed with candy bars, brand name foods, and bottled water. Stephanie asked me if she could have a candy bar, but my roommate wasn't home and I didn't want to take without asking, so I dug around and found 55 cents and offered to take her to the vending machine. The look in her eyes revealed a feeling of compassion for me and my situation and she politely declined and resigned herself to control her 10 year old sweet tooth.
She reminded me of this 7 years later when I took her to Sugar, an upscale dessert bar where we spent more on dessert than I would have spent on 2 weeks worth of groceries back then.

Those were the moments that made being a big sister so awesome. And now, that she is in school herself, I am so proud of her.

Halloween Pics

I just posted a bunch of pics of Aimee in her costume on her picture blog. Enjoy!