Friday, November 17, 2017

Tessa is 4

Another month, another kid's birthday...two days ago this little baby turned four.


Dang, was she ever cute.  She always had a pacifier in her mouth, she had no hair for a long time and was often mistaken for a boy and she always had (and still has) a very alert and perplexed look in her eyes which I find endearing.  She even looked like that in her hospital nursery photo taken by the nurses when she was one day old.  

This picture always makes me laugh.  

She happened to have preschool the morning of her birthday and she was very excited to celebrate there and she chose to be the teacher's special helper (they have a brochure with birthday options).  Well, the morning of she was not herself and she didn't seem very happy about school.  As we were about to leave I learned why-she started gagging and we ran to the bathroom where she vomited up all the milk she drank that morning.  It was actually pretty amazing because it all went in the toilet and none got on her clothes.  Oh, the light at the end of the toddler tunnel!  Of course, afterward she was fine and all ready to go to school.  I didn't dare risk it though, so she didn't go.  I had a doctor's appointment for myself and plans to buy a cake for her while she was at school and we had to drive Ben to school so I ended up bringing her everywhere while she constantly asked when she was going to school and said she was missing her birthday.  Ugh.   I hate to make those calls but this one seemed to be a clear case of "something she ate".  Perhaps she accidentally drank a cup of milk that had been left out all night instead of the one I gave her.  It happens sometimes...

She was very excited for her presents.  I was looking at old pictures and it seems I wrapped her gifts with that same pink themed owl Christmas paper last year.  Don't worry, she didn't remember. 

The bros didn't handle watching someone else get presents.  Milo tried to rip them open and Ben wanted to also open them and then unbox and put everything she received together for her.  


Oh, so hard...because they never will get their own birthday!  And of course, Ben would be just fine with someone else ripping open all his gifts and playing with them first!  


She received a set of Frozen Legos, some mini Hatchimals, Glitzi Globes, and a Belle costume.  If you don't know what any of that stuff is...lucky you.  The globes are pretty cute though.  She's been talking about wanting them for a long time.  

Her costume is a major glitter shedder.  There was a trail of it down the hallway.  

There is a lot of criticism out there about buying "plastic junk" for kids and if you read the comments section of any parenting article about gift giving on social media you would think the only acceptable gift anymore is an "experience" such as a zoo pass (thanks for the idea everyone, but we already have one as does pretty much every family in town!) movie tickets or a gift certificate for swimming lessons.  Everyone is very much on the no toys train.  I must have strange kids because they love toys and the seriously play with everything we have all the time.  Yes, it is strewn all over the house and it's annoying to me but when I think about what to so nobly donate to those poor kids at the homeless shelter and then make sure everyone knows about it so we can feel good about ourselves I truly can't find anything.  Space is of course an issue for almost everyone and huge plastic playsets can be troublesome but I can't oppose Legos or Shopkins.  Yesterday afternoon when Milo was sleeping and Ben was at school she was just in her own little world, making up some fantasy world combining her legos, hatchimals and glitzi globes and it was awesome for me.  


Yes, this table looks like a nightmare.  Let me explain...the sock pile was being used as sleeping bags for the Hatchimals, the purple pieces are from the Hatchimal eggs (now in the garbage except for the little base shells, the painters tape was from a derby car Ben and Justin made for cub scouts (more about that in a later post) and the robot...well that's just an odd piece of Happy Meal junk that is having a moment in the sun.  

Then, it got even better...she received a gift in the mail.  


Wow, is she obsessed with this thing.  It's a Barbie head that you can style the hair and use water to change the color of her makeup and nails and it also has fake nails and hair pieces you can add.  


She wanted to wear a piece of fake pink hair to school today, haphazardly clipped in with a barrette.  I said it probably wasn't a good idea but she is wearing a bracelet with a mini snow globe with a Shopkin inside. I tried to discourage that idea because I know the teacher will kindly place it in her cubby shelf right away but she REALLY wanted to show the other kids.  

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