Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Changes...

Sophie and I have some big changes coming up. First off, we are moving next month. I've decided to move in with a friend of mine and his girlfriend so that I can finally save money rather than trying to make it paycheck to paycheck. Thankfully she's known this friend since was a baby rather than just getting a random roommate that she's never met. I'm excited to be living in a house with a yard again. I'm hoping by next year we will be moving into our own place with our own yard, but the next few months should be pretty fun.

On top of the move we are also house-sitting for a friend. That will actually be kind of nice because we will have a place to stay that isn't full of boxes and packing tape. I'm sure our dog Rose will appreciate it. Our rabbit Gandalf passed away a couple weeks ago so he will not be making the move with us. He was a great pet, and I miss him terribly. It took Sophie about a week to notice that he was gone though. I used to give him free reign of the apartment so I suppose she just assumed he was hiding out for a while when she saw that his cage was empty. As of right now I won't be attempting to replace him considering the fact that I bought him for Sophie and he became more my pet than hers. This is also how I ended up with Rose. I though for sure she would love having a dog but they get along about as well as my older sister and I did as children ( TERRIBLY).

I will hopefully be making some career changes soon too. Not to jinx anything but I have an interview tomorrow at the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo in the education department. We will see how that goes. Even if I do get the job I'll still be at the daycare a couple days a week which is nice because as much as this place drives me nuts I'm not ready to leave.

Sophie met Joey finally too. She first met him at Rock the Plaza a few weeks ago. That went okay because at first she was very shy but when we left she gave him a flower and a hug. The following weekend we all went to the zoo and that was a disaster because she decided to be super weird at first by licking her notebook in front of him and then growling a bunch in the car (fairly normal Sophie behavior but not exactly what I was hoping for) and then she was super grumpy the whole way through the zoo. The only thing that made her happy was that she decided she was going to hold his hand and then she did fairly well with the rest of the trip through "Indonesia" and "Australia".


I'm still planning on keeping my dating and family life mostly separate but we'll be spending time together now and then. This weekend we're looking at a possible trip to the drive in, but who knows what we will get into. Hopefully she doesn't growl at him again.

Monday, July 7, 2014

Back to the Stone Age

 I sold my TV. There are no televisions in my apartment as of Saturday. My TV is gone, my entertainment center is gone, and my living room is looking rather bare. No, I'm not crazy.

I announced on Facebook last week that I had decided to get rid of my television. I had a huge 52 or 53 inch flat screen. It was pretty nice. However, because of my schedule, I rarely used it. It would just sit there, off, and I felt like it was staring at me. I also feel like most living rooms have become a shrine to these huge televisions that everyone just sits in front of and they feel obligated to have it on at all times. I've been trying to cut down on Sophie's use of technology (especially since her father felt that a Kindle Fire was an age appropriate gift for a 3 year old). An average day in our house looks like this: Work from 7 am to 3pm, I pick up Sophie and we take a nap, and then it's time to cook dinner/pick up the house/bath time/bed time. In the hours between our afternoon siesta and bedtime I let Sophie have about an hour of Netflix and then she plays and reads while I do what I need to. We usually try to fit in a walk or a trip to the park as well. Ever since she got her Kindle she would ask for me to turn on the television and then get her Kindle and watch something else on that as well, or play her games. Now, if you ask me, a 3 year old does not need two tv shows at once and she doesn't need to play games on a tablet while watching TV either.

Ever since I told everyone of my plan to replace my televsion with a large bookcase (two smooshed together if I can't find the right one) I've gotten a TON of criticism. It is blowing everyone's minds that I don't want a television in my home. My only question to them is: You do realize that children lived without television for thousands of years right? I think she'll make it. I'm not saying it's permanent, I just think that it's the best thing for us right now, and I'm excited. Maybe it will inspire other people to stop using their TV to raise their children as well. Our home has been filled with books and music for a long time now, but I'm really happy with how my apartment is going to look once I get it set up the way I want.

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Terrible... 3's?

I'm trying to decide at what point a parent has to stop blaming their child's age for their grumpiness. Sophie is usually a pretty even tempered kid (with a side of stubborn) but lately she's been pretty willfull. I'm not sure if it's just that she's had a lot going on lately, or she's not feeling well, but it's only been for the past week or so. Hopefully it passes. She's so well behaved that I'm not equipped to deal with her mood swings. My coworkers says that she and I fight like a married couple. That's probably true. Last weekend we were bickering back and forth all day. She kept telling me no, I wasn't having the attitude, she would break down and throw a fit, I would send her to time out.... Over and over and over. Finally that night we laid down in bed and she just started crying and said "I'm sorry I was bad. I love you." Of course I started crying because I felt guilty and had to apologize for losing my temper more than usual. Sadly, Sunday was a repeat of Saturday complete with the tearful apologies at bedtime.

I tried to keep us busy. It wasn't too hard because I worked last weekend so between trips to the daycare we also went to Buskerfest to see some street performers. That didn't pan out so well because everything was at street level and there were tons of people, but we did get to have some pretty good food with some awesome friends. Sunday we spent more time with those awesome friends at the zoo, but between Sophie's stubbornness and my best friend's twins testing their limits we had a handful going on.
Sophie and Brooke, who she decided is now her "cousin"


Aside from the grumpiness Sophie has been very cuddly and helpful lately. I have been having lower back spasms which are incredibly painful and sometimes leave me unable to do much. The other night when my back locked up at bedtime (they are at their worst when I first lay down) she was trying her best to roll my over so she could rub my back for me. It mostly resulted in her poking my sides but it really is the thought that counts. She's even been asking me how my back is periodically. That might not seem like a big deal but 3 year olds aren't exactly known for their empathy so I appreciate the thought.

Maybe she's grumpy because I've been forcing her to eat better lately. I did give her spinach and avocado in the same day, which is probably the healthiest she's eaten in her entire life. I guess to a carb lover that's pretty close to torture.