FeatherLight » wia

Here we go again – 2012 version

Amanda — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 19:00:19 +0000

I’m back! It’s been a while (since February, I think, or later?), and not much has changed, but I want to blog again. I went back through some of my older posts, and I really sort of miss it. Maybe I’ll have something important to talk about this year, or maybe I’ll still write about things that don’t really matter to anyone but me, but that’s okay.

I’m driving home today from visiting my brother’s family – the infamous Wia and Emma. We had so much fun this trip – I arrived a day earlier than I usually do so I could be here in time for Emma’s birthday. We ate at Sweet Potatoes and raced go-karts to celebrate her 5th (can you believe she’s FIVE?). We’ve also eaten at Vinnie’s, which is a Savannah institution, and then today tried the Crystal Beer Parlor, Savannah’s second oldest restaurant. We went to see Arthur Christmas, which was way better than I thought it would be, and yesterday we went ice skating at the Savannah Civic Center. This was probably the most fun I’ve had with the girls since they started school and pre-K – they’ve been on break all week, so we’ve played lots of Kinectimals and Once Upon a Monster on their new XBox 360, too. They’re growing up SO fast, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to make as many trips down each year going forward. It seems silly for me to come while they’re in school, so that rules out spring and fall (except for Wia’s birthday, which I will never miss if I can help it). For now, though, I’m happy to have spent the time with them this past week… it was crazy-busy, but spending time with my family is the best.

More of “the cute”

Amanda — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:09:10 +0000

This is normally the type of thing I would have called to tell my mom, probably lastnight before bed. Instead, you get to read all about it.

The girls have been using the rattiest, nastiest sippy cups for about the last two years. Neither of them should really still be using a sippy cup, but I’ll admit to the convenience, especially since Emma still wings hers around like it’s a toy, flipping it upside down and tossing it on the floor. I can’t imagine what she’d do with a cup that had no lid. Anyway, yesterday when I stopped to get bunny greens, I noticed sippy cups with straws, and decided that my big girls needed big girl cups. They were a huge hit… Wia said “Thank you for my new cup!” And Emma… well, she was too cute. She kept offering me a drink, but she would put her hand on my cheek, or under my chin. At first I thought she was just being sweet, but then it occurred to me that we adults put our hands under her chin to catch drips when she drinks out of our glasses or water bottles. It just tickled me that she would do the same, even though I was drinking out of a straw. It was just too, too much.

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And now, a note to the colleague two cubicles down and across the aisle:
I like Sinatra, too, but not at the volume you like to listen to. There are other people here doing work, too, you know. It’s an office, not a concert hall.

Also, your ringtone is annoying. No one’s cellphone should whistle.

Cute

Amanda — Fri, 15 May 2009 03:08:31 +0000

Sometimes the cute is too much to take… for being a special good girl tonight, Wia got to listen to music on my iPod, which she loves. We listened to several songs, and finally settled on Colbie Caillat’s “Bubbly”, which is her daddy’s favorite song. She sang along, stopping periodically to very seriously ask me to share my earbud with her stuffed bunny. The song ended, I put it all away, and she picked up the bunny and looked at him and said “Thank you for the fun singing!” Then she hugged it. And then I melted into a puddle of goo.

The other one, Emma, barrels into me as soon as I come in the door… “Are you here, Aunt Amanda?” All of her questions come out in this sing-songy little voice. But she’s such a teenager right now… one minute she’s all lovey, the next she’s yelling “I DO IT!” She’s awfully moody for a 2 year old. It’s a good thing she’s so adorable.

The worst timing

Amanda — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 04:27:14 +0000

It’s been about three weeks since I’ve been needed overnight at my brother’s… my sister-in-law was on vacation over the holidays, and RC took vacation last week. While it was a nice respite, being able to sleep in my own bed every night, I’m now out of practice. The girls were SO excited to see me, even the four-legged one – you’d have thought they hadn’t seen me at all during that time! And they were terribly cute, playing “let’s dress up and pretend we’re playing in the snow”. Wia has such a big imagination for a three-year old, and Emma follows right along behind her.

Yep, they were cute until bedtime rolled around. Wia took the opportunity to get up no less than 10 times… “I need a little drink of water”, “I need to make a stinky”, “I need to take out my ponytail”, “I need a little drink of milk/juice/more water”. I finally had to threaten a spanking, and fortunately it worked, because I don’t think I could follow through with it.

But poor Bailey suffered the most… she’s now 15 weeks old, and is 99.9% house trained. She’s so good – she lets you know when she needs to go out, and will even come and get you if you’re in another room. But she still takes a long time when she needs to do her business, and I wasn’t paying attention to the cues tonight. I sort of hurried her back in after she squatted, and didn’t give her time to… you know. Wia and I finished up her evening ablutions, and came into the kitchen to get a sip of water, and there it was. In the middle of the living room floor, a steaming pile of Aunt Amanda’s Mistake. Poor puppy. She was so embarrassed; she just stood by it and kind of whined. I felt terrible. Thankfully she forgives easily.

Bookworm

Amanda — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 04:17:24 +0000

When Wia was born, I decided I was going to be the aunt that gives books. I’m a lifelong reader – it’s my relaxation method of choice – and I’d love nothing more than to instill that same love of reading in my nieces.

Wia loves to be read to, and so it’s a good thing that Grandma has enrolled her in the Children’s Book of the Month Club. So far, she’s received:

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, by Laura Numeroff

If You Give a Pig a Pancake, by Laura Numeroff

Mother Goose, illustrated by Mary Engelbreit

Last year for Christmas, I gave Olivia four of the Bing Bunny books. She loved them, and now Emma loves them, too. She’s happy to sit on the floor all by herself and “read” the books to herself. It’s the cutest thing – she has those stories totally memorized. Her favorite is Bing: Paint Day, by Ted Dewan.

It’s only my favorite because of the way she tells it, with all the same inflection that we adults put on the words when we read it to her. She’s so smart!

Bo-ring

Amanda — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 19:06:20 +0000

Life just got a little boring all of a sudden, there. USA network started showing reruns of House – and just like that, I became addicted. Add to that the new fall season of TV has started, and I’ve been sucked back onto the couch. Sorry ’bout that. But hey! I’ve done a few things over the last couple of weekends…

I went to the Indianapolis Vegetarian Society’s Great American MeatOut ’08, which was awesome. Good food, okay music… cool prizes. I’ve always wanted to go, but never really paid much attention to when or where it was until this year. Indiana HRS was invited to have an information booth, and since I knew a couple of other HRS friends would be attending just for the food, I figured I could volunteer to do the booth and maybe I’d get to eat! It was moved to a larger venue this year – the historic City Market – but I don’t think they had as big a crowd as they usually do. I will say, though, that this crowd was much more my speed than what showed up at Ribfest…

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This past weekend I spent some time with my girls. Both of them are getting so big, and so grown up. Emma has learned “stop it!”, and if you annoy her just the right amount, she growls it at you. It’s fun to pick on her, I suppose because she’s so gullible. Oh, and, she’s discovered clocks. Only, when she says it, it’s definitely not C-L-O-C-K. The L is kind of silent. She’s precious, I tell you.

Wia is well on her way to threedom, and not in a good way. I’d always heard that the Threes were worse than the Twos, and she’s living proof. She’s generally a very good girl, but she was very bad this weekend, doing things specifically to taunt Emma and flouting Mommy and Daddy’s instructions whenever possible. She’s testing, testing, always testing, to see where the boundaries really are. The other night as I put her to bed, I said “Now, you’re going to stay in bed for me tonight, right?” Her response: “Why do I need to stay in bed, Aunt Amanda?” I don’t believe in the ol’ “because I said so”; I don’t think there’s anything wrong with actually answering the question. It might require some thought, but why shouldn’t a preschooler get an explanation? Of course, I’m not the one stuck answering questions ALL. DAY. LONG. I suppose it would get old after a while. Anyway, I told her she needed to stay in bed so she could sleep, to which she queried, “Why do I need to sleep?” Hmm. “So you have energy tomorrow to play, and read, and run, and play some more!” “….” I guess that stumped her! I AM smarter than a 2.9 year old!!

Oh, and in a brief moment of continuity…

Oh, how time flies.

No rest for the… wicked?

Amanda — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 03:08:20 +0000

I just put my niece back to bed for the 15th time in an hour and a half.

I remember Mom telling stories about me getting out of bed as a little girl of 4 or 5, sitting on the basement stairs as quietly as possible until some adult happened to find me or I gave myself away. Apparently, I didn’t want anything – I was just afraid I was missing out. What is the old saying about the sins of the fathers? Does that apply to aunts, as well?

I’ve been spending one night a week at my brother’s house for the last several weeks now. My sister-in-law works a night shift and leaves for work around 9:30, and he’s working a job that takes him out of town Monday through Thursday – someone has to stay with Wia and Emma. They warned me coming in that Wia doesn’t do a very good job of staying in bed… it’s so bad they have to 1) threaten to take away all her “babies”, and 2) promise that come the weekend, they’ll be able to pull several fully grown quarters from behind her ears. Some nights are better than others; last Monday she didn’t get up one single time after I put her to bed. Tonight, 15 times and counting. I think she’s just afraid of what she might be missing, which is simply me surfing the internet, silly girl.

What this is ultimately doing for me, however, is NOTHING. I’m already sleeping on the couch, and so I have back pains for at least the next day. Now, in addition to that, I’m actually losing sleep to get up with her and put her back to bed! I keep thinking, what would I do if it were my child? At almost 3, she’s definitely old enough for the big girl bed, but I think I might put her back in a baby bed. Or at least threaten it. Seriously. Thank goodness she’s so cute and sweet, or I might have to restrain her somehow. Tonight when I got here she sat on my lap, facing me, as she always does and said “I hope you can stay, Aunt Amanda.” Just kill me now.

Back in the saddle

Amanda — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 04:44:31 +0000

I think I’ve fixed it. I spent the day installing a new keyboard and palm rest (who knew the trackpad was a whole big assembly thing?), and so far, so good. Now I just have to recover everything I lost when I did the system restore, and I’ll be back in business. In a way, it’s kind of good – starting fresh is always interesting.

I went to the state fair yesterday with Wia and Emma (and, of course, their parents). We had lots of fun – the girls were kind of underwhelmed by the animals, although the piglets, bunnies, and donkeys were a big hit. Also, I saw Casey and her daughter – but did I say anything? No. I’m a big dork. It was one of those instance where you’re not quite sure if you saw the person you think you did, and once you realize it actually was that person, it’s too late. Hey, the fair was crowded! The highlight of the trip, however, was the JUMBO strawberry shortcake. So, so good. I had to share it, but that was fine. Sadly, I only had time to take a couple of pictures… I find I’m really self-conscious about taking pictures of things other than family in public places, but it has more to do with the fact that I don’t know what the crap I’m doing than being worried about offending anyone. Which is too bad, considering I could use the practice.

There was this terribly cute exhibit called Little Hands on the Farm, and I think Wia is just the right age – she really seemed to enjoy it. The kids got an apron to wear and a little bushel basket to collect all their items.

They got cute little hats with the Pioneer logo.

And of course, she got to plant some “seeds”. There was a guy just on the other side of RC turning the sand in the sandbox, but being at the state fair, I doubt he found many “surprises”.

No zoo for me

Amanda — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 02:57:07 +0000

I took a vacation day today. I needed a bit of a mental health day… in case you hadn’t noticed from earlier posts, I’m so over my job right now it ain’t funny. I’m feeling a bit stuck between a rock and a hard place, as it were; I don’t actually have a college degree, and while my current position is kind of an industry standard, it’s different in the “outside world”, so it makes me nervous to think of looking somewhere else. I’m afraid that I don’t have enough experience with industry-standard tools and techniques. I’ve also been given the opportunity lately to broaden my horizons a bit and dabble in project management, which makes me think maybe I should stick around and see where that goes. Of course, I’m not confident that my current manager would recommend me for any other job at this point – he’s kind of a pinhead. In our very first one-to-one meeting almost 2 years ago, he made sure to tell me two things: 1) he very rarely finds fault with anything he does, and 2) he tends to focus on the negative in regards to job performance, because he’s sure you’re already aware of the positive. What a winner. Anyway, it’s all those negatives, like not arriving before 9am (clearly he has no idea how many other people arrive at 9am) or only working 40 hours a week (they don’t pay me for more than that, but I’d work more if it was needed), or not showing enough leadership (he needs to brush up on his Myers-Briggs, I think; the I stands for Introverted, which doesn’t exactly translate to LEADER). Anyway, I just needed a long weekend to recoup a little.

I made plans with my sister-in-law to go with her, Wia, and Emma to the zoo today. Naturally when my alarm went off this morning at 7, the rolling thunder began. And I’m not talking about the sound of lastnight’s gastronomy experiment from El Rodeo Mexican Restaurant… I’m talking about actual thunder. The kind that accompanies a downpour of rain. I checked the radar, and it looked like there was a big front coming through, and “scattered thunderstorms” were forecast for the entire day. I went ahead and showered and headed over to meet the girls; I figured at the very least, I could stick around and play until after lunch. It had stopped raining right around the time I got there, but no one was ready to go, and we figured it would start up again at any minute… right. Nope. No more rain today. We could totally have gone to the zoo, but the weatherman LIED. Why do we trust them at all? Why? I was bummed. I was really looking forward to the koalas.

My girls

Amanda — Mon, 12 May 2008 23:52:19 +0000

I have the cutest nieces. I don’t know what I ever did before they came along… I love ‘em to bits and pieces. Wia (which is what she calls herself) is 2-1/2 years old, and is such a little person. She’s one of the smartest kids I know, I think because all of us have always talked to her like a little adult rather than a baby. She’s definitely starting to test everyone, and I warned my brother lastnight that he really needs to watch out for the threes. She’s the apple of my eye, and totally knows it.

Emma is 17 months old, and she’s really starting to blossom. She’s always been a little more standoffish than Wia was, but now she’s getting to the point where she wants to be in the mix. She’ll still sit and entertain herself, but she’s also the one who brings a book and sits herself down in your lap to read. She wants to do everything Wia does, but she’ll also blaze her own trails. Her vocabulary has really expanded in the last couple of weeks, but a lot of what she says is still gibberish. I know she thinks she’s giving us the what for, but we just aren’t getting it!

I went to visit the girls yesterday afternoon while my brother and sister-in-law went out. I always have a ton of fun with the girls, and the last couple of times I’ve been over we haven’t even touched a toy. We just entertain each other. Lastnight, in fact, we entertained each other by playing with Aunt Amanda’s expensive camera and mobile phone. Probably not the smartest idea, but I got some cute footage…

Wia & Emma, May 11, 2008 from Amanda on Vimeo.

Seriously. I can barely stand the cute.