CHILD LABOR

What to do with a broken rake?  Save it for your first-born child to rake leaves. We knew it would come in handy one day.  That and it was too big to fit in the garbage can.   It's never too early to instill a good work ethic, right? 

And if you notice, your father somehow strong-armed you into wearing jeans.  This is of course the same weekend I finally broke down and resorted to buying leggings in 100  different colors in preparation for a cold winter due to your stubborn insistence that you wouldn't wear jeans because princesses, fairies, ballerinas and mermaids don't wear jeans.  But they do wear leggings.  Who knew?

THE LIBRARY

Today was a momentous day in the Hansen household.  At the age of three, you became the proud owner of your very own library card.  Not that you don't have enough books, thanks to your Grandma Kathy.  A woman can never have too many shoes or purses, and a kid can never have too many books. 

Your official signature...

Or at least what I thought was your official signature, when I asked you to sign your name one the card.  You then informed me you were drawing mountains. 

SOCIAL CALENDAR

Over the years your dad and I have received compliments from people who are on the fence about taking the plunge into parenthood.  Uncertainties arise about kids affecting their freedom, social calendar, or life in general.  But then they see us taking you to events that one wouldn't necessarily see a kid at, or at hours most kids are sound asleep, and it gives them hope.  Or at least their social life?  Maybe.  If Mike and Lisa can do it with their kid?  Why couldn't they?

But then again I sometimes wonder that in saving our social life, what affects that will have on you later in life.  Case and point?  The punch bowl at Laurin and Aubrey's annual Halloween party...

Yes, your dad had something to do with it.  He helped design it.  I'm hoping this doesn't come back to bite me in the pocketbook for counseling down the road. 

BREAD & BUTTER

Did you want some bread with that butter, AJ?  This is what happens when we try to encourage independence. 

TRICK OR TREAT

Is it obvious that I cleaned out your snack drawer for Halloween?  Or as one of your Aunt Meghan's dear friends pointed out, more obvious that I'm a dentist? 

HUMAN

How is it possible for the past 3 years at daycare for you to come home without even the tiniest of stains on your clothes? Julie feeds you spaghetti for lunch.  She had you plant flowers in pots one year for Mother's Day.  You come home with paintings and drawings with markers.  Yet you've never had stained clothes.  I'm convinced Julie is a robot. 

Well, Julie isn't a robot.  She's human.  Look what happened...

A casualty from painting pumpkins.  What a relief.  Julie isn't perfect.  But with a three year track record of keeping the clothes safe, she's close to it.  And as for those pants, it's a casualty well worth it for this pumpkin masterpiece...

JEANS

According to you, "Princesses don't wear jeans to the pumpkin patch."  Neither do mermaids, ballerinas and fairies. And neither does Alison, apparently.  Some battles just aren't worth it...

This is what I get for putting you in dresses all summer.  Now that it's fall and the rain is here, you refuse to wear jeans, claiming princesses don't wear them or that they're too tight. 

15 MINUTES

The lady who designed your birthday invitation was so smitten with your cuteness, she asked to use your picture in her sample invite online.  Had I known this, I probably would've brushed your hair a little better.  Classic naptime bed head going on...

DRESS UP

When makeup goes awry...

These days you're into getting a hold of my makeup and creating, in your own words, "Girl mustaches.  Not boy mustaches." 

POINT TAKEN

 "Babies can't do this.  I can!"

 "Babies can't do this. I can!"

"Babies can't do this. I can!"

We get it.  You're not a baby.  Point taken.  Now if you could just stop proving to us you're not a baby, before we wind up with another trip to the ER...

POTTY TRAINING

Potty training is more fun when it's a team effort, apparently. 

REALLY?

How is it possible to spend an entire meal with a big chunk of tomato sauce covered cheese stuck to your arm?  I suppose I should've been a good parent and removed it when I saw it happen, but figured you would do it yourself.  But you didn't.  Then I decided I'd just wait and see how long you could stand to have it stuck on you.  Apparently for an entire meal and then some.  The only reason it came off in the end was because it fell off. 

OOPS

This is what happens when the hiding spot for scissors isn't a good hiding spot.  New leggings with a new hole to match...

ACCORDING TO AJ

"Babies can't go down slides.  I can go down slides.  I'm not a baby.  I'm a big girl!"

"Babies can't climb up the ladder. I can climb up the ladder. I'm not a baby. I'm a big girl!"

"Babies can't go on this. I can go on this. I'm not a baby. I'm a big girl!"

And this is how Grandma Kathy and I spent the evening at the park with you.  You may say you're a big girl, but guess who decided to pee on the sidewalk as I was trying to discreetly change your pull-up at the park.  It wasn't Grandma Kathy...

NICE TRY

Learning the fine art of chopsticks...

THRILLED

Shopping for shoes with Grandma Kathy...

You look absolutely thrilled.  I can only imagine what was going through your head as you patiently watched her try on walking shoes for her big European vacation.  One of these days you'll realize how much fun shoe shopping is.  I hope. 

DR. JENNA

Having a mom that's a dentist who owns her own practice, means that you inevitably wind up becoming a guinea pig of sorts, as I research local pediatric dentists that I'm interested in referring patients to. 

Yes, we've gone to a few pediatric dentists for the usual cleaning and check up.  I see how they interact with you, what their office is like, and how professional their staff are.  By now you can probably tell any kid which dentist has the best prize box in town. 

I think we've finally found a dentist you like.  Or maybe a dental office you like, since there's a TV where you can happily watch your favorite show, Caillou, as the assistant cleans your teeth. 

As for Dr. Jenna, your newest and favorite dentist (next to your mom of course), you've taken an uncanny liking to her.  I have a feeling it may be because I "call" her every night after you brush your teeth to report how you did.  And of course Dr. Jenna always passes on a message to you of "Great job!"   

And other times when you won't brush, all it takes is me grabbing the phone and threatening to call Dr. Jenna to tell her you're not going to brush and how disappointed and sad she'll be.   One of these days I'm sure you'll catch on that I'm just dialing my office number and letting my office manager's voice mail message be my "conversation" with Dr. Jenna.  But until then, I'm going with it. 

HELPING HAND

I was wondering why the cake we made didn't quite turn out right.  It turns out I didn't anticipate the toddler factor and that quite a bit of the needed flour would probably wind up everywhere else, but the mixing bowl.  Lesson learned. 

HELPING HAND

CHOP CHOP

There's always time for a first and on this day, it was time for your first haircut.  We arrived at a place that specializes in kids and upon the hair dresser coming to get you, you promptly ran to the opposite end of the salon, covering your hair with your hands the entire time, saying you didn't want your hair cut. 

After about 10 minutes, I finally convinced you to sit in the salon chair.  Below is the 1-star review written on Yelp from the experience...

"At first impression, Kid's Castle Cuts looks like it had been put together with a collection of garage sale and Craigslist finds. This aside, I decided to not hold it against them. But It must have been an off day for our hair dresser because I wasn't impressed with the experience my almost 3-year old had for her first haircut.

Maybe because I work in a dental office that deals with a lot of kids, my expectations were higher than other parents on how my child would be treated. (After all, what kid really wants to go to the dentist? One would think getting a haircut would be a lot easier than going to the dentist, or at least on par with it. And for a place that specializes in kids, one would think there would be better trained hair dressers to handle all types of kids, not just the "good" ones.)

During our appointment I didn't witness any attempt of the hair dresser to connect with the my daughter or put her at ease. As a parent, with the demeanor of the hairdresser, I felt as if I was actually burdening the entire kids' salon because my daughter wasn't apt to jump immediately into the chair and cooperate.

I wouldn't recommend this specific hair dresser, but couldn't tell you her name because she never introduced herself to me or my daughter. For our next hair cut we will take the extra time to drive out to Sit Still Kids Salon in West Linn- where it sounds like the hair dressers are more in tune with the kids.

People thought this was: Useful-2, Funny-3, Cool-2"

All this, for a trim of the bangs.  Yes, your first haircut only involved trimming your bangs. 

15 MINUTES

For some reason that I can't understand, you absolutely love The Wiggles.  The Wiggles are a group of grown Australian men that sing and dance.  I don't quite get what the appeal is, but if it makes you happy, it makes me happy to make you happy.  They came to Portland and of course your Aunt Lori talked us into going to the show.

Little did I know what I was getting ourselves into.  Apparently everyone has to bring things to the show. For example, Dorothy the Dinosaur loves roses. So we had to bring roses to give to her. Yes, that's you giving Greg, the Yellow Wiggle, plastic roses to give to Dorothy.  Real roses to a dinosaur, when your dad doesn't even give me roses?  Not going to happen. 

And then there's the bone.  Wags the Dog loves bones.  So all the kids bring bones to give to him.  Of course yours had to be the biggest and the best.  With me as your mom, would you expect anything less?  Go big or go home, we're only seeing these guys once.  Thank goodness for me,  this was their farewell tour. 

But when you see what I'm dealing with, you'll understand why...

 

What a mom does for love...Thank goodness for someone Grandpa and Grandma were more than willing to oblige and bring Saiyan out to meet The Wiggles during her lunch break. 

PRECIOUS

DRESS UP

Your first attempt at make up.  Not bad, if you're going for the battered and bruised look.  This is definitely a look we'll keep in doors, so that nobody jumps to conclusions and we get a visit from child protective services.  Maybe this is a sign I need to break away from the neutral eyeshadow shades and go for some obvious make up colors like blue and green...

MILESTONES

We're attempting panties.  Although for the time being panties seem to be more of a fashion accessory, versus necessity.  Kind of like your leg warmers. 

MOMMY & ME

Hamming it up on the boat

PRECIOUS

Going for a walk with Grandpa Russ, Grandma Kathy, and Adam is fun.  But you taking Adam for a walk is even better, now that you're a self-described, "big girl."

You taking Adam for a stroll on the golf course at the Lafayette Club.

CELEBRATE

Celebrating the 4th of July with the cousins and requisite goofy headpieces.  It just isn't a celebration, unless there's accessories for the ladies!

SHOW TIME

No trip to Minnesota in the summer time is ever complete without your dad catching a few runs out on the lake...

Barefooting

Getting in every last minute of daylight, before calling it a night

SAND LAKE

This year our annual trip to Sand Lake with Uncle Erin, Aunt Lori, and Saiyan involved...

 Walking the dogs around the campground.

 Playing on a really windy beach.

 Watching your dad try not to injure himself.

 Going off-roading in Lori's SUV.

Horsing around with Cousin Saiyan.

 Giving the outhouse a try.

Watching cartoons.

 Trying to, as you put it, "Let's run away Saiyan.  Quick!"

Playing with Erin's toys.

And waiting for Mommy and Daddy to wake up so you could do it all over again.  Yes, all three of us fit into this tent.  It's akin to a clown car when you see how big the tent is Erin, Lori and Saiyan use.