Counter Offer

Like any nearly 3 year old worth her salt, Stephanie is learning the fine art of negotiation.  It started this summer, actually, but her skills then were limited to always negotiating for 4 of anything.  That's a fine tactic when talking about M&Ms and chicken nuggets, but it served her less well when, at the playground, I would say, "10 more minutes Stephanie" and she would say, "4 more minutes!".  Sure, you got it, kid!  Lately, though, she has really stepped up her game, and I have a few prime examples of her sharp negotiation tactics, all taking place in less than 36 hours.
It has been my habit in the last few months to have a squeeze yogurt available in the car for our commute home.  This involves me remembering to freeze squeeze yogurts, transport them to my office fridge, and then remembering to bring one with me when I leave my office, so occasionally, I don't have one, but that is fairly unusual.  Except on Monday, when I did forget to grab one from my office on my way out.  I picked her up from school, we headed out to the car, where she asked, before getting in the car, "Did you bring one or two squeeze yogurts?"  I told her I didn't bring any.  This was not well received and demands were made to go to my office to get one, which I allowed because it wasn't worth her being upset over and she had me laughing that her starting point was to ask for up to two yogurts.
Bringing us to Tuesday morning.  I had an 8:30 appointment and left the house at 8:25.  Stephanie promptly woke up at 8:28, leaving Kevin in the undesirable position of explaining that Mom was not home and no chance that I would be back for at least 35 minutes.  This is very atypical, and bound to end badly, so Kevin responded to a few rounds of "I want my Mommy!" with "Mommy isn't here, but I have been authorized to make you a very lucrative offer.  You could watch an episode of Dora or George." at which point she sniffled a bit and said, "And I want a cheese stick."  One episode of Dora and a cheese stick later, Mom was home to a drama free house, so I think that negotiation went well for everyone.
Bringing us to Tuesday night.  Stephanie has come to the realization that candy is delicious.  When we were potty training, we used M&Ms as incentives, and it worked well.  I was worried about the long term impact, but she did eventually forget about getting one after potty.  She would occasionally ask for one, and I normally would give her one, as it is unusual for her to make the request. At one point, I temporarily ran out of M&Ms, and introduced Hershey Kisses to her instead.  Lately, the request is more common, so we do say no after one or two requests in a day, but who can blame her for asking!  After a potty break last night, she asked Kevin for 2 Kisses.  Kevin said, "No, we started that with M&Ms, so you can have 2 M&Ms or 1 Kiss."  She gave this a little thought, and said, "I want one of each."  Kevin acquiesced, as one M&M in addition to the 1 Kiss he had already offered was small beans, and she had taken us a little by surprise at her compromise offer.
The part that is comical and disturbing is that this seems to all have started happening in a matter of days, even though I'm sure she was occasionally doing it for months.  She has suddenly, it would seem, realized the power of negotiation, we have, just as suddenly, realized we need to keep up with our little lawyer as we negotiate this new phase. 

The first (third) big birthday

I'm not a huge birthday person- I do like presents, love cake, and enjoy having a day to claim as special for me, but I'm not committed to a big celebration.  I have not, as of yet, seen fit to do a big birthday for Stephanie.  Let's review the last two.  Her first, as it would happen, fell when Alaina was in town, so we actually did throw a party- food, cupcakes, presents, even streamers- but it went that way because we had a guest, and it was as good of a reason to throw a party as any.  Her second birthday involved me standing in front of the freezer and asking, "Do you want a cherry pie or a pumpkin pie for your birthday?"  She picked pumpkin, we made a dinner she enjoys, had a nice family meal, and sang happy birthday over pumpkin pie.  I feel pretty good about it, because it was a nice evening together.  This year marks her third year, and we are now less than two months away.  She now thinks birthdays are fun (she will declare it someone's birthday, bring them "cake" and sing "Happy Birthday") and I am actually really looking forward to doing something special for her.  It will be Dora themed, of course.  I'd like to make the cake, and we've been looking online for ideas-  she really gets a kick out of this.  As you might imagine, there are some crazy cakes out there- some good, some bad.  Notably, there was one that Kevin said, "Are you sure that is Dora on the cake and not Roseanne Barr?"  Additionally, Stephanie has a guest list that she announced at dinner a few nights ago (Don't feel bad if you didn't make the cut, it would seem she only invited people that she is familiar with having over)-  she will be inviting Owen (neighbor her age), Mary, and Naan (the cat from next door).  The cake that I would like to make is a little large, so assuming that Naan does not eat more cake than the average cat, I need to rethink or plan for leftovers,  I may have Kevin do a little woodworking to build a cake platform so I can do less cake but still have it be impressively Dora themed.  Just FYI, I am posting this  now, because, as of this moment, Stephanie seems to have caught a plague that involves non-stop coughing (it seemed so bad that I actually googled "whooping cough" earlier today, but her cough does not even come close, happily) and has finally passed out in my arms, trapping me on the sofa, so I was thinking of and planning for brighter days, and decided to post how much, for the first time, I am looking forward to a birthday for her.  I can't wait to make a cake and post pictures-  I am going to try to aim squarely for the "Dora" theme and miss the "Roseanne" theme altogether, but it will be my first go at this, so only time will tell.

Stephanie, now seeking admittance into the FFA

We took Stephanie today on the Kaw Valley Farm Tour.  About 30 local farms were open to the public, and we managed to see six of them.  The website said to plan to have enough time to see only 4-5, but as usual, we are an above average family :)  Some of the farms run a regular business out of the property, so you can technically go to those farms whenever, but several were just family farms that are not normally "open", so those seemed like a special treat.  We saw a family poultry farm, a bee farm, an orchard, a winery, an alpaca farm and a buffalo farm.  We got wagon rides at the poultry farm and the orchard- very popular with the whole family and got to pet an alpaca that was born yesterday.  The last thing Stephanie said before collapsing to sleep in her car seat was, "I go to 'nother farm", which we would have, except for the whole part where she was clearly unconscious.

First wagon ride at the poultry farm- chilly morning.

One of these lovely white birds can look forward to be served at our house for Thanksgiving.

Why yes, that IS a large tire full of wheat!

In case you wondered about the best way to empty a bunch of pockets full of wheat.

Second wagon ride at the orchard.

At the winery tour

ALPACAS- and thankfully it warmed up a bit.

One day old alpaca

Feeding the alpacas was also very popular

At the buffalo farm-  The buffalo were pretty far off in the distance, but some horses were quite close.

Two days in a row now that we have run her until she dropped.

Butterfly Girl's Big Day

Just last night I posted about the latest dentist visit and did not mention that today we were attending a party in the park hosted by the dental office.  I was surprised that they did such a thing, and when we got there, I was really surprised!  It was quite a shin-dig, as you can see by the pictures.  The only thing I didn't get shots of was the pumpkin painting and the "popcorn hands"-  filling a clear plastic glove with candy corn for nails and then popcorn.  They had face-painting, a bounce house and treats to eat and drink (including, as you may note in the pictures, cotton candy and candy corn... hmmm... perhaps the office was trying to drum up some extra business?)  Mary went with me to the party while Kevin loaded up on compost and mulch from the city.  After the party, Kevin, Stephanie and I went to Topeka to pick up Kevin's motorcycle, which is now running (YAY).

Hmm, needs to work on her aim...

I had about 20 bounce house dismount photos to choose from because she kept getting out to tell me that she was still having fun.  

This one is still a little too big (not that I have any intention of ever actually letting her ride one).

Dad's bike is definitely too big!

And this is how she looked by the time we got home from Topeka.

Fang Inspection

We went to the dentist last week for Stephanie's biannual check-up, and I was happy to learn that her teeth look great.  This is gratifying, as a lot of time and energy in this house is spent chasing her around twice a day with a toothbrush.  A little positive reinforcement usually goes a long way for good cooperation- I should probably consider buying stock in light sticks.  I also learned that she had gotten six (that's right SIX) new teeth since her last visit 6 months ago.  I knew about exactly zero of these teeth- a reminder that I'm not gifted with a strong power of observation (those of you who know me well should not feel bad about nodding your head right now:))
The dentist told me (and I knew she would, but until she did, I was avoiding it like the plague) that it was time to start using toothpaste with fluoride.  That means I have to get her to stand, brush her teeth and immediately spit in the sink.  Stephanie, of course, got a new toothbrush and they gave her a travel size "sparkle" toothpaste that smells suspiciously not mint (in addition to my problems with observation, I also lack a strong sense of smell).  I have purposely avoided kid's flavors, and was using a very minty non-fluoride toothpaste before.  Turns out, the change in tooth brushing routine has been magical.  I don't know if it is just the cool little toothpaste tube, the sparkle, the non-mint flavor, the new toothbrush or the spitting, but she now demands tooth brushing and, if we are home all day, we have to do it three times.  It is the highlight of each morning and night, and I, for one, am relieved.
As for the visit to the dentist, she did great.  She was a little hesitant at first, but they showed her how the chair worked and then she realized there was a television above the chair and she could wear headphones and watch Dora the Explorer, and she was in.  There were children older than her crying (which I realize might be her one day), but for this visit, she was such a trooper!

She is holding the dentist's tiger-  his mouth opens and you can brush his teeth.

One last little funny moment to share from the dentist office.  Another patient was ahead of us checking out, so I suggested we go to the bathroom.  I said, "You haven't gone since we left the house, and I could stand to go too."  Stephanie says, "Mommy, you can't stand!  You have to sit."  As always, the talking just kills me!

Flag Hunt Season

Excellent news, everyone!  It is flag hunt season again!  Stephanie L-O-V-E-S orienteering, and the Orienteer Kansas (OK) club has become very active in the last few years, so there are lots of races in Lawrence.  If you are unfamiliar with orienteering, it is essentially a scavenger hunt.  You choose a course, sometimes designated by color- I'm a big fan of white, because I can usually smoke the 7 year old kids that also often choose white, or they are sometimes just called "long" or "short" (at which point Mary will inevitably say, "Let's do the long course" and I stupidly agree).  You get a map, with points marked and you have to go to each point in order and "punch in".  OK uses something called e-punch, so each point can be checked into with a little key fob.  This is always Stephanie's job, and she takes it very seriously.  This weekend OK hosted an event on campus at KU, so of course we all attended.  Mary and I "raced" by ourselves, and Kevin took Stephanie in the backpack.  He claims that she is getting a little too heavy and that he is not sure that he can run with her on his back for many more races.  That being said, I think I should probably note that he finished in half the time that it took Mary and I, as we treat the word race as optional, preferring to walk and laugh and chat while finding points.  When Kevin and Stephanie finished the race, Stephanie got to indulge in cookies, raisins and pretzels provided by the club (she told me later she had "seven cookies".  Kevin said that seemed about right).  When she and Kevin finished, she asked him "What was your favorite part?".  Apparently her favorite part was dropping the e-punch key, which only happened once and she stopped him to pick it up.  There is a great picture of her using the fob on OK's website, under Sept 22 on the main page of the site: http://www.orienteerkansas.com/

Showing off her e-punch before the race

Found a cool stick after the race!

One from the archives-  This was Steph's first race-  Less than three months old-she's in the green bundle there, and Whitney carried her the whole way in the cold February air!

Back when she was small enough that I actually raced with her.

The "old" way of punching the map, before everything got cool and electronic

The Commandments of Relocating Oneself Across Campus

As part of our back to school routine, I discovered that Stephanie LOVES my office.  Mostly, I think, because I keep yogurt in the fridge at all times, and she is given unlimited access to tape and permission to attach as many periodic tables to my walls, windows, desk, and file cabinet as she would like.  I get extra time to work, she has fun, it's a win-win.  The walk to my office from daycare is the real adventure.  It takes me nine minutes at a leisurely pace alone door to door.  The return trip with Stephanie takes 20 minutes.  How does one more than double the walk time?  If you have to ask yourself that, you haven't recently walked anywhere with a toddler so allow me to fill you in.  First and foremost, items from nature shall be collected, even at the peril of collecting in the middle of the road.  Rocks, acorns, pine cones and leaves are the most coveted, and they shall be collected in triplicate ("One for Mommy, one for Daddy and one for Stephie").  We shall stop a minimum of five times to exchange items, as turns shall be taken as to the person that is permitted to carry the stuffed animal, the blanket and the artwork from school.  In the event that any litterbugs have preceded us, do not worry, as all trash shall be removed from the path and placed in the proper receptacle.  And then, of course, the series of benches outside of my building shall be used as a series of balance beams.  And finally we arrive at my building.  Before we can actually go into my office, we shall cross Turtle River (if you are unfamiliar with Turtle River, may I recommend you check out the Dora the Explorer book series from your local library?).  Turtle River is the long bench in front of my office.  One shall sit on the bench, put on a life jacket, remove shoes (as shoes are apparently not required in a boat), and scoot the length of the bench until reaching my office (at the very end of the very long bench... excuse me, I mean Turtle River).  And, finally, arrival in my office.  At which point, the potty is required, which involves re-locking the office and heading down the hallway (fortunately, at least, in the opposite direction of Turtle River).  Once we are back to my office, however, she will make herself useful by removing my trash and recycling from my office and placing them into the proper bins in the hall way, wipe down my desk with a wet cloth, and then get to work eating all of my yogurt and taping up periodic tables.  In the mean time, I get to grade and email and clear my desk for the day, and she is happy to run to the printer for me in the event that I print something.  Win-win office time, with the adventure to get there to boot.