PET OWNER (5 YRS OLD)

Momma and S went to Petco and bought S's her five year old present -- a dwarf hamster, which she named "Stripey 2" to honor the original Stripey (Nolan and Matthew's hamster).

Unlike the original Stripey, Stripey 2 is getting use to being a pet. He's a bit younger and wilder and isn't use to being handled. S is so eager to play with him that she doesn't understand to be careful yet. He often nips her (no skin broken yet). Unlike the other Stripey, this one isn't potty trained either. He poops everywhere, often on S and momma.

Momma and S often use cheese to coax Stripey out to play and hope that Stripey associates cheese with playing and see it as a reward system. Given S's devotion and enthusiasm, there's hope that S and momma can make a pet out of him yet.

ALLERGY SHOTS (5 YRS OLD)

S got allergy testing this week -- about 70 pricks/shots. Momma was hoping for the best, but realized it was going to go down hill when the nurse started numbering S's back and S started squirming. Eventually momma, Dr. Shelly, and the nurse had to hold S down to finish up the allergy testing. She cried and screamed for about two hours long and exhausted herself. Despite this, she did well...

The results were she was severely allergic to: cedar (no surprise), molds and cats. She was highly allergic to ragweed and dogs and moderately allergic to some grasses and trees (don't remember them). All her allergy were external. Her food testing showed that she has outgrown the milk and egg allergy.

Next time, when dad prefers allergy testing, vs. ear tubes and removing the adenoids, he needs to be the one going with S to get allergy tested.

MAMA WISHES (5 YRS OLD)

The summer has gone by so fast for momma. Momma wishes she could just freeze time and have S stay the way she is. She's a sensitive, quiet, loving, creative, caring (basically good) new 5 yr old child.

She has so much energy that she jumps around everywhere... occasionally driving momma crazy with her jumping and bumping into things. Momma has to make sure everyday that there's an outlet for that energy. S loves yoga, gymnastics, swimming, biking, skating, and karate, basically she'll try a sport at least a couple of times.

She's become more social as she's grown up but still depends heavily on her close friends to get her through (and always will). She needs to feel (more) comfort and security to try new things and is easily bullied by strong personalities (probably because she greatly dislikes conflict). S is still slow to warm up, but now needs little motivation to go play with friends and some warm up period to play with new friends.

She still loves doing craft and making art, probably because momma loves it too. In fact, she told momma she wants to be an artist when she grows up. S can play for hours crafting -- usually one of her handwork projects involving yarn. She also loves imaginary games but has begun to like more logical games too like board games.

She pushes the envelope of her world -- by testing the water with momma. Sometimes, she refuses to do a chore and waits to see what happens when she says "no." A little bribery or attention greases the wheels. She has rarely lied, bullied, or coerced others. Mostly, she pushes the envelope of her world with her curiosity. Her "big thing" right now is trying to understand "how things work." Her favorite show to watch is "How things are made."

If only momma could have life stay the way they are forever........

SWIMMING (5 YRS OLD)

Momma is very impressed with S's progress in swimming from her lessons that she just started. She rarely dog paddles anymore since S kicks well and comfortably (now -- as compared to the beginning of summer). She still struggles to combine arms and legs (but that's a big feat). She does a beautiful dolphin kick and loves gliding/kicking off the side and is a good diver. She's not afraid of deep water and diving for toys.

She's comfortable with sticking her head in the water but is learning to turn her head to the side to suck in air. Often, she stops swimming to stick her head up to breathe. Momma is trying to encourage her to swim sideways. Momma is so amazed what two lessons have done, plus the addition of having peer pressure.

S originally didn't want to take swimming lessons and asked momma if she could teach her to swim. After a couple of lessons and a couple moments of frustration, momma decided that getting lessons would probably save the strain on the mother-daughter relationship. Momma now just concentrates on having fun in the pool.

A PET (5 YRS OLD)

Daddy has relented and S is on her way to getting a dwarf hamster of her very own. Momma and S ordered a cage from Amazon and now are waiting for its delivery. S had decided to pick the light brown with dark brown spot one that she saw at Petco. She has already named it "Cowy." (Yes, because it reminds her of a cow). When momma asked if Cowy was gone which one would she pick, S replied the brown one with the stripe. She says she'll name him "Stripey" after the original "Stripey.

As a side note, at night, daddy is singing has replace the Imagination Mover lyric Nina, with the name Stripey now. He's also singing "Stripey the red nose hamster."

BICYCLE (5 YRS OLD)

S has started riding her bicycle again, after a hiatus of over 7 months. After one big fall with daddy last fall, she refused to get back on. But, recently she's agreed to get on it again and enjoys it. A couple times after work, daddy and she have ridden to the park and road around the one mile loop.

Of course, she still has training wheels but just started asking -- at what age will she stop using training wheels.

A LITTLE BRIBERY (5 YRS OLD)

Bribery (a.k.a. reward) seems to be the answer to getting S to do her piano practice. Momma started paying S a gum ball (or a small piece of candy) for doing her piano practice, i.e. playing one piece at least 5 times.

S started piano practice in April. Miss Robyn, the piano teacher, praises S on the piano for her attention span and is amazed by her abilities to pick it up so quickly. Despite how well lessons are, momma was having such a hard time getting her to practice. What would be five or so minutes would take 20 or so minutes due to nagging and coaching. Momma was lucky if she could get S to practice a couple of times a week.

Now, with the "bribe/reward" system in place, S has practice five to six times a week (or more) and often doing it without being asked. So, far the systems seems to be working and is on its third week. Momma hopes that the system will get S over her hump -- frustration with her finger placement -- and once over it, the reward system will be replace by the fun and enjoyment of playing the piano.

CRAB WALK & BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION (5 YRS OLD)

S had a belated birthday celebration with her grandparents, Mimi and Poppy. They met her at 4 pm at Lifetime to watch her karate class with her.

In class, Sensei Iris had the kids divide up into two teams -- red and blue and crab walk into the middle. The goal was to take out the opposite team by pulling out their legs or arms with a "hooked" leg while remaining in the crab walk position. After two short games, S surprisingly was one of the few remaining crabs. On top of it, when she was finally lost, she was a good loser, too. Daddy, Mimi and Poppy were very proud of her performance.

Afterwards everyone met (including momma) for dinner at Mandola's Italian Kitchen. S opened up her gifts -- a frog pillow case, a book, a set of pajamas and a couple dresses. It was such a great ending to a busy day!

STRIPEY (5 YRS OLD)

S has a new pet, actually a "borrowed" pet from Nolan and Matthew Nelson (Sophia's sons). Stripey is a dwarf hamster. Momma picked it up yesterday after Karate class.

Despite being a little hesitant at first to touch Stripy, she's become quite infatuated with him. She loves picking him up and trying to get him to run different mazes and over obstacle.

Today, she played doll-house with him and gave him rides in her red wagon and in the doll-house jeep. The only small scare was when she put him down on the carpet to clean out the poop it made in the jeep. Momma and S searched every where until S saw him running into her room. After that, momma said it was cage time for Stripey.

Momma and daddy enjoy having a "borrowed" pet that they can return. Finally, S gets her pet.