Cranky and Sleepy

Petra fell asleep on the ride home tonight, and slept until 7pm when we carried her in. Then she was pretty cranky.

Trying to get her to eat dinner before cookies, she howls "I've had too many adults saying no!" and "That's not nice!"

Telling Mama "Your Mean!"

She also (sleep) walked through the house crying for a zebra puppet. We don't have a zebra puppet.

Poor tired girl! What did they do to her today?


Last Thursday was MUCH easier on her. I took her to work with me and she was a jewel. She charmed everyone, received swag at every desk, got snacks galore, and moved right in to a co-workers office, and stayed for over an hour playing at a 'desk' just for her (built of 2 boxes). On the way to the car at the end of a long day, she said "I had so much fun at your work today. I made so many new friends!"

What a darling!

She fell asleep on the way home from there as well!

And the weekend before was a REAL marathon - Family Reunion! Flew to Bay Area Thursday after work, spent the night with grandpa, then drove 6 hours to Humboldt county to "camp" with all the uncles and cousins. Three days in the mountains swimming, hiking, eating, and being adored by her relatives. Then a 6 hour drive, and flight back. She traveled like a champ, no trouble at all. I actually look forward to going on trips with her, because she travels so well!

The great internet famine

I'll blame this on the internet, and it's not a complete lie. 3 weeks with no network connection at all (thank you Time Warner Cable). Then success- reconnected. And then TWC cancels our account with Earthlink. A few hours on the phone with both, and voila! Back online. Until the next morning when it is out again. Another hour on the phone with both, and voila! 4 days later it is finally back again (for the moment!).

I'll also blame the Justice system. 9 days of jury duty! But at least I got to serve on a jury, rather than just sitting in the waiting room.

And now, back to what you really want- Petra!

Just so you don't think we were just sitting around doing nothing:

Disneyland on Mama's birthday, including staying at a local hotel so we could take a nap break before watching fireworks. We went swimming the next morning.

Landon's birthday at "My Gym," which Petra has decided is where she wants to have her 4th birthday party (which, by the way is "too long away" for her taste).

Katie's birthday, at which Petra and Maggie stuck their fingers in the frosting, just like last year!

Two nights all alone at home with Grandpa and Grandma while Mama and Dada skip town for Palm Springs? Check! Lots of fun and virtually no tears? Check! What a big girl we have! Page museum (sabre tooth cats! A lesson in getting stuck in tar), Buccatini, Dinosaur museum.

Los Angeles Art Walk, including murals in the park and chalk art on the sidewalk, and the Craft and Folk Art Museum.

Getty Villa (wreaths and clay "action figures") with Jenna, including a visit to see "Curly" "Hatty" and "Vasey" the three figures that appear on the Getty Villa advertising banners. Petra has developed a close relationship with on the commute to and from school.

Arts and crafts at Lakeshore learning center (stick puppets).

SoRo neighborhood street fair (bounce houses, arts and crafts, and "winning" a stuffed pig by popping a balloon with darts. Really, she just charmed the people until they finally gave her one (she did pop one balloon though, and was thrilled)).

And dozens of spur of the moment play dates with various and sundry friends.

And the sad news, Jessica Judy, Petra's favorite friend at school, has moved to Washington, DC. Petra handled it very well, but she talks about moving to DC so much that even the teachers are asking us if we are moving! I did promise that we could do a visit next year (?!), and maybe throw in a visit with new cousin Saoirse as well.

Space

Petra is fascinated with astronomy at the moment. Last weekend she and I went to the Griffith observatory, where she spent most of her time chatting with the planets ("Hi Pluto! You're so small!"), and charming the docents. We managed to miss the planetarium show (the real reason she wanted to go), but didn't mind at all, she was having so much fun. When she did tire of it, she asked to go to the giftshop, where she bought a set of glow-in-the-dark planets to hang from her bedroom ceiling (her "planetarium"), and has me tell stories about them every night. We finished with lunch at the "Cafe at the end of the Universe." A great day for Daddy and Daughter!

The visit to the observatory just stoked her interest in planets. She has pretty much memorized the lyrics to "Interplanet Janet," including all the facts about the planets, and integrated the sun song as well (hydrogen fusion into helium!). We've spent hours online watching space videos (she likes the astronaut losing her toolbag). She's learned about comets, the origins of the moon (you have to love a theory called "The Big Whack"). She also learned about the controversy surrounding Pluto being demoted to "dwarf planet." Pluto is her favorite planet, so we had to go into detail on this one. I tell you though, if I have to see/hear the "Poor Pluto" song one more time I might scream!

After watching some NASA video and animations she even did a great drawing of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet crashing into Jupiter (I'll have to post an annotated version later, but trust me, those are comet fragments on the left page (tails pointing up), and Jupiter, with the cloud stripes and big red eye, on the right, with "scabs" all over it where the comet hits). I'm so proud of my little astronomer!

To feed the obsession, yesterday we went to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory open house. Within minutes of arriving, she was explaining planetary theory to the JPL staff ("Pluto's not a planet anymore! Jupiter is a GAS GIANT!"). She had a great time seeing robots, "visiting" mars, and seeing the Mars Science Lab being assembled. She collected a full set of the special space collector cards that NASA had for the event, and asked good science questions too! She even took a short break to play the roll of Mars rock and have a rover drive over her.

All this learning isn't enough for Petra. She also needs social events, so last weekend we also went to the Festival of Books with her friend Jenna. The prime driver for this was a personal appearance by DJ Lance Rock and Brobee. The girls loved dancing to the music as DJ Lance spun tunes, and then they waited patiently in line to have him sign their DVDs and books. He's a cool guy, very friendly, and just about exactly our age as well (as we found out googling him later). He even paid his dues working a day job at Amoeba records in Los Angeles!

Signing off,

Hair!

Last Sunday, in between egg hunts, Petra's hair was getting in her mouth yet again. As she fished a strand out, Alison asked her if she would like to get her hair cut. For the first time, the answer was affirmative. Of course, it was Easter Sunday, and it seemed unlikely any haircutting establishments would be open, we decided to try a DIY job. Alison zipped inside for the scissors and a towel, and between the two of us we seem to have done an okay job.































She seems pretty pleased with the results:




























Then, it was back to egg hunts:

Happy Easter

Yesterday was spent playing with Jenna, hunting easter eggs, and decorating bunny cookies. No nap though, so Petra passed out within minutes of Jenna leaving (about 5:30). Of course, at 5:30 this morning there are calls from her bedroom "Is it easter? Did the easter bunny come?"

Yes, the easter bunny did come.

Anatomically Correct

Petra was choking a bit on a grape last night. To make sure she could talk (and thus breathe) I asked her "Did it go down your esophagus or your trachea?".

She answered, a bit despondently, "My trachea"

She was right of course!

Barefootin'

Faithful readers may remember the Great Toe Incidents of last fall (mentioned here, and here). While the toe has been completely healed since before Christmas, to Petra it was still her "hurt toe", and she refused to look at it, would not go barefoot, and needed a bag on her foot so she wouldn't see it while in the tub, even though, after a while, she didn't remember which foot was supposed to be the afflicted one.

Fast forward to our recent parent-teacher conference in mid-March. One of the topics discussed was The Toe: one week, her creative movement teacher wanted all the kids to take their socks and shoes off to prevent slipping during class. Petra refused; her teachers tried to convince her to take her socks off, but she firmly and tearfully refused. We were concerned because we were leaving for Mexico soon; it's harder to enjoy the pool and the beach if you need socks and/or plastic bags on your feet! So, we made a plan with her teachers, and were ready to pull in the center director as backup (she had helped Petra during the Second Toe Incident, and every time she saw her, Petra would tell her that her toe "still hurt"). That night, Dada was getting Petra ready for her bath, and used a combination of distraction and bribery (flowery flip-flops!) to divert her when she would normally ask for a bag on her foot. Lo and behold, she went the whole bath with her feet uncovered, and later, we heard a sound we hadn't heard for months: the slap of Petra's bare feet on the floor. What a lovely sound!

She happily went barefoot as often as possible during our recent trip to Mexico (more on that soon, I promise! For now, you can see pictures on Flickr), and now all we have to do is to keep cameras, toy frying pans, and baseballs away from her toes. Piece of cake!