The Brave Nine

Kiki was born nine years ago today on a cold, January day. She didn't want to come into this world, or at least tried her best to stay in the womb. Which meant seventy-two hours of labor for me. Yeah, you read that right. SEVENTY-TWO. And from the minute she was born, she wanted to be held, and as you would expect, found the most comfort in my arms.

Nine years have passed now, and I find Kiki is very much the same way today. Each year she gets a little more self-sufficient and seems to need me less and less. Yet there are times (mostly at night) she turns back into my baby again, and wants to cling and be held. I can't even count how many times I've heard her say "Mommy, I want you." I go to school to help out and her teacher is amused at how the independent, confident child he sees everyday, suddenly attaches herself to me minutes after I enter the classroom.

That same child didn't blink an eye this past August when she auditioned for a local production of the Nutcracker. Kiki walked right into the audition like it was just another day at school, with only a "Bye, Mommy." Didn't seem bothered at all that I couldn't go back with her, or watch, despite the fact that it was a completely strange, new place around a bunch of people she'd never met before.

That same, (almost) nine year old child, bravely danced on stage five times in a matter of three days. FIVE TIMES. Kiki danced in front of an auditorium full of (mostly) strangers, and enjoyed every single minute of it. During one of those performances, a fellow dancer accidentally stepped on her dress, causing her to trip and fall, just when she was to leap across the stage. Despite the fact that this was her turn in the spotlight, that very brave child did not stop. She did not shed a tear, nor bat an eye. She never once cried, "I want my Mommy!" That soon-to-be nine year old stood right back up, and continued dancing, never missing a beat, with a big smile on her face. My child. *Heart swells*

I have never been more proud of Kiki in all of her nine years. I truly don't think that as a grown adult, I could have handled myself as well as she did. She is so brave but fortunately for me she is still a Mommy's girl. The night she fell on stage, Kiki came home, curled up in my arms, just as she has done so many times before. I heard the all too familiar words, "Mommy, I want you." She may be nine, but she is still my baby.

Happy Birthday, brave girl! I love you and am so proud to be your mom!

A Hair Raising Experience

Kiki has had long hair since I can remember. Last time it was short she looked like this:

Kiki - 18 months old

Her hair made it past the shoulders when she was about two years old and just kept on growing. Sure we would take her for haircuts, but they were mostly just "trims" and the most she'd ever get cut was 2-3 inches. Part of the reason we never cut it any shorter is that I was enjoying all of the things we could do with it; learning to braid it, put it in a bun, etc. The other reason is that her daddy loves the long hair on his girls, and he really wanted her to keep it that way. She looked so darn pretty with it, who could argue with that!?

In Kindergarten, Kiki had a friend with the condition, Alopecia areata, a common autoimmune skin disease resulting in the loss of hair. When I learned of this, I mentioned to Kiki that maybe she could someday get a big haircut and donate her hair for some little girl who couldn't grow her own, or who had lost her hair due to an illness. Of course Kiki was only five at the time and was a bit horrified at the idea of someone else "wearing my hair, " so I let it drop.

Flash forward to second grade, year 2008. That same Kindergarten buddy was in her class again and the whole topic of donating hair came up again, but this time it was Kiki who came up with the idea. She told me how her friend was "better" and now had all of her hair back. But she knew there were other little girls and boys who had lost their hair due to similar circumstances, namely one little boy with cancer. This boy was the son of a childhood friend of mine, and Kiki had seen enough pictures of him to know he had lost his hair during cancer treatments. She also realized there were many other children like him and she wanted to do something to help. "Maybe I can cut my hair short and give it to someone who needs it, since I can always grow mine again and little kids shouldn't have to go without hair." *Mom's heart melts*

However, while Kiki's hair was quite long, it wasn't long enough to meet the requirements of the different hair charities that accept hair for donation. So Bill and I told her to wait. Take some time to really grow it long, and then maybe get it cut before third grade. Finally that time came and it still wasn't quite long enough. There was probably the minimum ten inches to donate, but Kiki wanted a certain style and we knew that she would not be able to if she had her haircut then. So, once again, we talked her into waiting. I told her that she should easily have enough hair by Christmas vacation.

Flash forward once more to December 2009, just before Christmas. I measured Kiki's hair and, lo and behold, it was finally long enough. So I scheduled an appointment and just a few days shy of 2010, she finally got her big haircut. Let me just tell you, I've never seen a child so excited about a haircut. Kiki was so excited she practically skipped into the beauty salon. This was the same child who I used to have to hold on my lap while someone trimmed her hair. The same child that loved braids, buns, curls, bows, and ponytails. I kept asking her if she was nervous about cutting so much off (I know I would have been) but she insisted she was not. After the haircut was finished, she kept admiring herself in the mirror and swinging her head around, enjoying the way it felt to have her hair bounce around at her shoulders. I can't imagine how much lighter her head felt. I've had long hair before, but nothing close to as long as hers was.

I think what I loved most about this whole experience for Kiki, was how excited she was to do something for someone else. She wanted to do this all on her own. Every time we talked about getting her haircut, she'd mention how she couldn't wait donate her hair. She said she didn't have money to donate, but she had a lot of hair, and she knew that would make some other little girl happy. Kiki asked if she would get to see who got her hair, and was disappointed when I told her "no", but she understood.

We mailed her hair off to Locks of Love on New Year's Eve. Kiki chose that one because she knew the charity specifically helped children, and while she understood adults sometimes lose their hair too, she wanted to help someone closer to her age.

I am so incredibly proud of my daughter. Kiki already has said she is going to grow her hair out again, and donate more when she has enough. She's inspired her little sister, Boo, to want to do the same. Who knows, maybe I will follow suit. . .

Kiki before the big cut

Anticipation. . .

Here we go. . .

Boo can't watch!

Halfway there

Long gone. . .

Kiki checks it out. . .

View from the back

Kiki's new "do"

All ready for the mail

Wordless Wednesday - Caption Me

I've never done a "Caption Me" post, but I really didn't know how to describe this picture. So please help me by leaving a comment below with your caption.

Seven Things I Love About You

Sweet, smart, silly
Energetic
Vivacious
Enthusiastic
Nurturing

A year ago I wrote a post saying, "I can't believe my baby is six years old." I feel like a broken record because I can't believe Boo turned seven today. I might as well get used to it, because I know I will be repeating myself annually on both of my girls' birthdays.

Because of Boo's difficult start to her life, I really treasure each year we have with her. There are too many days I know I take her for granted. She has gone through some tough phases recently which have really tested my patience. She is strong-willed and there are days I am just emotionally spent by the time she goes to bed. I sometimes lie awake at night wondering what the next day will hold for us, and just praying it will be a better day, that I will be more patient and hoping for a better day. Sure enough, nine times out of ten, she wakes up bubbly, full of energy, all ready for the day, and I quickly forget whatever trouble we had the day before.

Boo is unbelievably smart and she doesn't let anyone forget that. She rarely lets anyone make a mistake and will be the first one to tell you when you are wrong. Boo is full of attitude and spunk, yet one of the most sweet natured, happy children you will ever meet. Most of the time, she just goes with the flow and does what she can to make others happy. She can be so stubborn, yet will be the first one to meet you halfway. She will gladly compromise just because she knows when she does, she's made someone else happy. Boo has the best laugh which is so unbelievably infectious and can really light up a room. She loves art and is crafting or drawing whenever she can, even when it isn't the most convenient time. The walls and tabletops in my house are proof of her constant creations.

I know I may sound like a broken record by repeating some of these words I've said about her in the past. However, I feel it is important to write about these things every year, if not every week or every day. I know someday Boo will read the posts I've written, good ones and bad. I'm hopeful though that no matter how she feels about herself at that moment, she will know how much she is loved. And I also know that writing them down just makes me appreciate her even more than I already do, so that I never, ever, take her for granted. Happy Birthday, Boo! I love you more every day!

I'm Here!

I haven't written a post in over a month and I just wanted to let the few readers I have know that I am still here! I am alive and well but extremely busy and too tired to find time to write. I have plenty of ideas but every. single. time I sit down in front of the computer, I just can't seem to get the juices going. My brain is fried.

So much has happened since I last posted: Thanksgiving, Kiki's appearance in a local production of the Nutcracker (and her very brave performance - story to come later), Christmas, and my "I'm not 41" birthday. I really hope to be back. If not in the little bit of time left in 2009, then definitely in 2010. So please check back again from time to time. I will be back. Soonish.

Meanwhile enjoy a few pictures from the last six weeks. . .

Kiki as an Angel in the Nutcracker

On Stage

Boo "fishing" at the Children's Museum

Parent Day at dance class

A visit with Santa

Christmas 2009

JumpStart Wii Review: Learning is fun! Seriously.

The kind people of Knowledge Adventure recently sent me two of their new Wii games for my girls to play and for me to give my honest review. The first one they sent is JumpStart Pet Rescue, an educational game specifically designed for 3-6 year olds.

JumpStart Pet Rescue is very similar in design to the JumpStart Virtual 3D World games, having some of the same features you would find on the web, such as the ability to create a Jumpee and earning stars and coins for games you play. The game also takes place in Adventureland, which is one of the worlds from the online games. However, with Pet Rescue, a Wii Remote is used to navigate your way around, making the games much more interactive. If your children are already familiar with a Wii, they will have no problems learning to use the remote to play on the Wii. If playing on a Wii is all new to your child, JumpStart makes learning to use the remote a snap - the cursor is big and easy to see, and direction reminders are given frequently (orally) during the game in case your child isn't sure what to do next. The child also has the option of using just the Wii remote to navigate, or adding the Wii Nunchuck, which more experienced Wii users tend to enjoy.


At ages 6 and 8, both of my girls found Pet Rescue quite enjoyable, even if it was a bit below their level. They loved creating their "Jumpee" (which is similar to a Mii) and loved exploring and trying to find the "lost pets." There are two modes of play, story mode and explore mode. Story mode is mission based - you have to complete mini missions in order to unlock different worlds and "find" the missing pets. My girls love this type of play and couldn't wait to see which pet they would find next.

Even though the game was easy for them, they didn't care because there was so much to do to entertain them along the way. One of their favorite parts of the game is a big slide, which they could do over and over (and over and over) and laugh every. single. time. They also loved finding and caring for the different pets.


If your child has a shorter attention span, then explore mode is the place to be. The mode allows you to go to the different worlds, without having to unlock them first, and explore to your heart's content, play games, play with the pets, etc. My girls never even wanted to try this mode, they enjoyed story mode so much!

The second game we received was a pre-release copy of JumpStart Escape From Adventure Island, which is geared towards children ages 5-9. The game is more of an adventure, which the girls really liked. The mission of the game is to fix a balloon that crashes on the island. In order to "escape" your child needs to play learning games, and earn sand dollars, which will in turn help her to buy helium tanks to fix the balloon. The games are fun, yet challenging, and while playing, your child can practice math, reading and critical thinking skills.

As in Pet Rescue, you start the game designing a Jumpee, and the girls spent quite a bit of time doing this. They couldn't wait to have their turn to design their own. They also liked designing a tree house, and then exploring around it. Kiki and Boo are both have active imaginations so this type of play is right up their alley.

I love that there is a wide range of age appropriate games for them to play. Boo, who is in first grade, can practice her addition and subtraction, while Kiki, a third grader, can also start working on her multiplication and division, skills she will be learning in school this year.



Escape from Adventure Island also has two modes - story mode and practice mode. Once again, Kiki and Boo spent much of their time in story mode. Because this game is more on their level, I do like that there is practice mode, so they can play the learning games, which is certainly a fun and interesting way of reinforcing the skills they are learning at school. The game is similar to Pet Rescue in that the child has to complete missions to advance, but the learning games were much more age appropriate and even difficult at times for them to complete.

The girls liked Escape from Adventure Island the best, because it was more age appropriate and challenging for them. Their favorite part of the game was exploring the underwater world known as the Scuba Hub and playing The Fashion Show game. They loved picking out the different outfits and following the directions to move their Jumpee around the stage.

I only have a few negative things to say about either of these games. At times the navigation with the Wii remote is tricky, and if your child has never played Wii before this can take some getting used to. The games sometimes are slow to load, but they do have characters pop onto the screen during loading time which helps to entertain even the most impatient child. There is also one game in the Escape from Adventure Island game called Foot Frenzy that my girls got particularly frustrated with. The game is similar to a Dance Dance Revolution type game, except instead of moving feet you are moving the remote which often times didn't seem to respond to the motions the girls were making. I even tried it and had a difficult time with it.

The only other downside to the games is that they are one-player games. My girls love to play games together and were a little disappointed they couldn't do that with these games. However, they still had fun watching and interacting with the child that was playing the game and were surprisingly patient waiting their turn. The advantage to this is there is no competition between the two of them, thus less frustration for me everyone involved.

All in all both games are great. I love that Pet Rescue is geared towards preschoolers since there are so few Wii games that are suited for this age. So many families play Wii together but often times the little ones are left out. This game uses very basic Wii motions, which allows a child to get familiar with the game without having to master remote skills as well. Escape from Adventure Island is more challenging and suited for older children, but is simple enough to navigate that it doesn't matter if your child is a Wii novice or expert.

A few facts about each game: JumpStart Pet Rescue is rated Early Childhood by the ESRB (Entertainment Software Ratings Board), and is appropriate for 3-6 year olds. The game was released on September 1st and retails for $39.99

JumpStart Escape from Adventure Island is Rated E for "Everyone" and is appropriate for children ages 5-9. It retails for $29.99, and is slated to be released on November 17, 2009. The wonderful people at JumpStart are having a contest with the release of this game. Check out the details of this fantastic giveaway:

Contest Details

• The contest is live now through 11/16/09.
• Each person will be allowed two entries into the contest (details on contest page)

The theme of the contest is “Time to Escape!”

We want to hear how your family uses imagination to escape the everyday and turn life into an adventure! Tell us your story for a chance to win.

Prizes

• 50 winners will receive a copy of JumpStart Escape From Adventure Island
• 3 GRAND PRIZE WINNERS will receive a family Escape Pack (over $1000 value)!
• 1 Nintendo Wii Console
• 1 copy of JumpStart Escape From Adventure Island
• $250 in spa gift certificates
• 1 JumpStart branded flip camera
• 3 lifetime JumpStart memberships (1 for winner, 2 to share)
• 500 virtual coins for JumpStart.com
• 4 JumpStart pirate hats & 4 JumpStart kids T-shirts

If you'd like to find out more and enter this fantastic giveaway click HERE. Good luck!



Thanks to the fantastic people at Knowledge Adventure for supplying me with copies of these games to review. All opinions of this game are my own (and Kiki and Boo's too).

Fall Traditions

Three of the four members of my family love fall. Bill loves the cooler weather (and of course, football), both girls love playing in the leaves, eating fresh apples and pumpkin muffins, etc. I like some of those things too, but knowing that the cold winter weather is just around the corner makes me not really LOVE fall like the other three do. I could do without the rain, cold blustery wind, and the bare trees. I do, however, like Halloween and Thanksgiving, pumpkin flavored everything, and football. Most of all, I look forward to some of the traditions fall brings to our house.

In the past we've always visited the local pumpkin patch, and the haunted house at the Children's Museum, but this year we tried some new activities we hadn't yet experienced in our town before - apple picking and Zoo Boo at the Indianapolis Zoo. While I missed going to our favorite fall festival and picking pumpkins, I liked that we did something new and different, and am hoping we can add these activities to our yearly traditions. And who knows, maybe we will change it up a little bit and find a new activity or two every year.

What are your fall traditions?