Category: Kids

Categories
Kids Products and Reviews

Dou dou et compagnie… FOUND!

You know how all those crazy people say the internet is the DEVIL?  I have proof that it’s totally not.

Three weeks ago I wrote this post about Alison’s best good friend, who is falling apart (and has been for some time).  I got some great responses including one from Inzaburbs, who provided a link to an exact copy of dou-dou bunny up for adoption by a website called Mister dou dou!  And by the way, of course I offered to kiss Inzaburbs’ feet in thanks.  Who wouldn’t?

I sent an email in very, very broken high school French (especially difficult because I took Spanish) and got back a response in English that he could send out the exact copy of dou-dou bunny the very next day, all the way from dou-dou’s homeland, France.

Yesterday DHL dropped off a package and I hid in my closet while I opened it.  This was like Christmas, people, only better!  I was about to be the best mom on the entire planet!  Years of searching for dou-dou bunny were about to pay off, all thanks to the internet, which is not the DEVIL! 

Only, I never have been good at metric conversions.




Alison’s response? 

“Blythe can have that.”

Thanks, again, Inzaburbs, I owe you one!

Categories
Kids Products and Reviews

Dou dou et Compagnie

Meet Dou-dou bunny.


 <— Dou-dou, 2008

Dou-dou has seen better days. 

 <— Alison & Dou-dou, 2004

There was a time when leaving the house without her was reason enough to turn back.  More often these days, though, she stays home.  Yes, Alison is getting to the point where she can handle new situations without her sidekick.  But the more common reason for leaving her behind is the fact that, frankly, she’s falling apart.  I’ve sewn her half of a new rear end, mended more holes than I can count, and reattached her feet a few times.  But she is so threadbare in some places that no amount of stitching is going to repair her. 

All Alison wanted for Christmas last year was for Dou-dou to be new again.  She wishes the same thing on stars and penny fountains.  I’ve searched ebay, craigslist, and every online boutique I can find.  She was part of the Spring 2004 line and, sadly, there are no more to be found.  So she hangs on, our little dou-dou bunny, gracing family photos and riding in the basket of Alison’s scooter.  She’s beyond washing, so we put her in the freezer for 15 minutes once a week to kill any germs she might have.  If this were the story of The Velveteen Rabbit, she would be as real as you or me.  She is that loved.

Categories
Entertainment Kids Travel

Serenity Now

This past weekend was so jam-packed that you could have played a tune on my back, that’s how high strung I was, leading up to it.  But there’s something about seeing this:



that makes a girl’s shoulders relax.  I mean, who can look at Lake Tahoe in all its splendor and still be uptight?  Not me.  Especially after ordering a bottle of wine with dinner, and hardly having to share.  

Before the arm wrestling tournament started, my mom and dad went with me and the girls to check out the lake.  The water is freezing year round, because, hello, those are snow-capped mountains in the background.  Luckily my dad was willing to risk losing his pinkie toes in order to allow the girls a chance to splash around, while my mom and I watched from the warm sand.


I figured we would just roll up our pant legs to play, regardless of how warm it was outside.  But my girls took “splashing around” to a whole new level, and pretty soon I had to change them into their swim suits. 


Yes, they played in that frigid water without complaint – but the adults had to drag them out every few minutes so that everyone’s feet could thaw. 



I was so caught up in capturing Blythe’s first trip to the beach, I didn’t realize until later that it was also Alison’s first.



What kind of parent am I that my 4 1/2 year old has lived her whole life in California, yet has never been to a beach of any kind?  A parent with a swimming pool, that’s what.  Since leaving, Alison has added about 50 things to her list of things to bring to the beach next time.  On my list?  Warmer water.  And maybe a fruity drink with an umbrella in it.

Categories
Kids Parenting

First vs. Second

For Alison’s first birthday, we (by we I mean myself and the people I forced to help me) pulled out all the stops.  Home-made everything: invitations, decorations, food, games.  Full dinner for all 50 people, plus appetizers and drinks.  My sister and best friend came over the night before and we decorated for hours, getting the whole thing just right.  It was an amazing event – not that Alison remembers much about it.  In fact, she was quite overwhelmed by the sheer number of people staring at her as they sang “Happy Birthday”.  Each subsequent birthday has been a bit less labor intensive, shall we say, but not by a whole lot.  I just love doing the whole thing, from A to Z!  It’s one of the ways I can let my creative juices flow.

Blythe, on the other hand, is turning one this very weekend.  I hand made her invitations, yes, but I employed a little help because I just don’t have that kind of time anymore.  Working, having two kids, and just life in general have taken up every minute of my day.  I had good intentions of creating this wonderful castle/tent made out of polka-dot sheets.  I imagined her and the other little kids playing fort in there, going in and out.  But, people?  Not only are those sheets not sewn into a castle, they aren’t even pinned.  Goodness knows, that is where the majority of the time is spent.  Those things are still in the package, that’s how far behind I am.  I also had big plans to bake her a special egg-free, corn-free birthday cake.  I ordered an allergy-friendly cook book back in April, and it is still not here.  Yesterday I searched the ‘net for a couple of recipes, so that I could have some time to get the ingredients, because do you think the local grocery store carries organic, vegan margarine?  No, it does not.  I found some of what I needed today, but there is no time to experiment.  What comes out of the oven on Sunday morning is what people will just have to eat.

In addition, we are leaving Friday afternoon for Jeremy’s arm wrestling tournament in Tahoe.  I’m looking forward to it, don’t get me wrong.  Especially because it means my husband will eat again, and will therefore have a rear end worth squeezing.  But the sheer number of things involved when packing for two young children – one of whom has food allergies – is enough to send a person over the edge.  I did manage to get Blythe a birthday gift, and some drinks for her party.  She’ll have a pinata, and some plates.  The rest?  Well, I’m just going to have to wing it.  It makes my heart palpitate a little, but what can a girl do?  All I can hope is that she, too, will have no recollection of her birthday and that the pictures taken will reflect the amount of love we have for her, rather than the lack of time I had to spend creating an extravagant event.

Categories
Kids

Her Biggest Fan

                    

Big Sister = Performing with gusto

Little Sister = Applauding with glee

Mommy = Laughing, and crying a little, too.  Isn’t this what we fantasized about when deciding whether or not to have a second child?