Why I took my 1st grader to a tattoo parlor

Violet has been talking about getting her ears pierced for a while, and recently she got pretty serious about it. Being the somewhat alternative mama that I am, I did some research about what was best for my child rather than going the conventional route.

So many things about piercing guns seem wrong. Do you really want to let a teenager punch a hole in your body with a semi-blunt object? Or would you rather visit someone who has spent a lot of time training on piercing earlobes and much more complicated piercings? My gut told me to go to a professional piercer.

A little internet research, coupled with my own memories of simultaneous gun piercings as a child, made me increasingly determined to have my daughter's ears pierced with a needle. If you take a piece of paper and punch through it with a semi-sharp pencil and with a hole punch and compare the results, you'll see the advantage of piercing with a hollow needle. There is far less trauma to the tissue.

A few friends recommended a shop in the area, and I found out one of the piercers there pierced children's ears. (Not every shop or every piecer will pierce minors or they may have a minimum age--do your research.) I called the shop and asked some questions, and when Violet was still ready to have her ears pierced, we called and made an appointment.

Before

We did a lot of talking about what would happen, and also about how it would hurt, but only for a moment, and she was going to be brave and do it again for the second ear. I was mentally prepared to leave with one ear done if need be, but I didn't think that would happen. We also talked about how the experience would be different from what many of her classmates had done, but we felt this was better for her than going to the mall. Her earrings would look a little different, but there were a lot of pretty options to choose from.

It was no surprise to me that she chose the purple simulated opal jewelry. It was one of the most expensive options, but she'll be wearing these earrings for a while, and I felt it was worth an extra $20 to have her wearing something she really loved.

Yes, she was nervous.

After we signed the consent forms and picked out her jewelry, we had a few minutes to wait and she commented on some "disappropriate" artwork on the wall that showed someone's bottom. Then we went into the piercing room. My daughter was nervous and clutched the stuff animal she brought to hug. She would have been every bit as nervous with any piercing experience. All of the careful disinfecting and preparation done by the piercer prolonged the nervous anticipation.

Clamped

Jeremiah clamped her earlobe and she shot me this look like aren't we going to get on with this and are you going to keep taking pictures? I knew she just wanted to get it over with, and a moment later, her ear was pierced. It really shocked her and she cried when he did it and when the jewelry went in. (I went into full Mama mode and was not taking photos!) She took a few minutes to calm down and the piercer let her look in the mirror and admire the one earring that was done. When she was more ready to get the second one done, he quickly clamped her earlobe and pierced it before she could think about it. She reacted far less and was so very relieved that it was over. The anticipation had been the worst part for her.

The needle

I snapped this photo while the piercing needle was in her ear, hanging out for a moment while the piercer got her jewelry ready. She was so calm at this point, because the worst was over! I took this photo primarily to show her later, because I knew she'd be amazed at the size of the needle. She felt extra brave when she saw the photo that night. I also include this photo to prepare needle-shy parents who are considering taking their children to a professional piercer. 

Her ears didn't feel great at first, but it was very short-lived. I couldn't believe how quickly she was bouncing around and feeling fine! She felt like a superhero after getting her ears pieced. She was so confident and proud of her ears!

After

That night and afterwards, her ears didn't hurt at all, unless they got bumped or caught on something. We bought some H2ocean Piercing Aftercare Spray for aftercare and it is very gentle on her fresh piercing and convenient to use. She complains that it is cold and wet, and I think about how much more gentle it was than the aftercare routine I used almost 30 years ago!

With the high quality titanium piercing jewelry, we leave her ears alone to let them heal. No turning jewelry. (I have such horrible memories of the pain when we had to turn my earrings, when my ears had been healing and adhering to the earring post and back!) Her earrings are a short barbell, with a little silver ball in the back and a pretty bezel-set cabochon in the front. I watched some youtube videos to prepare myself for the experience and most of those girls got captive bead rings. Our piercer did not recommend them for her, because they are more likely to be played with or bumped. Going with the barbell or labret style jewelry was definitely easier for her while healing than a CBR would have been.

FOUR!

It's been a little over four years since I embarked on this journey of motherhood. Sure, the journey started during that uncomfortable, complicated pregnancy, but the baby in my belly went to concerts, work, etc. with me when baby on the outside required much more consideration.

Last year was the first year we did more than a family party for a child, and we took advantage of a room that could be reserved for free. My house didn't have to get cleaned and didn't have the craziness descend upon it. This year, I decided we would have a smaller party at home. Violet loves helping people bake and decorating cookies and cupcakes is a real treat. So we planned a cupcake-decorating birthday party.

This was the first time I baked a cake, and while it wasn't as fancy and polished as store-bought cakes, the recipient was happy with it and it tasted good too! I can't believe how inexpensive it was to bake my own cake instead of buying one, and it wasn't that hard. Putting it together and decorating it was like a fun craft project.

the only picture that shows the layers

The cake featured one layer of chocolate and one layer of strawberry cake, baked from a mix. Ariel figurines purchased on clearance at Target months ago (because someone's been requesting an Ariel cake this year since her birthday last year) made the cake go with the requested theme without requiring great expense or artistry. Wilton does make an Ariel Cake Pan but the plastic figurines worked well and provided the birthday girl with playthings for later. I would have preferred  to write more on the top, but I figured a simple "4" was better than novice writing.

yummy

For cupcake decorating, I had a variety of sprinkles, icing, chocolate chips, nuts, and three kinds of frosting. I decorated some of the leftovers (at left) before packing them up for later. I'm looking forward to playing with the Wilton Make a Face Animal Icing Decorations some more later. We also had Wilton Hello Kitty Icing Decorations and Wilton Toy Story Icing Decorations, ordered from Amazon, and we have a lot of fun decorations to use in future cupcake and cookie decorating projects! I think we'll be doing a lot more "edible crafts" with the children.

Preschool Premiere

Today, my big little girl started school. It's just preschool, but she's attending a program at the public school, and that makes it feel so much more like real school.

She was having second thoughts about it until she met her teacher and saw her classroom yesterday. Then she was so excited and couldn't wait to go back. I hoped she'd wake up easily because she was excited to go, but she's just like me in the mornings. NOT a morning person and she'll go back to sleep if at all possible.

I could tell she was a little unsure about things at times, but for the most part she was excited about this new experience. When it was finally time for her class to walk from the lobby to their classroom, she practically bolted through the door. Her teacher had to take her hand to hold her back. Some of the other kids were crying or reluctant to leave their parents. Mine couldn't wait. It made me a little sad that I was more emotional about this than she was, but I was also proud. I raised her to be an independent, capable young woman and she proved it today.

I'm proud that my sometimes tempermental little girl impressed the preschool screeners enough that she was selected to be a typical peer role model for the integrated preschool program. I'm excited for all the lessons she'll learn there, whether they are typical preschool experiences or the result of attending school with children with special needs.

I hope she's still excited to go after the novelty wears off. I need all the help I can get with her in the mornings!

Walking Tall

Summer 2008

Summer 2010

Sproing!

Check out those curls!

I'm never gonna stop the rain by complaining

We've been busy lately. I've been working part-time, Superdork has been working his usual crazy hours, Violet's being a typical terror/sweet/terror of a three-year-old, and Gator gets into EVERYTHING. I know I've said this before, but he keeps finding new ways to climb over things or squeeze into tight spots and explore things he should just leave alone. Like the trash can.

It's been raining a lot, giving Violet plenty of puddles to jump in. She was thrilled to finally get rain boots, and thanks to our rainy weather, got to wear them almost every day for two weeks. We'd picked out frog rain boots at Target, but they kept not having her size in stock. I had them in my cart for her when I checked out some clearance stuff. There were pretty flower rain boots 75% off near the garden section! Score! Mama loves a deal!

Best Dressed or Worst Dressed List?

A fun slice of life moment yesterday. She does crazy stuff; he toddles around adoringly. Sometimes she's thrilled with the interaction and other times she's annoyed. He quickly grew bored and she started "mothering" a baby doll while in her fancy outfit.

Computering

We've been busy lately. Here's a random pic to tide you over until I sit down to do some more blogging. I have many photos, thoughts, and deals I want to share!

She's growing up so fast...

Little Miss Violet has a lot of crazy toddler moments and frequently imitates her baby brother, but whether I like it or not, she is growing up. I'm happy about that, for the most part, but I suspect I'll be sending her off to kindergarten in a virtual blink of an eye.

She's wearing panties most of the time now. She's still horribly intimidated by public potties, unless they are low child-size ones, but she has pretty good holding capacity. We're very proud of her, and she's very proud of herself, for her potty capabilities. It wasn't that long ago that we were wondering if she'd ever decide to use the potty instead of a diaper. It's a relief that she is potty training, because it's a prerequisite for preschool in the fall.

And preschool...oh, I was going to do a post on it, but I have such a jumble of emotions about sending my little girl off to school that I might save that for later. We are weighing two preschool options at the moment. One is supposed to be a very good program that is hard to get into, but it seems like it might be a lot of preschool for a three year old. I think she'd enjoy it and my hesitations to send her four days a week are probably more about me than her. If she goes when she's three, she's guaranteed a spot when she's four, and we'd love for her to be in this program when she's four.

We've been weighing pros and cons of both programs, and a lot of the differences between then have advantages and disadvantages to them. I don't have a gut feeling about which would be better for her, maybe because my gut is confused by my brain. We weighed several options for traditional two-day preschool programs and I felt very good about the one we chose. But then my little girl was accepted as a typical peer role model at the public school's integrated preschool. The screening period is very short and I was pleasantly surprised that she impressed them while she was there, because she was in quite a mood before we left home that day. She loves new experiences and interacting with other children, which is why ten hours of preschool a week rather than four might be harder on me than on her.

Not this time.

"Daddy, did you have a baby?"

You've got to love toddler logic. The last time Violet had a parent in the hospital overnight, she had a new baby brother.  She kept wondering if Daddy was going to bring a baby home.

She's been very sweet and concerned about her daddy and is so glad he was home to read a story tonight. She has become such a daddy's girl.

The silly girl last week.

Milestones

My little diva is three years old now. She dressed up on her birthday as we prepped for her party the next day.

We registered her for preschool next year and something about that seems so grown up. She'll be headed off to kindergarten before I know it. And while I look forward to the break from parenting while they are being educated and enriched elsewhere, and she drives me nuts on an almost daily basis, I have a feeling it won't be long before I'm looking back on these days wistfully.

Gator is spending more and more time on his feet. I saw him take a real step for the first time on Violet's birthday. He's repeated the feat several times since then and is practicing standing for longer and longer times. I think he's challenging himself to see how long he can stay balanced.

Today he took three steps! My little boy will be walking before I know it. It seems like he's growing up so fast.

Gotta love that imagination...

Violet was using the potty, and she likes a little privacy for that. I checked on her and was overwhelmed by the stench. She informed me she'd done a "big dinosaur poop".

Later, as we washed her hands, she sang a song that went something like "I made a dinosaur poop," repeated several times.

She also loves to look at the poop in her BABYBJÖRN Potty Chair - Blue and announce what she thinks it looks like. Today she decided it was a fish.

When she's not stretching my patience to the point of snapping, this kid can be a lot of fun.

We've been busy.

Violet up and decided to start using the potty around mid-January went from almost never using it to almost always using it within days. I figured that would be how she'd do it, because that's how she is with skills, but still, it felt like she was never going to start using the potty regularly. It's very exciting, but it's a pain at the same time. She has some really interesting timing and will insist she doesn't have to go, then have to go RIGHT NOW when I'm in the middle of something.

Toddler ink (potty rewards)

Gator gets into EVERYTHING. He is a fast crawler and turning into more of an extreme crawler every day, climbing over, into, onto, and through things. He can stand up in the middle of the room and others have seen him try to take a step, but for the most part he's happy with his current locomotion.  And with the exception of a recent bout with croup that had him pretty miserable, he's a fairly happy, social guy.

He thinks it's great fun to crawl through the cat gate in the extra-tall baby gate. He'll go back and forth through it for some time...or he'll make a beeline for the trash can or cat food.

We've been busy with some major decluttering/organizing/fixing up the house, and a variety of other personal goals. So much has happened in the children's lives in the past month, and I'm a bit disappointed with myself for not blogging about it more. Because you know mama uses this as a cheat when she forgets to write things in the baby book...and it's fun to look back on the past. I'm hoping to squeeze in a lot more blog posts soon!

Christmas Eve Standup

Gender Confused Super Why

At left, Princess Presto. At right, Super Why. So she says.

My daughter has dubbed one of her Little People figures "Super Why". She named the girl with glasses Super Why before she'd even seen the PBS Kids show, but saw a promo after one of her other PBS shows. Apparently, the glasses look enough like a superhero mask to her.

Later, the African-American figure was dubbed "Princess Presto". Even though the only resemblance I can see is their skin tone.

The figures do have a bit of gender ambiguity, and I appreciate her imagination, but she seems very confused about which ones are boys and girls. Very confused indeed. But we're playing along and help her find Princess Presto and Super Why when she needs to locate her "friends".

In case you want your own Super Why and Princess Presto, I found out their real names are Maggie and Michael, and you can find them here: Fisher Price Little People Michael, Dog & Maggie Figure Set

Tantrum

It's amazing how quickly a tired toddler can erupt into screams and tears.

Morning Mayhem

It's what all the modern super heros wear

The creativity of my 2.5 year old continually surprises me. She is enacting all sorts of interesting scenarios with herself, her dolls, stuffed animals, and lately, imaginary objects and beings.

Joey Man continues to be a beloved toy in our house. Yesterday's outfit really made me grin. Check out his superhero mask (I think she thinks it's sunglasses?), "police station" shirt, pirate skirt-ish wrap that is upside down, and the fetching blue superhero boots. He was ready to defend and protect the city, because that's what all police officers wear, right?

Babies, Briefly

Exactly six months ago, I was marveling at how tiny my little boy was, and how quiet his cries and little sounds were compared to those of a two year old. I was thrilled that he took to nursing right away, proud and enjoying the hormone rush from a natural childbirth, and of course sore and tired.

At six months old, my little overachiever is crawling all over the place, sitting up by himself for long periods of time, and pulling himself to a semi-standing position when he has something to lean on that is shorter than he is.

He's talking in his own little way, making strings of varied sounds. He likes to sputter and blow bubbles and spent much of yesterday spitting on me, thrilled with his new talent. Thank goodness he's somewhat bored by spitting already and has moved on to other discoveries.

Big sis can sing a variety of songs, including Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Mary Had a Little Lamb, and the alphabet song. She also does Where is Thumbkin and a few others she learned at story group at the library. She doesn't know the songs perfectly, but knows some of them better than I do...

She had her most intelligent phone conversation to date with me today. She was telling me about her trip to the zoo with her grandpa. There was one animal that I couldn't figure out, but it sounded kind of like walrus. Turns out she was calling the jaguar a "jagwalrus". Grandpa was saying it kind of like jag-wyer and she apparently thought he was saying jag-walrus.

It seems like my babies are turning into children so fast. They are learning new things every day. My heart swells with pride at their achievements, but at the same time, it makes me sad to see the baby days being left in their wakes.

Creativity is a good thing.

My daughter built a hippopotamus out of blocks today.

You don't see it?

Neither do I. Even as she pointed out features. She may be pointing to an eye.

I may not recognize the various things she builds, but I'm thrilled that she has the imagination and creativity to do this.

By the way, those blocks are puzzle cubes my brother brought back from Germany for her. Each side is part of a different picture. At this age, she enjoys them more as blocks.