Does this qualify her for this blawg?
Ten.
Double Digits.
“Pre-Teen”
OMFG mah baby is HOW OLD?
She’s TEN.
I’m not quite sure how I let such a travesty happen. Ten years ago today, my ‘surprise’ baby was born, long and lean even then, loud and proud and her very own person from the very start. Not a mini-me, despite her blue eyes, reddish-blond hair, but a mini-daddy in attitude and… well, everything else. While The Boy and Peppermist are like my little clones – much to their dismay when I catch them in things they didn’t realize I’d already thought of and tried 20 years ago – The Pup? She’s been different from day one.
She was all legs and arms, with a butt so tiny she had to wear preemie diapers for a month. She did not take to the breast, and after 4 weeks of trying, I gave up and put her on the bottle – which she took to like a champ, plumping up a little and getting bigger and stronger by the day. She actually crawled first, while her older siblings insisted on skipping that to go straight to walking. She refused to grow her top middle teeth first, getting the outer set a full month before those came in, making her my little fanged howler.
Oh yes. She didn’t cry – she HOWLED. Like a wolf. It was the most precious(ly annoying) thing EVER.
Despite the fact that her siblings potty trained early, she would NOT be trained until SHE was ready – leading me to finally in desperation tell her that the entire state of Alaska was out of diapers, so dammit, put on those Dora panties like a big girl! She never had an accident after that.
Once she learned to talk, she never stopped – it’s 24-7, even in her sleep. She is a constant bundle of energy, unable to sit still even when reading, or doing some other quiet activity. Until she stops moving for more than 30 seconds, then she falls fast asleep for 8 solid (not exactly quiet) hours at night, or a quick hour long cat nap, during the day.
She’s a smartass (gee, SHOCKER there huh?), she’s strong, she’s STILL long and lean, and she’s got a competitive streak that makes her daddy’s pale in comparison. She is determined, and has a strength of spirit that amazes me, even when it’s driving me completely insane. She smiles and sings and bounces and manipulates the hell outa poor folks who can’t see through her champion teary-eyed single tear down the cheek pity face. She makes friends easily, but holds grudges forever, she is the first to help out a smaller child, or even an older one, if they need her, and she’s never met a stranger – just friends she doesn’t know yet.
She’s amazing.
She’s my pup – and today?
She’s ten.
We’re still working on the fashion sense.
🙂
Oh – and to answer the title question? This morning, when I woke her up:
Me: Good MOOOOOORNING! Do you know what DAY IT IS?
Her: *grumblesnarlgroan*
Me: That’s RIGHT! Get UP!
Her: if you LOVED me, you’d let me SLEEP on my BIRTHDAY
Me: Oh well. GET UPPPPPPPPPP!
Her: *grumblesnarlgroangrowlcompain*
It’s official. She fits in here just fine.
WHOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOO!
We didn’t think she’d gotten it. We wrote down the time, we saw it wasn’t quite good enough, I mentioned before that it was a successful meet but that she didn’t quite get the one time she wanted – the backstroke honor time. We were disappointed, however she had such a great first year, that it was ok with us! She’d get em next year, right?
WELL! Tonight was the swimming awards banquet and along with her participation trophy… guess what?
GUESS WHAT?
SHE GOT HER HONOR TIME! I don’t know what happened, when it happened, what went down, but by god, the OFFICIAL best time for her 50yd backstroke is now 57.59!
WAY TO GO PUP! I AM SOOOOOOOO PROUD! WHOOOOOHOOOOO!!!
ETA: Auntie figured it out in the comments! When you swim the lead leg of a relay, they will count it as an individual time, giving the athletes two chances to get those honor times and medals – The pup swam the lead off leg in the 200yd medly relay, which meant she swam the 50yd Backstroke – THAT’S when she got her honor time of 57.59, in her very first race of the day! WAY TO GO PUP!!!!
The MTSS!
This entry is BOUND to offend some folks. I’ve warned you before that “normal” and I only bear a passing resemblance. I am not a soccer mom, I’m much more open with my kids than some think wise, and I pride myself in being offensive in many situations. So – if your a prude and the logo to the left offends you, ya might wanna skip this one. We’ll wait while you exit in an orderly fashion.
(insert hold music here)
Alrighty – they’re gone! For the rest of you? It’s time to talk SEX, BABY! What do you mean “again”? This time, it’s not me though, this time it’s all about the Midwest Teen Sex Show.
The Midwest Teen Sex Show is not sex education exactly – but it is “a space for frank discussion of all things related to teen sexuality.” They like to call it sex information, rather than sex education. They present the information in educational and entertaining ways – with insight and a lot of laughter. They’re not promoting teen sex, but they admit the same thing I do – it’s gonna happen. Sooner or later, it will, and it’s MUCH better to have information on all things sexual before making that leap into bed.
And yes, they include a disclaimer, that MTSS is intended for teens and adults, and if your under 18 get permission from your parents, etc.
Here’s the thing though – it’s funny. And educational. And tackles ALL the issues – including fetishes/kinks (Who’s your 16th president!), Prom (Prom babies cry just as loud!), condoms, boobs, hookups, HPV, Orgasms, the Penis, breakups, oral sex, porn, and more. Yes. THERE’S MORE.
I had never heard of this site before and it was VERY much my loss. Last night in a chat, a gal sent me the link (THANKS MYSTIC!), and I’ve been giggling ever since! Granted, I have the mind of a teenage boy, and this site is bound to offend some parents, but trust me when I say – your teens? Will LOVE it. They’ll want to lick it. Hump it. Have little MTSS babies with it.
Case in point, I called over Peppermist the minute she got home from school, and gave her a choice of videos to watch. We educated ourselves on the Vagina, Boobies (BEWBS!) and The Penis. And we giggled – we outright laughed – we smacked our foreheads in “Oh. eM. Gee!!” a couple of times. But, she learned stuff too. I asked her afterwards if she’d watch more, and she gave it a double thumbs up – and bookmarked it.
So – if you’re a little shy about giving info and talking with your kids but admit teens generally have wacked out senses of humor, or if you’re like me and have the mind of a 16 year old boy – check out The Midwest Teen Sex Show. Sex is funny. (And serious too. But mostly funny.)
PS – as I was writing this, it was announced that the MTSS is coming to a TV near you! Comedy Central has announced that it will be added to their lineup for 2009-10! My kids? are THRILLED!
