sweetie-pie

I don't know what came over Misaki today...

At the bus stop when I picked them up from school, Misaki came off first and she stopped on the last step and looked at me and said "I love you" and blew me a kiss!

And halfway through dinner Misaki looked at me and said "Thanks for making spaghetti, it's really yummy".

I don't know where this came from but she was really sweet today and it is these kinds of moments that make all the hard work worthwhile!

Also, she has finally stopped picking the owie on her arm! In October 2005 she fell and got a little tiny scrape on her right forearm. She sucks her thumb and I didn't realize that she'd started picking it as she was going to sleep. I don't think she even realized she was doing it. Then she got chicken pox so I really didn't notice one little owie as compared to the rest all over her body. Then I found out I was pregnant and had morning sickness so I wasn't really paying attention to anything.

About April 2006 I realized that she had had this same owie in the same spot for 6 months. I put a bandaid on it and thought that would be the end of it but I totally underestimated how uncommitted she was to stopping!!! About June I started a campaign to help her remember to stop picking it. She got a sticker everyday that she left her bandaid alone and if she got a sticker 7 days in a row then she could go out for ice cream with just me. I took her out twice so I thought I was finally getting through to her. But then I got near the end of my pregnancy and again I wasn't paying enough attention. About September I realized that again she had picked this little owie apart.

At this point I decided to just leave the whole mess alone. I wondered if she was continuing to pick it because I was giving so much attention to the situation. But no, she just kept picking away. I know it's really not a big deal but I don't want her to be 14 years old and get mad at me because she has a scar on her arm. Plus this is one thing (not realizing that there are consequences to her actions) that I see in Misaki that I think I need to help her change before she gets older and into elementary school. She doesn't really think through stuff before she does it. I don't know how many times she's fallen off a chair because she's leaned too far over but turned around and done the exact same thing again a week later! It'd be funnier if it was someone else's kid!!

But somehow since she had her birthday last week she's realized that she's growing up so I guess she's decided to try harder. She is very proud everyday to show me that she hasn't touched her bandaid. I'm very proud of her, too.

I'm still trying to get the photoshow I made of her birthday onto this blog. There's some problem with the program so I'm trying to work it out. Trust me, it will be worth the wait!