Is Arantxa growing?

This will probably be my shortest blog ever.

Arantxa had gotten all dressed in her new baseball uniform. This is the first time she is participating in a formal sport. She will do co-ed T-ball. By the way, I discovered I am completely clueless in this department. Luckily another mom took me to the store where I could buy the appropriate clothes. Who knew that baseball pants had belt loops and that they are special belts for them? Certainly not me. I had bought the smaller pants, socks, shirt, and belt; and it really did not look that bad in the store. However, by the time I saw them next to her it was obvious they are humongous! Thank goodness for the belt....

Back to Saturday, it was freezing and it was raining non-stop. Sadly, but fortunately, the parade was cancelled. Luckily for Arantxa, she had something to look forward to. She had $30 worth of Barnes and Noble gift cards from her birthday (Thanks S and C!). As Pablo left to help set up for the school auction, I took the girls to the bookstore. Arantxa quickly started separating some books she wanted to read, she had to really resist start reading the last Magic Tree House (41!), while she sorted the others out. I gave her a pile, and she found some herself. After much reflection, she ended up with 5 books, which she had in order of preference, since she did not know how much she could afford. Lorena, in the meantime, had her own stack of books. I bought her a Dora book. She really loves that episode not only because it has mermaids, but because one is named Mariana, how cool is that for a 3 year old?

Arantxa's total was about $32, but I remembered I had a 15% coupon off one item, so she got lucky there and did not have to use her own allowance money to complete the payment. We were at Crossroads mall, so we went to get some lunch. Before we started eating, she had already read 3 chapters of her MTH book.

After lunch, we saw the "Library Connections" which was perfect. I had with me her 2 last reading logs. Since she had read 20 minutes for 20 days during a month (I don't even bother recording the days, most days she reads at least an hour). anyway, she was eligible to get 2 free books. She made her selection, and was even lucky enough to find a thick chapter Dragon book of a series she was after.

By 4 o'clock, she had finished reading a few of the books. Needless to say, she hardly did anything but read. I saw her on the floor, wiggling on the couch, nestled against a corner next to a table.

Rafael and Dani arrived to take care of the girls at 4. Pablo and I got all dressed up in our safari clothes (the theme of the auction was "Where the Wildcats are", so that was easy for us. The auction was fun, and we did get some items.

When we came back we were schocked to learn that Arantxa had announced at 5 that she was very tired, had a headache, and was ready for bed. They quickly had dinner, and then they had to talk her into getting her into her PJs. She went to bed before 6, and fell asleep super fast with her first ever headache. We are sure she got it from that last reading place she found, she was in a really bad posture. And yes, when I found her there, I had asked her to move to a different place and to turn the lights on. She did not wake up until the following morning.

Sunday night she had a very bad night, full of nightmares. I forgot to say that I wanted to ban a "Goosebumps" books she had gotten. I had explained it would probably be very scary, I had read a few paragraphs to show her. She could not resist it because of the title and the first few paragraphs. (http://www.amazon.com/How-I-Learned-Fly-Goosebumps/dp/0590568892). We agreed that if she mentioned anything about being scared or not able to sleep, I'd have to take the book away, and she would not be allowed to read more of that series. She had very little sleep, and needless to say, those books will be banned for an undetermined amount of time.

Lorena picked her up from drama class yesterday. She was really cranky in the car; and fell asleep shortly before we made it home, it was around 5 pm. I left her in the car while I started dinner. I then brought her in to the couch. Lorena kept bringing toys to her, but she did not move. I tried to wake her for dinner, but she just wouldn't wake up!! I finally gave up and took her to her bed. Lorena was sad that Pablo was not going to join us for dinner, he was going to work late. She was devastated when she realized that Arantxa would not have dinner with us either. I made it for her by joining her in her bath.

I kept checking on Arantxa a few times, I was a bit worried, but she seemed just fine. She walked into our room at 6 am this morning, with a cheerful "Happy St. Patrick's day!". She slept almost 13 hours.

We'll see what the rest of the week brings. She might be growing....