Greta’s Dance Recital (2015)

I know I'm behind a bit in my blogging duties of late, but, let me tell ya, summer with a six-year-old who is used to the structure of a regular school day is definitely not for the weak of heart. Yikes…it's been one big, crazy event after another since school got out in May. Crazytown!

Anyway, in the spirit of finally getting back on track, here are some of the best pics from Greta's Father's Day weekend dance recital. Enjoy!

 

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Greta’s My Little Pony-themed Birthday Party (2015)

With an Oscar party a birthday party and a cloud of sickness hanging over our home pretty much all month long, as you can imagine, March was a total blur. And with April having been pretty much more of the same, all I can do is apologize ahead of time for the lag time between posts. Sorry!

As you can see from the pics, Greta's sixth birthday party — and her first party with actual school friends from kindergarten — was the coolest My Little Pony party in Equestria and even Canterlot for that matter!

There was Apple Jack cider, Rainbow Dash cupcakes, pony-tastic pepperoni pizza, candy, arts, crafts, pin the cutie mark on the pony games and a killer Pinkie Pie piñata for the ages! And best of all, thanks to the handiwork of the very talented Mrs. Yeti, each of the kids went home with their very own handmade My Little Pony on a stick. It was awesome!

 

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Decorating the tree with a four-year-old…

One of the greatest things about Greta getting older is that every year she gets more and more excited about the holidays. Especially Christmas! Already this year, she’s had the chance to decorate three Christmas trees: one at Grandma & Lola’s house in San Diego, one at Uncle Guy-Guy and Aunt Laura’s place on Friday night (while Mrs. Yeti and I saw a screening of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug) and, this past weekend, at our house.

Of course, by the time she got around to decorating our tree, Greta was a little weary of the whole experience, so, mostly what she did was play with the ornaments while I decorated. Which was fine and actually much faster than letting her run the show, so, it was all good.

And, as you can see, the tree looks great. So, my tip for the parents out there is to wear your kid out with lots of decorating (preferably at other people’s homes!), lull them into submission by distracting them with lots of cool shiny ornaments and then, and only then, get down to the business of trimming your tree. Trust me, it worked like a charm!

And even though we’re still woefully behind on sending out our Christmas cards and Mrs. Yeti’s usual baking frenzy has been greatly reduced due to her hectic work schedule — she did make something called Hot Chocolate on a Stick and a batch of Candy Cane Sugar Cookies, so, that’s something! — the fact that we got the tree up at all is a major accomplishment. So, hooray, and, you know…Merry Christmas and all that good stuff.

Routine Surgery

So, I had umbilical hernia surgery last week. I won’t go into the grisly details, because, well, it’s really gross and I just don’t have the stomach for it (pun intended). But, rest assured that it was a fairly simple in-and-out surgery.

I checked into the hospital at 6:00AM and was home by 1:30 or 2:00PM. Easy peasy. Except for the part where I thought I might die or stroke out on the operating table. Don’t laugh, stranger things have happened during so-called “routine surgeries,” and the things they asked me before surgery made it a million times worse. “Do you have a religious preference?” Huh? For what? My last rites?! Oh, man, I was totally wigging. You name an ailment and I was convinced I would not only catch it, but die from it, last week while at the hospital. Crazy!

Needless to say, I am safe and sound now at home. I’m feeling much better, but, the pain meds are still totally tripping me out. I keep dreaming about Asian chicks, not in a creepy sexual way or anything, but, they’re just there, like, in every dream. Lucy Liu has been a regular this past week, and Michelle Yeoh has dropped by, as has my sister-in-law, Laura. Actually, Laura makes sense at least, since she practically moved in with us, after I got home from the hospital, to take care of Greta. Thanks again for that, Laura, you rock!

The best Laura story was the first day after the surgery, she came over before I even woke up and let herself in. Greta woke up and started pestering me for food or water or something (I know, the nerve of that kid!) and as I was coming out of a druggy fog to respond, I heard this angelic little voice calling out to us both from the living room. “Greta, I’m here. What do you need, sweetie?”

Perking up at the sound of Aunt Laura’s voice, Greta ditched me so fast my head spun. It was hilarious. But, it was also really wonderful to be able to fall back into a deep sleep and know that Greta wasn’t juggling knifes or something in the kitchen. Whew. Thanks again, Laura.

Anyway, another thing I noticed during the last few days is that my surgery really freaked Greta out. She hasn’t said anything about it directly, but, her demeanor has been strange all week. She’s been very moody and temperamental and has been very curious about what happened to me when I “was gone” — Mrs. Yeti and I had to be at the hospital so early on surgery day that we had Laura spend the night and wake up with Greta after we’d left — and she’s even asked me when I’m leaving again. I have assured Greta that I’m not going anywhere, and she was pre-warned several times that we would not be there when she woke up on surgery day, but, something tells me she’s still a little skeptical about the whole thing. It’s weird.

We’re doing our best to show her how much better I’m feeling and that I’m on the mend, and Greta is very excited to go with me to the doctor on Monday to remove my bandages (urgh, at least one of us is!). So, hopefully that will bring the whole thing full circle for her. And I’m sure she’ll also mellow out a bit when things finally get back to normal around here.

I mean, in her defense, Greta’s little toddler world has been pretty hectic since we got back from NYC. We’ve had lots of people visiting, lots of indoor time while the sun scorched the earth outside, — BTW, kiss my ass non-believers, global warming is real as shit, deal with it! — both Mrs. Yeti and have been working like fiends, and then this big old belly surgery pops up (again, pun totally intended). Anyway you look at it, things just haven’t been normal in Gretaland in a while.

And the way this next week is shaping up, that trend should continue until about midweek, when, hopefully, things will get back on track for everyone.

Until then, I guess the Barbies and stuffed animals in our house had better prepare for a whole new wave of belly button surgeries performed by the ill-tempered Dr. Greta. Oh joy…

Greta’s Dance Recital: VIDEO

Actually, this super-cool video premiered a few days ago on Facebook, but, since I am not yet FB friends with everyone reading this right now, I figured I’d best post it here as well. Unlike previous clips I’ve posted, this one is still “unlisted” on YouTube, so, the only way to watch it right now is by clicking the link below. Enjoy!

And thanks again to my brother and his lovely assistant, my sister-in-law/Greta’s Aunt Laura, for their fine videography work. You guys rock!

watch?feature=player_embedded&v=suCPUWTwtp8

You’ve come a long way, baby…

Yesterday was Greta’s last ballet class of the year and to celebrate this monumental event, her teacher, Miss Sommer, let the parents actually sit in the studio and take pics and video of the class in session. We invited my brother and his wife (aka Uncle Guy Guy and Aunt Laura) and this is the perfect snapshot he captured of Greta in the studio.

As you can see from the confident little glint in her eyes, any initial fears she may have had about taking a ballet/tap class are long gone and she’s just as hammy when cameras are around as the rest of us. Ha! Congrats on your first three months as a ballerina, sweetie. Long may you jeté!