A Little Birthday Celebration

I've jumped the shark with this blog many, many times, but I'm about to do a double-back flip over a Great White right now. HOLD ON!

Guess who turned one-year old today? Go, ahead, guess!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KIARA!

Feel free to mock me about dedicating a blog post to my cat's birthday. It's OK. I can take it. Mostly I can take it because C'MON. SHE IS AN AWESOME CAT.

She may not play fetch like our cat Max does, and she may not be nearly as friendly as he is, but she lets me put her in things and take photos of it.

And that is enough for me. She's the best.

It has been an entire year since Kiara was born on the mean streets of McKeesport. She and her brothers and sisters somehow ended up at the Animal Rescue League, where we found her.

Or, actually, Alexis found her.

I am willing to admit that I would have picked her brother that day if it weren't for Alexis. She is the one who insisted that Kiara was the right cat for us. And Kiara decided she was the right cat for us. She started out being TOTALLY my cat, but has since expanded her trusted humans circle to include She Who Got Her here.

Now Kiara climbs up Alexis' ladder to her loft bed at night, but only after she has made sure that she knows where I am. If I make enough noise, she will fly into the room to make sure I'm still OK, but then she'll dash off to check on Alexis. She watches out the windows for me to get home every night, but sits in Alexis' lap at every chance.

Which is all to say, she is definitely a people cat. Just not ALL people. She knows who her trusted people are and she's sticking to them.

Somehow I'm a trusted people, despite the fact that I often dress her like a doll.

There are many, many reasons why Kiara makes life better just by being in it, so a happy birthday to the best fuzz face I know.

The Best Apology Ever

I dared to tell the Internet that Alexis hasn't asked any questions about where babies come from in many, many months. Guess what happened an hour later? GO AHEAD, GUESS.

You'd think I would know how this game works by now. Clearly I don't.

It really wasn't a big deal because I have been waiting for the questions. I mean, OBVIOUSLY there are things worth asking if you're an 8-year old girl eagerly anticipating the arrival of a baby brother or sister. She has lots and lots of questions, but it took until today for one to fall under the umbrella of things that are part of The Talk.

"How is the baby going to get out of you, anyway?" she casually asked.

Excellent question. Great question. No, seriously, THAT IS A FANTASTIC QUESTION. My doctor asked me that exact question just a week ago and then looked at me like I had four heads when I admitted I hadn't thought about it. Alexis was a c-section because she was a giant and there was no choice about things. This one could go either way, but I figure I have plenty of time to think that through and make any decisions. Why would I schedule a c-section now when I can procrastinate until it's obvious whether or not it's necessary, right? Right.

Given that Alexis was a c-section, I answered the question by saying, "Well, a doctor had to cut you out of me." Moments later, she was aware of the whole scar thing and properly mortified.

"Did it hurt?" she asked.

There's no point in lying about these things, so I didn't. I also explained that medicine makes lots of things better and that it was worth it.

Her reaction was perfect. PERFECT.

"Mom, I am so sorry," she told me. Moments later, she offered to get me ice cream and give me a foot massage.

See? I don't even have to hold the c-section thing against her. She has already made it up to me and then some.

Kidoodle.TV to the Rescue (And a Giveaway!)

Once upon a time, there was a toddler who considered TV to be just about as interesting as air, sleep, and mud. That's to say, Little Miss Alexis didn't care for watching television at all. Then she discovered a little Latina menace who likes to yell at viewers, and the good life ended.

The Latina was the gateway drug to a TV obsession.

These days, Alexis will happily stare at the black box 10 hours per day if left unchecked. Sure, she plays while she watches, but she occasionally will stop midway through drawing a masterpiece and stare slack-jawed at the screen. She looks super smart when she does it... or something.

The desire to create a little structure around all of that TV viewing is what prompted me to accept an invitation to check out Kidoodle.TV. Kidoodle.TV is a television streaming service built around kids, which means it has things like parental controls and lots of kid-friendly content.

I started by creating a trial account (which was free and didn't require a credit card) and then set up a profile for Alexis. She joined me so that she could pick an avatar. She, of course, went for the pink My Little Pony. Then she was able to say that she wanted to use the pink background, so her Kidoodle.TV is all up in the pink zone. Next I set her age for her profile. Since she was sitting there, she was able to talk me into giving her access to content intended for children up to 12 years old. I reviewed the titles that gave her access to and didn't see anything concerning, so it was a dual win. Finally, I set her viewing limit at 1.5 hours and she was off.

Alexis took off with the tablet and spent the next half hour watching a National Geographic show on whales. "This is perfect!" she told me. "We're studying whales at school!"

She would have never picked that show if she had been using the TV remote. TOTAL WIN.

There is a fair amount of National Geographic content, which I expect is what she will watch first. If I were to place bets on things like this, I'd bet that after that she will discover the Sabrina the Teenage Witch cartoons. She's never seen any of them, but it's safe to say that she will love them. After that, there's an episode of Jem and the Holograms that I plan to watch -er- plan to invite Alexis to watch with me.

So, yeah, I think this whole Kidoodle.TV thing might just work out. It should mean that I get to regain control over the big TV while banishing her to a tablet she can take anywhere. There are no commercials and no content that makes me want to roll my eyes, so we're coming out ahead.

And the best part? I think I now have a plot for steering the Tiny Human away from the little Latina menace.

If you want to check out Kidoodle.TV, you can go here to set up your 14-day free trial. You can also use the code BLOGHER25 to get 25% off of a 1-year subscription. The coupon code expires June 30, 2014. Otherwise, it's just $4.99 a month. Oh, and you can go here and enter to win one of 3 iPad minis that will be given away in March and April.

As if that's not enough, I also have a $100 Visa gift card up for grabs thanks to BlogHer and Kidoodle.TV. To enter to win the $100 Visa gift card, all you have to do is leave me a comment telling me what devices your kids use--do they use yours or do they have their own?

For more information you can also check out their Facebook page, Twitter, and Pinterest! 

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This giveaway is open to US or Canada (excluding Quebec) Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. The notification email will come directly from BlogHer via the sweeps@blogher email address. You will have 72 hours to respond; otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 3/17-4/18.

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