Busier days, harder to blog

Wow - and I thought that when I put up that post in May that I was going to get back into putting in updates often. That obviously didn't happen. Summer was a whirlwind of activity....and now we are in September and a new school year.

My sister got married this summer in what turned out to be a destination wedding (who knew that getting married in a different state could be cheaper - at least for the bride and groom). It allowed us to combine wedding activities into a lovely vacation in New Orleans. I learned something very important while there - that my girls can be INCREDIBLY well behaved. We are talking day after day of getting up early and staying up late (until 11pm or so) and without a nap. They survived heat, humidity, and a lot of walking -- all with little complaint. I was amazed, astounded, and very, very proud of them.

Ellie is now at my favorite age - three. I LOVE THREE!!! I don't love the occasional tantrums, trust me. But I love the fact that I can have a real conversation with my child -- and it is interesting. I love her curiosity. I love that I'm still #1 and that I hear almost every day: "I love you Mommy. You are the best mommy ever." [Of course, I hear every other day "You are a mean, mean Mommy!!!! I don't like you."] It is an age of putting together ideas and learning about the world beyond your doorstep. We were at a restaurant today and they were cooking a steamed bagel sandwich and the steam comes up from the machine and Ellie shouts, "Mommy! I see vapor!" She tells me there are 3 states - solid, liquid, and vapor (so, she hasn't learned about plasma yet). I know I didn't know that at 3 - let alone 5! Our children are learning so much more than we did at the same age. Amazing!

We are also entering the time where I am becoming chauffeur to my girls. Currently we are involved in gymnastics and ballet. In years past we did acting, choir, Chinese dance, etc. But we've hit SECOND GRADE. Apparently it is the year of homework - so I am limiting our activities to 2 per girl. So far, school is going fine. Playdate tomorrow - and I saw a list of what my eldest and her friend are planning on doing - at 2:43 they are scheduled to "Terrorize Ellie". Lucky for Ellie -- they only scheduled 6 minutes for that. They also plan on pedicures, touring the house, playing with Polly Pockets, practicing dance moves, and talking about "Allen". There was a heart around his name - uh oh!

You probably thought I was gone....

but surprise!

Work has been incredibly demanding since last October when the layoffs began. The stress from that among other things really got me down and I didn't want to write about all that in the blog.

Let's just say we are slowly coming back.

So Happy Mother's Day ( a day late)!!!!

Lots has happened - like first grade wooshing by in a blink. I can't believe in a month I will have a rising 2nd grader!

At the end of February we went to Atlanta for the weekend to see the Terracotta Warriors. And we also stopped by the aquarium for a whirlwind run - trying to avoid bad weather that we knew was coming. I got to see the Titanic exhibit which was great (and would have been even better if I didn't have a 3 year old wanting to hurry up).


The Terracotta Warriors was great too. Jordan really liked it - and listened to the recording that went along with it with great concentration. Ellie actually decided to spend the visit wrapped up on me in my little wrap thing I used when she was a baby. She still fit and it made it so much easier for me to enjoy the exhibit with my hands free. She fell asleep at one point - so must have been comfortable for her too. And it meant no stroller!!!!





We also celebrated Ellie's 3rd birthday at the beginning of February - she is definitely 3. She is much moodier than Jordan at that age and loves to say 'No'. But she is also funny and giggly and all the things I like about being 3.





In April we celebrated spring break with a trip to see my dear, dear friend Jane down in Florida. Originally we were going to go to China (Jordan and I) during break - but the financial situation changed that plan. But being able to see Jane and her daughter, Caroline, made up for it. We took the girls to Downtown Disney (Disney on the cheap - sort of). They got to go to Bibbity Boppity Boutique and be made into princesses - they all loved that! We also went to the beach one day to collect shells and basically chilled out.

Jordan has lost a total of 6 teeth now. She is excited about her upcoming birthday. And she is doing great in school! More later...

Overslept

First day back to school was great - we got up and had time to spare. A nice, relaxed morning. Then came today. I woke up 90 minutes late. Jordan's bus had come and gone at least 15 minutes prior. I had to get the girls and myself up and dressed and out the door in 20 minutes in order to get Jordan to school before the official start time. And amazingly, we did it! Thank goodness for putting clothes out the night before and for having incredibly well behaved and cooperative girls (at least for one morning). They even had breakfast (or a bad, bad mommy's version of it - Jimmy Dean's version of a breakfast corndog - a sausage on a stick covered by a pancake). It wasn't the healthiest - but it was a great breakfast for back seat of the car. I hope this is the only time I oversleep like that.

I wanted to comment on Ellie's "clubhouse" that she got for Christmas (retails for ~ $80 but you can still find good deals for it. Santa got it for $34). It was one of those stress, not on the list, purchases that was gotten on a whim because of the incredible deal. Now, my house is little - just under 1250 square feet. And this thing is mighty big. But it has been a hit and both girls love it.

The nice thing is you can open it up like in the first picture or put the two sides together to make a real house. And the best is that you can actually store one side into the other so it takes up less room when not in use. I am now really happy Ellie got this.

Happy New Year

I really tried to post earlier but technical difficulties prevented me. So sorry! That means I have a LOT to talk about.

November and December were very stressful for me due to the fact that we were aware that layoffs were coming but not exactly when. And of course, with Christmas coming, I had no idea what I should spend or how jolly the holidays were going to be. But leave it to me to fall into my coping mechanisms of eating and spending money. Normally I am a major miser but when I stress out - I spend. Luckily this time I did it while looking for some incredible deals. I ended up spending a little less than I did last year but the girls ended up having a lot more presents. Everything though was on sale and anything electronic was on a major sale (at least 50% off).

The re-org and layoff announcement came in mid-December (much too close to the holidays in my opinion) and while I made it through this round - half my team was displaced. I have no idea how we are going to get the work done that we did previously.

Ellie having a snack

Luckily, the girls were not aware of mommy's anxiety (but it was a big reason why I didn't post on the blog). We had a wonderful Thanksgiving hosted by my sister. The girls were the only kids there and were doted on by their grandparents and their great-aunts and uncles.

The best part of baking cookies - licking the batter

From Thanksgiving to New Year is my favorite time of the year. I love decorating and getting into the holiday spirit. We went to see Santa fairly early in December. Jordan sweetly told Santa to bring her "anything". Ellie had a list: a computer, a phone, fairy wings, and lip gloss (she's had Jordan applying lip gloss on her for the last couple of months, sigh). Of course - Ellie barely got her list out to Santa between her sobs - still didn't like him. But as the season wore on and she got to see him a few more times (including at her daycare where he gave her a book as an early present for being good). By the time Christmas Eve rolled around, she liked him well enough (although I think she still would prefer Rudolph or Mrs. Claus or one of the elves).

Santa Clause, Round 1: Jordan, thrilled; Ellie, not so much

Tea Party with Mrs. Claus and Sparkle, the Elf

So we ended 2008 greatly looking forward to 2009. My retirement savings is kaput thanks to the market (at least I know I'm in good company). But we have our health, a roof over our heads, and each other and that is the most important thing!

It's Christmas Time at last!

Christmas: The Aftermath

Visiting Friends and Family

We went to Georgia last weekend to visit friends and family. My parents were heading down to meet the soon-to-be in-laws (my sister is getting married next year) and I took the opportunity to split the cost of a hotel room and tag along. While there, we were able to get together with one of the families we traveled with when I adopted Ellie. Their daughter, Ava Mei, is from the same orphanage and it was fun to see the girls together. Ellie has been talking about her friend, Mei Mei, every single day since we've been back.

Ellie and Ava Mei back together again

We also visited some friends of mine from my college days (oh so long ago...). Unfortunately, since my girls suddenly got hungry and were ready to go hunt down lunch - I didn't get to spend quite as much time with them as I would have liked. Jordan had a grand time though with John who played tag with her (thank you John!) while I squeaked out a few more minutes with Nancy and their daughter, Kate.

All the girls (me, Nancy, Kate, Jordan and Ellie)

We were also able to spend some time on Sunday with my cousin Allison and her family. We try to get together every so often (although not often enough). Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera into the house and have no pictures of us together. I am hoping we can get down again before next summer and spend some more time with them.

I have told my girls that they cannot jump on our beds at home and that the only beds on which they are allowed to jump are hotel beds. So, of course, they begged me to allow them to jump on the beds and I finally agreed. They had a grand time and burned some energy at the same time!

Why can't we jump on the beds at home again, Mommy???

Welcome Fall

It looks like the middle of the night when Jordan and I step out each morning to wait for the bus - it must be autumn. Now that the gas shortage has eased, I decided to take the girls to one of the nearby farms to get a pumpkin this weekend.

We had a lot of fun while there. They had several slides to play on and a BIG tractor that the kids got to pretend to drive. Ellie, in particular, enjoyed the tractor. And then it was off to take the wagon out to the pumpkin patch and find the perfect pumpkins to take back home!

Jordan decided that she needed two pumpkins (which of course she couldn't carry by herself). Ellie found a pumpkin but then decided that she needed to bring a gourd home with her too. Thanks to some very kind people, we were able to get all the pumpkins back from the patch and into the car. We ended the day with ice cream!!!

Today was Columbus Day and Ellie's school was out for a training day. The two of us decided to spend the day together. We went to Home Depot and ordered a new back door (jam is rotten - uggh) and I decided to get a new front door while we were there. My current front door has a nice gap at the top and I can see daylight through it. It has always been there and the door has always been difficult to close. Now, I'll have a beautiful door that hopefully will fit better. Just don't ask me about the cost - I'm trying to not worry about it during this economy.

We ended the morning going to the hair salon. I LOVE Ellie's long hair and pigtails but she has not enjoyed the tangles and I knew that short hair would work better for her right now. So now she has a very cute bob and I think she really likes it.

Ellie on the left right before we entered with long hair - and above, once we got home - with short hair.

Hunting for Gas

Living in the southeast, my town has been hit hard by gasoline shortages due to Hurricanes Ike and Gustav. This is when I have been very greatful to have a car with decent gas mileage. I had filled up right before the hurricanes hit and have been able to avoid the panic until yesterday when I finally was at 1/4 of a tank and had to drive close to 15 miles one way to get the girls to gymnastics. So I spent the day debating whether or not to make the trip or just tell the girls we couldn't go. Officials were promising that tankers were going to arrive late Friday and gas would once again appear at the gas stations that had been empty for days. The girls gave me sad looking puppy eyes and I agreed to make the trip despite the fact that I could feel the panic that had hit many in this area creeping into my mind. The news has been full of stories of people sleeping in their cars overnight at a station hoping to get gas only to find out the next day that there would still be none available. On the way home from work I went by 3 gas stations - none with gas for sale. This felt like the stories I heard about the 1970s gas shortage.

So, on the way to gymnastics the traffic began to slow down, it was raining and I was thinking how glad I was we headed out early since there must be an accident up ahead. About 10 minutes later I started realizing that the left lane was starting to move faster and the right lane was slowing further. Hold on a second! Could this be a gas line???!! I decided to hang out in the right lane just in case. I had passed 6 gas stations on my way and none had gas so I thought I might as well wait just in case. About 50 minutes later and I saw the gas station ahead and yes! it appeared to have gas. Of course when I was about 10 cars away Ellie told me she had to go to the bathroom. Luckily, I had my handy potty which I set up on the seat beside me and let her hop out of her car seat and go (the cars were at a standstill and I deemed this an emergency). Once done, I popped her back in the carseat and we sat some more. When I actually was in the station with two cars ahead of me at the pump is when I began to stress. What if they ran out of gas?? We were late for gymnastics and the girls were grumpy and bored to tears and they didn't understand why in the world mommy was waiting in this line for gas. But it was worth it for my sanity - tank is filled back up and I know I'm good for another 2 weeks. Hopefully this will all be over by then and I won't have to be on the gas hunt again.

And if she ended up as a teenage goth...

Jordan might look a little like this ..... minus the smile of course. Jordan loves a little carbon (ie., cooked to ashes) on some of her food. Marshmallows are no exception - so yes, those are marshmallow ashes on her mouth. This pic was from our weekend at Camp China. I know I need to put some new ones on - just haven't had the chance yet.

We begin activities in full throttle this week. Jordan has started gymnastics at a new program. It is a special class put together by a member of our FCC for our members. Ellie is also joining as they've broken the girls up into a younger group (2.5-4) and older group (4.5-7). She is so excited to be doing "nastics" like her sister. This week we'll add choir and acting classes to her schedule. Thank goodness she has gotten into the habit of doing her written homework while waiting for her bus in the afternoon or while at her after school program. I know it'll make it easier to add on these 2 new extracurriculars. I only wanted Jordan doing one thing at a time but she really wanted to do all of these so we're going to try for now.

Catch Up Again

Work continues to be crazy. That is the only pitiful excuse I can make to not updating this. Wow - not a single post in August. That is just downright inexcusable - even if I was gone half the weekends.

So...let me catch up. I'll begin with Camp China. We loved it! Jordan has already asked to go back next year (July 31 - August 3, 2009 if anyone wants to block it on their calendar). Ellie did stay home with her grandparents so it was just a weekend for Jordan and I. One of her friends from Charlotte also came and the two of them were thick as thieves the whole weekend. I got to watch a fantastic documentary about preparing for the Olympics called Dreamweavers 2008. Jordan got to eat s'mores made at a campfire, try out martial arts, learn about brush painting and just goof off.

The following weekend we met up with one of the families we traveled with when I adopted Jordan back in 2003. The girls had an enjoyable 2 days catching up and even let their little sisters join in the fun.

It turned out to be a fantastic weekend from a weather perspective. We met up in Richmond, VA and spent time at the Children's Museum (home of the real Santa Claus) and the Botanical Gardens (which I loved).

I hope we can continue getting the girls together every 1-2 years.

And then it was time for school to start back. Jordan is now in first grade. Once again she has a teacher who expects well-behaved students that are ready to learn. Luckily, Jordan loves to learn and it appears to be a good match. Jordan has enjoyed her first week of school and being able to get back together with all of her school friends. She is going to ride the bus in the morning this year (yikes). This is great for me - no road rage moments as I wait and wait and wait for the cars in front of me to try and turn left out of the school (why can't they just turn right and go around the block like I do???). Plus, less gas used as I get to drive straight to work now. The first day of school began with all the elementary students coming to the courtyard to watch the first graders receive their 'schultueten' (cones filled with candy and school supplies) from the fifth graders as they were welcomed into the academic community (apparently kindergarten is just a warm up and first grade is when they really start learning). I think the kids are just getting back into the swing of things. Jordan did tell me that her teacher is speaking to them in Mandarin but they really are just reviewing what they learned last year.

Ellie has moved up to the 'Older Twos' room. She's so happy that she got to move up with her friends to the other hallway where the big kids are. She is either the youngest or the second youngest in the room (for now) but since all the kids are only 6 months apart max in age - it really doesn't make a difference.

That's all for now. I'll post more sooner rather than later!

Did I say good? I meant GREAT!!!!

Warning: More potty talk (literally).

I haven't wanted to jinx it. So I posted my last post Friday morning. Well, since Friday - my wonderful, strong-willed, adorable daughter has only had one accident. Only 1!!!! She was dry all day Friday, Saturday (minus the 1 accident at the park), Sunday and today at school. She is now identifying herself when she needs to use the potty. She has done both #1 and #2 now on the potty (and those of you who have gone through this before know that it is often a big deal to get our kids over the fear of pooping on the potty). I am just totally amazed at the turnaround. She has made me so very, very proud.

This coming weekend we are heading to Camp China in Asheville, NC. At least Jordan and I are going. Ellie is signed up for the preschool part but I'm going to make my decision on whether to take her or leave her with her grandparents on Friday. Right now I'm thinking of leaving her with her grandparents as the best option - it will give Jordan and I a weekend on our own and keep Ellie on track with her potty training. Plus, Jordan will be with her grandparents next week and Ellie and I will have some 1-on-1 time.

On another front... my manager may be moving on to greener pastures in the next 3 months. Not sure what that means for me yet.

Life is Good

No - Ellie has not figured out how to consistently use the potty- although I "think" she might be slowly improving. But I've resigned myself to nightly laundry for awhile so that is okay.

So why is life good? Because I have amazing kids and parents. Jordan is in a half day (3 hour) camp this week being hosted by the new 2nd grade Mandarin teacher and Jordan's Kindergarten TA. My mom is a amazing for being willing to come down here this week to drive J. to and from camp. Jordan is amazing because she is learning so much so fast. Because there are only 4 children with 2 teachers - they get an incredible amount of time 1-on-1. Jordan is learning 12 new words / characters a day! And she is remembering them. She has homework every night - practice writing all the new characters she knows. I found out from her yesterday that some of the characters that I assumed the teacher had written (because they looked so good) were actually written by her. At the end of this week she'll know 60 more characters. I love that she loves to learn!

Potty Training

I have a very stubborn daughter. Let's just put that out there now. Jordan was so easy to potty train after the first day. Ellie is the opposite. She could do it if she wanted to - she just doesn't want to. In fact, that is common phrase out of her lips now, "I don't want to!" - said with whiny voice and arms folded over her chest. At school yesterday she refused to use the potty all day. At one point while outside she lifted up her dress and just went (should I feel good that she took the time to ensure her dress stayed dry????) She likes her panties but likes her diapers too. She hates taking off her diaper in the morning (I keep her in one overnight) but once she has panties on she likes those.


I just bought a travel potty that looks really cool - Ellie sat on it tonight and told me it was fine (but didn't actually use it -- she did use her Dora potty). Here's a pic of the travel potty -
It basically is a seat and small legs that fold for travel and a disposable baggy that goes overtop and has a absorbent pad to make it less messy. I got mine at BabiesRUs but they are available on Amazon too.

So... wish me luck on the potty training. I am NOT going back to diapers. Jordan was down to a rare accident in about a week. Ellie will be lucky to be going 50% of the time after 2 weeks.

Beach

There is so much to catch up on but I'm trying to stay off of the computer while on vacation. I promise to write more later. Work has been incredibly hectic since mid-April. I mean REALLY hectic - the kind where I leave at 5:15pm to pick up the girls and get home and then as soon as I've fed them and put them to bed (sometimes before bed) I'm back logged on again. I hate when it gets this bad but I've known it was coming for awhile.

I've been scheduled for an unprecedented 2 weeks of vacation since last summer when I came down here to Edisto for a week and fell in love with the house and the location and swore I'd come back. So despite work being a windstorm - I'm here and loving it. I've had to check in at work briefly but not as much as I should and more than I've wanted to.

I have been taking tons of pics of the girls - I love taking pictures of them and since I don't have time to get professional photos taken - it is up to me and my Canon. Here are two quick pictures of Jordan and Ellie. Since I last posted Jordan has turned 6, lost a second tooth, finished Kindergarten and headed to first grade. Ellie has become quite the conversationalist and is still headstrong, funny, and full of life....so much to talk about - and I promise to catch back up soon!

The Big Event of the weekend

Mother's Day? Hah! That was just the warm up. The BIG EVENT in our household this weekend was the first lost tooth!

Mother's Day was nice. Ellie made me a lovely bracelet from beads and a pipe cleaner. Jordan gave me a great card in which she traced her hand, cut it out and then had it holding a paper flower. Both go into my treasure box.

We got up early (I would have loved to have slept in but I also wanted to see my sister) and had breakfast at the Original Pancake House (home to the best pancakes around!). We didn't really have lunch (well - the girls had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches - I didn't have lunch). And we took a nice nap (yay!). We headed down to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants and got there around 4:25pm. The place doesn't open until 4:30pm and there was already a big crowd forming. Had a great meal and then as Jordan was eating a doughnut I hear her shout "it fell out!". I asked if she had swallowed it and she told me no. She had been chewing her doughnut and had felt something hard and realized it must be her tooth and spit it out and it fell on the floor. So the patrons of the restaurant must have thought we were very odd to be all crowded around looking at the white tile floor for a small white tooth. But success!!! So the Tooth Fairy now has a new tooth and Jordan is one tooth short.

Ellie

I took this picture of Ellie over the weekend. We were at an outdoor arts festival and she was sitting and watching the dancers at one of the stages. I think I love this picture because it is not posed. I feel that it shows the old soul in her - which I know she has.

I also see in her the same girl as in my referral picture. And I guess I feel that if her nannies could see her now - they may still recognize her.

Fun, fun, fun

Blame Ellie for no new post. She has asked every night that I pull up the blog and play the ABC video. She loves watching herself. But - I felt I really should update the site -- so sorry, Ellie.

The weather in April has definitely brought the rainshowers. And we are greatful - because we have been suffering through a major drought. Unfortunately, the rain tends to come on weekends. But, when the weather behaves we definitely have been taking advantage of it. Above was a picture I took from my front door of my girls having popsicles on the front porch. They are not allowed to eat popsicles inside the house - but on warm evenings, you can find them outside slurping away.

Jordan's class had a field trip last week and I got to chaperone. They went to a large animal safari-type place and got to feed llamas, water buffalo, giraffes, etc. I think she was feeding an alpaca above. The place allows you to drive through in your car if you want or they have wagons pulled by horse. Her class went by wagon - so they had very easy access to all of the animals. It was a lot of fun and I'm glad I was able to spend the day with her class. She has just learned how to say the pledge of alliegance in Mandarin. I will take a video of her saying it soon and post it - I think it is pretty cool. She recited it for some friends of ours who are Chinese and they were impressed (I think they were most impressed with her accent - the fact she is saying the tones). Since I can't judge that - I was really happy to hear that.

At the end of May, Jordan's gymnastics class is going to perform their routines on some of the equiptment. I snuck a few pics of Jordan on the beam. I would kill for calf muscles like my daughter's. Her body was built for gymnastics. She likes it but not enough for us to do anything beyond recreational. But right now it rates higher than any of the proposed alternatives I've given her (horseback riding, ballet, art classes).

ABCs

Ellie loves to sing her ABCs. So I finally grabbed my camera to document it.

The giggles in the background are her sister.

Asian Culture on the Web

I was on Rumor Queen the other day (my best friend is STILL waiting to adopt - so I keep up to date on what is going on). Anyway - someone mentioned a blog and I went to look at it. It is called Stuff Asian People Like. It is written by Asians for Asians. I love reading the posts. And even more, the comments. Since I'm not Asian (ummm...is my blue-white skin that obvious of a clue???), I'm just an outside observer and would never comment myself. The blog is part of a new community site: Asian Central. Check it out if you like.

Another good site is Asian-American Village - part of the IMDiversity website. You can catch up on the latest Secret Asian Man comics there. There are also some great articles from Francis Kai-Hwa Wang.

The Newest Family Member

Congratulations to my cousin Jamey and her husband Joel on the birth of their daughter Rachel! She looks adorable in the pics I've seen. I'm sure Riley is going to be a great big sister!

Going to the Movies

Yesterday was a holiday for both girls (surprise Mom!). That means - I had to stay home whether I wanted to or not. I have a great manager who told me that I was working from home and I didn't need to take a vacation day because I had my blackberry on. I did work in the morning and even did a conference call (with a lot of other parents who were working from home apparently). But the afternoon was more fun time. I took the girls to a movie - Horton Hears a Who.
I know some of you are thinking - who in the world takes a 2 year old to a movie??? Well, apparently me. Even though Jordan didn't get to see a movie until she was 4 at the theater - I decided to risk taking Ellie. I warned Jordan it may be a quick experiment because if Ellie started screaming - I was out of there.
So after stopping by the concession area and getting each child a kids pack of popcorn and gummy candy off we went inside the theater. Thank goodness it was not full - just a few families. I sat in the middle with a child on each side - the better to stick my hand in their popcorn and eat it, my dear. Equal opportunity.
Jordan enjoyed the movie. It helped that we had read the book last week - so she was not worried about all the Whos in Whoville perishing - she knew it would have a happy ending.
Ellie had fun. She started off very well behaved sitting in her chair with her food on her lap munching away. That got boring after about 1/4 of the way through the movie. So she decided to sit on the arm of the chair (to see better I'm sure). Also - why not kick the shoes off and relax? (Mom quickly scrambles to grab shoes and store them away). Then she gets one of her feet stuck in between the back and bottom of the seat and as she pulls free her sock comes off. Mom scrambles to floor to retrieve sock and place back on foot. Then Ellie decides it is time to walk around (thankfully just along our row). I take that back - she did make it to the end of the row and then decide to walk down the row below us but she came back quickly when she saw my stare. Normally, I would grab her and bring her back but since there was a movie going on - I was trying to balance ensuring her safety and the enjoyment of other patrons. She came back and stood on the chair beside me (luckily she's still little and her head reached the top of the back of the chair). Then she reaches over and grabs the chair in front of her and straddles between the chair in front and the one beside me. Ok - that's too much for me. She is either going to fall or she is going to flip over the chair in front of her. I finally grab her and hold onto her for the rest of the show. Thankfully, she does not protest too loudly and is pacified by my rubbing her back while she watches the movie. So - we survived. Will I do it again anytime soon - I don't think so. I think my original rule of being 4 to see a movie was a good one. But you never know. Poor Jordan also didn't get to eat popcorn until she was nearly 4 - Ellie loves popcorn at two.