Conversations with a 3 year old.

I really wish I had a recorder. I can't possibly remember and write down all the various topics covered in a mostly one-sided conversation with Daughter A. In about 15 minutes she jumped ideas at least once every 30 seconds or so with few repeats.

Some excerpts:

"Mama, I don't have hair on my toes. You have hair on your toes and Daddy too. Someday when I get bigger I'll have hair on my toes, my big toe." - but when she's bigger she won't be excited about it....

"Mama you dance with Daddy and I'll dance with Nan (sis nickname). I want to dance with a boy. I'll dance with J[boy cousin] and B. can dance with S [male friend]."

"Why don't they have a purple pool? Just a pink pool. I'm going to eat it all up! We don't eat pools. They are too big. I'm going to chop it up and eat the pieces - the purple and the pink" (that one is not verbatim because it went by pretty quickly)

We ended the session with "I've got a booger in my nose"...followed by some digging and me telling her to go into the bathroom if she needs to remove boogers.

During this chat session B. was quietly looking at library books behind the chair - she's much more into looking at books.

The girls were totally thrilled to discover a pamphlet in the 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' DVD that looks like a Wonka bar. They are now pretending to be characters from that movie....


Most exciting news of the week: Baby J. has started crawling.!!!! She hasn't really figured out that she has the power to get anywhere in the house - but she will crawl toward items of interest (ie stuff she probably isn't suppose to have like puzzle pieces, cell phones, the tower of the computer, etc). I got an awesome 15 second video (with my phone camera) of her crawling to me - but I can't get it to send to anyone :(
It's exciting - but I'm feeling a bit sad because she's supposed to be our last baby and her baby-hood is just zooming by! I would really like to just sit and play with her all day....but I think she's got enough in-your-face time as it is with two enthusiastic sisters!

Princess Movies

....sort of a continuation of the previous post.

The girls' new favorite activity (since all the 'new' movies arrived) is to pull the videos out and arrange or stack them. This morning they were lining up all the 'princess movies.' Here are some interestingly classified videos: Peter Pan - because of Tinkerbell, "Minoccio" - because of the fairy on back cover, and Sword in the Stone ?!? - I guess because of the fairy dust looking stuff surrounding the sword on the cover. They had all the usual princess movies as well and added in Mulan and Alice in Wonderland since all girls are princesses!

Also interesting....while asking me the names of the various movies A. picks up one and says, "this is Fox and the Cow"....she heard Daddy say he wanted to watch 'Fox and Hound' yesterday....

We also did our weekly Wal-Mart/grocery trip yesterday, and we couldn't figure out why the store was soooo packed on a Sunday night. We go very often on Sundays, and it's never been so crowded! Even the shoe aisle was a mob. We ran into some friends who informed us that school starts today! Mystery solved! While in the shoe section we picked out a new pair of shoes for each of the big girls. I wanted to get them matching shoes to minimize fighting. Problem was: they picked out different pairs and INSISTED those were the ones they wanted. I had very strategically picked out a very princess-y pair that I thought both girls would be ecstatic about. Leave it to B. to decide she wants the more simple (and thankfully, a lot cheaper!) pair. I guess I shouldn't let them choose - but picking is half the fun! So, we warned them both that we didn't want to hear ANY fighting about shoes and that the original owner of each pair would always get to wear that pair. They agreed.....but, alas, we've already had arguments about the shoes. It starts with them amiably agreeing to try out each other's shoes. Then one will be done with the testing before the other and the disputes quickly escalate. Little girls are LOUD when being denied their shoes :)

Baby J. was also supposed to get a pair of shoes (her first pair), but she needed a high chair more than shoes. So, she's going to have to wait a month or two for some shoes. I think she'll be much happier being able to sit with us at the table than being forced to wear shoes to church :)

SMOOCH!

When I was growing up, my grandpa was our movie censor. Every time a kissing scene came on (back when kissing was the most intimacy we saw on tv!), my grandpa would try to cover our eyes or tell us to cover them and say "ewwwwww" or something similar.

Following in that tradition, I stared saying "ewwww" every time somebody smooched on the tv. Well, A. has been ewww-ing right along with me. But, the other night, I think while we were watching 'Swan Princess' and A. and I were enjoying a gross out together, B. got all upset and said 'NO! It's beautiful!" I have no idea where she got the idea. Today she did the same thing during 'Aladdin,' and she also got very upset when we ewwww-ed the Beauty and the Beast kiss. I guess I have a romantic on my hands :)

*****The reason we are watching just a ton of movies in the last few days is because my dad brought down my collection of videos that has been in storage the past year and a half. It's been great fun letting the girls watch so many 'new' princess movies! (They like Bambi and Toy Story 2, too!)

Ur doin it wrong...

These are two common captions on various pictures - they always crack me up. I have decided that they are appropriate captions for my social behavior. I just can't do it right. I say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing very consistently. I'm just coming off a weekend of lots of socializing - a party, church, and family pictures. That's a lot of social time for me - and lots of time to notice just how socially inept I really am. Social situations are just exhausting - and then I spend the next few days over-analyzing every encounter (or sometimes missed encounters) until I feel like I should go live under a rock. You'd think that I would at least be capable of interacting decently with family - but I screw that up just as much.

Back in college I used to swear almost weekly that I was going to go live in a cave on a mountain and be a hermit. I still feel like doing that a lot. But now that I have a family that's not really an option. I don't want my kids to feel that constant desire to be recluses. So far they seem to be pretty outgoing and social -yay!

This is not a pity party or even a motivation for change. I have tried to change - the harder I try to do it 'right' - the worse it gets. Or there are the times when I think things are going well only to have some random stranger comment on what a b**** I am, etc.

So, this is yet another thing that I'm labeling for what it is...and then committing to not worry about any more. Because it all comes back to worrying and obsessing. And I don't want my children growing up taking everything too seriously because they constantly over-analyze (like I do!), so this does wind up as a motivational speech for myself - to not worry.

****Similar to another post - but with fun pictures.*****

Late night musings...

It has been my habit, since starting this blog, to put myself to sleep by writing blogs. I have written many, many profound, earth-shattering blogs as I slowly drift off. Here's one that I composed this morning while in a state of half sleep. I thought it was an interesting enough thought to post.

I was thinking to myself about how much women who choose not to breastfeed miss out. I understand that some women can't for various reasons - and I don't mean this to be a guilt session about why everyone should breastfeed or else.... I just was enjoying a morning cuddle and thinking about how much less cuddle-y it would be with a bottle between us. Or how it was sort of sad that Baby is so big that she doesn't curl her little toes into my tummy anymore when she's nursing.

But babies that don't nurse can still grow to be healthy, well-grounded, awesome individuals. They may not have all the health benefits - but they won't necessarily be sickly.

It's just like the choice to love God, or not. You can make it through life without Him. We've seen so many people do it - some seem successful. But aren't they missing out? How can you truly appreciate love if you have not experience the total, complete love that comes from God, who is love.

You can bond with a baby while you bottle feed - but Baby's focus is on the bottle...it's the bottle that gives the 'love'. Or you can nurse Baby - and he/she doesn't distinguish between the warmth and nourishment that are in the milk and you.

You can focus your love on the world - but it's artificial, an imitation of the real thing. But if you live in God's love - then all loves of the world are all mixed in with Him.

So, whether or not you want to call one choice right and one wrong....there is definitely a choice in the quality of experience. And of course the consequences of your choices are much more extreme with God than with nursing.


Well - all that was much clearer when written in a half-sleep...but that's the gist.

Aaaaaaaaahhhhh.....

Baby slept 6 hours straight last night! It. was. awesome. I'm feeling almost normal today.

Baby is now doing her best to try and play with the tower on my computer - maybe that will inspire her to crawl. She looks like she's ready to take off at any moment!

PS If there is anyone out there reading my blog, I highly recommend checking out my linked 'Sister Soldier' blog - she's doing very exciting things and describes them well :)

Sleep tight!

Every night we go through our little bed time routine with the big girls- clean up, mom reads a story, Dad brushes teeth, sends them to the potty, and says prayers. It is ok for Mama and Daddy to switch up who does what - sometimes I do it all, sometimes he does. But, every night, without fail, Mama has to sing songs. I get the girls tucked into their bed and ask them what song they want. They have been treated to my rendition of 'Baa, Baa Blacksheep,' 'Mary Had a Little Lamb,' 'Old McDonald,' 'Jesus Loves Me,' ' Jesus Loves the Little Children,' 'I'm a Little Teapot' (I relate a little too much to the teapot - you know...short and stout), 'Itsy, Bitsy Spider' and occasionally the 'Sleeping Booty' song. I'm sure there are a few others, too. I know A LOT of kids songs and VBS type songs, but I always draw a blank at bedtime.

Anyway, the girls go through phases of preferring different songs - usually they request them until I say - 'we're not doing that one again tonight.' The one song that they always come back to, that has more phases than any other, is "Kwinkle, Kwinkle Little Star." It's the default. They say it as soon as I ask what song they want - without thinking - that's just the first in the list. Second in the list is 'Itsy, Bitsy Spider' so in order for the other songs to get a chance, the girls actually have to think a bit to remember their options.

There is more to "Kwinkle, Kwinkle Little Star", though: they also like to change the words. First it was "Mama sing 'Little Pink Star,'"then blue, then red, and all other colors that came to mind. After colors they wanted little 'sad' star and most recently little 'beautiful' star. I am really getting sick of that song! Finally, after hearing that while I was gone Daddy had the girls sing him a song, I told them that if they wanted to sing "Twinkle, Twinkle" in variations they'd have to sing it to me. They are pretty ok with that, so we have a compromise. B. also insists that the 'diamond in the sky' description match up with whatever has been added to the star - so pink diamond, sad diamond etc.

We recently added butterfly and Eskimo kisses to our goodnights - I remember loving them and the girls really get a kick out of them too!

So, after songs and kisses, it's mountain stream on, lights off, closet door shut, and a drink from Daddy. Usually they go straight to sleep! They are getting so grown up!

PS There is a tropical storm that, last I checked, was headed straight for us. I looked to see if we were in evacuation zones (we're not) and then promptly forgot the storm was coming. I'm used to watching a big thunderstorm blow up in about 30 minutes and then waiting for the sirens....this whole 5 days of warning just seems like a luxury! I asked someone if I should be concerned (I really don't know how close to the coast is too close)- she said the main issue was the power going out and the water getting yucky so some water might be good. Considering our approx. 30 can stockpile of juice....I'm not too worried (I realize that juice doesn't substitute entirely for water - so we filled up a water jug or two).

Our main problem so far with the storm has been explaining to the girls why they can't go swimming when it's thundering.

Things I Want to Remember....

...but can't can't catch on film...

***All of the girls' strange pronunciations like tamote (remote), sly and slowers (fly and flowers), tichen (kitchen) and all the others I'm already forgetting as I try to write them down!

***The way Baby J's head smells....almost exactly like those stores that sell the 'country kitchen' type decor.

***The serious look on Baby J's face when she's splashing in the tub (I could technically get this on camera...but can't risk having the camera catch naked me as I prop Baby up!)

***The girls' constant desire to get the Baby to play with them, pay attention to only them...how they fight each other to be the one that sits most directly in front of her.

***All the strange little games the big girls invent and play - like the one last night that involved A. pulling B. off the couch by her feet so B. landed on her bum...then handing her a little trial pack of some sort of lotion and saying it was her award. Then they'd switch - and they were laughing SO hard. Looked painful to me...

***How cupcakes are muffins and supper is somehow nasty and they want lunch at supper time - because lunch is food they like, whereas supper is often something they don't.

***B.'s funny little laugh when you tell her something she's excited about.


....well I'll have to add more later as I think of it....something seems to be upsetting the baby...