Can't Touch the Packages

We put up our Christmas tree a couple weeks ago and began placing packages underneath it almost immediately. The girls were given strict instructions not to touch the packages until Christmas, but of course they were very interested. I caught Aidyn playing near the gifts and noticed one on the floor quite a distance from under the tree where it belonged. I instructed her to put the gift back under the tree and she said, "But Mom...the package came out from under the tree and I can't put it back because I'm not allowed to touch the packages."
Oh yes, of course, how silly of me.

Surgery

Last night Aidyn informed me of her need for an emergent medical procedure.

Aidyn: "Mommy. I need surgery."
Me: "You do? Why?"
Aidyn: "Because the batteries in my arm are dead and I need to put in new ones."

A Case of the Goosebumps

Aidyn, running frantically into the kitchen as I was making dinner last week: "Mommy!! Mommy!! I have a case of the goosebumps!!"

Two More Sleeps

Aidyn counts down to every event based on how many sleeps there are. We've been counting since 28 sleeps until Christmas so she's really getting excited now that there are only 2 more sleeps left. I figure she's learning to count backwards so it's okay!

She's also been incessantly singing "This Is What Christmas Means to Me" by Tommy Walker ever since she sang it in front of church with her preschool group on December 13. The lyrics include the line, "There's a Savior born on Christmas day, born to take our sins take them all away."

As she was singing it earlier she realized what she was saying and excitedly asked, "Mom!! Is there only two more sleeps until the Savior is born?!"

Boring and Slow

Once again my child's music tastes are more sophisticated than my own. Thursday night as we were riding in the car I turned on the Christmas music station. Aidyn endured an entire song and a half before she piped up from the backseat, saying it slowly for me so I'd be able to understand: "Mommy. This. Christmas. Music. Is. Boring. And. Slow. Dash On is the best Christmas song ever." So not only is a Desperation Band song her favorite ever as I've blogged before, now T'was the Night Before Christmas by Family Force 5 is the best Christmas song ever. Check it out and see why she calls it "Dash On." You should see her dance to it!

Tattoon

Words that rhyme, apparently...

• cartoon: an animated tv show
• saloon: a western bar
• afternoon: the time between 12:00pm and about 5:00pm
• Saskatoon: a city in Saskatchewan, Canada
• cocoon: a scary movie or a butterfly incubator
• raccoon: nocturnal animal
• typhoon: the natural force that leaves my living room looking the way it currently does (wait, that's my kids)
• tattoon: Aidyn's word for body art

Kipcake

Aidyn made her very first snowman with her Daddy last week when we got our first big snowfall. She excitedly named him Kipcake Mingo Julia Faith Snowman.

Not sure where Kipcake came from, but they sure had fun!

No Hair

Aidyn has been quite self-conscious about her hair lately for some reason. I think it might have something to do with the fact that her curly locks get tangled so easily and she sees that Kassie's hair is silky straight and not so tangly. Both girls hate having their hair combed, but Aidyn a little more so. She mentioned recently that she wishes she had straight hair like Kassie. I absolutely love her curls and told her so, I also told her that God made her with curly hair and Kassie with straight hair and how cool is that?

Aidyn took the lesson to heart. Several days later she approached her Dad:
"Daddy. God made me with curly hair and Kassie with straight hair."
Then Kassie from the peanut gallery: "And He made you with no hair!"

I Don't See a Lump

Kassie [playing pretend at the dinner table]: "I have a baby in my tummy!"
Aidyn: "Nuh-uh! I don't see a lump!"

Are These For Real?

Last Sunday we were blessed by friends with free tickets to the Bethlehem Marketplace at a church near our house. The church sets up a very realistic recreation of Bethlehem complete with shops, music, and buildings to replicate the time of Jesus' birth. I was very humbled by my observation that in all the noise and business of the little town's recreation they had tucked the baby Jesus and his quiet parents in a back corner cave that you could literally have passed right by without even noticing.

We had explained to Aidyn that this wasn't the for-real Bethlehem and not the for-real baby Jesus and she seemed to understand. As we walked through the town we bought some grapes for the girls from one of the marketplace shops and as Aidyn looked down at her handful of grapes she asked earnestly, "Are these for real?"

Chicky-Lou Auntie

My sister Sarah has always just been "Auntie." Aidyn hasn't ever called her anything else and for a while she was the only Auntie she really remembered. Auntie calls the girls "Chicky-Lou" in a cute little teasing voice and the girls think she's wonderful. It helps that we've seen Auntie Sarah twice in the last 3 months and that half of Aidyn's clothes come from Auntie ("Who bought you that outfit? I't's so cute!"..."Auntie bought me this!")

She is realizing now that she has three Aunties not counting all of our very good friends that we simply refer to as "Auntie"and with family coming to town for Christmas from California, Minnesota and Florida she's been asking about her family that she doesn't get to see as often as we'd like. She's having a bit of trouble keeping "Auntie Jess" and "Auntie Jen" straight although she has very vivid memories of dancing with Papa at Auntie Jess' wedding. So we've been showing her lots of pictures and reminding her of everyone's place in the family: Auntie Jess is married to Uncle Dennis, remember we went to their wedding? Auntie Jen is Addison's mommy (she remembers her cousin perfectly!) and now they have a new baby Makenna, too! She is so excited to see family in a few days that she's not counting down to Christmas, she's only counting it as a day in between family visits.

The other night she showed that she is finally getting everything straight. I was telling her that I was talking to Auntie on the phone and she said, "Which Auntie? Chicky-Lou Auntie?"

Do You Have Mom for Christmas?

Ever the eavesdropper...

Me [to Donnie]: "Do you have Mom for Christmas?"
Donnie: "I think so."
Me: "Ok, she wants a calendar with all the kids' pictures."
Aidyn [emphatically]: "You can't have Mom for Christmas!"

The Monkey Class

A few months ago Aidyn had her first set of school pictures done. They were adorable. She had individual portraits taken and then a picture of both the classes that make up her K-3 class. When we got them we were asking Aidyn who all the kids in the picture were. There was an adorable little girl, who happened to be African-American, in the photo and Aidyn pointed to her and said, "Hey, is she a monkey?" I was horrified! "Who is teaching my child such slanderous racial slurs?" I thought. I was starting to get angry that some teachers at her school were teaching this to the kids.

It turns out that they give the classes names at the school so that 3-year olds can know with ease which class they are in. Aidyn's class is called the "Teddy Bears" and the other class is called the "Monkeys," the latter being the class to which that little girl belonged.

It is so funny how innocently ignorant children are at this age.

Thinking in the Past

Aidyn and I were talking the other day, I don't really remember what about, and she was telling me that she had to think about something for a long time. Her words: "I thinked, and I thinked, and I thook."

Growing

The other day at breakfast I asked Aidyn what makes us grow. She told me that it was "Sleep, drinks, and apple powder." She was drinking some cold apple cider and "apple powder" was as close as she could get to saying "apple cider."

Married

This morning Aidyn proudly announced to us that she was married. Tracy asked "What do you do when you are married?" Aidyn said, "You dance with the King." Okay?  Take that how you will.

Dear Aidyn, Love Mommy

Dear Aidyn,
I love you so much and I have really been noticing what a wonderful person you are. Specifically I have been watching you with Kassandra. Kassandra has changed dramatically from the little girl she was when she came to our house and I can take no credit because I know the true medicine for Kassandra's life was YOU. You are much too little to realize what a profound and life-changing difference you have made in her life and yet I think you do understand that you are helping her.
The way you supportively sit by while your mama holds another child who is sick and the way you comfort her by gently touching her little leg in my lap shows your wonderful compassion. I have been so impressed with your sharing with Kassandra what it's like to have a Daddy, like when you've said, "Oh, don't worry Kassie, Daddy always comes home," and "Daddy doesn't hurt you." I love how gently you correct her when she calls blue "green" or a square "a circle" and can truly see your teacher's heart. I love how you have helped Kassandra love church and praying and learning Bible verses and loving Jesus like you do. I love how you've shared your love for music--teaching her everything from the Alphabet Song to Light of Salvation--and your love for books--freely sharing even your most beloved volumes with her.
Although you still have trouble sharing your toys with Kassandra just as any three-year-old would, you have so generously shared your Mommy and Daddy with her and in this you have shared with her the best gift you could ever have shared. I have so enjoyed coming to this realization and wanted to share it with you here because I know that you do not yet understand. But someday I will tell you this in person and hopefully you will know that you have made a difference just by being wonderful you.
Love,
Mommy

Movie Theater

Lately we've been playing "Movie Theater" in the living room, complete with all the lights off and popcorn, candy, and soda! The kids love it and it gives us a chance to wind down as a family in the evening. Our first movie showing was Earth from Disney which, it turns out, is just the Planet Earth footage repackaged for kids without the graphic predator scenes. The girls liked watching "the movie about animal families" and Aidyn asked some good questions and made some good comments throughout. Here's a list of her thoughts on the movie:

• "Ohhhhhhh! Look at the snow waterfall!" (it was the ice cap home of the polar bears)
• "Does the baby reindeer cry?" (asked after seeing the scene of him being hunted by wolves)
• "Someone broke it!" (upon noticing a river through the ice)
• "Caterpillar's food is leaves." (this was right after the predator scene and I think she noticed it doesn't eat other animals)
• "What are the things that are mean to the little lion king? Oh yeah, hyenas." (not sure what made her think of this)
• "Do the animals cry in the big animals' bellies?" (another predator reference--this one is also a reference to the fable about The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids which we had just recently read)

I Am a Giant

Aidyn, at Perkins, playing with her food:
"I am a giant! Fe fi fo yum! My fruit is little yummy guys."

There's a Bee In There!!

After driving nine hours back from visiting Nana and Papa last weekend, Aidyn must have had some ringing in her ears for the first time in her life. She came out to the living room near tears and said, "That sound in my ear! There's a bee in there!"

These Toilets Are Not American?

Aidyn is terrified of the toilets that flush themselves. She is always scared that they're going to flush while she's still going potty, so she always checks before she will go on any public toilet whether it is self-flushing or not. Recently we were at a Perkins that had traditional toilets and she asked me, "Do these ones flush by themselves?" When I told her that they did not she replied, "These toilets are not American?" It took me a minute to understand what she meant but once I got it I replied (while trying to keep myself from laughing), "No honey, these toilets are not automatic."

Dotty Skin

Aidyn recently discovered that when she's cold some changes take place on her skin. "Daddy! My legs are all dotty!" If you think about it, dotty actually makes more sense than goosebumps.

I Remem--What's That Word?

Aidyn has such a wonderful grasp on the English language. Sometimes it cracks me up. This past weekend she was testing the difference between remembered and reminded. "Mom. You forgot to find my penguino* before bed. But I remem--what's that word? Oh yeah, I reminded you."


*Aidyn refers to her stuffed penguin in Spanish only. Who knows.

Not Come Hering

Aidyn sometimes gets upset when she tries to boss Kassandra around and Kassandra doesn't want to listen. A few days ago it was this: "Mooooooooommmmmmm, Kassie's not come hering!"

Birthday

Aidyn has learned her birthday and will proudly proclaim that it is "February twenty-fifth!" Followed almost immediately by: "Is it February yet?"