Khaki

As Aidyn was helping me put away the mountain of laundry that my mom washed/dried/folded while she was visiting last week we came across a pair of pants. "Oh, khaki!" I said, remembering that we owned these pants after quite the long absence on the basement floor waiting to be washed. Aidyn put her lower lip way out and began to cry softly. I was completely bewildered and took her onto my lap to try to figure out this sudden sadness. Through tears she explained, "It hurts my feelings when you say mean things about Kassie." I had no idea what she was talking about until she went on: "Don't call her khaki. It's KASSIE!"

Brick House

On Aidyn's birthday she began complaining about a very sore throat and left ear pain. I took her to urgent care and sure enough it was strep throat and an ear infection. When we pulled up to the building she exclaimed, "Bricks??!!!!" I realized that she probably had never seen a traditional red brick building. She excitedly went on to say, "Like the third little pig's house??!!"

Broken Heart

The other night there was a change in plans regarding going to "Miss Jessie's House" which is Aidyn code for going to our Journey Group. Aidyn was devastated by this change in plans since going to Miss Jessie's House is the highlight of her week. She went to Daddy and asked for his phone so she could send a tearful text message to Nana and tell her all about her disappointment. Daddy opened the text message to Nana and Aidyn looked for the faces to send by text. Suddenly she pointed to one of the faces and said, "This is what my Mommy did to my heart." We looked and she was pointing to the broken heart icon, the saddest look ever on her little face. As if that weren't enough, she began texting Nana and dictating out loud what she was typing: "I hope my Mommy will give me a fixed heart. She broke my heart. That wasn't nice of her to do. I hope she doesn't do that again." I'm not sure where Aidyn learned about broken hearts, but she sure knows how to break mine!

Walgreens

Conversation with Mamie:

Mamie: "I'd like to give you a gift certificate to go out for dinner for your birthday. Where would you like to go?"
Aidyn: "I like Chili's. Or Walgreens for snacks."

Green Enough to Be a Frog

Aidyn's announcement after noticing that her Fun Dip had turned her teeth, tongue, chin, lips, and index finger all green: "I'm green enough to be a frog!"

I John 4:19

We love him, because he first loved us.
I John 4:19

I have never showed this verse to Aidyn. Whether she learned it at AWANA or kid's church I'm not sure, but maybe she just knows this inherently. Our discussion tonight:

Aidyn: "I love God."
Me: "Me too, kiddo."
Aidyn: "Know what I do? I do this to God [makes "I love you" sign up to the sky]."
Me: "That's cool. Do you think it's hard to love God?"
Aidyn: "No. 'Cause I know that He loves me!!"

Interview With Aidyn, Age 4 (almost)

I did this last year, too and I present with pleasure:
Aidyn, Age 4 (well...in 9 days!!)

1. What is something mommy always says to you?
Good night, I love you

2. What makes mommy happy?
hugs, kisses, not being nasty, being nice, cleaning without you asking

3. What makes mommy sad?
when I be nasty, when I hit, spitting, like...or...like snatching and probably snatching some books or snatching the pretties, breaking the lamp

4. How does your mommy make you laugh?
when you tickle me, wrestling, we come to couch and play silly

5. What was your mommy like when she was a little girl?
I don't know...little? You liked my bear when you were a little girl. You got presents from Santa and candy.

6. How old is your mommy?
I don't know...maybe 13 or 10 or 16

7. How tall is your mommy?
really big...like this big [motions with her hands]

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
clean clean clean clean and be nice and happy

9. What does your mommy do when you're not around?
I don't know...cry? Tears.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
I don't know...tv. I don't remember.

11. What is your mommy really good at?
cleaning, um....checking people, turning on the tv, um...I don't know.

12. What is your mommy not very good at?
not cleaning up, not turning on the tv, pestering, uh...being nasty, not cleaning up the monies.

13. What does your mommy do for her job?
check people, give shots, be nice to people

14. What is your mommy's favorite food?
strawberries, berries, what about raspberries? green eggs and ham? pickle?

15. What makes you proud of your mommy?
when you're famous!

16. If your mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Pinky Dinky Doo because you tell stories and and you're a good famous girl [sings the Pinky Dinky Doo theme song excitedly]

17. What do you and your mommy do together?
clean, read books, play with a ball

18. How are you and your mommy the same?
[points to me] green....[points to self]....green! Because we play with lipstick and play with something nopsept doing. (mommy note: no idea what nopsept means...)

19. How are you and your mommy different?
[points to self] pink...[points to me]...green! Red and green. Green and pink.

20. How do you know your mommy loves you?
[holds up 'I love you' sign with hand]

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Monkey Joes and shop

2 and 7

The other night at dinner Aidyn was asking about the time. She was noticing the clock and saying that the 9 and the 6 on the clock sometimes sort of look the same because the 6 upside-down is a 9. Then Daddy said that when he was younger he thought that a 2 and a 7 looked alike and he sometimes got confused.
Then she placed her silverware on her plate and gestured with her hands toward Daddy and then the clock. "Let me explain this to you. So...you see..the 7 goes across and then sideways down and the 2 has a curly part and then it goes down and then over." I wish you could have seen her little earnest face trying so hard to help Daddy understand the difference!

What the Hack!

We are discovering that Aidyn is picking up on everything we say. I know she has always done this, but we had previously been very careful about our words since we knew her little ears were listening. Lately we have been a bit more lax but are realizing that we cannot continue to be. Here are two examples from the past couple of months.

Aidyn: "Daddy, what is 'hack'?"
Donnie: "Hack? Like how?"
Aidyn: "Like this [with emphasis]: 'WHAT THE HACK!?!?!?'"

And another one that occurred while I was helping Kassie with her coat and the zipper was giving me problems:
Aidyn [with a voice inflection of pure contempt]: "Stupid cheap jacket."

Who Dat?

Aidyn is apparently a New Orleans Saints fan. As we were getting into the car she randomly yelled out, "Who dat!?" Not even sure what she was talking about!!

Diarrhea Color

Aidyn was coloring with Kassie the other night and Aidyn held up a greenish-creamy-brown crayon and proclaimed, "This color is...[looking perplexed]...what's that name when you don't feel good and your tummy is sick and your poopie is sick?"
"Oh, you mean diarrhea?" replied Daddy.
"Yeah!" she answered. "This crayon is diarrhea color!"

I Love You Too

Me: "I love you Aidyn."
Aidyn: "I love you too! I haven't heard that in my WHOLE LIFE!!!!!"

Lizard Fish

Aidyn saw the fish in the doctor's office aquarium at her checkup this week and noticed that it looked very much like something else she had seen. She called across the waiting room, "Kassie! Do you want to see the lizard fish?"

Imagine a Prayer

Tonight at bedtime prayers Aidyn tried yet another bedtime stall tactic. I said it was time to say prayers and she said, "Wait! I gotta get my head ready to imagine a prayer."

Purple Randomness

Totally out of the blue tonight Aidyn said, "Dark purple and light purple are my favorite colors. What's your favorite color?"

I Served You All the Yesses

Aidyn: "I served you all the yesses."
Me: "What does that mean?"
Aidyn: "That means I telled you yes whenever you asked me a question."
Me: "Oh, ok. Thanks for serving me all the yesses."

Not Fantastic

Aidyn declared tonight after getting sent to her room for being sassy:
"This place is NOT fun. This place is NOT beautiful. And this place is NOT FANTASTIC!!"

Shall We?

Aidyn, asking for a drink before bed tonight: "Mom, can I please have some milk?"
Me: "Sure, let's go to the kitchen and get some."
Aidyn: "Shall we? We shall."

She Knows I Want To Do 10, Right?

Aidyn loves to play online games from Fisher Price. One of her favorites is the Count the Score game where she counts with the character of her choice as he scores goals in various games. There is an option to choose to count to 5, 10, or 20 and even though Aidyn mastered this level of counting about 6 months ago she still likes to count with the game. Tonight she decided to count with the game up to 10 using the numbers on the keyboard. So with her little mouse she chose the counting to 10 option and then began the game. Partway through the game she turned nervously toward me and asked, "She knows that I only want to do 10, right?" I think she was worried she'd have to count to 20!

Sassy

So yes, I am aware that you reap during your parenting what you sow with your own childhood. I am discovering that my sassiness has transferred to my child. I can assure you that I haven't taught her this...she must be learning it at preschool!

A sampling of tonight's sassy show:
"This is not what I'm expecting of you!"

"I just want someone to give me everything I want RIGHT NOW."

And my personal favorite (if you can call it that):
Aidyn: "Mom, what does your sticker say?"
Me: "Oh, that's my nametag. It says, 'Tracy Mingo.'"
Aidyn [bursting into tears]: "YOU'RE COPYING MY LAST NAME!!!"