Come into My World

Aidyn's prayer a few weeks ago:

"Dear Jesus, I'm sorry for all the bad things I do that got you killed. I want the Holy Spirit to come into my world and help me make better choices. Thanks. Amen."

<3

Locked in a Box

Me: "Aidyn, please quit locking your cat in that box."

Aidyn: "Why?"

Me: "Well, would you like to be locked in a box?"

Aidyn: "But, I'm not a cat."


Point. Set. Match.

Mi Gato

**Disclaimer: I don't speak Spanish, so I'm just repeating what she said with spelling the best I could do."

Aidyn is doing really well at her dual language school. She is one of the top in her class and we've been told that she is a "natural" at learning a second language. We know. She was a natural at learning the first one, too!

The best part for me is when she randomly inserts Spanish into her conversations with us:

• "Mom, what's the word for 'trenti' in English?"


• "Papa, mi gato es bonita."


• "The word for bee? Abeja!"

It's so fun to watch her learn!

Option

"Well, I know. We could put Autumn's food and water and some toys in her box and she could play in there. It's an option."

Currently

"I currently remember that we used to have 'Chicka Chicka Uno Dos Tres.'"

Take Care of Tylenol

As she was getting herself ready for school this morning: "Ok, Mom. I need you to take care of Tylenol while I'm gone. I made lots of milk for her and put the bottles in the fridge last night. Watch out, too. She's really tired and she's been spitting up a lot. Think you'll be ok?" Yeah, I think I can handle it...

Seeing Eye...Sheep?

Randomly, in the car tonight:

A: "Mom, you know how there are blind people who have seeing eye dogs?"

M: "Yep."

A: "Well, what happens if the seeing eye dog is blind, too?"

M: "I'm not sure, kiddo. What do you think they could do?

A: "Well, maybe they could get a seeing eye cat? No....that wouldn't work. The dog would chase the cat. Maybe a seeing eye horse? No, the dog would probably get freaked out. Maybe a seeing eye sheep? No...the dog would eat it's wool. Maybe a seeing eye cow? No, because a cow makes milk and so it needs to stay on the farm. Maybe a seeing eye car. No, they would bump into things. And besides, that's super dangerous. I know what would work perfectly!! Another person to be the seeing eye dog!!"

Carried Away

Tonight at her Open House for Kindergarten, Aidyn was playing castle with some boys in her class. She was making her "castle guy" jump up and down and be very excited.

Aidyn: "Pretend he got really carried away."

Boy: "What's 'carried away'?"

Aidyn: "Um...I don't quite know how to explain it."

Drawing Mommy

Aidyn drew a picture of her family tonight for her teacher. She said, "Mommy, I can draw you better if you stay still. [then very seriously] I have no space for your nose."

Missed You

Me: "So, did you miss me while you were gone?"

Aidyn: "Well...in my head I missed you. But on the outside I didn't at all!!"

Made in China

[showing me two toys from her toybox] "I think everything in our house that's a toy is made in China. Just LOOK at this!!"

New Things

Me: "Aidyn, you need to go to sleep now. Tomorrow is going to be a fun day with lots of new things to do and see!"

Aidyn [very seriously]: "I have already done 150 new things and my new things bar is full."

Talking to God

While passing her room on my way to bed, I noticed that Aidyn was still awake. I asked her what she was doing and she explained, "I started a few minutes ago talking to God. And I'm asking him a lot of questions. But I don't hear him answering so I don't think he's listening at all." And then we talked a few minutes about how to hear God!

Before School Starts

While discussing her upcoming first day of school: "Before school starts I need a WHOLE DAY of chatting. And back scratches. Except breakfast, lunch, and dinner, of course. Or else I'll be like, 'What about breakfast!? I am soooooooo hungry!'"

Shickabobs

"No, Daddy. I don't want that for dinner. I don't even like those shickabobs!"

Oh No! Whoa!!

As we were returning from vacation in the middle of the night, AJ was the only kid awake when we bumped a deer on the interstate. We just grazed it's hip with the van, but of course it was knocked off balance and went past the van on AJ's side. His only words: "Oh no!! Whoa!!"

Dedicated Mama

Recently Aidyn has been taking very good care of her baby, Tylenol. One night Donnie got up to use the bathroom around 3am and peeked in on Aidyn only to find her sleepily sitting up in bed, holding Tylenol under her shirt. When he asked her if she was ok and what she was doing up she replied, "Tylenol was hungry. I'm feeding her by breast." I have NO idea how he suppressed a laugh, but he just responded, "Ok, baby...but go back to sleep as soon as you're done."

When I Grow Up

Aidyn has it all planned out: "When I grow up I want to be an astronaut and a dentist. So, maybe if the dentist's office could give me Sundays and Mondays off...or I could just dentist on Thursdays...and then I could be an astronaut the other days."

Magical

Completely randomly while spinning and dancing about the living room: "I'm magical! And full of surprises!"

Cabulets and Martyques

While discussing the families of Romeo and Juliet as seen in a kids' version on Netflix: "Well, there are two families, the Cabulets and the Martyques."

Smells Like Air

Upon exiting our home on a humid day: "What's that smell!!? Smells like...air. I don't like air smell."

Bubble Sauce

Aidyn got a bubble machine from the clearance rack at Target today (along with a Slip 'N Slide for $4....gotta love it!) and she asked in earnest for us to add the "bubble sauce" as soon as we got home. Yeah. Why DON'T they call it bubble sauce!?

Pick Up Your Room

D: [steps on a toy in Aidyn's messy room; endures the pain while trying not to swear, I'm sure] "Aidyn. You need to pick up your room."
A: [giggles] "Daddy. I can't pick up my room. How could I do that!?"
D: [still a bit cranky thanks to the plastic object now embedded in his foot] "Ok. Good point. You need to clean up your room."
A: [still giggling] "Oh, Daddy. You're silly. I can't pick up my room."

Daddy eventually had to just giggle with her!

Not Real

A: "Well, Mom, I know that the tooth fairy isn't real."
M: "Oh, really?"
A: "Yeah. And Santa? He's not real either. Neither is the Easter Bunny. But some kids think they're real, so I better not tell them yet."
M: "Oh. Well, what about Jesus?"
A: "Oh, He's real! He's definitely real."

Smart girl!

Onomatopoeia

In the book "If You Take a Mouse to School" there is an illustration of the mouse spelling "a word or two" on the chalkboard. This illustration caught Aidyn's eye and we ended up having a big discussion about the vocabulary words including "precocious" and "onomatopoeia." Once I explained that "onomatopoeia" means words that say the sound they make she immediately came up with several of her own examples, "Oh! Like 'clink,' 'knock,' and 'bang!'"

Later that week she was making lots of noises with her mouth and I asked her what she was doing in a moment of frustration with the noise level of the house. She looked up at me and said, "But Mom! I am making an onomatopoeia song!"

AJ's "Babies" Experience

A couple days ago we were watching the documentary "Babies" together. As we sat on the couch watching a new mom cradle her baby, AJ burst into tears. My first reaction was that he pinched his foot or something, so I turned to help him and saw his eyes fixed on the tv screen, huge tears running down his face. I heard a very heartbroken cry coming from my little boy. I held him while he cried and until he became distracted by something else in the movie, but I wondered the whole time: "Is he remembering that moment with his birth mom? Does he know that he didn't really get a moment like that at all and he wishes for it?" It was a very strange moment. What do you think??

Double Domination

(If I hadn't heard this with my own ears, I don't think I would have believed it!)

Aidyn and AJ were playing in the hallway with plastic hangers, Captain Hook-style. As they "fought" and giggled up a storm, Aidyn suddenly grabbed AJ's hanger and held them both up in the air, declaring, "DOUBLE DOMINATION!!!!"

Book Shop

Aidyn: "Wanna come to my book shop, Mama? It's really cool. I have a lot of books for sale and I wanna sell them to you."
Me: "Ok, baby, I'll be there in a minute, I have to finish..."
Aidyn: [interrupts] "Well, it will be closed when you get here then."
Me: "You can't keep it open a few more minutes for me?"
Aidyn: "Nope. Sorry."

Guess closing time is closing time, huh?

Angry Words to Miss Abbey

Aidyn loves her babysitter, Miss Abbey. Aidyn does not always love doing "homework" which is her name for daily reading or writing together that Mommy requires. Miss Abbey had to bear the brunt of Aidyn's anger the day she said, "This is NOT funny. This is NOT cool. This is NOT fun. I DON'T like this. I will NEVER do this again. And this IS NOT HILARIOUS!!" But, as Abbey texted me the story later, it kinda was hilarious!

Road Block

While drawing with sidewalk chalk, Aidyn declared:
"Here's the road and all the sidewalks. And this [points to a cube that she tried to draw] is a roadblock. Get it? It's a block. On the road."

Addicted to Water

Me: "I think I'm addicted to orange juice."
Aidyn: "Well. You can't be addicted to water or else you'd get wet!"

Joke

Aidyn's joke that she says she made up:

What do you tell a plate of turkey-shaped cookies?
"I'm gonna gobble, gobble, gobble you up!"

Bones

Randomly, just now: "Daddy. Trombones and bones in your body are not the same thing."

Spoon

This morning's explanation for why Daddy poured a green plastic spoon out of the milk jug:

‎"Well, one time when I was making my chocolate milk at dinner and Daddy was upstairs and he couldn't help me because he was up there, I tried to make the chocolate milk on my own but I couldn't pour the milk because it was too heavy and so I tried to use a spoon, you know, the spoon for the chocolate, and I was gonna scoop some milk out and when I was holding on to it it accidentally fell in."

Shesh Shoe

One of AJ's newest words is "shoe." This morning he put it to good use when Landon sneezed and I heard sweet little AJ voice say, "Shesh shoe."

Easter Egg Hunt

This morning I took Aidyn to a little Easter egg hunt at the grocery store in our town. I had decided a little while ago that we weren't going to do easter baskets this year and, besides, the hunt is the fun part anyway. The flyer advertised that there would be over 2000 eggs and there would be first, second, and third place prizes in each of the age groups.

Before we went I advised Aidyn that there would probably be a lot of other kids looking for eggs in the same place she was. I asked her, "So, how do you think you'll need to be?" I've found that if her attitude is her choice (and her idea) in advance and with time to prepare herself, she is much more likely to behave nicely. I expected her to say that she would need to be fast but still be careful not to run into other kids or something like that. But, she completely rocked my Easter weekend. She said, "Well, I guess I'll have to be really patient." I pressed her further and suggested that she would need to be really fast and she looked up at me and said very quietly, "Oh. Well, that's not very much like the real Easter at all."

I admit that I kind of dismissed her as we rode toward the store. I had completely missed the profundity of what she said. Competitive person that I am, I was so focused on that first, second, or third place prize for her. When we got to the store I took her to the 4-5 year-old aisle and turned her loose looking for the little shiny wrappers of 2000 chocolate eggs. I kept my eyes on her every moment as she gently walked along, simply moving out of the way of the faster and more aggressive hunters. She actually purposefully passed every other pile of eggs or so and pointed them out to some of the other kids. One of the store workers came up to her and showed her a big pile of eggs and she just nodded and looked at other kids as if to say, "Yeah, I saw them." I told the worker that I thought she was trying to save some for the other kids and the worker, incredulous, replied, "Well, no one has found those ones yet!"

Then I looked around. Oh my. Bigger kids were pushing littler ones. Adults were grabbing whole bunches of eggs for their kids. Parents were even getting the "big eggs" that had the first, second, and third place prizes in them--actually leaving their preschoolers alone in an aisle with 50 other people and running ahead to grab a plastic egg with a prize inside. I looked back at my little girl as she smiled up at me and said, "I think I have enough. Thanks for bringing me here, Mama."

As we left the store we walked past the table where parents were arguing over prizes and the rules of the hunt and came home with our 35 shiny chocolate eggs. I told Aidyn how proud I was of the way she had acted with kindness, gentleness, patience, and love for the other kids. Her only response was, "Ok. Thanks mom. Can I have one of these candies right now?" Oh yes, Baby. You can have one of those candies.

Pink

Aidyn: "I like every color. As long as it's pink."
Daddy: "What do you mean?"
Aidyn: "Well, you know, light pink...dark pink..."

Um

I hadn't seen AJ in a few days thanks to working long hours over several days in a row. Last night when I picked him up from church I discovered that he had learned a new "word." I sat him on one of the tables in the lobby to put his coat on and he sat there contemplating something very deep as he just repeatedly said, "Ummmmm, uuuuuuuhhhhm. Um? Ummmm. Uhhhhm."

Open Windows

Last week when it was so nice outside we slept a few nights with the windows open in our bedroom and downstairs. On our way home from church during that time I mentioned that we might be getting some rain and I might need to close some of the windows, but I would probably leave the one in our room open. Granted, she was very tired, but Aidyn began to cry softly from the back of the van. I asked her to tell me what was wrong and she just sobbed out, "Windows open scares me!!" When I asked for more details she continued, "Because if it rains then water will come in and we'll all drown!" She eventually calmed down after an explanation that only a few drops of water would come in and a definite promise that we would not open her windows.

Why Did You Sleep Cold?

Me: "I was so tired. I was out cold." Aidyn: [perplexed and hesitant] "Mommy. Why did you sleep cold?"

Cotton Stuff

Aidyn came with Daddy and the boys to visit me at work recently. We got lunch from the hospital cafeteria including "cotton stuff"...also known as cauliflower!

I Have To Find Something

At church a couple weeks ago Aidyn was feeling a little sad about something. She, very dramatically of course, grabbed a Bible from one of the pews, sat down, and started turning through the pages. I asked her what she was doing and she said, "I have to find something." A few minutes later she let out a sigh and smiled as she pointed to the name of God somewhere in Genesis. "That makes me feel better," she said.

Me Time

Scene 1. Our living room. Aidyn is watching tv and generally relaxing in front of the tv. Landon is in his swing and fussy. I am holding AJ who is not feeling very well. Me: "Aidyn, would you please give Landon his binky?" Aidyn arises from her comfortable spot on the couch and replaces Landon's pacifier. Returns to her show and sighs, "Finally! Some 'me time.'" End scene 1.

Right-eyed

Aidyn has been practicing her wink and informed me recently: "I think I'm right-eyed. See? [winks with her right eye] But, I think you are left-eyed because you wink like this [attempts to wink with her left eye to no avail]. Ohhhhh. I am right-eyed."

Tickle Tickle

Another AJ post!! I love how he is learning to use his words!

This morning as I was holding Landon on my lap AJ kept coming over to kiss Landon's belly or play with his hands. At one point he came over and grabbed Landon's feet and said, "Tickle tickle!" and then ran off laughing.

I Love You

Aidyn: "Mommy. I love you so much I could happy cry."

And then she did. Loudly. For no other discernible reason.

So I Stopped

Last week I left Aidyn a note on the bathroom door since it became out of service after she already went to bed. Let's just say Donnie tried to fix something :-) I wanted to use words on my note that I was sure she would understand, so I wrote: "Stop. This bathroom is broken. Please use the one downstairs."

The next morning when we woke up I asked Aidyn if she saw my note and she said, "I was walking and I stopped walking because the sign said 'stop.' Then I read it in my head so I wouldn't wake you up and I came down to use the bathroom because the other one is broken." I guess she got it!

They're There

Aidyn: "They're there! They are there. They ARE there. THEY are there. They're there. Just didn't want you to be confused."

How Do Your Hands Get Sick

Last Sunday night we were eating our dinner in the church lobby (yeah...Sundays are insane on a level that should probably be illegal) and Aidyn asked, "Mommy, how do your hands get sick?" I had no idea why she was asking so I tried to get a little more information. She sighed, brushed the crumbs off her hands, climbed down off her chair, walked over to the hand sanitizer station and read out loud, "'Healthy hands start here.' So. If your hands can be healthy, they can be sick. How do your hands get sick?"

Tomato Red

Me: "Here's a purple pixy stick. What flavor do you think it is?"

Aidyn: "Grape!"

Me: "Here's an orange pixy stick. What flavor do you think it is?"

Aidyn: "Orange!"

Me: "Here's a red pixy stick. What flavor do you think it is?"

Aidyn: "Um...tomato?"

Babies

Recently I watched the documentary Babies with Aidyn. She really liked it and I was very impressed by some of her insights and questions. She was especially interested in all the different ways that the mommies took care of their babies. Here are some of her comments:

• "That doesn't look so safe for the baby!" [when Mongolian family gets on a motorcycle while leaving the hospital, baby in mom's arms]
• "Whatever ARE those babies doing?" [when the Namibian babies are playing with rocks at the beginning of the movie]
• "Where is the Mommy?! The Mommy needs to help that baby!" [when the rooster is walking very near the Mongolian baby]
• "What are they speaking?" [the Japanese family--she is so interested in languages these days]

There was also a lot of "Awwwwwwwww..." and "Soooooooooo cute!" I enjoyed sharing this documentary with her!

Born When I Was a Baby

Kassie!! We finally got to see her a couple weeks ago after almost six months of missing her like crazy. She is doing well and looks great!! When she came in the house she and Aidyn just completely embraced like long-lost friends. Cutest thing ever.

When I went to pick her up she told me all about when she went to the dentist and then randomly (as is Kassie's normal) inserted this tidbit: "Did you know I was born when I was a baby?!"

And what could I say but, "Cool, kiddo!"

Sometimes I Sneak

I've already mentioned that Aidyn has learned how to lie, but she has apparently learned something else as well:

Aidyn: "Sometimes I sneak."
Me: "What? Why?"
Aidyn: "Well, because you guys don't let me do what I want, so sometimes I sneak."
Me [completely taken off guard and with NO idea what to say to this sweet little face]: "Well, honey, that's not really a good idea and sneaking is like lying."
Aidyn: "Oh. Well, sometimes I sneak."

Exclamation Points

Aidyn: "Exclamation points mean loud."
Me: "Actually they mean excited and loud is sometimes a part of that."
Aidyn: "No!! They mean loud!! That guy in Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late was NOT excited. You dont even know what they mean and I do!!"

I thought this happened much later?

NBC

Aidyn LOVES Wheel of Fortune. It cracks me up. We haven't been able to watch it for about a month now since we got rid of our cable and switched to Netflix (not sure why they don't offer season 9,863 of Wheel of Fortune, but whatever), but it's obviously made a lasting impression on her.

Yesterday as she was reading the cereal box (!!) she saw the advertisement for "The Biggest Loser on NBC" and the little NBC symbol. She said, "Oh! Isn't that the channel where they spin the wheel and clap!?"

Yummy Temperature

Aidyn: "This dinner is so good! I know what temperature the oven must have been set on: yummy temperature!!"

AJ's First Post!!!

I was wondering how long it would be before I could do an AJ post since Aidyn was already using short sentences by the time she was his age, but the day has arrived!! And, I'm pleased to report, it was a nice and sweet thing he said!

AJ can say about 15 words: ball, hi, bye, daddy, mama, aidyn, abbey, all done, more, bites, cup, baby, and a couple others that I can't think of right now.

The other day he was sitting in his high chair and I was making him some lunch but Landon was having a meltdown and wanted to be held. right. now. As Landon screamed and I tried to hurry I heard AJ softly saying, "It's ok, baby. It's ok. It's ok, baby. It's ok."

Daddy Believed Me

We have reached the point where little Miss Aidyn has learned to lie. I am not sure when it started, but it's been a while now and has mostly revolved around playing in the water after using the bathroom. We have a rule that she can't play in the water without permission (enacted after she used an entire container of hand soap in just two days) which is clearly not her favorite rule since I was regularly finding Polly Pocket swimming in a rinsing cup bubble bath on the sink or multiple towels soaking wet on the floor and noticing that Aidyn had a tendency to be wet up to her shoulders after "just washing my hands!"

Recently we've been working on remodeling a large closet into a playroom for the kids and we needed to remove some old peeling paint before painting the door. The paint was coming off in long strips and, I admit, it was quite fun to peel it. However, for obvious reasons, that was an adult-only job and Aidyn was well aware of this rule.

One evening Donnie thought that more paint was peeled from the last time he had seen the door and asked Aidyn if she had been peeling the paint. She said she hadn't and Donnie just reminded her that she shouldn't be and that was that. The next morning I actually caught Aidyn in the act of peeling paint off the door and stopped her.

Me: "Aidyn! Daddy already told you not to be peeling that paint, honey. It's not a safe thing for kids to do. Were you peeling the paint last night when Daddy asked you? Did you lie?"

Aidyn: "Well, yes...but Daddy believed me!!"

Explain

Aidyn's newest phrase when she thinks she isn't being understood is, "Hmm...how can I explain this to you?" Wonder where she's heard that one! :-)

Junk Stuff

Riding past a cemetery with her Daddy: "Daddy, what is all that junk stuff over there?"

French, Too?

Aidyn is very interested in languages and always has been. Her Daddy speaks to her (and teaches her to speak) Afrikaans. Recently since she's been able to read she goes to the set-up menu of her DVDs all on her own and turns them on Spanish or French to watch the movie that way. And then she watches it as if nothing is strange or different!!

We found a school near our house that does a dual-language immersion program for Spanish and English and thought this may be a good way of keeping her with her peers but still providing her a challenge in school (for those of you who don't know, Aidyn's IQ testing is complete and she is definitely above average...the psychologist recommended keeping her with her age group, though). So, we sat with Aidyn and asked her opinion on school that will be 90% in Spanish this fall and she was very excited. Then she asked, "And when can I learn that French one too so I can watch Toy Story 3 in French!?"

Parent-Year-Old

Aidyn was telling me all about something that happened at church last week and it went something like this:

"Well, there was this boy who was like a 3-year-old and this girl who was like...um...well, like a parent-year-old and they..."

Happy Cry

I've mentioned before that Aidyn notices the difference between sad cry and happy cry (although I don't do much of either and she does a fair amount of both!) and the most recent was when we got her a piano for her birthday from Craigslist. As soon as we got it into the house she sat at the bench and lightly touched the keys and the top and then just sat quietly for a moment before crawling into my lap and saying, "Oh Mama!! This is the best present EVER! I think I am going to happy cry." And then she did :-)

Interview With Aidyn

It's that time of year again :-) I did this when she turned 3 and again last year when she was turning 4 and now I present Aidyn, Age 5 (well...in two weeks!!)

1. What is something mommy always says to you?
I love you. You're the best!

2. What makes mommy happy?
when I obey, when I be nice to you

3. What makes mommy sad?
If I broke your lamp (she said this last year, too...I have NO idea what this is about), when I disobey it makes you [gasp] so sad!, when I do something I'm not supposed to do, if I broke your bed it would make you so sad wouldn't it? Because where would you sleep? You'd have to sleep on the couch.

4. How does your mommy make you laugh?
when you tickle me, when you tell really funny jokes, and one really funny thing: when you stick your tongue out!!

5. What was your mommy like when she was a little girl?
Oh! I do not know that. Do you know? [motions with her hands that I was small] probably? I think you had brown hair just like you have now, um, and I think you had earrings in, is that right? And I think you had a sweater just like that, right?

6. How old is your mommy?
Hmmm...I don't know. (then later)30.

7. How tall is your mommy?
I think you are this tall [stands on a chair], right?

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
snuggle me and scratch my back, play with me, tell jokes with me and that's about it!

9. What does your mommy do when you're not around?
[stated very matter-of-factly] I don't know that because I'm not there. And you know that Mama.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
I don't know what that means. (after explaining the word 'famous') Oh, um, maybe because they just met you?

11. What is your mommy really good at?
Oh, I think you're very good at teaching and I think you're very good at making very good lunch and I think you're good at tucking me in and saying 'good night'

12. What is your mommy not very good at?
um...I don't think anything

13. What does your mommy do for her job?
makes kids well because you're a nurse, right? make babies and grown-ups well and that's it. (Then she says, "I'm prepared for one more question." When I tell her I have a few more she says, "Well, I'm only prepared for one more.")

14. What is your mommy's favorite food?
is it cereal? You don't know what it is?

15. What makes you proud of your mommy?
calming the baby down. I really don't think you're bad at anything because you're very good at everything. You're good at cooking and, um, I think teaching, I think good handwriting, and that's about it.

16. If your mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?
I think if there was a Mad Dog one you'd be the dog. Or if there was a ballerina cartoon I think you'd be one of those ballerinas. And I think Dad might have been the ballerina teacher. (after asked, "Why do you think Daddy would be the ballet teacher?" she replied, "Well, because they wouldn't know how to do it without a teacher!!")

17. What do you and your mommy do together?
go shopping of course and telling knock-knock and cross-the-road jokes. Here's one right now: Knock knock. (Who's there?) Knock knock. (Knock knock who?) Knock knock door!!!

18. How are you and your mommy the same?
Hmmm...[shrugs shoulders]...we both have earrings and, um, probably nothing else.

19. How are you and your mommy different?
I don't know. But, I'll give a guess. If you had glasses and I did not.

20. How do you know your mommy loves you?
Because you say it and you say it's true. You play with me.

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Oh my. Maybe I'll think about that. I think the museum and to Monkey Joe's

Cardboard Testimony Day

Recently we participated in the "Broken" series at our church by sharing our cardboard testimony as a family. (If you're interested, you can see the video here) It required Aidyn to stand quietly backstage for several minutes, stand quietly on stage for a few seconds, and then stand quietly offstage with us afterward. Needless to say, it made quite an impact on my chatterbox.

The next day I overheard this conversation:
Daddy: "Aidyn...you are getting so big."
Aidyn: "I know, Daddy!"
Daddy: "It seems to me like you were born just yesterday."
Aidyn: "Daddy!!! Yesterday was cardboard testimony day!!"

Whole World in His Hands

Aidyn: "Mom. Can you pick up our whole house?"
Me: "No, Sweetie. It's way too big."
Aidyn: "Yeah. I guess only God can pick up our house. Because He's got the whole world in His hands."

Make Her Happy

Stickers. Ugh. Aidyn loves them and I am forever finding them stuck to my socks or in other strange places. Most recently I found a purple sparkly happy face one on the glass of a picture frame that holds a photo of Aidyn with Kassie and two other friends at the zoo. I pointed out to Aidyn that we really shouldn't put stickers on pictures and she began to cry softly, saying, "I just wanted to make it that Kassie was happy." Yeah. My girl misses Kassie. And yeah. That sticker is totally still there.

Finally Arrived

One of my favorite things about Aidyn is her vocabulary usage. She is definitely not afraid to try new words she's learned, as in (while getting the mail): "Oh! My mouse has finally arrived."

What You've Been Trying to Say

I think/hope/pray to God that Aidyn's recent spell of tantrums is getting over with. (Although just today a simple request to stop slamming the metronome on the piano bench was met with a resounding: "WHY ARE YOU TELLING ME I CAN'T PRACTICE ANYMORE!!??")

Recently we've been working on sharing our feelings verbally and after a really good talk Aidyn shared with me her epiphany: "Ohhhhh!! I think I know what you've been trying to say!! If I don't be nasty then you will give me whatever I want!!"

Um. Not quite.

That Must Have Hurt

I have been watching the television show Lost starting from the beginning over the past few months. Fantastic show, by the way. Anyway, the show is pretty intense so I don't usually watch it with Aidyn awake or in the room. For some reason she happened to be there when one of the characters was handling some old, corroded dynamite. Thankfully she was playing under a laundry basket when he exploded, but a small voice piped up, "Well. That must have hurt."

I've Always Wanted One Of Those!

On Christmas morning as she opened her MP3 player:

Aidyn: "Oh! I've always wanted one of these!!!"

Me: "Know what it is?"

Aidyn: "Huh? No."

Weird Sound

As someone was vacuuming upstairs the other day: "What is that weird sound??" Nothing like reminding me once again that I need to clean more often!