Leg Sleeves

Very good question of the day: why aren't they called "leg sleeves"? Because this morning Aidyn's pajama pants kept riding up her legs and she was starting to get frustrated with them. She's finally growing out of something! Anyway, she said, "Mommy! My leg sleeves are getting messed up!"

You Have Your Own Neck

I love to play a game with Aidyn where I try to tickle her neck with lots of kisses. She loves it, too, and just giggles hysterically! While we were playing it this morning I said, "Give me your neck!" and she replied seriously, "No, Mommy. You have your own neck."

I Had a Good Christmas

This year was the first time that Aidyn really understood a little bit about Christmas. She's been looking forward to opening the presents that were piling up under the tree for a couple of weeks now and learned to say that "God's Son Jesus was born" whenever we asked what Christmas was all about.
She had a blast opening presents and was a big help to the rest of us, volunteering herself to open all of our presents too! She even helped Hailie open her gifts before she opened her own. She got a piano from Mamie, coloring books, a doctor's kit, a doll with snap-on clothes, a magna-doodle board, Winnie the Pooh's Adventures dvd, a Cabbage Patch doll, a fish tank, some clothes, and more to come at our family Christmas in California this year. As we put her to bed last night she said, "I had a good Christmas, Dad."

Chicks Doing the Cha-Cha

As a Christmas gift this year Aidyn received a play doctor's kit complete with stethescope, thermometer, and an otoscope for looking in ears. She was trying out her new toys by looking in everyone's ears and when she came to Nana she looked in and Nana asked, "What's in there?"
"Chicks doing the cha-cha," Aidyn announced. Where does she get this stuff?

Where is Jesus?

About a week ago Aidyn and I were having a discussion about obedience. Here's the transcript:

Mommy: "When you obey it makes Jesus happy."
Aidyn: "But, where is Jesus?" [a good question, really--all the other people we talk about she's seen and talked to and played with]
M: "Jesus is by us all the time. Wherever we are He's with us."
A: "Can he come over and have a party with us? That would be fun."
M: "Well, someday He'll come get us and we'll all go have a party with him." [ok, so it's simplified doctrine, but on the whole it's true!]
A: "Oh! Ok! But...where's God?" [wow--what a connection...I'm not sure how she's made the connection that Jesus and God are related but not the same]
M: "God is by us all the time, too."
A: "Why can't I see Him?"
M: "Because we have to see him with our hearts." [what do you say to that question?!]
A: "Oh. But I can see Him if I look out the window in your room."
M: "You can?" [surprised, of course...I should try looking out that window more often!]
A: "Yep. Let's play guys." [guys are her term for her Little People and all of their various buildings and vehicles]

Teaching Aidyn about Jesus and God is such a big responsibility and such a privilege. I am looking forward to having to give many more difficult answers as she grows in her knowledge and understanding. But really...what do you tell your preschooler when she asks such deep questions?!

Pokynokyo

Aidyn was enjoying those Disney books on tape the other night and was listening to the Pinocchio one. Later we asked her, "Which one were you listening to?"
She said, "Pokynokyo."

Shapers

Aidyn was playing play-doh yesterday and wanted to have the set of cookie cutters that Tracy's mom sent her. She couldn't remember what they were called, so she just improvised:
"Daddy, I need the shapers!"

Whobody?

Yesterday afternoon Aidyn and I were cuddling under a blanket on the couch. She noticed that there were some pink highlighter marks on the back of the quilt and she said, "Oh no! Mommy, look!"
I said, "Yeah, somebody colored on the blanket, huh?"
She answered back, "Whobody?"

I Think Mommy Did It

Yesterday afternoon I found a piece of junk mail floating in the downstairs toilet. I actually asked Donnie first if he'd actually dropped it in there (just to let you know that I started out giving Aidyn the benefit of the doubt!), but of course he hadn't. So we called Aidyn into the bathroom and asked her if she'd put the paper in the toilet. Initially she said she had, so Donnie had a little conversation with her about not putting things in the potty because that's yucky and it could block the toilet.
She responded with her first (to my knowledge) outright lie: "Um...but...I think Mommy did it."
The conversation quickly changed to a time out and a discussion about lying. I must admit though that during her time out Donnie and I were in the bathroom laughing as quietly as we could. How on earth do you keep a straight face through these things!?

Guess What!

Aidyn has started using a new phrase: "Guess what!?" What's funniest about it though is that she always uses it in the same little conversation no matter what else we had been talking about.

Aidyn: "Mommy! Guess what!?"
Me: "What, Baby?"
Aidyn: "I'm going to go at my school."
Me: "Oh yeah?"
Aidyn: "Yeah! And I'm going to learn my letters and a new clean-up song."

Never mind that she already knows her letters and at least two different clean-up songs! I hope she won't be too disappointed if we continue down the path toward homeschooling her. Although, I promise to teach her another clean-up song to sweeten the deal.

Cow Shoes

This morning we really didn't have much to eat for breakfast (I really need to go grocery shopping) so I was putting together a little plate of varied breakfast-adaptable foods for Aidyn. I put some raisins, some mandarin oranges from a can left over from Thanksgiving, a dinner roll with some butter and jam, and I was looking for some protein to add to the mix. I found a can of cashews and started putting a few on her plate. Just then she came into the kitchen and said, "What am I having for breakfast?"
I listed the buffet selection: "Raisins, oranges, bread with jam, and nuts."
"Oh! Nuts!?" she questioned. "Daddy calls those cow shoes."

Tinker All the Way

While coloring in a Disney Princess coloring book with Aidyn today she came across a Tinkerbell page. She looked at me and excitedly said, "Oh yeah!" Then began singing to the tune of a very familiar Christmas song: "Tinkerbells, Tinkerbells, Tinker all the way!"

Don't Blow My Head In

The other night I was reading the story of TheThree Little Pigs to Aidyn before bed. I always try to make the stories more interesting by getting into character, doing the voices, and creating appropriate sound effects. So when the Big Bad Wolf came to each of the little pigs' houses he would huff and I would really huff; he would puff, and I would do the puffiest puff I could do. And then when he would blow the house in, I would actually blow the house in with all my lung capacity. I like to view bedtime stories as a multisensory experience.
When the wolf got to the brick house, as he tried to huff and puff and huff and puff and blow it in, I actually blew on the back of Aidyn's head as she was sitting in my lap. Startled and with a worried look on her face, Aidyn turned to me and sternly said, "No, Daddy. Don't blow my head in."