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."

I Am A VERY Good Big Sister

This week we welcomed our first foster care placement into our home. Hailie Rose is 7 weeks old and is a really wonderful baby. We didn't get too much preparation time for Aidyn, that being the nature of foster care, but we were fortunate to have three days to prepare her for having a new baby in the house.
We picked Hailie up on Monday and right from the beginning Aidyn has been very helpful (sometimes too helpful, but what can you do?!) We have provided lots of encouragement to Aidyn about being a good big sister and she has really taken that to heart. I was a little worried about her being jealous when I need to hold Hailie but she has surprised me with very frequent, "Mommy, Hailie needs you to hold her."
Her favorite new saying, though, is: "I am a VERY good big sister!" And she's right!

Happy Thanksgiving

While learning about Thanksgiving and thankfulness this week (in the bathtub of all places--it's amazing what you can teach your toddler while she's soaking in the tub!) Aidyn melted my heart.
We were not far into the discussion, so I was surprised and delighted at her answer to my question: "Aidyn, what are you thankful for?"
"I am thankful for my Mommy and my Daddy."

Sometimes They Fall Off Ladders

Aidyn is starting to understand the concept that Mommy is at work while she's sleeping at night. I work in a busy ER and I spare her the gory details, but she knows that when I go to work I'm helping people who are sick.
Yesterday morning I woke her up and was getting her dressed and she noticed that I was wearing my work clothes. "Did you go to work?" she asked.
"Yep," was all I said.
"And you were helping people who were sick?" she questioned further.
"Yep."
"And sometimes they fall off ladders and you help them?" she asked.
I suppose it could happen so what could I say but, "Yep!"