The "pink one" birthday

Several weeks before Helen's birthday I asked her what she would like for her birthday.

"A pink one," she said.
 
"A pink present? I think I can do that."

"No, Mommy! A PINK one!" she repeated. Obviously, I was missing something.

It took us several days and Daddy's interpretive ear to figure out that she was asking for a penguin. A big pink penguin, to be exact. I'm thankful she didn't expect a real penguin. I'm also thankful for Kevin's mad Google search skills. You can find anything on the internet, pink penguins included.

She saw a Rapunzel doll at Target like this one and started asking for it, too. Three times yesterday I saw her holding Rapunzel's hands, staring into her eyes and saying, "Rapunzel. I wuv you so much."

And a see saw! They have enjoyed this thing so much!

It was a really great third birthday celebration!

Funny valentine

Helen is such a funny kid. Sometimes I get the giggles over her antics or silly faces. Then she usually gets giggly too, which leads to a huge giggle fit for the both of us. She is constantly entertaining us - saying funny things, making up silly songs, telling crazy stories. Helen is one fun girl.

She wants to know if birds need towels after they take baths in puddles. Her bedtime prayers are filled with thanksgiving for God, Jesus, Meh-wee (Mary), fami-wee, and doughnuts. Mommy's car is in danger of being caught by a giant crocodile. We throw snowballs at him to chase him off.

Helen made a Valentine for us at school. Other parents probably got "Mommy and Daddy" or "Sister" written on theirs. We got "Cinderella." The look completes it. I laughed and laughed.

There is nothing predictable about Helen. It's frustrating at times. But I'm learning to embrace her quirkiness and give her sweet little spirit room to shine.

Pinkle, Pinkle

It's so cute that I kind of hope she never learns the real words.

Petting zoo

The petting zoo is at Helen's school/MDO today. I asked her what animals she'd like to pet.

"Giraffes and a dinosaur!" she answered.

Such an imagination! What animal would you like to pet at the petting zoo?

Swing

Someone thinks the baby swing isn't just for babies.

I said, "Helen, you are too big for the baby swing!" She replied, "I not too big, Mommy. I fit!" And then she showed me that she does indeed fit into the swing. And the bouncy seat.

Just a little off the top

One of Caroline's favorite activities is cutting shapes out of paper.  She's really good at it.  And she's very safe with scissors, so I don't hover over her.

(Anyone see where this is going yet?)

Last Friday, I was walking through the dining room and picked up a lock of hair on the floor.  I thought it was strange, but didn't worry too much about it because we had just been to get Caroline's hair trimmed that morning.  I figured some hair had gotten stuck to the bottom of her shoe.  It was a good two inches long and Caroline had maybe an inch trimmed off.

Later that afternoon we were playing on the floor.  I looked up at Caroline and saw some hair around her face that was quite a bit shorter than the rest of her hair.  I immediately started giggling because I had solved the mystery.

Me:  Caroline, did you cut your hair?
Caroline: No.
Me: Caroline, I'm not mad at you and you are not in trouble.  Did you cut your hair?
Caroline: No.
Me: Caroline, I'm not mad at you and you are not in trouble.  Did you cut your hair?
Caroline: No.
Me: Caroline, I'm not mad at you and you are not in trouble.  Did you cut your hair?
Caroline: No.
Me: Caroline, I'm not mad at you and you are not in trouble.  Did you cut your hair?
Caroline: No.
Me: Caroline, I'm not mad at you and you are not in trouble.  Did you cut your hair?
Caroline: No.

I must have asked her 50 times.  She finally told me "it was an accident."  Sure.  
An "accident."

I found the whole situation (except for the lying part) really funny.  I giggle every time I think about her sitting in her chair, wondering what it would be like to cut some hair, and then doing it.  For such a straight-laced, obedient little girl, this was a real act of rebellion!  It could have been much worse.  She didn't go crazy with her scissors (thank God).  I always fix her hair so you can't tell.  You can hardly even see it if it's not fixed either.

Is it too much to hope for that all her rebellions will be this minor and easily handled?

(We dealt with the lying thing by taking the Proverbs 12:22 and then Colossians 1:14 stance. It was a good reminder for me, too.)

Funnies

They've been doing a little bit of social studies in preschool - talking about presidents and the White House. Kevin was giving Caroline a pop quiz one evening.

Daddy: Who was our first president, Caroline?

Caroline: George Washington!

Daddy: Good. Where does the president live?

Caroline: The White House!

Daddy: Alright! Now, who is our president right now?

Caroline: Um....?

Daddy: Barack...

Caroline: -TOBER!

And this little conversation happened in the car on the way home from dinner out one night.

Caroline: Are we going home now? I don't want to go home. I want to go somewhere fun.

Mommy: Where do you want to go?

Caroline: Um... How about IKEA!

That's my girl!

Funny girl

We saw a commercial for the Olympics and I got excited, telling Caroline all the things we'd be able to watch on TV.

Me: People will be ice skating and skiing and sledding!

Caroline: Yeah, and probably making snow angels, too!


At dinner one night, Caroline was telling Daddy about her day. One of the things she told him about was lunch. She said, "Mommy fixed me peanut butter and jelly for lunch. But I didn't want peanut butter and jelly. So I ate it sadly. Like this." She then makes the most mournful, depressed face I've ever seen. Similar to this one:

Christmas at our house

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Get your own

We waited until we returned home to do our family Christmas. Our third celebration was a very sweet time. Caroline was so appreciative of all her gifts and was so excited to see others open theirs. It's really fun and special to see her "get" Christmas. We all got some very nice things from each other: a new baby doll for Helen, bird-watching gear for Caroline, a Dremel tool for Daddy, an enameled cast iron skillet for Mommy (to name a few).

This week Caroline has been out of her regular activities, so I took the girls to the Newport Aquarium to see "Scuba Santa." It was kind of silly, but worth it to see my three-year-old's delight. Caroline has been asking us what Santa is doing now that Christmas is over and we've been telling her that he's probably sleeping. When she saw Santa scuba diving, she said, "SEE! I knew he wasn't sleeping!" Then she asked me, "Why is Santa scuba diving?" I told her he is on vacation and people sometimes scuba on their vacations.

Playing Mommy

Caroline's best friend at school is Sydney. She tells me every day that her favorite part of school was playing with Sydney. They play "Mommy" many days. Kevin probed her a bit tonight at the dinner table to find out exactly what playing Mommy means.

Daddy: So, Caroline, how do you and Sydney play Mommy?

Caroline: Well...usually Sydney is the Mommy.

Daddy: And are you a Mommy, too?

Caroline: No, I'm the Honey!

It was all I could do not to die with laughter at the dinner table!