What Daddy looks like

Daddy comes home tomorrow, and is frequently the topic of conversation when he is gone. The topic of Daddy comes up more often the longer he is gone, and the closer we get to his return home.

Tonight, Vivian said something about, "I don't know what Daddy looks like." She was in a joking mood. So I said something like, "You don't know what your own Daddy looks like?" Then she grinned and replied, "Yehhhs. . mama, I know what Daddy looks like. . . He has dry skin all over his face, and little fuzzy hairs on his head. And he wears a suit for a boy. And he has a skwachee beeyid."

The highlight of Sophie's day, which I found out at prayer time during the part when I ask, "And Sophie, what are you grateful for and what was your favorite part of the day?" was getting to sit "three seaters" on the bus with 2 of her friends. She also informed there is a bad kid Peter who used to ride bus 6, and now that she is on Bus 4, also rides Bus 4 with her. He has 2 spiders, one is "slightly blue" and he sings some spider song and then the song gets very quiet, and then he takes his spiders out and tries to put them on Sophie, which she doesn't like. But she is "lucky" because she rarely has to sit by Peter.

cooking for ourselves

The other day I was in the office and heard beep-beep-beep from the microwave. I went into the kitchen to find Viv on a stool, pushing buttons on the microwave. Upon opening the oven, I found a container of french fries she had taken out of the fridge, taken off the top, and placed inside the microwave.

Sophie has never ever shown any kind of initiative when it comes to preparing her own food. I was shocked. Viv is 3.5 years old.

A couple mornings before the microwave incident, she got hold of a jar of unopened Maraschino cherries. She came into the office with a fistful of dripping cherries. The cherries are now kept in the back of the fridge on a high shelf.

Did I mention we had to get rid of the Kids' Crest toothpaste b/c she was squirting it into her mouth b/c it tastes so good?

waiting for daddy

Daddy has been gone for a week. Vivian asks me daily when he's coming home and I tell her how many more nights have to pass until he's coming back.
She asked yesterday morning, and I said, only one more sleep. When you wake up, he'll be home.

She disappeared for a while, and things were quiet, so I was wondering where she was. Then I heard a small voice calling "Daddy! Daddy. . .." I asked her where she was and she said she was in bed. I assumed she wanted to take a nap. I asked her if she needed me, and she said, "No, I'm calling Daddy."

Later, she came down and asked me where Daddy was. I told her he will be home tomorrow.
She looked very troubled and said, "But Mommy! You said he would be here after I wake up. I went and laid down in my bed, but he's not here yet. I want Daddy."

I forget how literal their precious little minds are.

Barbie's heart

This morning at breakfast, Sophie gave Barbie a bite of her oatmeal.
Vivian: "Let me feel her heart."
Sophie: "It's beating!"
Vivian: "That means she's alive."

Halloween is coming

Both girls can not WAIT for Halloween. Vivian has changed her costume from "Opera Ghost" (phantom of the opera) to a Senorita. She is a real sucker for anything red and satin. Her dress looks like something off of Dancing with the Stars. It has sequins too.

Today she proclaimed it was almost time for Halloween b/c "the leaves are fowling. That means it's almost time foh Hallowein".

The other thing she says that is too cute is the cat's name. She calls him Mee-owli. Real name: Mei Li (pronounced May Lee) named after the lead in Flower Drum Song (of course!)

Sophie has chosen to be Minnie Mouse. On Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Sophie is Minnie and Vivian is Daisy (since Daisy wears a purple bow). On Flintstones, Sophie is Wilma and Vivian is Betty. On the Jetsons, they fight about who is Judy and Elroy, but usually Viv is Elroy. They spend a lot of time pretending to be these other characters these days. And they are in love with Josie and the Pussycats.

They're also singing a lot of Michael Jackson these days. Next music lesson: the country genre.

Swim Class

The other day at swim class, I could see Vivian being fidgety. She was making faces at the other kids, couldn't keep her hands to herself, etc. At the end of the lesson, it was time for them to jump off the bulkhead to the teacher and then do backfloat to the wall.

Vivian leapt into the pool without the swim instructor telling her to do so. He was not ready for her, nor was he looking, and she slammed into his face. His glasses knocked off, bit into the bridge of his nose where they gave him a little gash and he yelled out the f word! It had to have hurt. I was furious.

My children are polar opposites.

Positive Thoughts

Further proof as to what sort of thoughtful child Sophie is:

When I picked her up from her Sunday School class after church today, the teacher came up to me and said, "Your daughter is really something else. She started making a bunch of dots on her drawing and said, 'These are all my positive thoughts.' Then she also drew a picture of herself and said, 'Here is my 3rd eye.' "

They went to Vacation Bible School last week, and they got a CD from it that's actually quite good. The music is reminiscent of Lion King. One song on there talks about the "devil". So they asked me what the "devil" was. I told them the "devil" is negative thoughts in your mind. Perhaps that is why she's thinking of positive thoughts.

furracious and earrings

Today in the van, I heard this:

"Are you furracious? Vivian, do you know what furracious means? It means you are REALLY hungry. Were you furracious?"

Also, on Saturday, yesterday, Vivian got her ears pierced!
All of us were at the mall - Mommy, Daddy, and both girls.
We were finished running errands and I always offer them anything they want in the candy store if they will get their ears pierced.
Viv agreed! I was thrilled, but still very cautious she would reneg on it.

We went to Piercing Pagoda in Fair Oaks Mall. As I signed the agreement and Vivian chose the earrings - she got the aquamarine studs (same color as her Ariel costume), Sophie and Daddy tried to distract themselves at the shoe store that was right across from the kiosk. Poor Sophie was so very nervous. She was beside herself with anxiety! She didn't want to look or watch and the closer Viv got to the kiosk, the more worried and anxious she became. She was terrified for her sister!

I asked Viv if she'd like to sit on Mommy's or Daddy's lap and she wanted Daddy.

When they were all ready for her, Daddy and Viv walked over to the chair, and Vivian began to back out.

It was already paid for, so there was no turning back - once they take the earrings out of the sterile wrappers, etc. they must be used.

We went back to the chairs at the shoe store and regrouped. I explained to Daddy, in front of the girls, that we had paid for it already. She had just wasted money. Daddy asked how much, and I said $40. He gave her a very very stern look. Then she said, "OK, let's try."
It was amazing. Just one look from Daddy and she was totally reasonable!

I gave her a lollipop out of my purse to eat while they were doing the piercing. She was totally cool with it - they drew a happy face on her hand to show her how they were marking her ear. She was totally calm on my lap the whole time. I distracted her as they quietly counted between themselves and BAM! The big cry let out. She was traumatized.

As her wails of sorrow reverberated through the mall, her dad and Sophie were absolutely miserable. You would have thought they were watching her be "tortured" or something. Daddy was crying, Sophie was burying her head in Daddy's lap and side. After about a minute, with the promise of the candy store, everything was forgotten. I think it was hardest on Daddy than anyone.

She now looks BEAUTIFUL and shows her new earrings to anyone with eyes to see. She is so proud of herself and often says, "I was BRAVE Mommy!"

Stuff they say

We were driving to the Museum of American History at the Smithsonian today. On Constitution Ave. we stopped at a light and were directly in front of the White House. I pointed it out to the girls, "That's where the President, Barack Obama lives."
Vivian asked, "Can we go to his house?"
Sophie answered, "I'm afraid we can't just go to people's houses unless we're invited. It's not polite."

At the museum, Viv was most impressed with the Dumbo cart from the ride at Disneyland and they both wanted to see the ruby red slippers. We also saw the Abe Lincoln exhibit and Viv was most impressed with Mary Lincoln's purple velvet dress. I told Sophie the story of slavery today for the first time.

Viv still says "Fahlahs" for flowers.

Speaking of flowers, they are most excited for John and Stacy's wedding. They have invited themselves to be flower girls and can't wait. They ask me every day if today they can go to the wedding "This instant!"

The other morning, they were playing "wedding". Sophie was the groom since she's taller, and Vivian orders her to wear "boy" clothes (a shirt and pants). Viv puts on a white wedding dress up gown. They get fahlahs from one of my fake arrangements and put the giant teddy bear on a chair to be their minister. I had no idea they knew so much about weddings.

taking it too far?

I found a pink binky in a purse I hadn't used since last season. . . Viv got a hold of it, and likes to pretend she is a baby. She calls Sophie "mommy" and when she calls for her, I get very confused and have to ask,
"Do you need real Mommy or Sophie Mommy?"
She replies, "Sophie Mommy."

Anyhow, today she came out of her room wearing her pink/blue cap from the hospital!!! And also her binky was stuck in her mouth. . . hopefully Sophie won't start breastfeeding..

anada stay fag

Whenever Vivian sees our flag, she points and gets very excited and yells out:
"Anada Stay Fag! Mommy, I see ahw fag!"

Her little voice is so precious and she talks so well, but it is still cute how she can't quite pronounce everything perfectly.

One thing I love that Sophie still says is "Juck" for "just". Each time I hear her say it, I breathe a sigh of relief b/c it assures me she is still my young child. The more clearly they pronounce words, the more they are growing. I dread the day when they won't need me anymore.

Right now, since it is the beginning of spring, they are yelling and pointing each time they see daffodils sprouting up. They go crazy spotting bulbs that are pushing up and go wild when they see the flowers actually blooming.

This evening, Sophie said to me, as I was doing her hair at the bathroom counter:
"Mommy, I think you look beautiful. Even if you aren't wearing a pretty dress, you still look beautiful to me."

When they try on my rings, they say, "Look at me. I look like a MOMMY."

I recently bought them some very fancy Easter dresses at a consignment sale. You would have thought they had won the lotto. They were pleased as punch to strut around in these satin dresses. At $10 for one, and $7 for the second, it was the deal of the century. Oh yeah, I also got them each a pair of $2 white sandals to go with. Sophie said, "Well, now, I've juck got to put on these precious little sandals to match this lovely dress! These little fancy shoes will go perfectly with my fancy dress!"

Whenever Vivian puts on her Ariel costume, she demands that I put her hair down, b/c Ariel always wears HER hair down.

Speaking of costumes, we were at the mall today and they had a kiosk that sold flowy skirts and what looked like belly dancing jewelry. When we got home, Vivian demanded to watch "Shimmy" the belly dance show on TiVo, and begged me to get her a purple belly dance skirt at the bank. By bank, she means mall. This was after demanding to watch Dancing with the Stars in which she revels in watching the costumes.

Car Seat Milestone

This week, Sophie began buckling her carseat completely. And for the first time today, she undid the straps, even the bottom clicking part. This is a little sad for me as a mommy. I have seen kids in other cars getting themselves out of carseats and wondered if they had not been adequately strapped in? I did not know at what age kids can buckle/unbuckle themselves.

Vivian has been able to do the top clicking part of her car seat strap for a while now, but hopefully she will still need me for a couple of years to do the bottom.

When I say, "You don't need your mommy anymore!" Sophie says, Yes, I do Mommy. I still need you to cook for me!

Sick

Poor Sophie's eyes are red and bloodshot and watery. She has had fever since Wed am (it's now Thurs night) although it was only 100.5 right now as she went down for bed. Viv's fever lasted from Tues - Fri night and woke up Sat am with no more fever.
Sophie has been home from school Wed and Thurs (today). I won't send her with fever. She did not nap today like she did yesterday so hopefully she's on the mend, but she did get 4 shots on Tuesday - Dtap, Polio, MMR, Flu and Hep I believe. There is no way to know if the fever is from the shot cocktail or maybe she got what Viv had.

We all went to Viv's music class today and they had a great time.

curious

On the way home from gymnastics today, we were talking about the 3 black baby lambs we had seen at the farm the other weekend. They were hopping around. Then I asked why they were hopping. Sophie said it was because they were curious.
I said, "Are you curious?"
Vivian said, "No."
I said, "I think you are. What does curious mean?"
Sophie paused, then thoughtfully said, "Curious means you just can't stop thinking of the things you want to learn."

BOYS!!!

Yesterday it was official. Sophie has her first crush!
She woke up in the morning and said to me, "Mommy, I think I like Ben in my class."
So I said something like, Well, of course you like him. He is your friend. Everyone in your class is nice." But she had this look on her face, like that wasn't quite it.
So I ventured, "Do you mean you like Ben the way Ariel likes Prince Eric?" And she said yes!
She was all sheepish and funny about it. It was SO CUTE.
Also, she would rather not tell Daddy - it will just be between us "girls".

Excuse me

Vivian told me a few minutes ago that she'd give me some privacy and left the office, and asked if she'd like me to shut the door.
She just opened the door, and said, "Excuse me, I'm not a banana."

OK.