Breeisms

Yes, it's that time again... This time, some of my favorite one-liners from the past few weeks and the stories behind them.

• "Mom, am I gonna get another brother? I really want 2!" - To which I answered, "Well, you're gonna have to ask Daddy about that one." Because how do you explain your reproductive decisions about how many children you want spaced how far apart and why to a 3 year old? Although, later, when I asked Bree to repeat her statement to her daddy, she did and then added, "Actually I just want Noah anyways."
  

• "Hey Mom, can we go over to Dave's house?" This after my parent's Easter visit. See, they rented a condo just down the road from our house. During their stay, we were back and forth between the two places and one time, when we took Bree to the condo she said, "Who's house is this?" Whereupon my mom tried to explain that they were borrowing it from a guy named Dave. Ever since then Bree talks about Dave like she knows him personally.
  

• "Mom, Mom! You want to know about my dream from last night! It was a terrible dream about...." is how I start my day off just about every morning. I think Brianna must have seen something on TV about someone having a bad dream because she seems to think that's the only kind of dream one can have. Thus, every morning she bounds into her groggy parents' room and launches immediately into a very long, drawn out, and very imaginative description of her "bad dream." It's different every morning. One time a mean horse was trying to take her away from her house on it's back. Finally the other day I said, "You do know you can have nice dreams too don't you?" She just stared at me like I was crazy.
  

• "I guess I'm not perfect am I Mom?" she asked me after first observing. "I made my room a big mess!" I answered her "Nope. No one is perfect. We just do our best." "Yeah" she said. This came directly from a Laurie Berkner song we listen to, which I think, is a good message for kids to know, that no one is perfect but just try your best. I think I'm making it my new personal theme song of my life, "I'm not perfect but I hope you still like me a lot. I'm not perfect, but I've got what I've got. And I do my very best each day!" So, if you're not perfect either, this song's for you! I'm not perfect
  

Baby Documentary

Shhh...here we are, attempting to sneak up on a wild baby in his "natural habitat"...

There he is, peeking at us, quite alertly.

He looks sweet and innocent enough, but approach with caution! Babies of this species have been known to fly into sudden bouts of loud crying, waving of the arms, kicking like crazy and generally making a very disturbing fuss, especially if their feeding schedule isn't kept up properly.

This one, however, seems to have recently fed as you can tell by the messy face. Babies seem to prefer to be messy and are quite often soiled in one area or another since the minute you clean one spot, another is immediately getting dirty. Plus, this individual specimen particularly resents having his face wiped off so cleansing should only be attempted with the proper tools on hand and when prepared for full baby fury.

Here he is demonstrating classic "wakitus after nappus" behavior. Which, just based on the shape of the open mouth, can sometimes be hard to distinguish in pictures from "screamialis off faceus," although the difference is quite apparent in person.

Although, he seems to be in a calm state right now, so we'll try to get a little closer. Careful, just ease up a little at a time, the bars are there for your protection really.

This specimen seems especially calm and good-natured.

And look, we've tamed the beast! It takes some time and a lot of effort, but establishing a rapport with one of these is really worth it in the end.

Easter Fun

My sister Melissa's birthday is right around Easter. (Well, usually. It would be except for the fact that Easter came freakishly early this year.) Somehow it's worked out that Missy's been with us every Easter since Brianna was born. So, it's kind of a thing, that Auntie Missy wants to be with her niece and now, her new nephew, for Easter. And it's become a little family tradition that my side spends Easter at my house. This year we had my parents, Uncle Doug, Auntie Em and Carl, and of course, Auntie Missy as well. (Actually I think this was the first time in over a year all four of us siblings have been together in one room and the first opportunity Doug's had to meet Noah.) It was a fun weekend!

On Saturday, the boys all decided they wanted to have an adventure so they headed out to hike up to the top of Blodgett Canyon Overlook. In the summer, it's around a 3 mile hike round trip. Of course, in the winter when the road is snowed in, and the snow is waist deep in some areas, it's a different story.

Here they are, off on their grand hike. And yes, that's Carl wearing shorts to hike in the snow. The girls meanwhile, being NOT insane and not thinking that freezing our buns off on a long hike sounds fun, stayed at home. We were warm and cozy and had fun dying our Easter eggs and playing with the kids. But, we don't have any pictures of that since 1- we were too busy doing things to stop and take pictures of them and 2- the boys had all the cameras with them. Anyways...


Hiking up a mountain in the snow in shorts wasn't quite adventure enough for Carl it seems though. So here he is doing a flip while jumping off a rock. Hey, why not right? It was a great opportunity for the shutter bugs (Trav and my dad) to get some action shots.

Here's the view from the top. Seeing how beautiful and still it is up there is almost enough to make me want to make the trek up there. Almost, but not quite!

All hail the kings of the mountain!

Boys!

Having gotten to dye our eggs and the boys having their big adventure on Saturday, Sunday we spent doing the traditional Easter activities: Easter service, big old lunch, everyone passing out and taking naps in uncomfortable positions in the living room after the big lunch...

Noah had the best spot in the house for nap time, snuggled up with Auntie Missy in the rocking chair. Of course, everyone wanted to hold him and with eight adoring adults he was pampered, snuggled, passed around, and basically spoiled to within an inch of his life.

Then it was time for the Easter egg hunt. Both kids had a wonderful time finding eggs. Every time Bree would find one she'd gasp, point, laugh and say, "Another one! I found one!" And we all had a fun time teasing her that pink, green, purple, orange, and other rainbow colored bunnies must have hopped around the yard and left them there. Even Noah got in on the hunt, having a little help "finding" a few eggs. (Uncle Doug holding him within reach of one and Noah managing to pick it up himself.) He had a great time, his eyes were all sparkly, staring at brightly colored eggs, one clutched tightly in each little hand.

Once again though, we were so busy actually hiding and then hunting our eggs, we didn't manage to snap any photos to show you. (But we did get it with the camcorder...gotta pick one one form of memory making or the other.) Although, we got some shots of the kids all dressed up in their Easter finery.

Uncle Doug helping Noah show off his handsome outfit.

Posing with Doug, Bree and Noah are all smiles for Grammy acting silly in the background.


Finally got Bree to sit down long enough to get a picture of her pretty Easter dress. But it was touch and go to even get her to hold still for these few shots.

As usual, it was a bit of a circus to try and get a good shot of both kids and to try and get them both smiling and looking towards the camera. But, these were my best shots.

And one last close up of my happy Easter babies.

Hope you had a Happy Easter!

The Secret Lives of Stay at Home Moms

...or at least, what my husband thinks anyways. Actually, these are a couple of commercials that get a big laugh at my house. Humorous because they're true...





Travis says he thinks it's funny because when guys want to get together and talk, that's what they say, "We're gonna get together and hang out." But, when women want to have a good chat they do things like "have a play date for the kids" or join a "book club." He's convinced that no matter what the event or activity is actually called, it's all really the same thing. The real purpose is just to connect, hang out, and chat up a storm, so why not call it what it is, he says. And, I have to say, there is truth in that. At least for me. I'm part of a mom's group and I admit that "play dates" are more for mom's sanity than the kids' and that I've gone to more than one "book club" meeting and never cracked the cover knowing darn well that I probably wouldn't get caught, since the book might be the one topic that didn't get covered that night.

Little Miss Questions

Questions, questions, questions...that's all I seem to get around here with a curious 3 year old on my hands. Here's some of my favorites from the last couple weeks:


When I'm 4 will I get married?

Yes, we're still quite taken with the whole marriage idea. My response was "No. Remember, getting married is for grown ups. And besides, who do you want to marry?" "Dr. Travis! (Dad). Or maybe Noah when he grows up. But he has to get older first." And another time her answer to that was, "Maybe I'll just marry myself!"

Why do people have noses?

"So they can breathe air through them." I answered her. Then I demonstrated. This answer seemed to go over pretty well and was accepted quietly.

Why is it foam rubber?

Okay, this one I got asked one day while we were making a craft project together. (One of Bree's all time favorite things. "Let's do a project!" she's always saying.) Anyways, we were making little feet and beaks to glue onto yellow pompoms to make baby chicks. She said, "Mom, is this paper?" "No, it's foam rubber." I answered. "Why is it foam rubber?" Uh...."Because it's different than paper." "But Mom, why is it foam rubber?" "Because that's what it is." "Why is it foam rubber?" "I don't know! It just is okay?!"

What today is it?

By which she means, what day is it today. So then I answer, "Tuesday," or "Friday," or whatever day it happens to be. To which she always asks "Where are we going today?" Always hoping it's something fun, like music class. Some days I have to say, "Nowhere today. Just hanging out at home and cleaning up." "But MOM! I want to go somewhere!"

Can I have some pop?

Because I let her sip on one when she had a tummy ache. My mom always gave me a coke when I had tummy trouble and I found it very soothing. But, now the kid just wants to drink pop for the fun of it. When I say no she'll even go so far as to say, "But my stomach hurts! I need some!"

What do I get in my Easter Basket?

Because Bree has figured out that you get a basket of goodies for Easter and has decided to milk it for all it's worth and actually has a list of things she expects to see in the basket. "Do you know what I want in my Easter basket? First thing is a medium squirt gun. Also in my Easter basket I want one of those dolls like on TV. And you know what else in my Easter basket?....." It's enough to give the Easter bunny a headache!

Sick-O

We've been sick at our house these past few days, caught the stomach crud that's been going around here. Brianna got it first and it was an experience for her because, this is the first time that she can remember ever throwing up...and it was a good one too. Of course, she didn't do it at our house, oh no, waited all morning until we went to play with Olivia at my friend Karen's house. I was actually walking along behind her and so I didn't even know what was going on at first, but Bree walks right in the front door and before anyone could even say hi there she was, sick as a dog. (Poor kid. I should have known when she seemed a little pale and listless that morning. But she was very insistent she wanted to go play with Livvy, and I thought she just needed to perk up.)

That was it, we arrived, puked, changed Bree's clothes and went right back home again...it was a very short visit indeed. Kids are weird though. It didn't seem to bother Brianna at all. She actually started skipping down the hall to go play in Olivia's room. I said, "Come on, we have to go baby, you're sick and you need to rest at home. We don't want to share your germs." She said, "I'm not sick, I just burped up a little bit." And she was getting mad at me that I insisted we leave.

Funny thing is, that was it. After that Brianna did more pale and listless but didn't get sick anymore. She gave it to her dad instead and he's had the joy of a guest microbe in his system for the past few days now. In the meantime Bree has started feeling better, good enough to want to nurse her daddy back to health. She's been very sweet telling me, "Dr. Travis isn't feeling very well. We need to be quiet so he can rest!" Later she asked for some paper and crayons and told me, "I'm making Dr. Travis a get well card...because he's sick and doesn't feel good." (Actually, it seems Bree has a knack for the health care thing. You can see more of her doctoring in action here.)

So far, neither myself or Noah has been afflicted with this bug, and I'm hoping we escape without having to experience that particular joy. Because Mom's can't get sick, I'd just have to keep on going right through it all, miserable or not, and nothing is worse that a pukey little baby. Cross your fingers! But then, I guess if we do get it, Nurse Bree will be here to make us get well cards at least!

Some of Bree's "cards" for her daddy. Up top is her outlining her hand, and then a stick man. On the bottom, a bunch of T's, for Travis, all cut out of course since she loves to chop stuff up with the scissors.

Noahlogy

• Army crawl - Noah has taken a step up from his usual mode of transportation, rolling everywhere, and has begun to army crawl all around the house. Well, I guess you could call it that, although technically it's more like a propel your body forward with your legs while pushing your face across the ground type maneuver. But it's getting closer to crawling, although he doesn't seem to be showing much interest in actually getting up on his hands and knees yet.
  

• Dinner and a show - I'm a very firm believer in nursing. My goal with each of the kids has been to nurse at least a full year. Bree nursed until she was 16 months and so far things are going well well with Noah. There's lots of reasons why nursing has been a good choice for me, it's a healthy food source for baby, it's an economical way to go, it provides built in bonding and snuggle time, and even helps Mom drop the baby weight, etc. Those are all the pros. But there are cons as well. Especially once your little one starts getting a little older and more aware of their surroundings. When they're young it's all business, nurse because you're hungry and keep going until you're full. But at Noah's current age it's a much more leisurely affair, with him stopping quite often to crane his neck and look around. Which, I gotta tell you, makes it pretty difficult to nurse discreetly, esp. in public places. When he's not peeking around the room then he's trying to play his new favorite game, stick your fingers in Mom's mouth. My usual response to this is to flash him my teeth and pretend like I'm going to chew on his fingers, which inevitably gets a giggle. Over the past few days Noah's also decided to do a "study" of the source of his milk. He'll suddenly stop nursing, pull his head back to take a look and practically go cross-eyed. Then he'll start poking at me and usually he'll start laughing, as if to say, "Seriously, THIS is where milk comes from? How weird!" And you have to admit, I mean, while it's perfectly natural and normal and all this, it's still kind of weird. As Murphy Brown said, the ability to produce food for another human being "is like discovering one day that you can get bacon out of your elbow!" :) (And I'm not even going to get into how fun nursing gets once the kid starts to sprout teeth!)

• Still not sleeping through the night - And I really need to start getting longer stretches of sleep at night or I might be in danger of having a psychotic break. At 8 months old now, Noah's officially old enough that he really should be able to make it through a whole night without NEEDING to eat, but try convincing him of that. If anything he's been waking up more often lately, although I'm pretty sure that has a lot to do with teething. Bree was about this same age when I finally decided she would sleep through the night come hell or high water, and I'm about to that point with Noah as well.

• Mr. Mischievous - I guess it's official, because there have been several instances of it, that Noah is now old enough to act the rogue. The last episode happened when, as happens so often lately, I noticed him gumming happily on something I was pretty sure he shouldn't be. As I walked up to him I said "Noah! What've you got in your mouth?!" His response? To shove whatever it was farther in his mouth as fast as he could!
  

Little Mommy

It didn't take Bree long, once she got a baby brother, to slip quickly and easily into being a second little mother to him. It's a pretty big help because she does really watch out for him, especially now that he's mobile enough to start finding those inevitable things that he shouldn't be putting in his mouth. Sometimes before I can get to him, Bree will notice he's managed to get something he shouldn't and march over there saying, "Noah! Give me that! You don't put that in your mouth!" Then she snatches it away from him. In fact, this is a responsibility she enjoys perhaps a bit too much since she ends up sometimes snatching anything he picks up away from him, even his own toys! :) Actually though, she plays really well with him, even asking if he can play in her room sometimes and incorporating him into her pretend scenarios and everything. So I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later that she'd combine the two categories and turn him into her own living dolly.

She put this bib on him and exclaimed "Now he's a girl!" (As you recall, she did ask for a sister when she found out she was getting a sibling.) And then she proceeded to start "feeding" him. (Something she begs me to let her do when Noah eats his baby food but I've been reluctant to let her try thus far.)

And Noah obligingly sat and ate imaginary food off her play fork.

He didn't really seem to mind eating pretend food, or even wearing a pink bib and "being a girl" either. (Perhaps because he was wearing a manly camo outfit underneath.)

It's funny to me to watch them play like this.

Besides making sure he doesn't eat pieces of paper and turning him into her personal dolly, Bree mothers him in other ways too. When he cries she'll often suggest, "I think this crabby baby needs a nap!" And then, on the other side of nap time she eagerly awaits for him to wake up and will come running up to me, "Noah's awake! I saw his eyes staring at me!" (Which is sometimes because she's opened the door to his room and woken him up herself.) She's also usually listening very carefully to what Mom, or other adults around her, are saying, soaking it all in and then repeating most of it, trying to appear grown up. Especially in regards to Noah, or mothering Noah. In this last category she made me laugh out loud the other day...

I have a book called "What to Expect: The First Year" that's all about what your baby will be doing each month, what milestones you can expect them to be meeting at what ages and etc. One of the "achievements" listed that the baby should be able to do by 5 months is, and I quote "pay attention to a raisin or other very small object." Now, I think they mean to say that the baby shows interest in small objects but the way they've phrased it is just pretty ridiculous. It's so ludicrous that my mom and I laugh and joke about it quite often. Mom will call me up just to say, "Is Noah paying attention to raisins yet? We don't want him to fall behind developmentally." And then we'll both laugh our fool heads off about it. This conversation repeated itself in person during my mom's recent visit here and apparently didn't go by Bree unnoticed.

While she and Noah were playing happily in Bree's room, I took the opportunity to walk down to the kitchen and grab a cup of coffee, only to walk back into the room and notice Noah happily gumming on something. "Bree, what's in Noah's mouth?" I asked her. "Did you see what he put in there." "I gave him a raisin." she said. And then added quite innocently, "Yeah, I just thought he might be interested in it."

I almost burst a gut. :)

Less Sugar, More Spice

Less sugar, more spice...a fitting title for this particular post for more than one reason:

The point of this blog, (if it isn't obvious) is to keep those distant family and friends feeling connected and up to date in my children's lives. And as a bonus, not only is it a nice outlet for me to vent some of my "creative" steam and do some self therapy by sharing my thoughts, it's a written chronicle of their childhoods for me, much more detail than would go in a baby book. I can look back on little stories that, had I not taken the time to type out, might get misty in memory down the road. And for the most part, I try to keep it pretty lighthearted and fun. For one thing, I figure no one really wants to read me whining and being negative and secondly, though the job can be a frustrating and hard one I can usually manage to find the humor in most parenting situations, if not in the moment itself then usually in retrospect. Kids are pretty funny, they do odd unexpected things and it's always interesting to see what's going on in their heads.

On the other hand I do try to keep a good dose of reality on here as well. I don't want this to be a place where I delude myself and you, only tell the cutesie stories and pretend that every moment around here is one where the kids and I are in a field of daisies, rolling around with a pile of soft puppies, laughing and gazing into each others' eyes. Because that would be fake and also very annoying. (I don't know about you but things that are overly saccharin make me gag!) And the truth is, while some won't admit it, everyone can relate to the stories about the things that aren't perfect about kids and their parents. Which is why, alongside the cutesie and fun stories I also let you see the less charming, the annoying or worrisome aspects of things. Like this next little entry...

Apparently, there are a lot of TV show writers out there who need some help thinking of intelligent ways to wrap up the end of a show. Yep, think about it, how many cartoons or sitcoms can you think of where, at the very end, all the characters gather in a crowd and start laughing their fool heads off at...nothing in particular. Just ridiculously empty, stupid laughter.

So what? You may ask, what's the big deal? Well, I'll tell you! My little daughter, who's very observant, has picked up on this fact and now seems to have the fun little habit of randomly bursting into fake, vacuous laughter for no apparent reason. Now, I thoroughly believe in having a good laugh, laughter is a very important part of life and that whenever we can, if possible, we should choose to laugh rather than cry. But, at the risk of sounding like a grumpy mommy, (something I really try not to be), I have to say that I find this little habit pretty aggravating.

I have been given the very good advice that this is one of those situations that I should ignore if I want the behavior to go away. And honestly I try, I really do. But it's really hard to ignore fully 20 minutes of fake, drawn out, at the top of your voice "laughter. " If she were genuinely laughing, well that would be different. But not this laughing like a hyena on speed thing. It's impossible to hear yourself think let alone manage a conversation with anyone else in the room. And this "laughing" session usually happens towards the end of the day, when she's tired, and so is everyone else, so we're less able to shrug it off.

So there's that. But also I think I object to it on a deeper level as well because in a way, empty laughter just stands for so many things I don't want for my daughter. (Watch out, you're about to get a dose of feminism here. Yes, it is possible for a full time stay at home mom and housewife to also hold some feminist views, although a "true feminist" would argue that.) Because, the old female stereotypes are still out there, the ones where the girls are just eye candy, always have long polished nails and perfect hair, think they need to act stupid and hide their smarts to catch a guy and are inevitably... laughing vacantly at nothing. (Ever hear the song Stupid Girls by Pink??) A fake, empty, Stupid Girl is just the type of female I DON'T want my little girl to be. And so while there have been plenty of occasions where her self assurance, tendency to know what she wants and be opinionated, quickness and independence have caused some clashing with the fact that she needs to obey her parents, for the most part I relish her spunkiness and her unashamed being of herself and I try to be careful not to squash that in her.

All right, I know what some of you may be thinking: that just because I'm not a really girly girl I expect my daughter not to be one either. And I admit that I played powder puff football in high school, like to go fishing (even string up my own worm), can't be bothered to paint my nails, and have been known to change my own flat tire if need be rather than stand helpless by the side of the road and wait for someone to "rescue" me. So if Bree turns out to be more girly than I am, sure I may have a little trouble relating to her sometimes, but I do truly want her to be who she is, no matter who that may end up being. She can be "girly" and play princess all she wants, I'm cool with that, just not to the point that she doesn't dig in and experience life in case it might mess up her hair and not to the point where her next manicure is the deepest thought in her head.

Okay, so I know that just because my 3 year old has a rather harmless, and passing habit of fake laughter right now, that doesn't mean she's on the path to becoming that iconic, silly, and transparent fake girl, it does kind of strike a chord with me about what I want to teach her as she gets older. It's a tough balance to teach, to be both kind, considerate, compassionate, polite, well mannered and yet confident, educated, and outspoken. To be nice but not to the point that you get walked over, to be classy instead of ladylike. That's right, I said NOT ladylike, which let me just point out is defined as being "delicate, refined and unused to hardship, being overly concerned with propriety." So, as I said, polite and classy, not so much "delicate" or "unused to hardship" or so concerned about "propriety" that you don't speak out when you should. Because women are people, not china dolls, not just to be looked at and admired and sat on a shelf but just as capable and deserving to experience as much of the richness of life as they want. (And yes, I also think that boys and men face unfair stereotypes about their gender as well, which I'm sure you'll hear about as Noah gets older.)

I came across this poem recently, that I think expresses fairly well what I want for my daughter:

UPPITY GIRLS
A Message

I hope you will be less sugar and more spice,
And only a little bit nice.
Embrace your crunchiness girls,
Your crustiness, your passions, your selves.
Retain your sparkle, your individuality, your eccentricities...

You needn't be "ladylike" to be a woman,
For being female is complex,
An essence encompassing all that is you....
Kind, thoughtful and generous of heart
But honest and fierce and resolute.

-Bobbi Linkletter

So I say, stay crunchy girls, go ahead and be spicy!

Compare-a-son (to a Daughter)

Okay, okay, I know that by now you know I think my kids look similar to each other. (Probably because I've posted about it numerous times already.) And yes, they look alike in several of their facial features and some of the expressions they make. But, I promised myself I wouldn't keep on doing these entries where I compare them anymore, since I've pretty much done it to death already. I had the best of intentions too. The problem is our computer screen saver you see. We have it set to cycle through our pictures and as I passed by it today, there was a picture of a younger Bree and I thought, "Wow! That could be Noah if I didn't know better!" So, alas, I just can't help myself! (And besides, since I started this blog when Bree was almost 2 years old, I've never posted some of her younger baby pix and its fun to share those as well.)

I'm sure you know the drill by now so I'm not even going to label them of who's who. (I'm sure you can tell by now.) Here they are though, a passel of shots where the kids look pretty darn related. :)

Breeisms

As a baby, Brianna never would take a pacifier, just didn't like them. Noah, on the other hand, is very fond of his, which is nice in lots of ways. But, one of the drawbacks is that we can never find one when we need one. We own a dozen of them but they keep disappearing. This is partly because Bree has been taking them right out of Noah's mouth and hiding them in odd places that us parents would never think to look. I've watched her doing this behavior and when I catch her I just say, "Bree, put Noah's binky back please!" And I just chalked it up to a sort of passive aggressive sibling jealousy thing. Finally though, the other day I got really fed up with this and finally asked her, "Why are you doing that?! Why do you take his binky?" And to my surprise I got the most unexpected answer. Turns out, it wasn't what I thought at all. Her answer? "Because Mom, I like his sounds. I like to hear him."

We went out to eat the other day and were all sitting at our table. While Travis and I perused our menus, Bree happily colored away in the kids menu. When the waitress came up to ask us if we wanted to start with something to drink, before she could even get a word out Brianna says, "I want macaroni and cheese and lemonade. Mom, what do you want?" After the mac and cheese arrived Bree looked around for a moment and said, "Hey, where's my fork?" "Right there beside you, wrapped up in that napkin," I told her. "Oh!" she said. Then she leaned over to her daddy and whispered conspiratorially, "Mom's kind of a snerd isn't she?" It made Trav practically roll on the floor, although I'm not sure how Bree not being able to find her fork makes ME a snerd. As if that weren't riot enough, a few minutes later Travis couldn't find his silverware (they hadn't given us enough) and Bree chimed in again, "Now who's a snerd?"

Bree very much wants to be a "big girl." And being a big sister, and almost 4 year old isn't enough for her either. She wants to do adult things that she thinks are neat and can't really do right now. She'll say, "When I'm a big girl I'll eat hot peppers, and drink coffee and drive a car!" The latest addition to this list is getting married. Some time back she noticed my wedding ring and was asking me all about it. "Daddy gave it to me," I told her, "Because he likes me." Well, ever since then getting married and getting her own ring have been on her mind a lot. She pointed out our wedding picture in our bedroom to her daddy recently. "Daddy, that was when you married Mommy, remember that?" "Yes." he said. Then she'll heave a big sigh, "I wish I could get married. I wish I had a ring!" What's super cute is how she's also doing the classic, "When I grow up and marry Daddy" phase. (Which, they say, is supposed to be a sign of a good daddy.) The kid just can't wait to grow up and do all these big things already, and meanwhile I already think she's growing up way too fast!

I think all kids go through that phase where they don't really want their parents to be affectionate with each other but instead would prefer that both parents focus all their attention soley on the child. Brianna is now in this stage, and every time Travis and I attempt to have a conversation she's immediately butting in, talking over us, and even saying outright, "Hey! Don't talk to Mommy, talk to me!" And, the other evening Travis happened to be walking past me and patted my rear end on the way by... which Bree happened to catch sight of and yelled out, "Hey! Don't smack Mommy's butt!" Although, not sure if that had so much to do with the previous reason mentioned so much as I think maybe she thought I was getting in trouble?? :)

For a long time now, Bree has liked to pretend to be a cat named Mrowser or Apple Cinnamon Cat. But she now officially has a new favorite alter-ego.....Twinkle the Dog! Yep, and just like all the other pretend personalities she takes on, you have to actually address her as Twinkle, or else she ignores you or corrects you. "Brianna," you say. "You mean Twinkle?" she says immediatley. Sometimes I indulge this but I do have to admit, sometimes I find it really difficult to keep it up all day. For example, I just don't feel that excited to be out and about walking around a store and having to call my kid Twinkle in front of other people. Sometimes I say, "No, I'm not calling you that. Your name is Bree and that is the name I named you!" "That's not the name I named me!" she'll shoot back. Between the addition of Twinkle, not to mention Apple Cinnamon, Apple Cinnamon Cat, Mrowser, Mom, Zoo Keeper, and so on, it's getting very hard to keep all the multiple alter personalities straight around here.

And finally, for your amusement, I leave you with a few more words lost in translation around here...

comftee = comfy
weskawant = restaurant
lipshiner = lip gloss
hooker = anything that's a hook to hang stuff up on IE: a coat rack hook. (I actually got a new entry way shelf/coat hanger thing for Christmas and when we had guests over Bree said, "Did you see our new hooker?" Yep, true story.)

Noah Funny Faces

All right, I know I just did an entry about Noah's funny teething face, but aside from that one, there are a number of his other expressions that are priceless on the silly scale as well.

Like this one, the one eyebrow lift and smile, my favorite! Noah has always smiled very freely and easily, which is enough reason to smile back at him quite often, but when he throws in the single eyebrow lift (a skill I didn't master myself until middle school!) my socks are charmed right off and I giggle, every time. Makes him look like he knows a secret on top of being cute. And in this case, having a messy face from just chowing on a teething biscuit only adds to the effect.

His Elvis impersonation.

And here's a close up of the wrinkled up nose, scrunchy face he's been making a lot lately...

Which, as I recall now, was a favorite face of Bree's at that age as well...

There's the smile we know and love!

Whatever face he's making though, we sure do love our little man! :)