Wormy's Words

In the car, Eli is whining

Chlo: What's wrong, Buddy? Is it your throat? (plants idea in his head)Your throat hurts doesn't it? (nods head knowingly)

Eli: Yeah.

Chloe: I'm sorry Buddy, I'm sorry your throat hurts.  God will make it better, Buddy. God will make your throat not hurt anymore!

Eli: Yeah.

The kids each got a scooter with 3 wheels from someone at church.  Chlo got a Dora one, and Eli a Spiderman one. While scooting all around the house:

"Look at me, Mommy! I can do it! I can scooter! Just put one foot on scooter and one foot on rug. See? Daddy can't ride my scooter because he's too big.  Maybe on Monday.  Maybe Monday he will be little, and then he can ride the scooter."

Randomly:

"When I was a monkey, then I could climb up there, when I was a monkey!"

Tarheel Born and Bred, aka, Indoctrination Starts at Birth

I was subbing in Chloe's class today (all 3yo), and during free time, Chloe and two other kids (I won't use there names since I don't know their parents or if they would mind) were sitting at a table with me playing with floam. When I hear:

Boy: Teacher! Teacher! Look at this!

Me: Oh, cool! Is that a boomerang?

Boy: No, it's a wolf.  (looks at me like I'm stoopit) See here's his eye (points at something nonexistant), and here's his little eye.

Me: Oh, I see! (not really)

(time elapses)

Boy: Teacher! Look, I made another wolf! (points to indention) See his eye, and his other eye.

Me: Cool, Boy! Why do you like to make wolves so much? Do you like the Wolfpack?

Boy: (expression of intense pain fills his face) No! I don't like the Wolfpack! I like the Tarheels.

Me: (turns to Chloe) Did you hear that Chlo? Boy likes the Tarheels!

Chloe: (looks to boy, excitement all over her face) I like the Tarheels, too! I don't like the Wolfpack! Eli likes Wolfpack.

Me: (to boy) Yup. Chloe's brother and Daddy both like Wolfpack, but we like Tarheels.

Boy: (very serious) Good. I like Tarheels.  I wish that other team would just stop playing and go away.

Teacher Mommy

One of Chloe's teachers was out sick today, so her other teacher asked me to sub with her for the morning.  At first I was a little skeptical about how it would work out, but everything was fine, and I actually had a great time doing it.  It was neat to see how Chloe interacts with other kids (very rarely, I found), how she listens, how she learns, and what exactly she does every week while I am in my Bible study.  She loved having me there, too, which made it all the more special.  On the way home I asked her if Mommy was a good teacher today, and she answered, "No, Mrs. Amy is the good teacher, not Mommy.  And Mrs. Susan, too.  But Mrs. Susan is sick today.  Mommy is not a teacher.  Mommy is Mommy." It's fun how she only thinks of me as "Chloe and Eli's Mommy" and nothing else, while all along, I have the privilege of being the biggest and best teacher she will ever have.

Daddy Blog: Positive Reinforcement

I had just returned from my PE exam review class.

Chloe:  "Were you a good boy at school, Daddy?"

Me:  "Yep!  I was a good boy!"

Chloe:  grabs my arm "Thank you, Daddy.  Thank you for being a good boy at school." Gives me a big neck hug

Wormy's Words of Late

After asking me to please make her a bowl of yogurt last night, she sat at the table and waited for me.  I made the bowl, then got distracted by a text message, when I heard a pitter patter and a very smart "Mommy, why aren't you making me my yogurt?"

 On the way out the door to church, Chloe calls to Daddy, "Daddy, will you hold my cellphone while I jump?"

Yesterday morning it was cold enough to see our breath, and the kids were fascinated by it.  When Chloe finally blew a big white cloud she exclaimed, "Look Mommy! I made breath!"

Later that night at the gas station, she excitedly yelled from the backseat, "Look Mommy! CAR BREATH!"

After looking at my snowglobe with a bird inside, "I can't fit in there. I'm too big. But when I'm a bird, then I can fit in there!"

At the table last night, she was singing "I'm a nut, I'm a nut *click click*, I'm a CHOCOLATE nut, I'm a CHOCOLATE nut *click click*"

"One day, when I'm Eli, then I can have a firetruck, too!"

After actually taking a bite of her veggies last night, "Hey- I like carrots! I like carrots! I'm a bunny! Cause I like carrots!"

Me: I love you, little girl!  Chloe: I love you, bigger Mommy!

3 years, 2 months

One of Chlo's favorite things to say these days is "I'm a grown-up girl!" and that pretty much sums up my feelings about her lately.  The saying came about when I took her to the bank to deposit her birthday money awhile back.  It was just she and I, and I remember looking in the rearview mirror and seeing her sitting so straight and tall with a pile of pennies in her lap, and I just had to fight back a rush of tears.  We went in the bank, and she pressed the buttons and fed the machine her mountain of coins all by herself. Then she confidently carried the deposit slip to the teller, and we were on our way.  As we were leaving, I remarked, "Chloe, you're such a grown-up girl! I just can't believe it!" and she has been saying it ever since. 

 Here's a fine example of what a grown-up girl looks like... A couple of days ago Chloe asked to play Candyland by herself during rest time (I was SO glad she didn't invite me to play again... the game is about as exciting as eating cardboard.)  I usually let her pick an activity to do alone in her room, and after an hour I go in and tell her to hop in bed and nap for the second hour.  On Candyland day, I was quite exhausted, Eli was asleep, and I figured Chloe could take care of herself.  So I said, "You can play your game, but when you get sleepy I want you to get in bed and go to sleep, ok?"  I took a delightful nap, and didn't wake up until Eli was yelling for me.  To my surprise, Chloe's room was completely silent.  An hour or so later, her door burst open, she ran out, and said "I went to sleep when I got tired! I did it all by myself! Cause I'm a grown-up girl!"  I praised her and was just about to tell her that we need to go pick up her game before Eli got to it, when I looked in her room, and lo and behold, the game was sitting neatly in the middle of the room, all the pieces in the box, and every single toy was in its place.  That's my grown-up girl!

Let's see, what can I say about Chloe these days? She loves watching tv now, so I have to be diligent in trying to limit it.  She likes to color, cut, and do crafty things.  She's discovered the joys of chewing gum.  She loves trains and cars.  In the last two weeks, more fights have broken out over Eli's new firetruck and trains than over the holy land.  She jumps at every opportunity.  She loves to sing and makes spontaneous songs about everything.  It can be pretty hilarious.  I suppose she got that talent from my grandma who passed it on to me.  We've both been known to bust into song at any given moment.  She is so sweet to compliment people ("I like your sweater Daddy, you look handsome!" or "Pretty coat, Ella!" or "I like your ponytail, Mommy.  It's fun!") and she is always so sincere.  She loves chocolate.  I mean loves it.  Begs for it ALL.THE.TIME.  We are going through holiday detox around here, leaving the girls with some pretty intense withdrawal pains.  She is trying and testing me, pushing limits, saying no, asking why, but I know it's part of the package, and comparatively, it's still not so bad.  I'd say all in all, she's sweet, smart, funny, and pretty dang cute, and I couldn't live without her.