More Cute Things (in a hectic day)

This is a sticker from the ENT office that sparked an amazing conversation! I know that Leia Rose is bright, but I was truly in awe of her today. (And I'm sorry to say the reason for all of this is probably The Little Einsteins TV show. Or perhaps I should quote Grandpa Joe from Willy Wonka: "What difference does it make where he got it. Point is, he got it.") Anyway, we were walking to the ball machine from the ENT office as Leia Rose was clutching her sticker. I took one look at it and asked some questions. The conversation went like this:

"Leia Rose, do you know what that is next to Ratatouille in that picture?"
"Yes, that's the Eiffel Tower."
"Wow, that's really good!"
"Do you know what country the Eiffel Tower is in?"
"Hmmmmm, . . . I think it's in France." [Should I push it further, I thought?]
"Okay, now this is a really hard one. Do you know what city in France the Eiffel Tower is in. It starts with a 'P.'"
"I know! It's in Paris!"

I was amazed! I told her that she deserved to go to the ball machine. (Did she know we were already on our way?) : )

To add to my already hectic day (and to complete my post about Leia), I had to go to a parent meeting at school tonight. It actually wasn't a chore at all. It was very freeing to go somewhere on my own at night. Such interesting conversations I had with a few of my friends there. Jessica's mom, Hollis, was there and said that "Leia and Jessica love each other like an old married couple." Ha! What an interesting description. Mrs. Sarah McDowell was there as well, although, no, we didn't talk about Africa tonight. : ) The biggest difference that I could tell was that many of the children are really young (early 3's), so field trips will be fewer and further between this year. The meat of the actual meeting went as always: be on time, make sure snacks are nutritious, make sure math beads don't get caught in your child's fanny crack, . . . . Wait, what was that last thing?!? Ha! Mrs. Schnell was just saying, "Lots of things in a Montessori classroom are very small and can easily fit in a pocket or . . . . Noelle, can I tell the story about Leia Rose?" My first response (after my initial surprise) was to say, "Which one?" So I already had everyone laughing. : ) The story was that last year, Leia was doing a math work with these little gold beads called "units." Well, she couldn't find one of the units. She looked all over and even told the teachers. She went through the rest of the day, but when it was time for bath at night, she took off her underpants and, lo and behold, there was the unit, sticking squarely in her butt crack! : ) She finally wiggled around and it dropped from her pants onto the ground. How she didn't feel it there all day, I'll never know! Anyway, we washed it (of course), put it in a little baggie, and sent it straight back! Ha!

Just had to mention this cute thing, too. Here is Annie drinking milk. And when Annie drinks milk, she looks to heaven as if she's seeing the Beatific Vision. : ) I think she looks just like one of those saints you see on holy cards. She must really love her milk! : )

And finally, I would title this video compilation "Mamma Stinker"! Which, ironically, has nothing to do with Annie's very potent intestinal flora. (That can be another story! Whew!) You know Annie has finally said, "Mamma." Well, she has been practicing, . . . but she doesn't like to be filmed. In fact, every single time I tried to tape her, she stopped saying it. Then she really got me. She got so tired of it that she actually, purposefully, said, "Da-da," just to get my goat! Little stinker! But later, at dinner, she said "Mamma" repeatedly. And, boy, does she look like a Cabbage Patch Kid or what? I told you she has been concentrating on folding her upper lip over the bottom one, . . . but I didn't know she'd look quite this much like Otis Lee. : )