Perri-Pat-Pat(s) & . . . Parts

Leia Rose was overjoyed today when a parcel came from her Oma carrying lots of fun Valentine gifts, . . . and a NEW PERRI-PAT-PAT, who has been lost for months. I can't even begin to describe the love that Leia Rose has for this new kitty. She grabbed the special handkerchief she was wrapped in and immediately adopted it as a blanket (let alone that it belonged to Leia's great-great grandmother).
As I said, new Perri became the focus of play for the rest of the day.

HOWEVER, can you believe it, I actually FOUND the original one today!?! (See the one that's all misshapen? That's the original one.) I was looking for Annie's lost Cherries, actually, and I decided to pull her bed out, thinking, "Nothing could EVER fit back there!" Well, guess what, there was Perri Pat Pat, covered in a thick layer of dust! It reminded me a lot of Toy Story, for some reason. I'm just so glad that the new one came long before I found the old one. Anyway, now Leia Rose has twins.
And here is Leia Rose, incredibly proud of her favorite project of the week: Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog. Leia Rose has (literally) made three of these. The first was the day we went in for Mrs. Schnell to oberve Leia's school readiness. And, boy, how different the project looked. That first one, when Liea was 3, was colored only in pencil and cut so raggedy that it didn't really fit in the cup. And now look at this one! Rainbow colored and perfectly cut! (Leia Rose has been telling me that she has been working hard on her "careful cutting" in extended day.)

In other Leia news, she told me something that really made me laugh today: "Mamma, you know, all boys have bunnel nuges. All of them." [As most of you know, a "bunnel nuge" is what Leia Rose calls a boy's private parts. We have tried to teach her the real term, but she will have none of that. : ) ] I asked her where she learned that, she said, "I learned that at school. I have been watching lots of the little boys go to the bathroom. All of them sit down except for Charlie who sometimes stands up. I like to watch them because there are no doors on the stalls now because they all broke off." Wow. She really HAS been watching. My first reaction was to speak to the teachers about this broken door problem, but then I realized that this (as well as Leia's natural curiosity with Brian) is probably a good way to be exposed to this. In preschool. No real worries here, just curiosity at work. I have long worried about there being no little boy in the family for Leia Rose to naturally be able to "see" during baths and such. When asked, she said, "I have noticed that Annie and I look the same." And after reviewing the names of girls' private parts, I told her that when kids gets older, both boys and girls get hair in those places too, to which she responded, "I know." At this point, I felt like it was important to tell Leia Rose once again the real terms for a boys private parts, and of course her immediate response was, "Why do I always call it a Bunnel Nuge?" And I told her that she had named it herself when she first saw Daddy, and she just never used any other term. She just snickered a little bit and said, "I guess I called it that because the penis looks like a 'nuge' and the other little part looks like bunnels! And I've always known what the girls part is really called." : ) Oh my. Finally, I told her, "Leia Rose, when someone goes to the bathroom, they really want privacy. That's why the stalls had doors, you know? Please give the children their privacy. You know how YOU are when you need privacy, right?" She remembered. We'll see what else she mentions about this along down the road. Anyway, I feel pretty good about how the whole thing went. Interesting though, huh? : )