Heaven & Hell

Ah, the dichotomy of the day! Brian and the girls allowed me an absolutely fabulous morning brunch with my friend Sarah McDowell complete with adult conversation and laughter (heaven). And then I came home to have really fun "playdate" with Leia featuring "the lovie show," "Max and Ruby's poky pajamas," and lots of Leia's jokes ending with "get it!?!" as Annie napped (heaven). But then we went out to a horrible dinner at Outback where Annie screamed the whole time and wouldn't eat a thing (hell). And then returned to have her scream (and sign "eat" and "more Mamma's milk") until 10pm when she finally fell asleep (hell). And all I wanted to do, as I told Brian, was to "bake brownies and swim in the crumbs" (heaven), but my diet won't allow for anything but exercise (hell). *sigh*

So, let's dwell on the heavenly part of the day, shall we?
This is a picture of "the lovie show," because these are all of Leia's self-proclaimed "lovies" (except for Perri-Pat-Pat, who we can't find at the moment) and each of them has a snack.
Then here is Leia Rose reunited with The Bunnington Family, who she had been wanting to find for the longest time, and today we finally found in the tupperware of dollhouse stuff that was too small for Annie to have.
And for the longest time, Leia Rose and I just sat laughing together like this, with me sitting on the bed and our feet together making up silly rhymes, Leia's favorite being, "Bum, bum, bum, Babulars, Babulars!" : )

Another highlight was Leia Rose's jokes. She created a really great knock knock joke today that went "Knock Knock" "Who's there?" "Eyes." "Eyes who." "Eyes blue! . . . Ha, ha, ha, ha! Get it?!? Get it?!?" (Leia's knock knock jokes always involve her looking around the room and inserting words like "fan" "pillow" or "bed," because those are the things she sees. Ha!) And I created a whole line of them that were different kind of soups. "Knock Knock." "Who's there?" "Chickens." "Chickens who?" "Chicken soup!"

Family Story Night

Tonight was Artgarden Montessori's Family Story Night! Here's Leia in transit to Story Night complete with her fairy pajamas (she really wanted to show these to Jessie since she had her fairy party), princess crown (one of the ones Mrs. McDowell knitted for her), "Maimie" (her lamby from when she was little, and her original "lovie"), and The Magic Schoolbus in the Time of the Dinosaurs (Leia's favorite book and contribution to the night).

This is a great picture where you can see Jessie, Declan, Nick, Leia Rose, Jessica, and Daphne!
Everyone was really interested in Leia Rose's story!!!
Annie, however, was most interested in crawling around all over the floor . . .
Until she heard the ABC song! She immediately became entranced and totally captivated thinking, "Hey, I know that song!"

Soon, Annie became obsessed with climbing in and out of this very tippley laundry basket. I held it steady time and time again, . . . until finally, the one time I wasn't holding it, BONK . . . right on her head.

Kevin's Surgery/Leia's First Moral Quandary

Leia Rose's little friend Kevin had surgery early this morning. Poor little boy! Here is Kevin with his Daddy and his beloved "Gankie" in the pre-op room of the hospital. He has been having trouble with his eye, often seeing double, for a while now. With the Lord's help, this operation will be a complete success (and he won't need another).

Leia and I have been praying together for Kevin and his eye surgery for a while in many different ways, and last night we got a fun surprise. We decided to ask Saint Therese to intercede for us. And whenever you ask Saint Therese to intercede and your intercession is heard (and answered) by our Lord, she sends you a rose from heaven (as was her promise before her death). Not just any rose though, . . . there's a certain feeling that goes along with the rose she sends. Leia Rose knows the prayer to St. Therese, and after we said our intention and began praying the prayer we noticed something that we had never seen before: there were roses all over Leia Rose's rocking chair cushions!!! And there was that familiar St.-Therese-Rose feeling. : ) So I knew already that Kevin was going to be okay.

So this morning Leia came into my room after I had just finished saying a Rosary for Kevin (which turned out to be the exact time Kevin went into surgery, . . . what a blessing!), and Leia Rose noticed the beads on the pillow and asked why I had a Rosary up there. (We usually say our family decades downstairs.) This seemed to be the appropriate time to ask her a very important question. And I knew that this question was going to be her very first moral quandary. (She asked me what a moral quandary was, and I told her that it was a time when she would have to decide, "What's the right thing to do?") So I said, "Leia Rose, I know that Austin is supposed to have his birthday celebration of life today at school, but would you consider going to Mass with me today to offer it as a sacrifice and pray extra hard for Kevin? You can choose: go to school all day or leave early and come to Mass with me." Leia Rose thought for a minute and said, "I choose to go to school for Austin's party." : ( (Were you expecting a different response, maybe?) : ) I told her that I "was very disappointed," but that it truly was her choice. Quite honestly, I think it was just to much to expect from a five-year-old child. Of course, I was expecting the opposite response and, even though I told myself I wasn't going to do it, I started rubbing it in. So while I brushed her teeth and she said, "Why are you going to Mass, though?" I replied, "Because I care about Kevin." Leia said, "But I really care about Kevin, too!" And I said, "Well, not enough to go to Mass, I guess." (That one was a low blow, wasn't it.) Then Leia Rose cried and said, "But Mamma, you're making me feel sad!" Again, too much for a five-year-old child, huh?

[At the Mass, Annie was as good as gold and, as always, I was floored by how amazing Father John's homily was for the children. I was sad Leia wasn't there. Father John is always asking questions and involving the kids, inserting interesting stories. Today's reading was about Paul and his conversion. Anyway, I just sat there so happy both of my girls are going to go there through 8th grade! And although I offered up the whole Mass as a sacrifice for Kevin, about the only sacrifice I had to make was enduring Father John's aftershave (he wears WAY too much) when we said hello and wrote Kevin's name and situation in the Book of Intentions.]

Ironically, as soon as she got home from school, Leia Rose immediately said, "When I was eating Austin's cupcake today, I prayed for Kevin." Ha! And further, "You know, when I get older, I'm going to do things like that, Mamma." She didn't say it, but she meant "go to Mass as a sacrifice for someone." This time, instead she said, "Let's pray a special prayer now." And so we did. Now that, realistically, sounds like a five-year-old on her way to full Communion with the Church, doesn't it? There's still hope yet. : ) And tonight before bed, as we said our prayers and got to the, "And tonight we ask a special prayer . . ." part, I wondered whether Leia Rose would chime in with her always-heartfelt "that Oma and Papa sell their house." But, you know, she said, "that Kevin's eye gets better." : )

A failed moral quandary? Maybe. A learning experience for Leia Rose? Definitely. : )

Vintage Sesame Street +

As stated in an earlier post, I recently became obsessed with Vintage Sesame Street clips on YouTube. Even more recently, I became obsessed with putting them on DVD (so the girls could watch them away from the computer). Turns out that my girls are as spellbound by Vintage Sesame Street as I was when I was a small child! : )
Morning playtime with Mamma and Annie has been all about musical intruments recently. They are the very first thing she goes for in the morning. She's especially excited when she finds both cymbals herself , . . .
. . . and plays the xylophone.
Here's a funny picture. This only happened one time before, and it really frustrates her when it happens. Annie's stuck under the leapfrog table! Ha!
And this particular morning, Annie was obsessed with putting a firefighter hat on my head. : )

And when Leia got home (and Annie was napping), she wanted to "play kitty" with me. So here is our setup complete with food and water bowls as well as Leia sleeping in her "kitty bed" full of shredded paper that we shredded ourselves. : )

Popcorn Princess & Play Yard

So funny that we have this wonderful play yard from Miss Laurie, and all the girls wanted to do today was use a big box for one. : ) They had lots of fun together. Leia Rose even made "windows" by poking holes in the sides. : )

Some Leia Tidbits, Too

Leia says such cute things these days (and she also has been doing wonderfully on the respect issue, too)! The other day she was playing with her ladybug umbrella (always a favorite), and she couldn't get it to close, so she said, "Hey Mamma, could you 'pop this puppy'?" Ha! Or there was the time that she requested a game of "Princess Finopoly" for "Princess Monopoly." : ) Then there are the really precious moments, like when she asked me at lunch what a "toast" was, and I explained it to her, to which she replied, "Let's toast to our family." Does that melt your heart or what? Later that same day, Annie was napping, and Leia Rose came over to Brian and I and said, "Let's all hug together." And after a very special embrace, she said, "But Annie needs to be here too! Let's all four of us hug like this later!" Again, just so precious. And about school, Mrs. McDowell wrote me a fun email today:

"By the way I keep forgetting to tell you that pretty out of the blue last Friday Leia did mention to me that she thought that cat food tastes good and makes a pretty good snack. Thoughts on that one? She did also make a really super painting yesterday. We have been looking at a couple of Van Gogh paintings and then Charlie's older sister (age 9) made a truly amazing painting while looking at Van Gogh's Sunflowers and Leia was just floored standing behind Madeline watching her create and then stepped up to make her own after her and it was really neat to watch her do it and then a wonderful product in the end. You will have to visit it in the class I am afraid. We had to hang it up but it will go home soon enough."

Okay, yes D, I had to blame this one one you. ; ) "HA!!! Yes, leave it to my father-in-law, . . . he's an internist and wants Leia Rose to do things like eat dirt and munch on catfood, . . . says it makes for a healthier kid (and that kids on the farm are always healthy). Very true. Every time we go to my in-laws, he encourages her try a piece. Yuck! Not my favorite activity of hers. ; ) Thanks for the info on the sunflower painting. I'll go in to look. : )"

But then, of course, there are the not-so-cute things she is learning at school (or perhaps from her beloved "shows"), . . . like looking at something to eat that she doesn't like and saying a quick "ew" while screwing up her face. Not like her at all.
Leia's classmate Daphne has a new dog named Lucy, who Leia Rose always wants to go out and see at the end of a day, . . . but this is her usual stance when confronted with Lucy up close, . . . ready to run at any second. Ha! Leia Rose is truly more of a cat person. (Wish I were.)
And recently Leia Rose has been obsessed a bit with tying things together, like here where she has used Daddy's belt to pull Annie on her push-car. : )
And here she is laughing at Daddy's recurring Lord of the Rings comment, "Meat from the bone!" And she also got a real kick out of your, face-in-the-chicken-bone story, Auntie April (from when you were Leia's age). "But why did she think there was a face in there? Oh, maybe she thought the two bone lumps on the end were eyes. Yes, I bet that's what she thought." : ) Such a critical thinker!

Annie's New Skills & Word Explosion

There are a million things (especially new words) that Annie has been a part of these days! It's so much that I had to create a whole post about them! But let's start with the "birdie" sign, an old favorite . . .
Strange story here: We were in the parking lot of Sam's Club, and suddenly we were surrounded by seagulls and Annie started signing "birdie" frantically as the birds kind of divebombed us. (And, yes, I actually did think of Hitchcock's The Birds for a moment.) Seagulls?!? It was so strange that I took pictures. Annie was completely spellbound to see these large birds flying so very close.


Now on to new skills. Annie can now use a fork and a spoon! It's rough, and she doesn't always get food every time, but she's trying so very desperately. The first time she did it, we clapped so loud that she looked at us as if we were nuts!

Now for the words. Recently, Annie has added "neigh" and "nah" to her animal sounds collection (and her "meow," which first sounded more like "moo," is becoming more pronounced). Quite simply, though, Annie tries every single word that we ask her to try. Recently, she has added her own name: Annie ("nuh-nuh"), turtle ("tur"), diaper ("popper"), "Yay!," "Doll," squirrel ("whoa"), "Book," cup ("pup"), car ("ka"), Mamma's milk ("ma-ma-ma"), "up," "Dog," Froggie ("goggie"), and about a hundred more that I'm forgetting. Annie has even started "counting," which just involves making "ah, . . . uh, . . . nah!" sounds with the proper infections as she points to things. : ) Perhaps even more exciting has been a few added sentences like a slurred "go in car." What a smartie! [The only strange addition is that Annie now calls Cherry Chat Chat "Sssssssssss." Have NO idea why. Any ideas?]

Now for signing. Another fun thing going on is that now Annie signs "baby" when we are looking at her picture board (which contains pictures of each family member holding Annie as a baby). And no matter when it is, when we're walking by it, Annie always says "Pappa"! Here is the other amazing thing: Annie has mastered the "please" and "thank you" signs, and uses them appropriately. Please has been going on for a while. As for "thank you," the sign looks so much like a blown kiss (hand to chin and then down) that for weeks we thought she was just blowing a kiss, . . . and then tonight we realized that she was saying "thank you" all of those times!!! So polite!!!

Can you tell this is such an exciting time for us these days?!?