Quinny's Pretty, and other stories

Ah, the guilt. So many sweet stories happen at this house to be recorded! We've chased too many memories this summer to begin to try to record them!

Quinn and Foster have started playdates. They are still usually tagging along with their big sisters, but they get really excited when they see each other now, and they've started doing their own thing together.

Foster is my buddy; I've trained him to say "Quinny's Pretty".

Last night, a couple of my former Schotty's came over for dinner. We were having popsicles (and they were having wine) on the porch, and Quinny was entertaining everyone. In and out, bringing pretend food from her kitchen. Behind the swing to say "boo".

Me: QUinny, you're a monkey!
Quinny: MEeeeee (imagine really high-pitched me)
Me: Yes - you're a monkey!
Quinny: Noooo.
Me: Then what are you?
Quinny: Pretty

Quinn ALWAYS says "thank you" right now - in a tone that is as if you've just paid her the best compliment or given her the best gift. I wish I could capture it in words. She emphasizes the "you" - super sweet.

Cora is all questions - anything that happens, she tries to make sense of it.
One from today: "Your belly is getting really big - that's why the baby wants to come out of it".
Something like that sweetie :)

3 observations

I need to set-aside time to catch-up on the blog. Until then, 3 observations:

1. Everything (and by everything, I really do mean nearly everything) that Cora says starts with, "You know what...?". If it doesn't start with "You know what...?" (and even if it does), it likely ends with "You aren't going to believe it!!!" or "Daddy won't even believe it!!!" or "Mia won't even believe it!!!"

2. Quinn has entered the phase where she believes if she just uses her words to ask for it, then she automatically gets it. For so long, we've been saying, "Quinny, use your words" when she whined. Back in those days, she pretty much got whatever she used the word for, if we could make it happen. Now that she has the word for almost everything, this is getting tricky.

3. When Cora is adamantly against something, she wags her finger in front of her face to say "no". "No, No, NO!" while shaking her head in the direction opposite the way her finger is wagging... it's so stinking hard to take her seriously when she does it :)

If I don't write this down...

Long story short:

Sometimes, I hit the point where I cannot possibly handle any more whining. I just need 5 minutes or 3 back-to-back questions that are spoken in English without the whiny twang. If you are judging me right now, then you have never spent day-after-day with a 3-year-old in the 2 hours after school while trying to cook dinner.

Today...
Cora: Mommy, I want a [honestly, I don't even remember which "I want" this was... it could have been wheat thin, apple juice, water, candy, Daddy, the TV turned on, to stand next to me even though I had hot things on the stove...]
Me: Cora, can you please ask mommy a question without whining just one time.
Cora: Why are you talking crazy at me?

?!?!?!?!?!?!??!!
Where did she even hear that!!!

Quinny at bedtime

Quincy is super fussy tonight. 

In her bed she has...

2 baby dolls

Plus a little baby doll

Plus a Disney princess baby

Plus two cloth Easter baskets 

Plus 2 baby doll bottles

Plus her lovey

Plus goofy doll

A light-up lady bug 

Her lovey, Flower 

And a book

I'm pretty certain all this stuff will end up in our bed by morning.

Heck, I feel like we're sleeping with nearly all that stuff by the time she hauls her goods into our bed every night!!!

Grinny Quinny

Last week I showered after the girl's bath, and let them brush my hair while I dried it.
I don't want to forget the look on my little Quinn's face. She loved brushing my hair. She's brush a stroke, then pull my shoulders to the side, leaning herself in the opposite direction to see my face, smile a really wide smile, announce "pretty", then repeat on the other side.

Such a joyful soul.

The politics of "Who gets to be the Mommy"

Over dinner this week, Cora announced that she hoped one of her friends wasn't at school the next day. I asked why. She explained that this friend ALWAYS has to be the Mommy at school.

If you know Cora, you know that she has a lot of moxie... and the other little girl is the youngest in the class AND is the tiniest in the class, so honestly, if she's bossing Cora, then good for her!

Me: Why is E always the "Mommy"?
Cora: If E is there, she is ALWAYS the mommy and I have to be the neighbor's mommy because I don't like being E's baby because E is bossy. E just wants to be the mommy I guess.
Me: Well, what if E isn't there?
Cora: It depends. If J is there then J likes to be the mommy because she is the biggest and I don't mind being her baby. Sometimes S is the mommy. Maeve and I play mommy and baby a lot and we always take turns. V & H will sometimes play like they are the baby, but they're little so they make good baby's. It's hard to find a daddy. S from the Sunflower class will play daddy if he is in the room, and sometimes we can get E to play the daddy and I play the daddy sometimes if I have to but we really like to have a boy like Jack or Luke except Jack or Luke or Leo will never play like they're the daddy... and sometimes we just use a baby doll to be the baby and we're all the mommies. It really depends on who is there today. But if E is there then only she wants to be the mommy.
[then very matter-of-fact and with so much sincerity that I could hardly contain my grin]...

"It makes sense, really."

She sounded just like her Mommy.

Questions for God...

The favorite book from Quinny's birthday was "You are Special" by Max Lucado. Huge hit about a wooden doll maker.

And that book sparked a very serious car conversation.

Cora: Mommy, who made my toys?
Me: [I remember Cora's questions better than my answers] Cora, people made your toys.
Cora: Why?
Me: [I saw where this was going, so I launched into a chat about God made some people specifically for being good at making toys and that God made her specifically to be good at something, too...]
Cora: What?
Me: I don't know... [I'm sure I said more than just that]
Cora: God was Jesus's Daddy?
Me: Yes, that's right.
Cora: So who was Joseph?
Me: Well, God is our spiritual Father, too, and Landon is your Daddy on earth.
Cora: Oh. Well, but [lots of stammering here] why did God choose to have...a.... son?

I think somebody has heard a few too many questions about whether we hope this baby is a boy...