The Rev

(Yes, I'm back. Sorry for the absence...etc, etc...)

Everyone knows how dinnertime goes for a mom of young kids. Fix kids plates, send kids to wash hands, get them up to table. Fix own plate, sometimes hubby's plate, get those to table. Hubby sits down. Forgot my drink, get that to table. Someone's missing a fork. Go get fork. Forgot a milk cup, hubby volunteers to get it. Up and down, back and forth, and the kids are half finished b/f I even sit down. And let's not even mention the temperature of my food by now.....

BUT! As soon as all four of us are seated, Wyatt loudly and persistently reminds us we need to "P'AY! P'AY!" Hands outstretched, eyes are closed, it's time to pray! It used to be ok for Daddy or Momma to bless the meal, but now even after thanks have been voiced, "Ayuht. P'ay!" Then the sweetest baby boy voice says "Deedus, da doo. Pah-bu. Boh-wi. Miel. Ahben!" (In case your toddlerese isn't so fresh, that's "Jesus, thank you for pasta, broccoli and milk. Amen!") Then invariably, Audrey also wants to pray, or maybe just one-up him if he forgot to mention something that was on their plate. ;) Or maybe it's The Rev's insistence that now "Is-sy. P'ay!"

The Rev doesn't just limit his precious prayers to mealtimes either. We were in the van last weekend, when ole Rev pipes up in the middle of Finding Nemo, hands folded, eyes fluttering closed... "Deedus, da boo. Momma. Is-sy. Darr. Boobee. Beh-nee. Ee-an." Ohhh bless him! (And that's, Jesus, thank you for Momma, Sissy, the car, the movie, Mrs. Bethany and Ethan. And no, they weren't w/ us!) What a sweet little spirit. I hope and pray this isn't just a fad or a new trick that he thinks is just for fun. I hope the Lord speaks to his heart at a tender young age to call him to Himself! What a joy, a responsibility to raise The Rev!

Daddy's name

Discussing who is whose family members on the way home from church tonight:

"Who is Audrey's Momma?"
"Momma!"
"What is her name?"
"Chis-een Boosahd!"
"And who is Audrey's Daddy?"
"Daddy!"
"Annnd what is his name?"
"Uncle Blaine Boosahd!"

You know this is a kid that has a lot of cousins, if she thinks her daddy's name is Uncle!!

Mother's Day Interview

Audrey's sweet teacher at MDO, Erin, so thoughtfully conducted an interview of the 2-yr-old class for Mother's Day. So cute and funny, I had to share!

What is something mom always says to you? Go play.
What makes mom happy? Daddy
What makes mom sad? When I don't listen.
How does your mom make you laugh? Tickles me.
How old is your mom? Forty-nine-six. (Her standard answer for every numerical question haha!)
What is her favorite thing to do? Go outside.
What does your mom do when you're not around? Blow bubbles.
What is your mom really good at? Going to the store. (Got that right, especially Target haha!)
What does your mom do for a job? Eats her lunch. (Contrary to the previous post...)
What is your mom's favorite food? Lunchable. (Oh wait, this isn't about me...?)
What do you and your mom do together? Play basketball.
How do you know your mom loves you? She tells me.

And then she drew a portait of me, which was of course the spitting image!! How precious to enter the mind of a child.

Going to work

Audrey is majorly into pretend right now. For example, all day today she has been Strawberry Shortcake, and Wyatt is Huckleberry Pie. Which mostly consists of referring to them by those names. And don't slip up!! "No Momma, dat's not Wyuht! Dat's Huckleberry!" Heeheehee...love it.

So the other day, Audrey was "going to work." She had some assortment of dress-up on, like a necklace, I think her winter boots, and some glasses. She also had her purse (of course) and her baby in her purse. Not sure where she got the idea for carrying her baby in her purse! On a side note, apparently her baby is pretending too, since her name is Candi, but Audrey has recently taken to calling her Emily Elizabeth. Ok, so she tells me she's going to work. "Have fun! What will you do at work?"

"I'm gonna play wis my friends." Naturally. "And Daddy's at work too."

"Oh, well that will be so good! What does Daddy do at work?"

"Ummm, he goes to work."......................."And heesa doctor."

"What does Momma do at work?"

"You play wis your friends." Haha!! I had a good chuckle on this one! I love that she thinks I either want to do what she does, or maybe she wants to do what I do. And I love seeing a 2.5 yr old's assessment of life. I'm a pediatric physical therapist. I WANT the kids to think we're just playing games, as I'm sneaking some work in there...and I love that that's what Audrey thinks I do. She frequently asks to go back to work with me. Maybe this will inspire her to be a PT one day. :)

Grilled cheese...and boy cheese.

I previously posted (not sure if here or FB...I'll try to find the link) about how apparently Audrey thought grilled cheese was"GIRL" cheese. She was eating girl cheese, and Daddy was eating boy cheese. Today, these labels went to a whole new level.

Wyatt, the man-child, was also eating a "___" cheese sandwich for lunch, along with Audrey. His first. (And for the record, I think he could have eaten an entire sandwich. He ate more than A. Little beast.) So it went a little like this: "What's Wyuht have? Dat's his boy cheese?"

I laughed as the previous gender-cheese sandwich experience came flooding back to me. "Yes, baby that's his GRILLED cheese."

"No, heesa boy! Dat's his BOYYY cheese! And dis is my GURRRRL cheese!"

"Ok, that's his boy cheese, and that's your girl cheese." No use arguing the inconsequential details. And so we continue eating our gender-cheese sandwiches. Until Wyatt has polished off his half sandwich, green beans, and puffs and is looking around for more. Audrey hasn't been eating well lately and is also sickly today, so I know good and well she won't finish her half.

"Audrey, can you share some of your grilled cheese with Wyatt? He's still hungry."

"Dis MY gurl cheese, Momma."

"Yes, but you're all done with it, and he wants some more." I start cutting it up and putting it on his tray, then the distress starts.

"Dat's my gurl cheese Momma!! Heesa boy!"

"Ok, well, he can eat girl cheese." Why am I now calling it a girl cheese? Would my efforts be better spent explaining GRILLED???

"He not eat GURL cheese! Heesa boy!"

"Alrigh then, now it's a boy cheese for Wyatt."

"No, it's notta boy cheese, itsa GURRRL cheese!"

Ayiyi...apparently GIRLs eat GIRL cheeses, and BOYs eat BOY cheeses, and there is to be no cross-eating, nor magic-momma-wand waving to convert one into the other. I guess I can't tell her I made ONE sandwich and cut it in half...that would just rock her little world.

Taste Test

Audrey learned all about the sense of taste at "school" today. I asked her what she got to taste: "Lemonade!" (Maybe lemons? Ok, I can buy that.) "What else did you taste?" "Pencils!!!" I laughed out loud when she said that, and really had no clue what it might have been until I started typing this. Any guesses? Ummm...pickles?? I'm hoping anyway. Whatever it actually was, I'm quite confident that pencils were not included in the taste test. When I tried to elicit more responses (hoping to deduce what the pencils were), she remained firmly adament that she tasted pencils. Oh to be 2 again...life is so fun!

Latest installation of "toddlerese"

Audrey's current hilarious (in her mind) phraseology includes saying things in 3's, adding "-ie" to everything, and/or adding "-o" to everything. For example:

"Wy-uht fussy, fussy, fussy-o. He needs his paci paci-o!"
"Be quiet quiet quiiiiiiiiettt. Sssssss!"
"I'n dinking my milk-ie-o! It's yum yum yuuuuuuuummmmmmm!"
"Dat's my book-ie-o! I'mma read-ie dat."

Not sure why this is hilarious, or how long it'll last, but it sure is entertaining (in small doses ;))!

"I taked a nap!"

This morning, when I told Audrey she was going to school (MDO) today, she got quite excited. She always does, and she starts telling me her plans for the day.

"I'mma eat sum gowd-fiiiiiish. See Caw-stun! See Annnnna! See Mrs. Eh-winnnnn! I'mma take uh nap, Momma."

"Oh really, you're going to take a nap?"

"Yes'sam. I'mma seep at shool."

To which I just chuckle and smile. She NEVER naps! Her teacher says she lays nice and quiet and never bothers anyone, she just never sleeps. Which is ok, because if she did sleep (like she has, um maybe 4 times??? since January) it would only be for an hour at the most. As it is, we come home and they both usually go in bed for 2-3 hrs.

The real kicker is when I pick her up I always ask her "How was your day? Did you sleep?" (just for giggles!!!!) To which she ALWAYS replies, "Yes'sam! I taked a nap!" "Really? You went to sleep!?" "Yes'sam!"

I love that 2-yr-olds exsist in reality and fantasy at the same time! What a fun age. :)

My New Robot

One of the fabulous finds I got at Duck Duck Goose (consignment sale) was a cute little robe for Audrey. I was telling one of my friends how when I'm doing bath time by myself (ie, Blaine working late) Audrey ends up having to run naked while I get Wyatt dressed. She suggested getting her a robe, and I was pumped to find one for CHEAP at DDG!

She was super excited about all her new clothes, and last night was the first night since I shopped that I did baths by myself. I put her robe on her and she said "Dat's my robot!"
"Yes, that's your ROBE."
"I yike my robot Momma!"

After I got Wy dressed, we went into her room to get her dressed. I explained that we had to take her ROBE off to get dressed, but we'd put it back on over her jammies to show Daddy. As we're getting dressed, she's shaking.

"I so 'cited muh robot Momma!"
"What??"
"I so 'CITED!" "My robot!"
"Oh, you're excited about your robe??"
"Yes'sam!"