napping

Kaia dislikes bedtime and napping so much that her antonym for both is "happy."

When she's playing with her babies and I ask, "Kaia, is your baby sleeping?" she responds, "No, Kaia's baby is happy."

When it's time for a nap and I say, "Kaia, it's time for a nap," she says, "No, Kaia wants to be happy."

Then when you're my age happy becomes synonymous with nap. Oh, the irony.

Potty mouth!!!

Kaia says sock with an f instead of an s. It does not sound so great. Especially when she says, "I want my sock off!"

She also says shirt without the r.

Is it so bad that it makes us laugh every time? Poor baby.

More Maya

Maya: Aunt Dalene, can you please sing the beautiful song about the unicorn with rainbow hair?

Aunt Dalene: Sure! A long time ago, when the earth was green...

Maya: No, no no. That's not the one! The one about the unicorn with the rainbow hair and yellow horn! I only like unicorns with yellow horns!

AD: I don't know that one, sweetie.

Maya: It's okay, Little Lady, I'll teach you!

(blue)bird

Maya: Let's pretend we are rainbow birds and we're flying over the rainbow to find the unicorns.

Zoey: Um, okay. I'll be a bluebird.

Maya: Oh, fancy! What's a bluebird?

Zoey: Well, it's a bird that is blue. And it can fly.

Maya: Does a bluebird like unicorns? I want to be a purple bird.

Zoey: There's no such thing as a purple bird. Or unicorns.

Zoey!

Kaia has affectionately referred to Zoey as "That" for almost a year now. (I know it's affectionate because she refers to many important women as "that," including Maren, Jen, and Jen Seguine - all of whom we love dearly.)

This morning, just this very morning, Kaia was upstairs and wanted Zoey. She stood at the top of the stairs and yelled, "Zoey!" as clearly and loudly as I would myself. I was so excited.

ALL morning Kaia has been using her name to identify anything that belongs to Zoey. "There's Zoey's seat!" "That's Zoey's coat!" "Zoey's shoes off!" Zoey's light on!" It's like something just clicked.

The best, though, was when we picked up Zoey from school. Z jumped in the car and Kaia said, "Hi, Zoey!" as if she has been saying it for months. Zoey was so excited and responded with a huge smile, "Good job saying Zoey, Kaia! Good job, sister!"

It was a really sweet interaction. I love those.

smart girl

This afternoon the girls and I were running last-minute errands, including our tenth visit to the post office (not everyone in my life completes all things Christmas a week before Christmas, but I love them anyway).

I drove up to the large drive-thru mailbox, slipped in a large pile of letters (not mine, I promise - I was doing someone a huge favor), and drove away.

Zoey: Mommy, how do all those letters get where they need to go? Does the mail man deliver every single one? There are so many mailboxes and letters!

Mommy: Yes, the mail man delivers all the mail, but there are lots of mailmen, so they all do a little bit and it gets done.

Z: Phew! That's a lot of work.

M: Yes, it is a lot of work.

Z: That's why I am going to move to England and just be a queen.

Smart girl.

more on Kaia

Kaia is learning to communicate a bit more effectively, i.e. with less screaming and tantruming. She knows what a cup is and uses the word correctly,  but she also refers to any water as cup. Rain = cup, toilet water = cup, a puddle = cup, bath water = cup, even a river, lake, and ocean = cup. It's cute, though sometimes confusing.

Last week she picked up some new words: Awa for Joslyn, Gaga for Jenica, Ally for Jilian, Mame for Jaimee, and Baba for Uncle Stuart. Maren, who loved on her the most, was affectionately referred to as "That." (Sound familiar, Jenifer?)

She also learned to say coat but puts a k sound at the end so it sounds like coke. She puckers her mouth so cute that I never correct her. It reminds me of how Zoey used to call her hood a hook.

The funniest thing right now is her use of the word car. Again, she uses it correctly when referring to a car, but also uses it when something is not in her sight. When Daddy is at work? He's in the car. Our family we just visited in Missouri? Apparently they've been in the car for almost a week now. Kaia's cup she misplaces every 10 seconds? It's in the car, too. Oh, and she puckers her lips for this word, too, so it sounds like carrrrrr.

The cutest is how Kaia says yes. It's almost always in a whisper and sounds more like yash, also with puckered lips.

Not as cute is how she yells says no about a thousand times a day. Now she has added a little pointed finger action when she does so. I have no idea where she picked up that.