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.

prone to violence

There's a bully in Zoey's preschool class. That's a long story.
Today when she got in the car after school Zoey said, "Megan pinched me and Peyton today."

M: Oh, dear. Not again! I think it's best if you don't play with her anymore.

Z: Yeah, and I think she should be put in jail for hurting me and my friends.

M: Jail? That would be sad to have a little girl your age in jail.

Z: It would? Then I guess we could just throw her out the window.

Admittedly, I laughed for several minutes, which probably is not an appropriate response, but I couldn't help it. Even now, when I recall her saying it so matter-of-factly, it makes me laugh.

smart jeans

This morning at 6:30 AM...
Z: Mommy, I know how to make apple cider.

M: That's because you got Daddy's smart genes.

Z: Yeah, Daddy has jeans that walk and talk... are those smart jeans, Mommy?

baby babble

Kaia is speaking a few more words these days. She says mommy, daddy, car, up, down, yes, ruff, that, ball, cup, shoe, Zaza (Zoey), sister, toe, and Kaka (Kaia). All her words are deliciously cute, but her baby babble cracks us up. If she's telling us something really serious, she uses her pointer finger while talking. She also loves to stand in front of the stove and watch her reflection as she speaks. Kinda cute.

potty talk

Zoey came out of our guest bathroom this afternoon and said, in an exasperated tone, "Mommy, why do all the boys in our house forget to put the lids on the toilet seat down? They shouldn't be playing in the bathroom, anyway."

We have "all" of one boy in our house.

beautiful

While getting ready this morning...

Z: Mommy, do I have to look cute today?
M: Well, I think you look cute everyday but, yes, you have to wear something nice today because we're going to meet your new preschool teacher, Mrs. Di'Lullo.
Z: Mommy! I have to look BEAUTIFUL then.
M: Why is that?
Z: I have to look BEAUTIFUL so Mrs. Di'Lullo will know it's me: Zoey with a y Olson!

Kaia!

While on vacation this week, Beth taught Kaia how to say, "Uh-oh!" She now says it in all the appropriate moments, but more often than saying "uh-oh" she combines that with "oops" and says, "Uh-oops!" It is pretty darn cute.

coughs and doggies

Kaia says all of five words, and one of them is "ruff" repeated twice whenever she sees a dog - in picture or person - or hears a dog or sees just about any animal.

This morning Zoey woke up with a croup-like cough (oh, joy for me).

Every time Zoey coughs Kaia runs to her, points excitedly, and says, "Ruff! Ruff!"

Zoey is not amused by this at all. :-)

pretending, right?

We pretend a LOT in our house. Today, we were pretending that I was Dalene - I know, that's such a stretch! - and Zoey was my neighbor, Mrs. Olson, visiting my house. We were in the kitchen during this conversation:

Dalene: I'm so glad you could visit, Mrs. Olson!

Mrs. Olson: Thank you! So, how are you today?

D: I'm doing well. Busy and tired, but well.

MO: So, where are your daughters?

D: Um, Kaia is right here in the kitchen playing...

MO: Oh, yeah, I see her...

D: ...and Zoey is upstairs getting dressed.

Zoey stopped, looked upstairs, and then whispered to me, "Mommy, we're just pretending, right? I'm right here, right?"

Oh, I couldn't stop laughing.

cupcake confusion

While making cupcakes this morning Zoey came in and asked, "Mommy, can I lick the bladders, please?"

M: You mean the beaters?

Z: No, the bladders!

M: Sweetie, a bladder is inside your body and holds your pee-pee.

Z: Oh, then the beaters, please.

mysterious

These days, most of our really great conversations take place in the car. It seems I've neglected to jot them down the past little while. Today, though...

Z: Mommy, I'm drawing lots and lots of pictures for you.

M: Great! I can't wait to see them all.

Z: Well... I am making them all different and mysterious so you won't know what they are.

M: Where did you learn the word mysterious?

Z: Oh, that one? I just made it up. It's a good one, huh?

just plain hysterical

Zoey, as of late, has been having trouble the the s-m combination, and it comes out as an f sound, instead.  For example, the word smile comes out as file. She tries really hard, but just can't quite get that combination.

So, tonight we were driving home from dinner and Zoey says, "Hey, look! It's the car place where daddy's car is being fixed!"

M: Zoey, you are so stinkin' smart!

Z: I am NOT stinkin' fart! I am just fart!

Poor girl. She had no idea why Brian and I couldn't stop laughing.

word rules

We have a lot of rules in our house, and lately, it seems, a lot of the rules revolve around words we can and cannot say and how we can or cannot say them. For example, we can say fine in a nice tone, such as in, "I am doing fine today!" but we cannot say fine when we are frustrated or exasperated. Zoey likes to remind me when I break the rules, too.

This morning Brian said, "That's weird..." when Zoey immediately cut him off and exclaimed, "You can't say that, Daddy!" He didn't know what he had said wrong, so I jumped in to remind Zoey we can say something is weird but not someone. She accepted my explanation and went on playing.

Hours later Zoey came to tell me something, paused to think, sighed, and walked away saying, "Mommy, all those word rules are confusing..."

Poor girl.

that girl makes me smile

Seconds after posting this:

http://zoeysmiles.blogspot.com/2012/01/its-official.html

Zoey came to me and said, "Mommy, thank you so much for washing Baby Maya Tiger. That was SO nice of you. You're the kindliest mommy in the world."

M: Thank you, Zoey.

Z: You are very welcome, Mommy.

And with that, the world seems right again.