Bum Cream : (

While changing Thalia, I ask Sophia to help me out:

Me: Sophia, ask Mama for the butt cream, please. (Oh, no. I just said butt cream. I hope she doesn't make a big deal out of it and get me in trouble...)

Sophia: Haha! "Butt cream!" 

(On her way to Mama, she begins to loudly chant an impromptu "butt cream" song...)

Laura: Tell Daddy it's called "bottom cream" or "diaper cream"!

Sophia: Daddy! Mama said you're not supposed to call it butt cream!...

(I know, I know... sigh)

Play Date! (photos)

How to Keep Bugs Out of Your Dessert

Laura's Post: 

We are sitting on the porch eating delicious strawberry-rhubarb crisp. 
Well, I am eating; Sophia is flitting about. 
I notice that a couple of bugs are circling round Sophia's dish:

Me: Sophia, there are bugs trying to eat your dessert. What are you going to do about it?
Sophia: (thinking deeply) I am going to send it up into the sky so high that the bugs can't get it.
Me: Well there are fewer bugs up there. How are you going to send it up there?
Sophia: In a rocket.
Me: What is going to fuel it?
Sophia: Mary Poppins! It is going to go high up into heaven to God. God is going to take care of it for me. Then we are going to have a party with balloons with pictures of God on them. We are going to dance, and God is not going to be careful because if he falls down, he won't get hurt....

(I was going to suggest plastic wrap, but what do I know?...)

The Chocolate Whisperer!

Late last night I took over watching baby Thalia so Laura could have a much needed break. Thalia finally went to sleep at 4:15 a.m. after hours of holding and rocking and changing of dirty diapers. I set her in her crib and crashed on the living room couch next to her....

Mercifully, with Laura's insistence, Sophia let me sleep in until 10:00 a.m. before climbing on top of me to loudly announce, "I woke up before you and baby sister!"

"That's nice, honey, but can you whisper? Thalia is still sleeping."

"I don't know how to whisper!"

"Whisper like me."

"I don't know how!"

"What if I gave you a prize if you let me teach you how to whisper?"

"Like what?"

"How about pennies for your piggy bank?"

"Umm, how about chocolate?"

"Okay, chocolate. Let me hear you whisper now."

(whispering perfectly) "Daddy, I love you."

"Aww, I love you, too. That was a perfect whisper! I knew you could do it. Where did you learn how to whisper so well?"

(no longer whispering) "I was taking adult whisper classes with Tigey with a whisper teacher so I can practice whispering. The teacher is a whisper wizard! I am a very good whisperer....Can I have my chocolate now?"....

I Scream!

I'm awakened abruptly this morning by Sophia shouting, "I HAD A BAD DREAM!" Moments later she's by my side. She climbs up and cuddles next to me teary eyed and pouting, "Daddy, I had a bad dream." Poor girl. I imagine she dreamt of monsters or wild animals or bloody murder...

"I dreamed that I was eating ice cream, and Mommy took it away from me and gave it to you! And then you ate it all up!"

"Yummy!"

"Nooooo! It was my ice cream and you ate it all up!"

"What kind of ice cream was it?"

"Peanut butter chocolate."

"Yummy! That's not a bad dream, that's the best dream ever!"

"Nooooo!"....

Fashion AdVice

Me: Okay. We have to go. Are you ready?
Sophia: I can't find shorts to wear that I like!
Me: Then put on shorts you don't like.

(She gives me the stink eye because, apparently, unlike her father, not everyone goes out in public in clothes they shouldn't like...)

Finally a Big Sister!

The wait is over! Sophia's sister Thalia Faith was born today, June 24th, 2015, at 7:29 a.m., 8 lbs, 3 oz., and is healthy, hungry, and feisty! : ) 

Sophia is disappointed that none of her chosen names, including Rainbow Cloud and Princess Sparkles, made the cut. We promised her that she can call her sister any nice name she wants, but just remember that her sister will someday be choosing names to call her, too ; )

You can see a few more photos of Sophia's kid sister on the blog page "Raising Thalia (Faithfully:)."

Baby Sister's New Name

At the dinner table with cousins:

Me: We think we have a good baby name, but we don't want to commit just yet. We especially don't want You-Know-Who to know because she would tell everybody.

Sophia: Tell me the name, Daddy!

Me: I don't think so, honey. You might tell everyone! We want to keep it a surprise.

Sophia: I won't tell everyone! 

Me: But we want to keep it a surprise.

Sophia: Tell me!...

I whisper "Pumpkin Pie" into her ear. Her eyes light up like a spark plug, and she instantly shouts out, "It's Pumpkin Pie! Daddy told me the baby's name is Pumpkin Pie!"

Me: It took her less than a second!...It's supposed to be a surprise! (Sheesh.)

Happy Father's Day!

Me: I didn't hear you say Happy Father's Day to me!
(Sophia shrugs.)
Me: Maybe you're saving it for later?
Sophia: Yes, I'm saving it for church.
Me: Oh. Well, every day is a happy father's day with you, honey.
Sophia: Yep...

p.s. She said she loved me as she climbed into the car, then to Laura, "I love you, Mama, even though it's Father's Day..." : )

Motivation to Ride

"I like to ride with Mama for the music, 
and I like to ride with Daddy for the chocolate...."

Two New Adjectives

Laura's Post:

Learned two new adjectives to use in a sentence this week: "rainish" and "deadous."
As in, "It is really rainish today," and "These plants look deadous."

A Million Ways to Wake Up Daddy

How Sophia woke me up this first week of summer vacation:

1. Poking Method: repeatedly poking me in the ribs until I jolt awake.
2. Creepy Method: lying on top of me, nose to nose, wide-eyed, and grinning, until I open my eyes and shudder myself awake.
3. Cliffhanger Method: slipping into bed between Mommy and me and strategically positioning her hands and feet for leverage, then pushing and prodding me to the bed's edge to force me awake.
4. Drip Drip Drip Method: whispering into my ear, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy...," to annoy me awake.
5. Frozen Method: removing my blankets, then sitting by and watching me shiver myself awake.
6. Academic Method: placing a LeapFrog educational toy next to my ear and turning it on so I hear "FIND THE LETTER 'C'!" at full volume to make me leap frog awake....

(Don't give Sophia any more ideas! I'll lose even more sleep when her new baby sister arrives...)

Space Cadet

Sophia detests naps so much that she can't admit to having taken one even while rubbing her sleepy eyes open as we're pulling into the driveway:

Me: Did you have a nice N-A-P?
Sophia: I wasn't napping.
Laura: You were napping for about an hour.
Sophia: No, I wasn't!
Laura: What were you doing then?
Sophia: I was just, uhhh, spacing...

(Yeah, spacing like an astronaut in hypersleep ; )

A Friend Like Me

After listening to the Aladdin song "Friend Like Me":

S: What is he singing about?
Me: He's singing about how you have never had a friend like him.
S: Yes, I have friends like him.
Me: No, he's a special friend because he's a genie with magical powers.
S: But I'm special, too.
Me: Yes, you're special, but the genie is special because he can grant Aladdin wishes.
S: But he's not cheeky like me. I'm cheeky because I like to sneak in Mama's room when she's sleeping and wake her up...

(That settles it. Stuff the genie back into the lamp...)

Upside Down Baby

Me: That's your little sister in there, so be really gentle when rubbing Mama's belly.
Sophia: Yes, be really gentle.
Me: And when she's born, you have to be really, really gentle. Right?
Sophia: Yes, you can't hold her upside down.
(Well, I'm glad that's been clarified...)