Vertebrates and Stuff

Reading about insects not having backbones:

Laura:...Insects are invertebrates, but we have backbones so we are vertebrates.
S: Tigey is an invertebrate.
Laura: Well, I don't know. That's an interesting question. Tigers have backbones, so they're vertebrates, but Tigey doesn't have a backbone.
S: It doesn't have a backbone because it's a stuffed animal.

Right. Sophia often needs to remind us that Tigey isn't real...

In the Toilet

Laura's Post:

2:09 PM: I look up from my clinic reports: both sisters are playing happily together with the FisherPrice kitchen. Thalia takes a break to push the stroller contentedly around the living room.

2:10 PM: My next sentence is interrupted by Mark's voice from the bathroom: "Why is Thalia playing in the toilet? Sophia, why are you naked?"

Things do indeed fall apart so quickly. Now I'm laughing too hard to write about comprehension strategies.

Serious Danger

Me: Honey, you have to remember to look both ways when you're crossing the street! You have to always look out for cars! OK? They're very dangerous.
S: My friend Ben knows a lot about dinosaurs. He said that dinosaurs can eat people.
Me: Honey, I'm talking about cars right now. Why are you talking about dinosaurs?
S: Because dinosaurs are dangerous, too!...

Up?

"Why is my balloon not lifting me up?"
"That's just in the movies, honey."
"Oh."

A Rose Explosion

At the VBS registration table this morning:

Registrar: What's your name?
S: Sophia.
Registrar: What's your last name?
S: (silence)
Registrar: What's your last name?
S: (awkward silence)
Me: Say your last name, honey.
S: (whispering to me) I forgot.
Me: (mortified, I whisper to her the prefix of her family surname to give her a clue) Roze—
S: Roze. (the registrar begins looking down the list of names)
Me: (still mortified, I whisper to Sophia the second half) —boom!
S: Boom!
Registrar: OK, Sophia Rose. At least you remembered your middle name! I'll look for Boom on the list.
Me: It's Rozeboom. Her last name is Rozeboom...

Seriously? Where did I go wrong? She knows her numbers and letters, her colors, her address...But her last name she forgets? 

Later, when I pick her up, I ask what that was all about. She shrugs: "I forgot."

For the record, my adopted family name means "rose tree" in Dutch. If it helps, just picture a rose blowing up. 

Rozeboom!

The Toy Experiment

Thalia runs past with impish glee holding two markers in her hand.

S: Daddy! Thalia took my markers!
Me: Can you let her play with them? Look how happy she is.
S: But I'm coloring and I need those colors! See, she's trying to get more markers!
Me: Do you really think she wants your markers?
S: Yes!
Me: Let's experiment. Quietly, go play with the blocks over there, and we'll see if she keeps playing with the markers.

Sophia slips away to play with the blocks. Two seconds later, Thalia toddles over excitedly to join her. The cutest thing ever.

Me: Do you still think she wants to play with the markers?
S: No, she wants to play with the blocks.
Me: Is that what she really wants?
S: No, she wants to play with me.
Me: Yes, she's surrounded by all her wonderful toys that she could play with, but they're no fun without you! Isn't that wonderful? Look how cute she is the way she looks up to you and wants to play with you!
S: Yes, she's really cute! But I still want to color...

Right. I get it. They're four years apart and big sister needs her space right now. No problem. 

They really do get along playing together most of the time. I'm just glad for this opportunity Sophia has to recognize how adored she is by her little sister. I hope they continue to appreciate the lifetime value of sisterhood by having a blast building fun, healthy, non-combative memories each day, with or without toys, or our minimal coercion. I suspect that it's a special relationship that will foster itself as long as we parents respect each child's desire for personal space when she needs it.

Meanwhile, Sophia isn't coloring with her precious markers. Instead, they begin dancing together to Veggietales Radio on Pandora...

And now Thalia is pulling books off the shelf, which is my cue to stop writing and go play with my kids...

Blah, Blah! Who Cares!

Sophia hates picking up the toys and wants to know why I make her do it. I explain that the carpet gets really dirty and gross after awhile and it is much easier to clean when the toys are put away.

In response, she chants quietly but annoyingly, "Blah, blah! Who cares! Blah, blah! Who cares!..."

Wow! What friend or cartoon character taught her to act so sassy like that? I didn't see that coming. I want my sweetheart back!...

I stop washing dishes to lecture her a bit about her attitude. She may not realize she's being rude, but she shouldn't say that to people. It's the kind of thing that would get her in trouble in school.

"But I don't say that in school."
"Good. Please don't say that at home either. OK?"
"OK, Daddy."

Just then she accidentally drops her juicy plum on herself. 

Oh, no! I dropped a plum on my shirt and my shorts! Look! Oh, no! What am I going to do?
"Blah, blah! Who cares!"
"Hey!"

I couldn't resist. ; )

Grumpy Sunday

At church a friend asked Sophia where Laura was.
"She's at home today because she's grumpy."

Haha! Yes, well, sometimes mommies and daddies really do need Sunday to be a day of rest...

Dream Deferred

S: Aww, I lost my dream.
Me: (teasingly) Where did you put it?
S: I don't know where it went.
Me: Check under your blankets.
S: No, it's not there.
Me: Check under you pillow.
S: It's not there either.
Me: Check in your closet.
S: I don't see it there...
Me: What happened to your dream?
S: It flew away into other children's dreams, I think...

Fun Five

"I was having so much fun that I forgot I was five!"

No Bully Zone

Me: Honey, don't keep playing with her if she's crying. You know the rule.
S: But she's supposed to be crying, I'm pretending to be a bully.
Me: No.
S: Okay.

Pollipop

S: Daddy, my pollipop (sic) fell on the ground!
Me: We'll wash it when we get in the house.
S: Daddy.
Me: Yes?
S: I accidentally licked my pollipop.

Yes, that's another way to wash it.

Like Whoa!

Laura's Post:

S: (sprawling on a chair) I feel woe!
Me: (thinking that is an advanced word for a five-year-old) Really?
S: I feel whoa like a cool dude!

(You can guess which movie we just watched.)

Seesick

Laura's Post: 

S: I don't like that video Daddy keeps playing.
Me: Because it's of Thalia and not of you?
S: No, because I am getting seasick.
Me: How are you seasick?
S: Because I am seeing it too many times!

Family Standards

Laura's Post:

Sophia baked her first pie, made a toolbox, watched the parade, high-fived Carter, and ran in her first fun run today. 
What was her favorite part? The popsicle. It was green. 
I tried to get her picture with her race medal, but she said, "I'm not that kind of family."

A Very Cherry Birthday

Laura's Post:

Sophia has NO idea how lucky she is to have been born during Traverse City's Cherry Festival. No fireworks this year, but she's had fire engine rides, stomp rockets, Moomers ice cream sundaes, a magician, foam darts, and an impromptu playdate with an old friend. 
Not a bad party for $6. 
We can never move.

Fair...Oh!

Downtown Traverse City during the annual Cherry Festival:

S: Look! It's a pharaoh!
Laura: No, it's a fair.
S: No, it's a pharaoh!
Laura: It's called a fair.
S: Pharaoh! Look!
Laura: Oh, you're right! It is a pharaoh at the fair!...

Treasure Trove

Me: I have to clean the bathroom next.
S: Good, because it's a pigsty! It's so gross! I can't stand it!
Me: A pigsty? Honey, your room has been a pigsty until you cleaned it today. How can you stand that!
S: I don't think my room is a pigsty. I like to pretend it's my treasure, and I am sleeping in a treasure room.
Me: Haha, I see. Like a dragon's lair or a pirate's cave, and you're surrounded by treasure?
S: Yes, like a pirate's cave, and I'm a genie...

Well, Genie, grant me a wish, please, and tidy up a bit more!

Robbers

Laura's Post:

"Do you know how to tell if someone is a robber? I know it's not ALWAYS because they wear a black shirt. You can tell they are a robber because of the big sack they carry."