When I cleaned out my phone pictures, I was reminded of two funny sleep photos from the past:
This one was from the summer, when Claire was having trouble letting go of her caca. She would spend so long sitting on the toilet that one time she fell asleep against my knees.
This one was also from the summer, while we were in Mexico. Jason and I were quietly reading in bed while the girls slept next to us. All of a sudden, we heard a whole lot of movement from their bed and looked over to find this: Gabby had flipped all the way up-side-down and pulled the other side of the covers over her. She had no recollection of doing so the next morning.
While we are on the topics of beds, I had the following conversation with my barely-two-year-old:
Mom: Claire, go hop into bed while I finish putting these things away in the bathroom. I'll be right there.
Claire: [Obediently leaves the room.]
Mom: [Arrives in Claire's room to find her jumping up and down next to her bed.] What are you doing?
Claire: [Frustrated.] I can't do it, Mom! I can't do it!
Mom: You can't do what? It's time to get into bed.
Claire: [Still hopping.] I need your help, Mom.
Mom: [Pause. Puzzled look on face.] Oh, wait - are you trying to "hop" into bed?
Claire: Yes, but I can't do it!
That's right, my daughter was trying hard to follow my instructions that she "hop" into bed. She was satisfied when I helped her that day, but insisted on "hopping" into bed for at least a week after that.
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Gabby came home one day talking non-stop about a boy in her class named Jason. She wouldn't stop telling me about how funny he was. She especially liked that he said something along the lines of "Mouska, mouska, Micky Mouse" over and over. Luckily, she has no idea that boys like girls and girls like boys yet, so I figured it would be nothing more than a friendship.
After two days of talking about Jason's greatness, Gabby told us her big news at the dinner table: Jason was mean to her. The dialogue went something like this:
Mom: What did he do?
Gabby: He kept saying, 'Mouska, mouska, Micky Mouse'!
Dad: But I thought you liked him saying that.
Gabby: Yesterday, but not today. I was so sad. Sarah made me feel better and told Jason not to be mean anymore.
Jason (the husband) and I looked at each other in disbelief. Wasn't this teenage behavior? Does this not give you the boy-girl relationship in a nutshell? Boy likes girl. Makes her laugh. Girl likes boy. Boy repeats what girl likes. Girl doesn't like boy anymore. Friend takes girls side and tells boy to leave. Jason explained that this type of issue is exactly why it took him so long to get married. Girls are so hard to figure out. Just when you think you know what they like, they change. I told Jason that boys were the difficult ones. They keep trying the same old tricks and get annoying. ;)
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We have recently had to have a few talks with our four-year-old about not lying (vegetables were disappearing off the table and reappearing close to Claire's chair, at which point Claire was accused of throwing food). After one deep conversation with her dad one night (in which he had no idea if she was listening), I went in to tuck Gabby into bed. "Mom, I have something to tell you," she admitted. "One time, when I was two, I was standing on a chair in the playroom and I got down when I heard you coming. But when you asked me if I was standing on the chair, I said . . . no. But really, I was standing on the chair. And Claire was on the chair and she got in trouble."
Wow. The only time that I could think of having to enforce a no-standing-on-the-little-chairs rule was when Claire was learning how to walk and went into climbing mode instead. That was at least a year-and-a-half ago. Had this been on her conscience since then? If that is the worst she had to admit, I think Daddy must have done a pretty good job teaching her not to lie.
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For the children's program in our church (Primary) the theme of 2012 was "Choose the Right". We have been working on this concept the whole year. In November, our bishop (the leader of our congregation/"ward") came in and talked to the kids about choosing the right. Apparently, he made a little bit more of an impact on her. That night, and for weeks following, Gabby would suddenly announce something like, "Claire wants me to climb up on the top bunk, but the bishop said, "Choose the right,"so I am getting my pajamas on like I am supposed to." Maybe we need to have him speak to the kids more often....
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The girls recently put on the following one-minute performance for me:
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Maybe I shouldn't be ending on this note, but this is the type of humor I live with every day. The girls one day were very excited to have the treat of a hot dog. Claire is still learning English and said, "Mom, I want my hot dog on a bum!" This drew laughter from her sister, who now knows what a "bum" is, but Claire did not understand the humor in the situation. Claire continued while waiting for her hot dog to warm up, "I want my bum warm, Mom." More laughter from Gabby. And finally, as I gave them their food at the table, Claire finished with, "I have a little bum, Gabby." After that, we realized we better teach Claire how to say "b-u-n" so that she doesn't get made fun of in Middle School.
Happy New Year everyone! May 2013 bring many more moments to remember!
