Nov 7: Ask, and you shall receive??

Last week, Rich asked Calli if she wanted a baby to come to our house. (No, we don't have any news - but we are open to the idea.)

So yesterday, while we were running errands, Calli says "I want to have a baby brother."

I said "Oh, that would be fun. But we have to ask Jesus if we can have a baby brother."

Calli says" Okay. Dear Jesus, can we have a baby come to our house? Amen"

I said "Calli, that was nice."

She is quiet for a minute and then said "Mamma, Jesus said 'Yes'." I guess time will tell ;)

Nov 6: Quotes from Today

Context: Mari threw food on the floor, AGAIN. I picked up the high chair, with her in it, and moved it to the corner where the quiet chair sits. I set it down, returned to the table, and continued eating my cereal.
Calli: "Mama, you are really strong!"

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Mari, looking for Calli: "Cayyyy-yeeee" (Calli -- the first time I've heard her say Calli fairly clearly)

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Calli, in the bathtub while I'm washing her hair: "My hair is named Becky."

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And that is just from today :)

Oct 17: Are my ears deceiving me??

Yesterday, we were walking into the house, and looking at our chalk drawings from the day before. I had drawn my standards: a flower, a baby, and a hopscotch. I asked Mari to find the baby, and she walked over to it saying "Der-she-is". Then we went to the hopscotch and I went over the numbers (1-20) with Calli a couple times. She is great up to 14 - but then misses a few. Calli and I headed to the door, but Mari stopped. I went back to her and she points at the three-square and says clear as day "Three, Three". I'm sure it was only a coincidence, but still!!!

Then tonight, I was nursing Mari, and Calli was on the bed with us. She was stroking Mari's head and back. I was about to tell her not to touch Mari, but thought since Mari didn't seem to mind - I'd let it go. So I just smiled at Calli. And Calli says in a quiet voice, so as not to disturb Mari, "I really love that she's my sister." I almost cried it was so sweet!

Thank you God for tender, and possibly intelligent girls!

Talk to me

While we were at Grandma's house, Calli threw a baseball in the house after I had asked her not to. Nothing broke, but I told her she would need to sit in the "quiet chair" (our name for time-out) because she did not obey. She found a chair and sat down. But being away from home, I didn't have easy access to a timer to set.

I was playing with Mari, and getting ready to go out. So a few minutes went by. Calli was still in the chair, but I had forgotten she was there for a reason. I sat down in front of her, and she said "Mamma, talk to me".

I thought, that is a new request. But maybe she just wants some attention. So I said "Hello Calli, How are you?".

"No" she said. "Say to me 'We do not throw the ball'". I started laughing so hard. I had completely forgot she was still in the quiet chair, but she had my speach all prepared.

Password

On our road trip to/from Galena, Rich and I discovered that if we let the girls watch Dora DVDVs (one after the other) we could play Password and have a lot of fun! The basic idea of Password is to give a 1-word clue, and have your partner give 1 response until you get them to say the word on the card.

Here is a good sample (the word was "evict"):

R: throw

J: up

R: people

J: catapult

R: out

J: umpire

R: of

J: orbit

R: house

J: evict

We had a lot of fun and laughed a lot. At one point, we were both laughing and Calli pipes up for the backseat "Hey - Hey - Hey guys, I have to tell you something. You be silly for a few minutes, then you take a little break - okay?" I laughed till I cried :)

Moral Maturity?

As Calli matures, I am starting to try and teach her not only how we behave, but also why. Today in the park, we shared our ball with another boy. That much we have done before. But as we were leaving, his caregiver took it away from him, and gave it back to us. I thought, we have a lot of balls - I don't think he has many. And he really liked ours. So I pulled Calli aside and asked her if we could give the ball to him. I reminded her we had lots of balls at home, and encouraged her that sometimes it is good to give things to other people. At first she said "no", but then agreed we could give it to him - for a present. (She did ask me if it was his birthday :) ) But she gave away her ball, without crying or fussing. I am so proud of her!

Also today, I looked in on her and Mari, and found Mari on the floor crying. I asked Calli if she had pushed Mari. Calli didn't answer. I asked her again. She has never lied, and I don't think she understands the concept yet. Her reply: "Mamma, I don't want to talk to you right now. Please go away."

So we are on our way - but still have a ways to go :)

Calli Chronicles

Just had to throw in some funny Calli stories from today:

Twice this morning, Calli used "for" and "got" seperately, meaning "forgot".
"Mamma, we for almost got to close the curtain" as in, we almost forgot to close the curtain.

Calli loves helping Dadda get the mail. Today she saw a letter with the Evanston Athletic Club logo on it and said "Look - it's from Kids Club", refering to the childcare area of our gym. So add the EAC logo to Starbucks and McDonalds (or "Old McDonald's" as Calli calls it) as ones recognized by our 3 year old :)

Accidents Happen

Today at playgroup Calli got bonked in the head with a giant frisbee. It was by a friend she was playing with, and was not intentional. But she cried, and cried, so I went over to talk to her about it.

"Calli" I said. "He is our friend. He did not mean to hit you - it was an accident."

Calli looks back at me and says "Sometimes we have accidents in our panties Mamma, but we do not hit."

Too funny!

Sneaky, Sneaky

Ever since she gave up her pacy, Calli asks regularly for us to lay with her when she can't fall asleep. Last night, she asked for a chocolate (M&M) and for me to lay with her. I don't want her to think she can always get what she wants, so I said she could have one - I would lay with her for a minute, or a chocolate. She put up two fingers and said "two" - meaning she wanted both.

I repeated "you can have one - solo uno". I wondered what she would pick, and told myself not to feel bad if she thought an M&M was better than my company :) She picked me. So I laid with her for a minute or so.

Then she says something like "okay, you can go now". I thought - good, I'm getting out of here early, and without falling asleep. And she asks, "Can I have a chocolate?", I say "Sure", figuring she just changed her mind.

As I walk out the door to get her chocolate she says "I have two" with this mischievous grin on her face. LOL! She got me - and she's only 3 years old!

So tonight, she asked me to lay with her. I did. Then she asked for a chocolate. I said "no". And she has been crying for the last 10 minutes or so. But bless her heart, Miss Mari has managed to sleep through it. Amazing, considering it is only the second night of them sleeping in the same room. Thank you Mari! you go girl!

Knock-knock

Calli told her first knock-knock joke this week. The exchange went something like this:

Calli: "I'll say 'Knock-knock' and then you say 'Who's there?', okay Mamma?"
Me: "Okay"
Calli: "Knock-knock"
Me: "Who's there?"
Calli: "Mariella"
Me: "Mariella who?"
Calli: "Mariella - Baby" lots of laughing

I guess she learned it from the kids at school.


Another great quote from today:
Me: "Calli are you trying to drive me crazy?"
Calli: "Not yet Mamma"

Did you say "Charlie"??

So tonight we were reading Maisy Goes Camping and talking about the characters: Maisy, Tallulah, Charley, Cyril, & Eddie.

Calli says "Like Grandma Keppen's friend - Charlie and (pause) Jerri."


Right! Last time Grandma Keppen was here, her sister Jerri, and Jerri's husband Charlie came along. The thing is, we have only met them once - and it was a month ago. I was having a hard time remembering Charlie's wife name - but Calli remembered! She amazes me sometimes!

Long Weekend in Michigan

We went to Zeeland/Holland to spend the holiday weekend with friends and family. Hopefully, I'll have some pictures later. But here are the best quotes from the weekend.

Calli goes downstairs to check on Tia KT who isn't feeling well. Calli comes back and reports "Tia KT has a stomach, like the caterpillar". Translation: Tia KT has a stomachache, like "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" in the story who eats too much.

Calli, Mari, Grandma, Grandpa and I are eating breakfast together. Out of nowhere, Calli turns to Grandpa and asks "Grandpa, where did all you hair go?" LOL!

What did you say?

Today we were looking at a book with all kinds of shops. A music shop, a pet shop, a hardware store, a toy store, etc. Calli says to me, "I got a guitar at the sandwich store".

I think she must be making up a story to go with the music shop in the book. I say: "That is silly".

She says it again: "I got a guitar at the sandwich store".

Whatever. I say: "You can get a guitar at a music store, or a sandwich at a sandwich store, but not a guitar at a sandwich store".

She says it again: "I got a guitar at the sandwich store". So I think really hard. A couple of weeks ago, we went to Subway, and for her toy she got - of course - a guitar. She really does know what she is talking about :)