November

I was enjoying some peace and quiet while taking a shower. In the master bath, our sinks and vanities are in one area, and the shower is in a small room. With the door shut, I feel almost secluded. This night, my bliss was cut short when Abby came in and announced, “I just came in to throw up!” Mike followed her to help. (Mind you, there is another bathroom that has a perfectly good toilet to throw up in.) As the two of them got prepared, Hannah walked in. “Mom! Can I have some water?” Sigh.

Abby gets stuck trying to exit the vehicle:

Hannah is beginning to use more sophisticated words. However, she does not always use them in the right context.
When I asked her if she played with Tommy at recess:
No, Tommy does not organize me.
When Abby was bossing Hannah around:
Mommy! Abby is instructing me!
When she means to say, “It doesn’t matter,” or “I don’t mind”:
I don’t matter.

The girls make out their wish list for Santa:


Hannah:
Mom? Do you know what advertise means? It’s when they put you under the water and then lift you back up.
Mom: Do you mean baptize?
Hannah: I keep forgetting that word!

We made Hannah stop sucking her thumb when she turned four six months ago. It was surprisingly easy, so I was surprised when she recently asked me when she could start sucking it again. I told her that she can never suck it. She was sad and said, “I’m just going to suck it a little right now.” Fearing a relapse, I told her not to. Resigned, she finally said, “Okay, I’ll just lick it a little.” Then she did just that.



The girls had a sleepover with their grandparents. Hannah is an early riser. She has often said that she’s frustrated that everyone else knows how to sleep except for her. When she got up early that morning, she told Papa, “When I’m older, I’ll learn how to sleep in.”

Mike and I went on a date while the girls were gone. At the end of the evening, we decided that we went on an old people date. First, we saw a movie about retired people. The theater was filled with retired people, and we went at an early time so we wouldn’t have to be annoyed by youngsters. After the movie, we bought soup and took it home so that we wouldn’t have to sit in a crowded restaurant. Our lives are on the cutting edge, let me assure you!

Hannah has asked bits and pieces about how babies are born. I’ve told her things here and there, but one day, she pieced it all together for Abby. It was surprisingly coherent. “Abby, after you get married, a baby will grow in your tummy after a little while, like two weeks. (This part censored for publication.) When it comes out, it will hurt, but then you will have a beautiful baby and it won’t hurt anymore.”
Hannah also told me, “I told Sam at school that he’s lucky he’s a boy. He’ll be a dad, not a mom. The mom has to get the shot in the pee-pee when the baby comes.” She emphasizes this by pointing to the area in question. (I had explained earlier that if you don’t want it to hurt, you get a shot. She surmised the rest.) We had to have a discussion about proper peer topics. I also told her that I got a shot in the back, not the “other” place. She thought about it and said, “I think I’ll have the doctor give me the shot in the stomach.”

We were headed to Panara’s for dinner. I asked Hannah what she was going to eat. She replied, “Mashed potato soup. That is the last one in my soup tasting collection.”

Abby was teasing Hannah about her boyfriend, Tommy. Hannah claimed that he is not her boyfriend.
H- He is a boy and we are friends, and we are in love.
A- That’s a boyfriend!
H- Okay, then he’s my boyfriend.
A- I’m going to tell my whole class that you have a boyfriend.
H- Okay.
This starts already??

The girls after a three hour play date:



There is a framed picture in Hannah’s preschool class. It shows the kids on the first day of school. On child is smiling, two are crying, and six look terrified. Only one little blond child looks completely comfortable. Hannah is in the back row with her hand on her hip. She is perfectly posed with a huge smile on her face. Good self-esteem – check!

My dad gave me an old GPS system. When I first started using it, I gave it a male voice with an English accent. The girls wanted to name the voice, so I began thinking of interesting English names. The girls thought faster than I, and his name is now Mr. Silly Pants.



We were waiting to ride a kiddie train when Hannah saw an older boy throwing acorns at his brother. She walked over to him and gave him a Mom look. “You should know better than that!” she told him.

In the hallway of Hannah’s school, there is a large turkey picture. Each feather lists what the child is thankful for. All the feathers read like this, “I am thankful for. . . .” Each one then lists Mom and Dad or sibling as the number one thing. Hannah’s however, is different. Hers reads, “I am thankful for chicken!”


While at my parents’ house one night, my sister-in-law and I heard my mom scream, followed by a loud crash and glass shattering. The children were all in the room with her, and they began screaming. You’ve never seen Shelley and I move so fast! We discovered that everyone was fine. Hannah had reached for an item that was on an unstable perch, and the entire thing came crashing to the ground. (My mom lectured me about bolting everything to the wall, so I think this is great that this happened at her house.)
Hannah was horrified, because she thought that it was her fault. She cried loudly until we could explain to her that it was not her fault and we were not angry. The main thing was that no one was hurt.
Several minutes later, I heard her reasoning, “It’s no one’s fault, especially not mine, because I did it.”

Poor Hannah gets so bored when Abby goes to school:
Abby had a Thanksgiving performance at school. There were five or so songs. After each song, all the kids stood (relatively) still, except for mine. Abby took a deep bow after each song. My mom rolled her eyes and looked at my dad and me. Ever the hams, we were so proud.