Wednesday, January 31, 2007

How Fast?

Leaving to pick up Charlotte from preschool after Benjamin's morning nap is usually uneventful. Today, a dead bird lay with white eyes and feet pointing toward the sky on our front stoop.

"How fast can you get that thing out of here," I thought as I called the main office of our apartment complex.

All the way to Owings Mills and all the way back (25 minutes total), I rehearsed the conversation about the dead bird.

Yes, it was there upon our return. Yes, her questions came fast and furious. No, she was not shaken by it but those smart little wheels were just turning and turning.

The best question was: "Did it die while it was flying?"
That's a good one.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

A What?

Our after dinner time is usually spent giggling on the floor with the kids. A variety of acrobatics, tickling and jumping around makes us all smile. It's a good way to have some silly family time.

Last night, Charlotte and Benjamin were dancing around on the couch pillows on the floor. Benjamin kept hogging both pillows.

"I hate to be a Solar System," Charlotte declares, "but you need to get OFF my pillow."

"A what?"

She could not stop laughing and knew that was not what she meant to say. I think.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

52 Animals

How are we going to feed all these mouths that come in a variety of shapes and sizes? Charlotte commented that she was missing a "spotted girrafe" and a "big elephant". Even Benjamin has 10 animals. Is this a ridiculous number, or is it me?

This afternoon we emptied out her animals drawers and counted each and every creature one by one (not two by two as in the ark).

"Keep or sell?"
"Keep. Keep. Keep. Keep."
Each one is a beloved. Each one has a name. Some are to be given to Benjamin but not to leave the house.

What to do?!

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Takes a Licking

Poor kid. She's got a bruise on top of the place where a chunk was taken out of her forehead a couple of months ago. Charlotte ricocheted off the swining kitchen door and bonked her head on the corner of the dishwasher door.

"It's feeling better."
When it happend, it was "bad".

Friday, January 26, 2007

Don't call me SURLEY

We were all hanging out on the floor and David was tickling the heck outta Charlotte. She's laughing so hard that she can't even speak. "That SURELY tickles," she says.

Surely, don't call me surely.

That Feeling a Song Gives You

Charlotte refelcted on the feeling a Hebrew song gave her while listening to a CD in the car.

"That song is smoothing to me."
"You meant SOOTHING," I said, in my usual gentle tone when correcting the word she intended to say.
"Yes, it makes me feel smooth."

Don't you wish you could feel smooth too?!

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Percentages

So, here is my question to you:
What percentage of a child's behavior is parenting vs. what percentage is their personality? I'm sure that parents with great kids say 80/20 and people with kids who bounce off the walls say 20/80. Let's see what you say - doesn't matter if you have kids or not. The more votes the better please!

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

No Love Other Than This

On the way to school Charlotte announced that she does not want to grow up.
"Why", I asked.
"I don't want to grow up because I don't want to get married", she replied.
"Why not?"
I did not want to lead her but was curious more than anything else.
"I only want to marry Ben and I will not love anyone like I love him."

Our discussion went on for a bit but she seemed to feel a bit better. How can I convince her that she will find a love even greater than that she feels for any of her immediate family members.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

A Whisper

Charlotte sat at lunch eating everything BUT her noodles. She ate her carrots, peanut butter on celery, and pear but NO NOODLES. While her head was turned away from me I whispered, "eat your noodles".

"Who said that?" she asked with a bit of a fright.
I did not have the heart to continue the joke and told her it was me.
Charlotte giggled and kept on eating.

Sadly, she ended up not eating the noodles (Barilla Plus - has tons of Omega-3 and other good stuff). Nonetheless, a veggie, protein and fruit lunch is great.

Monday, January 22, 2007

Curious Kid

Benjamin sat in his highchair calling out his most favoirte word, "bye-bye, bye-bye, bye-bye".
Only moments earlier I had brought over Charlotte's sneakers and told her that we were going to Office Depot. "How did he know we were going out?" I asked her and myself.

"He's a curious kid," she replied. "Do you know what a curious kid is Eema? It's a kid who knows when we're going out."

Yes, my four-year-old. I should've know that.