As I was changing the sheets on the girls' beds upstairs today, I could hear Kate and Faith playing happily downstairs. I smiled to myself, grateful that they play together so well. Or so I thought. When I came down, Kate asked if Faith was up there with me. Huh.
So Kate had been happily playing alone. Suspicious. We both knew where to look for Faith. Kate beat me to my bathroom, and returned holding a bottle of fake-tan lotion.

"Mommy, Faith was putting this all over her forehead." Kate has inherited my tattling skills.

I went into the bathroom, and sure enough, there was my little bronzed beauty looking freshly oiled. Not only had she applied the lotion liberally to her forehead, but she also had it on her cheeks, in her hair, and on the carpet. I suppressed an urge to giggle, and asked in my best mom voice, "Faith! Why would you do this??" (yes, I keep asking this stupid, stupid question)

"I sorry, Mommy" said Faith in her best pitiful voice. I debated whether I should go find the camera, and decided it would be best to get the stuff off of her before it got too dark. I think I did a pretty decent job on her face, but a not-so-decent job on her hair. I forgot her eyebrows completely. It's been a few hours, and it looks like I will finally get the red head I've always wanted :)

Babies Babies Babies

The name debate has been going on at full steam at our house for a while now. Mike and I haven't been very decided in anything, but both girls are not wavering from their baby name choices. Faith wants a girl, and wants to name her Jacqui or Grandma. If it's a boy, she wants to name him Grandma Papa. Kate wants a boy, and wants to name him Mike, but will also accept Shae. If it's a girl, she wants the name to be either Kate or Sparkle Jewelry Diamond. Kate is hoping for a boy so someone can be the bad guy or the prince/hero in all her games. (Apparently I'm not doing a good enough job, though you won't hear me complain about having an extra person to play one of the roles.) I don't think Faith really cares about the gender, she just wants to be able to boss someone around :). Well, I just got my ultrasound, and it turns out that it is a boy! Faith just yells "A boy!" to everyone we talk to, and Kate says "I've been waiting my whole life for a brother!!!" We are all ecstatic and I can't wipe the smile off my face! Everything looked great in the ultrasound, so we are grateful that he appears to be a strapping young lad already.

Despite the fact that we have some pretty solid boy name options, we are still open to suggestions.

English 101

Conversations with Kate:


1. The day before St. Patrick's Day, I was hitting all the local Hastings' in search of Darby O'Gill and the Little People, like most true Americans. In the car I was prepping the kids for the big day the next day. Since I have no grasp of the history of this fine holiday, I basically told them that on St. Patrick's Day, you wear green or you get pinched, if you wear red you get kissed, and little men called leprechauns play tricks on people. After this discussion we went inside to the lucky Hastings that still had one copy of the highly sought-after film. When we came out, Kate said:


"I think I'm going to wear red tomorrow. I want to get kissed."

"By whom?" I queried.

"Hmm... by someone I don't know. Maybe the jaguars."

"Huh?"

"You know, those sneaky guys that play tricks?"

"Uhhhh, leprechauns?"

"Yeah, them."



2.We were on our way out the door yesterday, which is always a process. I opened the door to go into the garage as Kate was putting her shoes on. Afraid I was going to leave her, she very sweetly asked, "Mommy, can you hold the horses please?"



3. When we drive around, the kids and I always keep an eye out for slug bugs. They still don't know why they are called slug bugs, and I like it that way. Anyway, yesterday, we got in the car and Kate announced, "Today, I'm going to watch for ricers." I laughed out loud. I hope she has a few proud uncles out there.

Good News

Kate just found her CTR ring. And it wasn't in Faith's diaper. Turns out that Faith is a pretty good little liar, and I searched through a whole bunch of fecal matter for nothing. Ah well, such is motherhood. :)

Update

Diapers examined: 5

CTR rings found: 0

If anyone is looking for a good appetite suppressant, let me know. I can make you my official examiner.

What do you think of when you see this ring? Choose The Right, perhaps? I once thought the same. However, as of this morning, all I can think about is the effect it might have on one's gastrointestinal system. The one I refer to is Faith, for Kate informed me that Faith swallowed her CTR ring. Kate didn't see it happen, Faith told her about it. I asked Faith where the ring was, and she said, "Ate it all."
Hmmm. 2 year olds can have a pretty fleeting grasp on reality, so I went upstairs and did a thorough search of the room where the event took place. I found nothing. It was time to do some detective work.

Mom: Faith, did you eat the ring?
Faith: Yup.
Mom: Why? (I know, I know, ridiculous question)
Faith: Cuz.
Mom: Did it feel good?
Faith: No.
Mom: Did it hurt?
Faith: Choke.
Mom: Was it yucky?
Faith: No, yummy! Taste good!
Mom: Where is the ring, Faith?
Faith: Ate all.

I repeated many of these questions to see if she would stick to her story, and she did. So I called the Dr. (I was worried about the pointy edges) and she just said to examine her poop until it comes out. Yipee! I am now glad she isn't potty trained.

Believe it or not, that was our 3rd call to the Dr. this week. Kate contracted Fifth Disease and I had a freak out moment because I wasn't sure what it did to pregnant women/unborn babies. My Dr. never called me back, but after doing some online research, I'm not as worried. On the bright side, Kate is rather excited about what she calls her "puppet cheeks."

Okay, she doesn't look that excited in that picture, but this next one shows her rosy enthusiasm. When it first showed up, I thought that she had suddenly inherited my flaming red face. I'm glad it's only a rash.

Did I mention Faith's aversion to normal clothing? She changes so many times a day, and is so stealthy about taking off her clothes that I've developed this philosophy. If we are at home, she can wear whatever she wants as long as she puts it on by herself. I want her to keep her clothes on, so I won't assist in the 50 wardrobe changes per day. Consequently, she has gotten pretty good at dressing herself. It's funny to watch her struggle and wrestle with a dress until she gets it on, and then proclaims with happy astonishment, "My do it! Yook Mommy! My do it!"

Then she found her swimsuit.
(She's trying to put her head through the leg hole.)

Look at those imploring eyes, wondering why I'm laughing and taking pictures instead of coming to her aid. And yes, I broke down and helped her put it on. Can you blame me?


On a completely random note, this is why I want to be a Chinese ballerina in my next life. (Even if you can only tolerate ballet, this is still pretty sweet. Watch to the end.)

Kate brought this drawing home from Sunday School. As you can see, they were learning about Heaven. Just looking at this picture was enough to make me want to go there some day, but I asked Kate to tell me about it anyway. Her reply:

~

"Well, that skinny guy is Jesus, and that big tough guy is Heavenly Father."

~

I wish I could get inside that girl's head. I think it would be a very interesting place. Kate is such a sweet girl. Lately, she is into surprising me with acts of service. This morning after breakfast, she asked me to come upstairs to look at something. She had mischievous look on her face, so I was suspicious. As I walked upstairs, I saw that she had cleaned up the play room! Then I looked in her room and she had made her bed! I gave her a big hug and told her how happy I was that she surprised me in that way. Then she said, "Mommy, my heart feels warm." :)

Next thing I know, she is calling me downstairs to see something else. And wouldn't you know it, she had made MY bed! I sure love that girl.

-----------------------------------

Faith is becoming harder and harder to discipline, simply because she is so darn cute! (okay, that's not the only reason) When I've spent a half hour trying to get her to do something (put shoes on, change diaper, clean up toys) and I'm about at my wits end, she will sweetly say, "Okay Mommy!" like she'd been planning on doing it all along. She is really starting to talk now. Her favorite phrases are "MY do it!" and "That thingy." She also adds "member?" (remember?) to the end of most sentences. It's funny, Kate used to do the same thing. Faith does a lot of things that Kate does. She already into princesses, unfortunately. Whenever she plays princess, she insists on being "Jasmine-Belle." Does it disturb anyone else that she knows their names?

Faith loves pretty dresses. If she can't wear one, she wants to be naked. This makes getting ready in the morning quite difficult. The dresses she likes are sun dresses with no sleeves, and she won't wear anything under them. It's winter, so she can't wear that, of course! But she doesn't give up.

Ever.

She is one tenacious kid. Her persnicketiness will pay off some day, I'm sure of it. Faith sleeps in a big girl bed now, and is enjoying the freedom immensely. She comes down several times each night to show us some new ouchie. Most of the time, she hasn't decided where it is yet, and quickly has to come up with something. Again, it's frustrating, but she is so darn cute about it, how can I get mad? I'm pretty good about keeping my stern face and not laughing until they've left the room, but I still don't think they take me very seriously. Maybe I'll follow Bill Cosby's example and start holding nightly beatings.