Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Mama, Tell Daniel Please

We were reading a book the other day, and there was a picture of cattails in it. We had a big time playing with cattails at the park one day, so I wondered if Daniel would remember the word "cattails." I showed him the picture, and said, "Look! You have played with this before. Do you remember what it is? What is it called?" He thought for a minute, then looked at me and said calmly, "Mama, tell Daniel please." So, I told him and we talked about our day playing with cattails.

When we came home from Tn, Daniel's friend Ariana and her mom picked us up at the airport. I told Daniel that morning that we were having a surprise friend pick us up. Then, when we got to baggage claim, I told him to guess who was coming to pick us up. He guessed Buxton and then Bob. I said, "Nope, it's not them. Guess who it is. Who do you think is coming to pick us up?" He said, "Mama, tell Daniel please." So, I told him. He was thrilled because he loves Ariana's snacks.

With me

I usually say to Daniel, "I'm going to the bathroom/in the kitchen/upstairs for a minute. Do you want to stay here or come with me?" His reply is almost always, "With me!" Today we dropped Joseph off at work on our way to the grocery store. Daniel hated to see him go. When Joseph got out of the car, Daniel yelled, "With me! With me! With me!"

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Nah One....Two Dogs!

When we drive we look for things like stop signs, horses, and recently daffodils. Today I happened to see someone walking a big dog, so I pointed it out to Daniel. He got really excited and said, "Pet! Pet!" which is what he always says when he sees a dog. I told him that we can't pet dogs from the van, only when we are out walking around. I tried to distract him by reminding him about the dog we saw at the park yesterday. He only got upset and said, "Nah one! Nah one!" At first, I couldn't understand when he was saying. Then, he said, "Nah one!.....Two dogs!" I realized he was saying, "Another one---two dogs (yesterday's dog and this dog). I'm pretty sure that's the first time he has said, "Another one."

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Jesus, Help Calvin

Daniel can say two prayers- 1. Thanks Jesus 2. Help Jesus. We pray for our food and our families and friends this way. We have one friend who is getting ready to be an older brother, and we are praying frequently for him and his family. Sometimes I ask Daniel if he wants to pray, and we both pray. Sometimes he says, "Pray!" Then, I ask him who he wants to pray for, and we pray. Sometimes (less often) he spontaneously prays by himself.

The other day we were in the grocery store and Daniel was happy and active. He had been singing very loudly one of his favorite made-up songs, "Bob And Elaine's House" at the top of his lungs. We had gotten "compliments" from four people already. I was shopping as fast as I could. Then he started talking to himself. I listened at first and then got distracted. Later I realized he was repeating the same thing over and over. So, I listened for a minute and heard him say, "Jesus, help Calvin. Amen." (Calvin is our dog). I said, "Are you praying for Calvin?" He said, "Yes. More." and he continued.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Here bird.....worm!

Most of the time Daniel feeds himself. However, if he is really into artwork or a book at the table, I will poke food in his mouth. I call it "baby bird style." I will say, "Let me give you some waffle baby bird." I have explained to him that the reason I say this is because that is the way mother birds feed their babies. They go find an earthworm, get it in their beak, take it back to their baby bird in the the nest, and poke it into the baby's mouth. Last month there was a poem in Highlights Magazine about a baby bird. We've read it a thousand times, and Daniel likes to say "worm" when we read it. Yesterday, we walked down to Bob And Elaine's House. In the driveway, I looked down and saw a long, fat earthworm wriggling around. I showed him to Daniel and told him this is what the mother birds feed their babies. I asked him if he wanted to hold it gently, and he said yes. I put it into his hand, and he held his hand up, turned toward the road, and said, "Here bird....worm!..... Come bird.....worm!" When no bird came immediately to take the worm out of his hand, he passed it back to me and said, "No like it." (the birds don't like it). Now I don't think he believes me that baby birds eat worms.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

No Like It....Cold

We planned to go swimming with our friends tonight at 6 pm, after an early dinner. We waited to tell Daniel until the last minute because we thought he might be too excited to wait. We haven't been swimming at the pool in several months. When Daniel was very small, he got really cold and shivery in the water, so we couldn't stay very long each time. We thought since he was bigger it wouldn't be a problem.

We got everything ready, then we said, "We're going swimming." Daniel said, "Beach!!!!" We said, "No, we're not going to the beach. We're going to the swimming pool." He looked at us seriously and said, "No like it.....Cold!" We told him it would probably be okay this time because he is bigger. But, when we got there, there was a malfunction with something in the pool, and it was 8 degrees colder than usual. So, his teeth chattered the whole time, and we only stayed in the water for about 25 minutes. We'd say, "Are you cold?" He'd say, "Yessss (teeth chattering)." We'd say, "Do you want to get out?" He'd say, "No.....more!"

Hopefully next time the water will be warmer, and we'll go in the daytime. Then, maybe he can play.

Tonight we ended up going to Chick-fil-a and playing in the kids' area until he had used up his energy.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Possum.........or R.O.U.S.?

You will only understand this post if you have watched the movie (or read the book) The Princess Bride. If you haven't, please turn off your computer and rent the movie. It is excellent.

We have an ENORMOUS possum living under the shed in our back yard. It is AT LEAST three times the size of Calvin (11 pounds). It is completely hideous, and it comes out every day at dusk (or earlier if it is cloudy) to repulse and taunt me. I am serious, it looks just like a R.O.U.S.

Tomorrow I am going to check around and see if anyone will come and trap it and take it away for me. At church, some older men said that if I tried to poke it, it would faint. Then, I could pick it up and take it somewhere. I said, "Oh, I won't be picking it up!" They said, "Well, your husband could pick it up." I laughed even harder at that. I said, " I am MUCH more likely than my husband to pick up a possum. And I am NOT picking up a possum."

We will see what happens. Too bad we don't live next to the fire swamp.

No Say Dat

The other night before bedtime Daniel yawned really big. I said, "Wow. That was a big yawn. It looks like your body is really tired." He replied, "No say dat." I said, "Don't say you are tired?" He said, "Yeah. No say dat."

Tonight on the way home from church he was unhappy, so I said, "Let's play the word game." It's just a game where everybody in the car takes turns saying a word. Any word. We played a few rounds. I said words like "duck," "game," "dog," and "G.G." Then I said, "bathtub." He said, "No say dat!" I said, "You don't want me to say bathtub?" He said, "Yeah, no bathtub." Then, when it was time for him to get in the shower with Joseph, he said, "Bathtub! Bathtub please!"