Our Little Peanut: August 2016

Favorite quotes:

"out abouts" = round abouts

"heart beep" = heart beat

"other tomorrow" = the day after tomorrow
"other other tomorrow" = the day after the day after tomorrow
"other last night" = the night before last
and so on....

While at one of my doctor's appointments you leaned over to me and quietly asked, "does she live here?" I think that made Dr. Anderson's day.

"I say" has made a comeback and can be used following any phrase coming out of your mouth.

At the car wash: "I like the part when they are wiping the cars because it doesn't hurt my ears."

"I might do something dangerous." Used to get me out of bed on weekend mornings.

"I'm going to be salt." General purpose phrase to express her distaste with something we've said.

I feel that teaching you to clean windows could serve me well in life. You love any chance to use a spray bottle so it works for both of us.

Stuffed animal happiness at Paolo's birthday.

Also, I can now say I've been in the home of a real-life writer/director/producer. First birthday party I've been to with a valet.

Seriously though, I love that family.

You: "Can you do everything?"
Me: "No."
You: "Dad can!"

I think every little girl should feel this way about her Daddy. I know I always have.

Oh how happy you would be to bring this home with us. But we left it at the store. (Future gift idea for anyone thinking ahead.)

Me: "What goes in the potty?"
You: "Pee and poop and bugs and vomit."

Yep, that pretty much sums it up.

Genius at work.

It was a rocket ship. You were very proud.

Using your props to tell me a story. Just like Miss Sunshine does at school.

One morning you came running in the bathroom while I was in the shower to ask, "Why do you call a refrigerator a fridge instead of a gerator?" Life's deepest questions.

Going to bed with Donnie & Doc McStuffins. For awhile this month Donnie & Doc slept by your bed every night. And each day you would choose dresses for each of them and carry the dresses around the house on the hangers so they could do things with you.

Very fresh and colorful dinner. We both love meals that you can help prepare.

Play date with Hudson!

Mr. Mark concert at the Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga. I don't know what "theatricum botanicum" might really translate to, but for the sake of this post, it means "outdoor theater." Mr. Mark is married to Ms. Hara, who was one of your teachers last year. He often comes to the school with his guitar and is a big hit with all the students. This year he is going to start teaching there as well so I suspect you will get even more fun music time in.

Mr. Mark and his daughter Miss Grace, also a teacher at your school.

During the show Mr. Mark was asking for suggestions of songs that everyone would know that we could sing as a group. We sang several Christmas songs, because you never know what you are going to get when kids are involved. Then you shouted out several times, "Put in the Pot." We got a good chuckle out of that but you seemed adamant about it so Miss Grace suggested that you sing it for us. Without hesitation, you proceeded to sing a Kinley original, with "put in the pot" being all the lyrics involved, of course. Mr. Mark picked up on the tune and the whole group sang your song. It was the funniest, sweetest thing I could imagine. Later Daddy said that he has heard you sing "Put in the Pot" before.

Later in the show you got to go up on stage.

You were supposed to be the wind and throw the girl's hat back in the ocean, but you didn't want to let go of the hat. Ms. Hara had to coax it out of you.

I canceled our cleaning service after we bought the house to save money. You love to help me clean but I still have a hard time getting motivated. One day I declared we were cleaning fairies and we both wore wings to help get the job done.

Last year we were flying home from Kauai on Halloween, but the hotel we were staying in had some Halloween events on the 30th. There were lots of kids and many of the hotel employees dressed up as well. One of the employees was wearing an Iron Man costume. You were terrified of him but it really made an impression on you. Any mention of Halloween, even to this day, and you ask about Iron Man. So you've had it in your mind for months that you want to be Iron Man this year. I talked to you about it again a few times recently and you never considered anything else. Without a doubt, Iron Man was it. So, even though it's early, I went ahead and started looking online to see what our options were and found this gem for $20. Can't beat that. You are so proud of it.

Daddy is certain everyone is going to think this was his idea, but I assure you it was all your own.

And I am thrilled to have a girl who would rather be a superhero than a princess.

If you'll allow it I would like to put french braids in your hair when you wear it because I find it kind of ironic I guess to make it really clear you are a girl who likes Iron Man.

You wanted gnome hats for your nail polish.

Sometimes you like to sleep with braids in your hair so it will be fluffy the next day. You call this your "Kara hair," after Johnathon's cousin Kara who you've only met twice. She is a singer and we sometimes catch her on TV, so she's tops in your book. In fact, anytime you see anyone singing on TV you expect her to be there too.

"Emergency" dental appointment on the day you brought me part of a tooth that you found in the carpet. I checked your mouth and couldn't find anything that appeared broken. I asked if you were chewing on anything when you found it. No. I asked if your teeth hurt. No. Messaged Daddy to see if he's chipped a tooth. No. So I called the dentist. They had me send a picture of the broken tooth and they confirmed it was indeed a tooth and I should bring you in. When we went in she agreed everything was fine in your mouth. She looked at the piece again and confirmed it was a tooth, we just don't know who it belongs to.

We have been spending a lot of time in the car driving back and forth to the house many weekends. You are a great traveler and take it like a champ. Sometimes I think you are a little too determined to to be that champ. I pack you a whole bag of toys and entertainment and sometimes you refuse to do anything the whole trip. If I try to encourage you, you tell me you'll just wait until we get there. (Mind you some of these trips have been as long as 4 hours or more, depending on traffic.) On our last couple of trips I finally asked if I could have the bag and pulled things out and started playing with them just to get your interest so you would want to use them.

Also as a result of all the car trips, you now regularly ask, "Are we on the fastest route?" Thanks Google Maps lady.

One day when I picked you up from summer school your hair had been braided sort of across the front and down one side, then the braid met the rest of the hair in a ponytail. It was really cute and something I'd never done with it. For the next 3 days you only wanted your hair "the way Miss Rose did it."

You've been very proud to clean your own paintbrushes lately.

In fact, you have been proud of doing a lot of things lately. You are clearly eager for independence and I am happy to encourage that. I have been encouraging you to do more and more things on your own like getting yourself on the potty, washing your hands, getting dressed, etc.

Probably about half the time we park the car in the garage you insist on doing "pobby rope." There is a seam in the pavement in the garage with a rubber tube thing that is stuck in the crack between two posts. You stand at the post next to the car and wait for me to go to the door. Then you walk along the crack and sing "pobby, pobby, pobby rope" to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I need to get this on video but haven't done so yet.

One day you used Jenga blocks to make "horse coops." I just loved the name.

One day after running several errands and being a really good sport about it, I told you that you could choose one thing before we left CVS. You wanted a snack so we went to the food section and found a package of cookies and I checked to make sure it didn't have dairy. When we went to the checkout I gave the woman a coupon with my payment and after trying to use it she told me it wouldn't work because it was expired (my bad). You looked at me with utmost concern and asked, bewildered, "does it have dairy in it?"

Waiting for Daddy to come home the day you got your costume so you could surprise him in it. When you tried it on earlier in the day you wouldn't let me send him a picture because you wanted to surprise him. So I let you put it back on after your bath and you waited so patiently watching out the window until he got home.