If Mom says no...

So, Xander is into opening EVERYTHING these days. From DVDs, to spice bottles and drawers. He asked me to open something for him and I said, "No, that's not a toy, I won't open it for you." He didn't cry, which seams to be his current favorite response when he doesn't get something he wants. He simply walked over to Venice and handed her the item and asked, "Open!"

Hand!

At the park a few days ago, Venice and Xander were playing together. There is a small maze for the kids to wander through and Xander was following Venice through it. In the middle, there are some sitting stones where the kids climb, sit or chat. Venice stood on one, so of course Xander did too. But he couldn't jump down like Venice did. So he said loudly with his arm outstretched, "Hand, hand hand." Venice, without a word, walked ove, gave him her hand and helped him jump down.

Move my buddies

Venice has been listening to our conversations about possibly moving. She gets anxious when talking about leaving our home, backyard and friends. The other day she said while the outsides of her lips were curling down and you could see her 'being brave, "Mommy. If we move I want to bring my buddies." I know she's been worried about leaving her friends, so I asked, "Which buddies would you want to bring?" She replied, "All of them, the bears, the dogs... and what about my big bed?" I then realized she was talking about all of her stuffed animals. "Of course we'd bring all your buddies." "Would I have to sleep in my sleeping bag and leave my big bed here?" "No! We'll bring your bed, your blankets, your pillows, and all your buddies." "What about the bowls?" "Yes, we'll bring the bowls. Even all your toys and books." "How will it all get there?" "We'll pack it up into boxes and hire a big big big truck to take it to the new place." Venice replied in an anxious voice, "But that would take years!" "Actually, it would probably only take a few weeks." While she is still a bit worried about moving, this conersation has made her feel a little bit better.

Boogers

This morning Venice was digging in her nose and she said, "Boogers are how I get dirt out of my body." And she asked for a kleenex for the very big booger she found.

Pretending

Venice is so into pretending. All day long, all I hear is, "Mommy. Pretend that you're the bus driver and I wanted to take a ride." or "Mommy. Pretend that I was a caterpillar in a cocoon, but that you didn't know what was inside." or "Mommy. Pretend that you were my Daddy and that my real Daddy was my Mommy." or "Mommy. Pretend that I was the Mommy and you were the baby." or "Mommy. Pretend that I wanted to go to sleep, but that I needed to have a story read to me." or "Mommy. Pretend that you couldn't see me and I scared you when I said, 'boo!'" or "Mommy. Pretend that I was a fairy princess and I was having a sleepover with all my friends." or "Mommy. Pretend that we're in dance class and I'm the teacher and you didn't know waht to do." and on and on and on and on. Chris and I are convinced that she will be an actor or a writer someday with her vivid imagination and desire to act out scenarios.

One thing that I need to capture on video as it's just so awesome, is that she's into interpretive dance. She asks me to read a story or make one up and she'll dance to it, acting out the words I'm saying. It's pretty amazing to watch and she has a lot of fun doing it.

Excuse Me

Yesterday, while getting out of the bath, Xander burped really loudly and immediately said, "Excuse me." Of course, it sounded more like, "coo meh" but his manners were in tact!

I don't like the cold.

Leaving the park yesterday, Venice says to me, "Mommy, I don't like the cold." We've been talking about how hot it is here in Rocklin and how we might move somewhere where it's not so hot. I know Venice is a little apprehensive about moving, so I answered, "Really? I like the cold. Some days I like it hot and some days I like it cold." She paused a little and then said, "No. I don't like the cold that Casey gave me." Ah ha! "I don't like colds either," I responded. Then Venice asked, "So, I wonder who I'll give this cold to?" "Well, it would be good if you didn't give it to anyone," I said. "Why?" she asked. "Because, you don't like having a cold, neither do other people." "Oh." she replied, unimpressed by my answer.