Beauty and the Breast

Adelaide is now 17 months old, and I know that I should probably start weaning her (some of you would say I should've weaned her already!) but every time I think about it, I almost cry. Who knew I would grow this attached to something that I initially loathed and detested? I have to write down everything I love about it, since she may decide on her own that she's done and I may have no say in the matter. I love:

1. How she snuggles her little head down into the crook of my arm
2. How she opens her mouth like a little bird, and laughs if I wiggle around so she can't get to me
3. How she pats and/or squeezes me at the same time she's nursing
4. How she looks up at me with those big blue eyes and gets a "glazed, milk-drunk" expression
5. How when she's done, she's all rosy-cheeked, crazy-haired, and toasty-warm
6. How she goes "Mmummummumumum" when her mouth's full
7. How she digs into my shirt with both hands and tries to yank it out while saying "booboob"
8. How we snuggle together under the covers in the morning while she nurses and pulls on my bra strap, hair, or anything else she can busy herself with
9. How she thinks it's so funny to try to stick her finger up my nose when I'm not looking
10.How she follows me around, pointing and saying, "Eh, eh, eh!" and then gets all excited and laughs "heh heh" when I pick her up and ask her if she wants to nurse
11.How she plays with her hair and her little ears (which sometimes get folded back and stuck to her head) while she's nursing
12.How she does "the motions" to her lullaby at the same time (eyes, nose, ears, toes, hair, cheeks, mouth, 'feets')

Sigh. See? It's going to be hard to give it up. I never would've thought it. It almost makes me want to have another one.... Maybe I shouldn't stop just yet!

Where's the Trust?

One of my favorite things about Josie is the way she talks. She still says, "Woild" (world), "Goil" (girl), "lellow" (yellow), "dwink" (drink), Old MacDonald's (McDonald's) "That's cracka-lacking!" (her favorite quote from the Madagascar movie) and my new favorite: "Pencil sharpeninger" - you can figure that one out.

The other day we were discussing potty issues and when she might learn to clean her own little butt instead of yelling, "MOMMY!!! I'M DONE! MOMMMMMMMMYYYY!" I told her I thought it was about time to learn to do it herself. She looked at me very seriously and said, "Listen, Mommy, I'm still a little kid."

I made the first vegetable soup of the year last week, and as Josie was eating it, she kept picking at something in the bowl with her spoon. I told her she needed to finish her soup so I could clean up the kitchen. She said, "What IS this, Mommy?" I said, "It's a carrot." She said, "No it's not, it's a tomato." (she won't eat tomatoes). I said, "It's a carrot." She said, "You call it a carrot; I call it a tomato."

On the way to church Sunday, she asked Jesse a question... he answered her, but then she asked me the same question. He said, "What? You don't trust me?" She answered, "No, but I don't trust Mommy, either."


James, Teagan, and Ireson came over to play the other day and Teagan said something that hurt James' feelings... I don't know what it was, but he was practically in tears and Sadie was upset for him. Wearing her big pink princess dress (the one with the hoop skirt that Mamaw gave her), she dramatically proclaimed before she flounced out of the room: "She (Teagan) is mean and cruel too. This is no place for a lady!"

It's a Cruel, Cruel Summer...Now You're Grown

I know, I know... they're not really grown, but they're more grown now than they were at the beginning of summer. I was thinking the other day as we were riding bikes down the street (Sadie on her 2 wheeler, tearing it up in front, Josie on her hot wheels, pedaling as fast as she could, little legs all in a blur, saying that she likes to "drink the fall air," and Adelaide snuggled in the bike trailer behind me yelling "Dat! Tee! Mama!") that this was the only summer that the girls would be just this way. Adelaide, toddling around saying "Doot" to anything that moved, wading in the pool, throwing her leg over the side and climbing in with all her clothes on, soaking her diaper, eating sand at the beach, wearing her cute little pink sun-hat over her cute little sweaty pink cheeks; Sadie, long and lanky and reckless, climbing trees and jumping over anything she can stack up, whizzing by barefoot on her bike, catching toads and squirting her sisters with the hose; Josie, begging to go outside with no shoes on (ever), watering all the flowers with the watering can, always asking for popsicles, tan lines from her 2 piece Winnie the Pooh swimsuit.... Sometimes I love them so much it overwhelms me. I want to freeze them in time - capture the moment - keep them just this way forever. But, summer is officially over... another year gone, another year grown.

Don't be a sucker

Adelaide is a little goofball. She does things that are SO CUTE that is almost makes my heart hurt to see them. For example, if she sees you looking at her, she'll tilt her head over to the side almost as far as it can go, then SLOWLY tilt it back the other way, all while watching you with her big blue eyes. Also, she uses her face as a blueberry vaccuum. If you drop blueberries on the table in front of her (or any kind of little food on the ground, or anywhere) she'll plant her face down on the table (or ground) and suck them up. It's hilarious. Maybe not the most hygienic thing in the world, but funny nonetheless. She's also taken to flopping backwards onto Sadie's or Josie's beds, just lying there looking around... or flopping down on the floor wherever she is if she's tired or wants to look cute. She knows she is!

In other news, she's started yelling, "SAY-DAY! O-SAY!" at the top of her lungs while she runs up and down the hall, looking for her sisters. It's a nice break from "Mama!" which she said a whopping 148 times the other day (yes, I counted).

Tipsy

Well, since the very popular "Night at the Theater" when we saw Annie, quotes and song renditions have been popping up all over the place. I can't get "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile" out of my head. Josie goes around singing "No one cares for you! A Smidge! When you're in an Orph! Anage!" while Sadie prefers "Lucky me, lucky me, lucky me... I'm dripping with LITTLE GIRLS!" There is a part in the play when Ms. Farrell is trying to take Annie out of the orphanage for a week to stay with Mr. Warbucks. Miss Hannigan does NOT want this to happen, because Annie is in trouble and has 'got it coming to her, and I don't mean a week in the lap of luxury!' When Ms. Farrell asked why Annie can't go, Miss Hannigan says, "Umm... umm... well, she's a drunk." OF COURSE, that's the quote that Sadie had to run with (she doesn't even know what a drunk is!). The other day I asked Josie to help me do something and she said, "I can't!" I said, "Why not?" and Sadie piped up from down the hallway: "She's a drunk!" I hope this one doesn't surface at church. :)