Star Lake

Today I gave Tyler a map of Utah and Nevada. He loves maps (as does Sydney), he immediately opens it up on the floor to examine what I gave him. They were both drawn to the city insets that give the magnified view of select cities -- we saw Reno, Las Vegas, and Lake Tahoe. Lake Tahoe of course has the lake as a landmark and I was able to give them a sense of scale: "Here is Lake Tahoe on the big map, and see here is a larger view of the same lake..." to help explain what these marginal maps were all about. Satisfied, they brought the map to the table to look at it in greater detail.

Then Tyler noticed a feature on the map that for most would have been over looked. In the center of the map was a compass rose. It just so happened that this perfect 8 pointed star was the same color as the lakes and he confidently declared "...this is Star Lake!"

It was a wonderful moment to witness -- the creativity of this age and his imagination working to put it all together. It was hard to correct him; looking at the map threw his eyes (a 3 almost 4 year old), it really did look like a lake.

Freeziac Potty Break

Tyler:
"This is where daddy goes potty" [pointing to the urinal]

Me:
"Yes Tyler that's right and I'm going to use it right now."

Tyler:
"Okay daddy. [Then slightly quieter he says] Don't hurt your penis."

Sending Sick Kids to Preschool

So, the kids and Andy and myself have all been sick since last Tuesday.  They didn't have preschool on Friday, so we avoided having them home from preschool that day.  Now it's Monday.  Tyler seems okay, but Sydney has been sneezing all morning and all the stuff that comes with it, but after a long week, they are ready to go back.

So, we pull in and I'm getting them out of the car when Sydney turns to me and asks, "Should we tell Mrs. Johnson that I have a little cold and Tyler has a big cold?"  I'm not sure what actually transpired at school, but if any of this info was leaked to Mrs. Johnson, then she probably added, "My mommy didn't want me to tell you".  I can just hear it.  I guess I'm the bad mom today.  BUT, I was the bad mom with a break from the kids!

How Strong are you?

[...as he is about to jump to the ground from the open van door.]
Tyler: I am super strong mama...like a hippopotamus!

When I grow up...

Tyler says he wants to be a baker.
Sydney has decided she would like to be a doctor.

Hmmm, not quite what I said...

Some examples:

Mom says, "We're having Yankee Pot Roast for dinner."
T responds, "Eeewww, Stinky Rot Poast?"

Anatomy and Bodily Functions (Fall 2009)

Tyler:

• Penis in his world is a wenis

Sydney:

• She refers to her vagina as her bottom
• A penis is a weenut
  
• When she toots she says she "burped"
  

This little light of mine

Sydney and Tyler received a CD box-set from their Toddler Sunday School teacher and they had been enjoying playing all the songs on an old portable CD-player. One of Sydney's favorites was "This Little Light of Mine".

A few nights after receiving the CDs Sydney asked me to sing "This Little Light of Mine" as her bed time song. I thought it was a nice change from the usual "Rock-a-bye Baby" and gladly added it to our repertoire. Although apparently she had a particular rendition in mind.

She insisted I was singing it wrong. "No, no daddy, it's 'Hide it under a bushel - no!'" Now this is a song I was very familiar with from my own days in Sunday school. I had learned this song "Hide it under a bush -- Oh no!" so I was pretty confident I had it right. Needless to say there was quite a lot of protest before I finally suggested I learned the song differently then her and I was unfamiliar with her version. She seemed satisfied with this explanation and allowed me to leave the room.

The next morning was a pretty typical lazy Saturday. We were up had breakfast and were starting to transition into playtime. Sydney suddenly comes running over very excited. I hadn't really been paying attention as she was over at the CD player. And I really didn't notice that she had put in her new CD of bible songs. She starts saying "See daddy? See?" I am still not registering what is going on, then it hits me as I hear the music playing in the back ground. "You hear daddy? Bushel - No!"

I was floored. Not only had she remembered from when she went to bed to the morning, but she was so confident that she was right, she proved it to me by playing the song for me to hear. Sure enough, her CD version was "Bushel - No!". The only thing I could say was "You are so right Honey."

She has since accepted my version as well, but only after she had proved herself right. I am definitely proud that even at her young age that she stood up for what she believed and knew in her being was correct.

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!"

So it had become a habit with Sydney that whenever she woke up -- whether in the middle of the night, early morning or nap time -- she would call out repeatedly for Stacy or I ("Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!") until one of us came to her room.

One day before bed I explained to her that she didn't need to call out repeatedly, that it took daddy a little while to get to her room once she called the first time. I explained that she should call out once and then count to 10 before calling for me again. She agreed that she would try to do that next time and with a kiss goodnight, it was lights out.

About 2 AM, I am suddenly awaken to Sydney's call. I could tell that she had listened to me for instead of the usually "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!' it was replaced with "Daddy! 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 Daddy!" all at the top of her voice! I was very proud of her extremely literal execution of my request.