1.19.2010

My little darlings continue to grow and develop while I just sit back and marvel at the rate in which their minds work work work.

Just yesterday Chloe made a Valentine's card for Martin Luther King Jr. She cut out green, red and pink hearts, glued them together and put them on red cardstock. She handed me an envelope that had "Martan" written on it in orange crayon and asked if I could give it to him. We'd been discussing MLK Jr. because she had the day off and when I inquired as to why, she said it was "somebody's birthday." So we talked very simply about race and color and living together all in peace. She seemed lost on the concept of treating anyone differently because of the color of their skin, origin, etc. And for that, I feel completely fortunate.

Back to her card, she told me it read, "Dear Martin Luther King, I have a letter and it has a whole bunch of hearts for you and a picture of me on the back.  Happy Birthday. Love, Chloe." My heart feels big and I feel so blessed to have an understanding, compassionate child. Thank you, Lord.

In other news, Matt keeps telling me, "Momma, my belly wants to go to the library." And once at the library, "My belly doesn't want to go home yet." LOL This is a slight modification from his other requests like, "Mama, my belly is rumbling for some goldfish." I think it's great. He's still into Thomas the Train like mad and likes to read and ride his bike even in the cold. Yesterday we colored on the driveway with sidewalk chalk and he was so proud of his Spencer and Percy train depictions as was Chloe with her castle, drawbridge, moat and pirate ship with captain hook. :)

Did I mention how proud we are of Chloe for being December's Student of the Month? She came home with a photo of her achievement last week and I didn't even know she had her picture on the wall last month. To celebrate, mommy took her, Matt and Nana to ice cream and daddy got her a princess and the frog playset. Great job baby girl!

The cutest things...

While putting up the Christmas decorations, Chloe said, "Mommy, look! We're both under the whistle toe! We have to kiss!"

While playing with, "Daddy's Star Wars Castles" Matt handed me back Alan's toy stormtrooper head with the mini Star War figures inside of it and said, "Mama, can I play with Dr. D-2 next?"

While singing Christmas carols this week, Chloe sang to Matt,
"Frosty the snow man
Was a very jolly soul
With a pork chop pipe
And a button nose
And two eyes made out of coal..."

The Haircut...

Matt and Daddy come home from gettting a haircut. Matt has a little baldy look and his hair is super short.
Me: Oh Matt-Matt, you got a haircut!
Him: (nods head in agreement)
Me: Well who cut your hair?
Him: A lady...
Me: A lady? Was she pretty?
Him: Yes...
Me: Prettier than momma?
Him: Yes (nods head)
Me: (silence)
Him: But I love you better mama.

Hugs! (maybe looks really aren't everything)

Quite possibly TMI, but it's funny.

Scenario: Matt runs around the living room and yells out to me, "Poop! Poop! Poop!" and I rush him into the bathroom. Moments later he is seated and begins some slight uncomfortable grunting.

Then Matt looks up at me and says, "Mama, that was a hurt poop."

He's so articulate. :)

For the record...

Chloe handled her first day of kindergarten like a pro. She was on time, ate breakfast, got dressed and was in good spirits.

Alan and I spent the first hour with her in class, meeting her teach and such. Chloe put her hand out upon meeting her teacher, Mrs. Gannon who admired Chloe's pink converse and said that it was something they had in common. :)

Chloe put away all of her school supplies in the areas provided, filled out a personality sheet on things she likes, etc., and then traced out and colored her ABCs on a couple of handouts that were provided.

After that, Alan and I had to leave. Chloe got sad and slightly teary eyed, mostly because of all the other kids and parents crying the classroom. A fellow parent and spy told us that Chloe did fine and started coloring as normal once we left. Whew!

We're so proud that Chloe is already learning so much and is such a wonderfully bright child. We have so, so many high hopes for her, her happy new life, and long lasting happiness.

Matt making me smile...

While watching Chloe get numerous strikes while playing Wii Bowling, "Holy my moley! Holy my moley!"

When summoning Grandpa Ray, "Hampa! Hey Hampa, don't buy Diesel. He's mean! And I love Thomas so so much!"

In Dreams...

For the past week and a half, Matthew calls for me when he wakes up and asks me to lift him off of our bed. It's a high cherry wood poster bed that's too high off the ground for him to reach himself. I'm usually nearby working on my laptop and am happy to oblige.

I'll tell him good morning and give him a kiss on his cheek. Then I'll ask, "Did you have a good sleepy time?" To which he always whispers a gentle, "Yesss." And I'll ask, "Did you have any dreams?" He gets an enormous smile and nods his head. "What did you dream about, Angel?"

He confessed that he'd dreamt about Emily and Thomas the first three mornings that I inquired. On the fourth, he said he'd dreamt about Emily. "Not Thomas?" I asked. "No. Only Emily," he gleamed as he responded. I've since concluded that he really loves Emily. More than his other engines. More than Thomas, Rheneas, James, Ben, Rosie, Molly and even his beloved Lady.

On the fifth day we were in the middle of what was becoming our latest routine and I asked, "What did you dream about, Baby Boy?" To which he replied, "You." Then he poked my belly with his finger and smiled.

That was last week, and I haven't stopped gleaming since.