I'll Love You For....

J curled up next to me on the couch and said: "Mom, I'll always, always love you for more."
Me: You mean forever?
J: No. For more.

Mispronounciations I Love

I'm really enjoying E's less than perfect articulation. It seems like J picked up words so quickly and perfectly that we didn't have much of that cute phase of baby talk.
E's cutest phrases are:
"Howdd mah handd!" (i.e. "hold my hand" for when she wants you to go somewhere with her, if you are not already standing, it's followed by a "puwwwwl!"
"Weed tah mee! Weed tah mee!" (for "for read to me" she rarely says it just once)
"(person she needs) weh aw yooo??" ("where are you" also repeated and said loudly, usually from the top of the stairs"
She's in love with "knock knock" for doors but will sometimes use it to get our attention when we are reading or on the computer or something.
Her versions of Grandma and Grandpa have evolved. She's said "drama" and "lampa" and a combination of the two.
Her favorite song right now is "Teach me to Walk In the Light" but she calls it "Take a Walk."
And I melt nearly every time that she says "Oh! Mank-you Mommy, mank-you!!" She's the most verbally grateful 19 month old I've ever met!
And when she's really happy about something we get a "yippee! yippee! I lub it! I lub it!" with some giggles on top ("I love it").

It's amazing to us how expressive she is and how well she communicates verbally with all of her family. Aunts and Uncles and cousins understand her pretty well. I will really miss when this phase ends.

In other news, J has been using her "ibagulation" (imagination) a lot lately, oh is it fun to just listen to her tell the stories of her animals, or leggos, or princesses, or whatever she's playing with. There are a lot of witches and weddings and babies being born these days. I love her "ibagulation" too!

Sunday Cuteness

As usual, I got the kids ready for church before myself today. And as usual, when their hair was done, I sent them down to get glowing praise from their grandparents. J is always working for an "adorable" from Grandma. She'll prance down there and with anticipation ask "Grandma, how cute am I?" Then she'll run back up the stairs and exuberantly tell me the answer with at least a few giggles. Last week, I put her hair in foam curlers the night before and apparently while at church she asked some of the teenage girls the same question "How cute am I?" which only exemplified her cuteness and got her more rave reviews.

My very clever E this week demonstrated that she also understands the Sunday routines. My dad is always the first one to leave for church, and always early. A lot of weeks, he'll take one of the girls with him. This week, as soon as E had her shoes on, she hollered out at the top of the stairs "Lampa! I weady to go!" Then went down, kept hollering at him, got her coat, got it on with help and giggles and out the door they went.

J's Future

J has been very interested in family relationships, especially when my Grandpa came to live here last fall. It's a pretty neat thing to have four generations in one household! She's got it all figured out, who my husband is, who grandma's husband is, who great grandpa's wife is, who is who's daddy and mommy, and who is who's sister and aunt and even that E will be her kid's aunt someday and I will be their grandma. Going through all of this almost always gets us to the question "But Mommy, who will be my husband?" I tell her different things, like "I don't know" and stuff like "a very good man who loves you and Heavenly Father very much" and then there is always the "who do you think?"

Today she was telling me how much she loves Diego. And I asked her "how much do you love him?" and "as much as I love Daddy?" Then I told her "maybe you should marry Diego." She looked at me like I was clearly not thinking straight and said "But, Mom, he's not in our world."

Then she turned her head to the other side and thought for a moment and then said hesitantly, "but maybe someday he could come to our world..." and then she trailed off like it was silly and then shook her head. My three year old, the realist.

Babies

J, and even E on a few occasions, have been sticking baby dolls up their shirts these days. I think it's inevitable after all that Christmas Story talk, but still pretty cute to me. J has been having twins and one is named Jesus and the other Elizabeth. Not much gets past that kid!

I'm Scared of That

J has been experimenting with fear lately, she's not really terrified of things, but will try on trepidation and call it being scared. The Husband indulges her and helps her identify the things that make her nervous and then demonstrate some sympathy. For example:
H: Is that spider making you nervous?
J: Yes, I'm scared of that spider.
H: I'm scared of spiders, too.
J: No, Daddy, you are not scared of that. You are brave of that!

Grown Up

J: Mom, are you a grown up?
Me: I am.
J: Me, too.
Grandpa: You're not a grown up, you're a kid.
Me: No! I'm not! I'm grown up-ed. I'm preschooled!