Conversations with Sam

Oh, that's right.

With SAM.

Because my itty-bitty-teeny-tiny-forever-my-baby? He's pretty much talking non-stop now. And it's funny to see how different his little personality already is from his big sister. He's pretty matter-of-fact with his convos . . . but still every bit as heart-meltingly sweet.

Sam had a tummy bug this week (thankfully the 12-hr variety, though it pretty much knocked him on his tuchas for those 12 hours). He'd tell me his tummy hurt ("Mommy, tummy hurt!"), and I'd tell him, "Oh, it does? I'm so sorry!" while snuggling him and gently stroking his tummy.

That little exchange eventually turned into:

Sam: Mommy, tummy hurt! I sorry, tooooo.

No pause for Mommy's part. See what I mean? He's kind of a let's-get-down-to-business kind of guy.

And then this little exchange, when Alex was putting Sam's pjs on after being gone all day and evening on a business trip.

Sam: Hug, Daddy, hug!!
Alex: Aw, you want a hug, buddy?
Sam: Big hug!
Alex: :::leans over the changing table to hug Sam:::
Sam: I lub you, Daddy. I MISS you.

Well, if that doesn't just make you melt, I don't know what will.

Sam is 1 year, 20 months old, and we are at the beginning of a whole new talkative world.

Ali's First Story

As narrated to me by Ali:

Once upon a time, there was a daddy of Ariel's, and his name was King Triton. And one day, he was crying. Ariel, his daughter, swam up and said, "What's the matter, Daddy?" and he said "The Sea Witch hit me today." 

Ariel swam up to the Sea Witch and said, "That's not nice. That's not okay to hit my daddy." So they were swimming, and while they were swimming, Ariel said, "This is the plan." The Sea Witch said "Yes." "We are going to swim up to my daddy, and you are going to say you're sorry." 

So when they were there, the Sea Witch said "Sorry," and then he, King Triton, said, "It's okay." And then Ariel took the Sea Witch back to her cave, and they piled in her bed for a nap, and then Ariel and King Triton went back to their castle in the water to take a nap. And then everyone was sleeping, Ariel, King Triton, the Sea Witch, Ariel's sisters, Ariel's friends and Sebastien. Everyone. The end.

Ali is 3 yrs, 3 months, and 2 days old.

Conversations with Ali

All of these convos happened with Ali today.

Ali: Mommy, watch me jump off the couch!
Me: We don't jump off the couch, love, especially not toward the coffee table. You could get hurt!
Ali: Oh . . . Mommy, watch me carefully climb down off the couch!

(When discussing The Little Mermaid)
Ali: Isn't there a but in that story?
Me: What?
Ali: Isn't there a but in that story?
Me: A but. You mean, like the word but?
Ali: Yeah. Isn't it in that story?
Me: Oh, I'm sure it is. Like, I could say "Ariel loved being a mermaid, but she wanted to be a human, too."
Ali: No, it's 'but it simply grazed her arm.'" (an exact, obscure quote from The Little Mermaid)

(When finishing up telling her the story of The Three Little Pigs)
Me: And the wolf decided he wanted to build a house, too, so he built a house out of bricks.
Ali: No, he didn't use bricks. He built his house out of the American flag.
Me: The American flag?
Ali: Yes, because that's even STRONGER than bricks. 

Ali: I'll have to do my hurry walk!
Me: What's your hurry walk?
Ali: Well, I have two hurry walks. One is slow and one is fast!
Me: Wait, wouldn't the slow walk be called a slow walk?
Ali: No, it's one of my hurry walks.
Me: But why is it a hurry walk if it's slow? If you're going slow, you really aren't hurrying.
Ali: Well, that's just the way God made it. Two speeds for a hurry walk.

(During her bedtime routine)
Ali: Will you come and check on me and wake me up?
Me: Yep!
Ali: Awesome good.


Ali is 3 years, 2.5 months old, and probably my most favorite person to talk to.

Conversationsn with Ali

All three of these conversations took place in the same evening. I laughed that night. A lot.

Ali: Fank you!
Me: You're welcome!
Ali: Fank you!
Me: You're welcome!
Ali: FANK YOU!
Me: You're welcome!!
Ali: No, I said FANK you.
Me: Oh. What am I supposed to say to that?
Ali: You're not supposed to say anything because that's not a real word.

(If only Sammy could have chimed in with an "oh, snap!" in the background.)

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(Upon giving Ali a small piece of chocolate cake for dessert:)

Ali: Mmmmm! This chocolate cake tastes like treasure!! 

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 We were playing a game where I made a toy fly across the room, and Ali and Sam took turns chasing it down and bringing it back to me. 

Me: Good job, Ali! Now it's Sam's turn. 
Ali (looking at Sam): Sammy, now that's a promise you'll KEEP!




Ali is 3 years and 1 month old and cracks me up daily.

My Big Girl

This evening was one of those that I wish we'd been able to capture on video in its entirety. After naps, we loaded the kids up into the car and headed into town to do a little exploring. We found a new park, and it just so happened to have the BIGGEST SLIDE I'VE EVER SEEN. Seriously, I think it was at least ten feet high. Like, for really real.

Alex asked Ali if she wanted to go down it, and she shrugged nonchalantly and said, "Well, sure, that would be cool," and sauntered off toward it. She climbed the steep stairs all the way to the top before finally looking down and realizing she was really high up. At which point she, understandably, got scared. Alex ended up at the top with both her and Sam, and he slid down first with Sam, and then with her.

We went to go play on the rest of the playground, and she was in a great mood, running around, going down the smaller slides, and playing with her brother. At one point, I swung my feet up on the monkey bars, hooked my legs over a rung the way I used to when I was in elementary school, and hung upside down. Ali saw me, looked at me in her "what-on-Earth" way, and said, "That is just wrong, Mom." HA!

A little while later, we talked about being scared and being brave, and I may or may not have told her that if she went down the super-big slide all by herself, she could have chocolate ice cream after dinner. She said, "Well, okay...." but still seemed a little nervous, so I picked up a fallen pecan and told her that she could hold the nut and it would help her be brave. Her face lit up! She climbed right to the top with her "brave nut" in her hand, sat down, and slid right down the giant, humongous slide all on her OWN! I was so incredibly proud of her!! She did it one more time before we left, all the while holding her "brave nut." Yay!!! (She also chattered on on the way back to the car about how the "brave nut" would help her eat her scary macaroni-and-cheese at dinner. Crazy girl.)

We went to Jason's Deli for dinner and she and Sam both devoured some muffins, mac-and-cheese, and ice cream for dessert--chocolate for my brave girl, of course. When we asked her if she was going to eat any more of her dinner, she said, "Umm, not so much." I had to ask Alex if I'd heard her right.

She's TWO. I can only imagine the things that are going to come out of her mouth when she's five, or nine, or thirteen.

I love love love my funny, sassy, smart, and super-brave girl. What a wonderful evening we had.

Growin' Boy

Tonight for dinner, Ali ate two pieces of chicken, one serving of mac-&-cheese, and about four green beans.

Sam ate about 15 pieces of pork tenderloin, one serving of mac-&-cheese, one full serving of green beans, and an entire banana.

Ali is 2 years, 11 months, and Sam is 1 year, 3 months...and just MIGHT be going through a growth spurt.

She's Catching On

Sam started crying tonight because I wouldn't let him have some uncooked corn that he spied on the counter right before I started boiling it.

Ali walked over and asked, "Why is Sammy crying?"

"Oh," I told her, "he wanted to eat some of this corn, but he doesn't realize it's not cooked yet."

She pondered that for a moment while Sam continued to wail about the injustice of it all.

Then she put her hands on her hips and said, "Oh, Sammy. Now you're just making noise."