I Don't Want to Forget

I don't want to forget...

• The way Serena quietly mulls over any new piece of information.  The other day, we read the story of Samson in our Bible book at bedtime.  At the end, I mentioned that Samson was the strongest man in the world.  Serena immediately came back with her default response, "Why?"  "Well, because that was God's plan for Samson's life," I said.  Serena pondered for a moment while I shut the book and reached for the next one.  Just as I was starting to utter the first words of Margaret Wise Brown's "Goodnight Moon," Serena quickly interrupted, "But what's God's plan for me?"  The look in her eyes was so earnest!  And she had the teensiest hint of a smile...as though the very thought that God might have a specific plan for her made her feel so wonderfully special.  Oh, my dear sweet girl!!!!!
• How Bret calls Serena "Meena."  And any word that begins with "sn..." comes out without an "s" (i.e., "snow" is "noe" and "snap" is "nap").  He can say the "s" sound without any trouble, but for some reason leaves it out in some words.
• Cody's spitting phase.  He'll be busy babbling away at me, and then all of a sudden remember that he has a new trick!  He then takes a deep breath, purses his lips together, and blows out.  He really impresses himself, and especially likes it if I make the same sound back at him!

•  Our current morning routine.  Cody usually wakes up between 6 and 7, at which point I make futile attempts to get him to go back to sleep until at least 7.  ;)  Finally accepting the fact that he is not going to return to lala land (and resolving to go to bed earlier that night), I get up and spend the next 20 minutes or so getting ready for the day.  When Cody just can't stand staying in bed any longer, I get him up and he joins me as I prepare breakfast.  Serena & Bret usually wake up between 7 and 7:30.  Usually.  ;)  However, I generally don't let them out of their beds until 8.  I know, I'm a mean mom.  But, I like being able to be up and have everything ready for them before they get up; it's just smoother that way.  Plus, it helps my mood immensely to avoid the inevitable chaos and whining of hungry kids!  When I finally open their door, turn on their light, and greet them, Serena jumps out of bed and races into the kitchen.  She grabs Bret's potty seat and stool from the corner and sets it up in a more central location, then gets his sippy cup and chewable vitamins and puts them on the stool (this is her self-assigned "job").  Next, she grabs her own "pills" and walks around the house showing Jordan and I her "pills" and telling us what they look like.  (Funny, they are always two teddy bears, a fish and a star; but she still always seems amazed by them!)  Meanwhile, I pull Bret out of his crib and enjoy a quick morning cuddle.  Then, I take off his jammies and diaper while he says, "I have to go potty?  Mommy?"  As soon as he is stripped down, he streaks into the kitchen as fast as his sturdy little legs can carry him!  The sight of his bare bottom running off is quite possibly my favorite part of the entire morning!
• That every time I put the kids to bed, just before I close the door, they begin saying, "Goodnight! See ya later! Ciao! I love you!" over and over.  And they won't quit until I've responded in like to each of them individually.  But, they can't hear me say it back to them because they won't quit.  It's really pretty hilarious!  If I close the door and one of them thinks I haven't said it to them, they'll start bawling!  :P  So, I have to say, "BRET!  Goodbye, see ya later, ciao, I love you.  Serena, Goodbye, see ya later, ciao, I love you."  And then the madness stops.

• That for the last week, Serena has been really into making "balentines" for "everyone that [she] love[s]."  (We also still sing "Away in the Manger" every night before bed (by request).  Apparently, our kids have a hard time leaving holidays in the past.)  With all this Valentine-making has come a sudden need to know how to write everyone's names.  So, I write the names she requests on a separate piece of paper, and then she copies those letters ever-so-carefully onto her Valentines.  It really is sweet to see her determination and all the hard work she puts into each letter.
• The way the kids laughed when I pretended that their little magnetic animals were singing through the magnetic alphabet on our fridge.  I used silly voices that I thought matched the different animals, and Serena & Bret just laughed and laughed!  They now love to try to do the same thing, which in turn has given me many a good laugh!  ;)

•  How bret climbs on everything/everyone constantly.  He rarely sits still long enough to listen to an entire book (except at bedtime), yet he knows basically all the books and their stories!  Sometimes he seems like everything goes right over his head (he's such an amiable and ornery little goofball!), but apparently he's catching onto more than you'd think!
• The sweet everyday scenes of everyone loving on and playing with Cody and how he loves them back!

• What Serena said at the dinner table the other night when I was trying to get her to finish her meal:  "I think you should only feed me things I really really like. Like pizza."
• How excited Serena is when she recognizes a letter or a number somewhere.  The other day on our way home from the zoo, she saw a sign for Highway U.  "Look!  There's a 'U'!" she exclaimed.  "We should turn around and take a picture of it!"

• The pleasure Serena shows when Jordan or I play along with her little fantasies about her baby Olie.  Ever since Bret's birthday last month, Olie has been having a lot of birthdays (like every few days it's her birthday again!).  On one of those days, I put up the "Happy Birthday" sign and oh my!  We had a wonderful birthday party for Olie!  Another day, I gave Serena some real birthday candles for Olie.  The sincerity of her unprompted "Thank you, Mom!  Thank you for the candles!" was priceless!!  The candles even made the cut of items she packed to bring to Grammie's house a couple weeks ago.  Then, when we couldn't find them when we were packing to come back home (surprise, surprise!), Grammie gave Serena (and Bret) a couple candles.  Those were treasures without price, let me tell you!  And, when we got home and one of Serena's candles broke, she was so sad; but after I put tape around it (I know, so lame!) she was the most grateful little girl ever, hahaha!  Every night of Olie's birthdays, Serena requests that we sing "Happy Birthday" to Olie at bedtime (we sang "Happy Birthday" to Bret at bedtime on his birthday, so...).  If for some reason she is not holding Olie at that moment, she asks us to wait while she gets the "Birthday Girl."  Then, when we sing (and especially when we're done singing), Serena gets this cute little look on her face of supreme pleasure...like she's trying to hold back a full-blown smile...because she wants to keep up the pretense that it really IS Olie's birthday and this is actually not pretend at all.