I Don't Want to Forget

I don't want to forget...

• The morning when we were sitting down to breakfast and Serena announced proudly, "I have a biiiig bottom!"  Of course, Bret echoed, "I have a BIG bottom.  It's really BIG!"  Kind of reminded me of a certain sister of mine who used to long for BIG ankles, heehee!  *cough, cough, Julie, ahem*

• How Serena wants to have long legs.  Somehow, long legs have been equated with Growing Up, so she tries to show me how long they are..."It takes a looong time to get from here ALL THE WAY down to there" (as she gestures down the length of her leg with a very serious face).
• The "Kanga" Phase.  The Duck Phase has once again been left behind (though Serena still refers to it and remembers "when [she] was a duck"), and the Pooh Phase has morphed into the Kanga Phase.  At first, I was a bit surprised that she would choose Kanga out of all the 100-Acre-Wood characters, but it really makes sense when you think about it.  Kanga is the motherly one.  AND she comes with a baby character conveniently written right into the story, so Serena doesn't even have to make that part up!  Piglet also plays the role of a baby (in Serena's mind), and of course, Tigger depends on Kanga to take care of him as well.  Now and then, Bret allows her to call him Kango and together they have all sorts of adventures with their friends in the 100-Acre-Wood.  So, now we see Serena hopping all around with her hands pulled up to her chest; and we're fielding all sorts of questions like "Do Kangaroos eat Chicken Fried Rice?" and "Do Kangaroos get hot?" and "Do Kangaroos like milk?" et cetera, et cetera, and so forth.  ;)
• Over Jordan's last "weekend" (which is Monday & Tuesday on his current schedule), we took a quick-notice trip down to Cedar Rapids.  We left as soon as he could get home from work on Sunday...which turned out to be exactly the kids' bedtime.  ***Note to self:  When driving to Grandma & Grandpa's house, DO NOT expect children to fall asleep in the truck at their regular bedtime.***  Guess I'll chalk that one up to being a rookie mom.  The trip could definitely have gone a little more smoothly.  Mostly it was okay, I guess.  Cody did amazingly well, after a short fussy time around 8.   But Serena didn't fall asleep until 10, and Bret didn't fall asleep until 10:45!!!!  The squeals, running, and jumping that erupted from the jammie-clad munchkins when Daddy arrived at home probably should have been my first clue; but, like I said, rookie mom.   At first the atmosphere was fairly light-hearted, but then we started to get more and more questions from Serena.  Oh, the questions!!!!  As it got on toward 9, we started trying to encourage the kids to quiet down and try to sleep.  Then, Serena started complaining and whining as she got more tired.  We tried telling her to keep her questions in her head so she could remember to ask them in the morning.  But, she couldn't get comfortable, and thought we needed to get a more comfortable truck.  It was getting to the fingernails-on-a-chalkboard level, and my patience was wearing thin as I realized that my little fantasy about having a long, uninterrupted, late-night conversation with Jordan was indeed just a fantasy.  Finally, Serena summed it up with this quote (which I found completely hilarious...after she finally fell asleep), "It's so hard for me to go to sleep!  I'm SO hungry and I'm SO thirsty and I'm SO excited and I have SO many questions.  I have TOO MANY questions and I can't keep them all in my head!"  Yes, dear.  We know.  Once Serena finally fell asleep, Bret kept staring out the window, now and then making experimental noises with his nose plugged.  After a while, he started to pitch a little fit, and Jordan got really serious with him.  "Bret, it is time for you to go to sleep and you do not need to cry.  You need to say, 'Okay Daddy' and then be quiet."  At this point, Bret said in his raspy little Bretster-voice, "Okay, Daddy," but Jordan hadn't heard him and continued "laying down the law."  So, Bret spoke up a little louder, "I said okay, Daddy!"  The boy-girl differences between our kids are never more apparent than when they are in trouble!  ;)

• When Serena & Auntie Anna were teasing each other and laughing and laughing.  It was a back-and-forth exchange of "You look like a fill-in-the-blank" as only a silly 3-yr-old and her loving auntie can do!  The shrieks of laughter were just awesome!
• This little exchange between Serena & Auntie Anna:
• Serena:  "I'm Christopher Robin."
• Anna:  "No, I'm Christopher Robin."
• Serena (with a puzzled look):  "But Christopher Robin is a BOY!"
• ?????
• The marvelous feeling of freedom at the realization that the kids are old enough to play outside by themselves.  AT LAST!!!!!!  Of course, not Cody; but having one little baby in the house is so not a big deal when you're used to having three!  ;)
• How determined our Cody-bear is turning out to be!  He loves water.  As soon as he figured out that there is water in the dog dish, I couldn't keep him out of it!  He could find it from anywhere in the house, it seemed.  So, the dog dish got moved.  Now, he goes after the humidifiers in the bedrooms.  If he knocks them over, there's water to play in!!!  Woohoo!  :P  And, he is anything but passive when an older sibling takes a toy from him or a certain Mommy removes a "not-a-toy" from his slobbery grasp!
• How excited Serena was when she shared with me that she figured out why God made the sky so high, "So when the mommies push their babies in the swings, they won't hit the sky!"