I Don't Want to Forget

 I was going through my desk this morning, and came across a little treasure of scrap paper on which I'd jotted down some funny things the kids had said in late 2012.  Bret would have been 19-20 months and Serena would have been a couple months past her 3rd birthday. Cody was an infant. I cannot remember if I ever posted them on here, so I'm doing it now!

• Bret used to greet people by saying, "Hi, Luke, Hi!" (for example) or "Hi, Cogy, Hi!"  I also loved how Bret used to call Cody, "Cogy."  :)
• Serena and Bret discussing what to name a toy they were playing with. Bret suggested "Daddy Pa Horak" (they think Cody's name is "Cody Pa Horak"), and Serena countered with "Bret My Baby's Daddy Horak."
• Bret was playing with Serena's doll Olie, which Serena was monitoring very closely.  Things were going along smoothly until Bret announced he was going to give Olie some ninny (nurse her).  Serena was momentarily distressed, but as she was making a real effort to play nicely, she said, "Okay, you can pretend.  But you can't do real."  Bret agreed to this, and their playtime continued smoothly.
• After doing something really thoughtful, Serena told me, "I'm big."  I said, "Sometimes, I think Mommy and Daddy don't realize just how big you are."  She answered, "That's okay with me."
• Serena was very enamored with tubas for a while.  They had popped up in a couple different books, and then one day there was a man outside Hy-Vee playing his tuba for the Salvation Army kettle drive! She was enthralled!  We stood out there with him and listened for quite a while, and she loved talking about it for weeks afterward!
• One night, while giving Daddy his goodnight hug, Serena said, "My heart belongs to you."  It was so sweet!  She had a shirt that says, "My heart belongs to Daddy" and she'd asked me what it said.  When I told her, she needed me to explain it to her, so I told her that when you really really love someone, sometimes you tell them that your heart belongs to them.  It must have been one of Jordan's long work days (while working that job, he'd have 3 long days in a row where he wouldn't see the kids), because Jordan hadn't seen that shirt yet and was completely caught off guard when Serena expressed that sentiment to him!  It was very sweet!
• When Jordan got the job in Appleton, he spent a week up there working and looking for a house for us to rent while we stayed in IA.  It was right after Thanksgiving, so lots of people were putting out Christmas decorations, and Serena especially loved the Christmas lights.  She told me that Daddy was going to find a house with Christmas lights on it; and when we'd drive places at night she'd see a lit house and say, "I think that's the house Daddy is getting for us!"  It was hard for her to understand the concept of Jordan being far, far away!  I liked to tease Jordan that he needed to find us a "prelit" house.
• We had an awesome, huge tub at our house in Springville, and the kids had so much fun playing in it.  One time, Serena told me emphatically, "I want to stay in the tub for ALWAYS!"  I did manage to get her out, eventually.  ;)
• During supper one evening, I had Serena and Bret eating in their highchairs, so I ran off to change Cody really quickly.  When I came back, Serena & Bret were acting really weird.  Then, suddenly, Bret began to cry.  I could not for the life of me figure out what was the matter with him!  I finally realized he had something in his nose!  I had him blow and blow really hard, and finally a diced green pepper came flying out!  Then, Serena confessed that she had one as well!!!  The same technique worked on her; and then I sternly charged them to never try such a thing again.  They both nodded a wide-eyed agreement, and our meal continued.  Until Bret started crying again!  Yes, he had another one in there!!!  Apparently, he'd stuck two of them in there!!!
• Serena used to call the monitor a "mom-itor."
• We went to a live nativity one evening while Jordan was in Appleton.  Serena was enthralled by the animals and talkative characters.  They had bunnies and donkeys and goats and chickens and sheep!  Bret was just standing there, quietly taking it all in, when suddenly a little goat came up and butted him right square in his bottom!  Bret plopped down on the ground, shocked!  It was hilarious, and Bret didn't even cry!  We talked about it lots in the weeks that followed, and it still comes up now and then, over a year later!