I Don't Want to Forget...

This conversation between Serena and Bret -
"We’re brother and sister, so we always love each other, right?" asked Serena as she and Bret were playing together with Duplos.  Bret answered, "Yeah, we love each other."  Serena went on, "Even though sometimes we don’t play together or we don’t act like it, we do still love each other."  "Yeah, we do," Bret agreed.  Then Serena said, "Bret, if there’s ever anything too hard for you, just tell me and I’ll do it for you, okay?"  Awwwwe....  ;)

One of Serena's favorite things is being able to dress up to match her dolls

The kids were playing school, and of course Serena was the teacher.  She has such a quaint way of talking, particularly when she's pretending to be someone else.  I overheard this line spoken to Bret, "It’s recess. Would you like to acquaint yourself with our new pupil, Beauty?" (Apparently, Bret responded in the affirmative.)  Serena went on in her most airy way, "All right, go on and do so."

Bret, my sweet, earnest boy, said to me the other day, "You’re beautiful, Mommy.  I’m going to stay with you forever.  I’ll stay as long as I can.  I might be a grown up pretty soon, but I’ll stay with you.  But I might marry someone someday and then I would have to leave you."

Bret with his bear, John

Serena, heading out to get the mail with Cody in her charge:  "I will be the boss of him, but I won't be too bossy."
Cody:  "And I won't be TOO bossy!"

Serena, after helping in the kitchen for a good hour, "Someday I won’t even play with my toys anymore!  I’ll just help you and read my books."  Playing off her seriousness, I responded, “Yes, that will be kind of a sad day when we pack up your dolls and toys.”  A little shocked, Serena said, “Oh no, I don’t think I’ll ever pack up my dolls.  I’ll still have time to play with them.  Even when I’m all grown up and I have kids, I will probably play with my dolls down in the basement when the kids are taking naps.  Then when they wake up, if I don’t have time to put my dolls away, I’ll just close the door and leave them in there until I can play with them again later.”

Bret said (apparently this is a topic he's been wrestling with a lot lately), “Mom, you know what I might do when I grow up?”  "What?"  Bret looked a little uncomfortable, as though he were about to break some bad news, “I might move out of this house when I grow up, but you know what I will do the next day?  I will come and visit you!”

Bret (trying on next season’s clothes), in overalls - “These make me smile REALLY big!”

Serena, seeing a wasp fly by the window, said breathlessly to Cody, "I think that was a fairy!"

Bret was sharing his tree-climbing exploits at the park with Daddy, and Cody cut in, “And I…I…and I….”  searching for what to say that would be at least as exciting as Bret's story, he finally finished with triumph “I WATCHED him!!!”

Bret, trying to convince Cody to switch blocks of cheese with him at the grocery store, “Cody, do you want to hold the BIGGEST CHEESE IN THE WHOLE WORLD!?!?!?!”

For Cody's birthday, he received a wallet and his very first dollars.  It was such an exciting thing for both him and Bret!  Bret just loved the thought of Cody having money like him!  For the next few days, Bret was constantly giving Cody money for things, just for the sheer pleasure of seeing Cody hurry to put the money in his wallet.  After a while, Cody apparently started to expect to be given money for favors because I overheard this conversation between Cody & Bret before quiet time, "Cody, can I have your ball in my bed?”  Cody said quickly, “Oh sure!” and then added, “If you give me some money.”

Bret, once again trying to persuade Cody to make an uneven trade with him, “Cody, do you want to be the BIGGEST PERSON IN THE WHOLE WORLD?!?!” (as if he had any influence over that!)  When Cody still refused to give in, Bret cried in desperation, “Then you are the LITTLEST person in the WHOLE WORLD!!!!”

Bret & Cody were discussing how big they were in relation to objects they saw along the road on the way to town (i.e., signs, corn stalks, shrubs, etc.).  Cody, “But I am PRETTY big!” Bret, in a very magnanimous tone, “Yes, you are!” Cody, feeling generous after such a compliment, “And you are bigger than me!” Bret, “I am!  I’m bigger than you, Cody!”  Cody, as if wanting to join the Bigger-than-Somebody Club, said, “And I’m bigger than Heena!”  Bret sympathetically shook his head, “No, you’re not bigger than Serena.” Cody, a little hopefully, “But I’m bigger than Mommy, right?” Bret, as if he knew where this was going, said even more sympathetically, “No, you’re not bigger than Mommy.”  Cody now wore a concerned look on his face as he tried one more time, “But I’m bigger than Daddy, right, Bet?” Bret, “No, Cody, you’re not bigger than Daddy.”  Cody’s voice sounded a little sad and a little desperate as he said, “Then I’m not bigger than ANYBODY?!” Bret really seemed to be searching for SOMEONE to say Cody was bigger than, and finally said consolingly, “Cody, you’re bigger than BABIES!”  As though this was really no comfort at all, Cody just shook his head and said, “No.”  After that, Bret soon managed to lighten the conversation with hilarious descriptions of babies that were bigger than Cody, and Cody was laughing and forgetting his woes.

Serena:  "Bret, what are you going to be when you grow up?"
Bret:  "A giant." (I think it's safe to say Bret has an obsession with bigness!)

Bret calls our neighbor's electric fence which borders some of our property an "electricky fence."

Serena, waiting for the pool to be filled so she can give her baby a bath

Serena - "I would never sell one of my babies." Bret - "Even when you're a grown-up?  Serena - "Well I guess I will sell them in a way, when they are grown up.  Because when they get husbands it is sort of like selling them."

Bret & Cody are great playmates, but of course there are the usual skirmishes over who gets to play with what.  In the past, Bret has handled these situations by channeling all of his charms into the best sales pitch he can muster.  There was a time when Cody always took Bret's bait, but lately Cody has become more discerning (much to Bret's frustration), and Bret has had to become a more creative wheedler.  One day, it was the piano over which they were arguing.  I was washing the dishes and listening to them attempt to "work it out," Bret trying to butter up Cody while Cody remained unmoved.  Finally, Bret came to me in tears of desperation, but I told him he'd have to stop crying first and then come talk to me about it. (I'm cold and hard-hearted like that.) Instead, Bret went back into the living room and was quiet for a bit. Cody continued to plunk on the piano undisturbed.  Then, Bret suddenly jumped up and, turning to run from the room, shouted excitedly, "I'm going to get the play piano (speaking of the Little Tykes xylophone) first!" and took off.  Cody, suddenly realizing how much more exciting and desirable the xylophone was than the real piano, scrambled down from the bench and ran after Bret.  A moment later, Bret came swaggering back, and said to me off-handedly, "I got Cody to play with the xylophone now, so it's okay, Mom."  Then, he calmly went to play the coveted piano while Cody banged away contentedly on the xylophone.