Head and Shoulders

AC was bathing the kids. Alana asked what the shampoo/conditioner bottles were. AC pointed at the first and said "Head and Shoulders".

Alana pointed at the second and asked, "is that Knees & Toes?"

I Feel Pretty, Oh So Pretty...

While playing pretend with his sister, X says to me, "I'm wearing lipstick! I'm ready for the wedding! I look *beautiful*!" (In his fairy wings, no less.)

His sister clarified for me: "We're playing Mariposa. He's pretending to be a girl with me."

Busted!

We got together with friends for breakfast, and I said I didn’t want sugar in my coffee, “Since I haven't been running for 2 weeks, it's the least I could do.”

Alana says, "So Daddy, why did you have 2 pieces of bacon?"

I couldn't bring myself to tell her that I'd already had 2 *other* slices of bacon while cooking the eggs...

Use Your Sense(s)

Nana said "I need my glasses...I can't see this."
Alana said, "Well, Nana, you have other senses, you know!"

The Fickle Nature of Love

Kimmi-ako said to X - "I love you."
X thinks a minute, then says, "I love Geotrax."

Focused Kid

For a month, Xander has been asking for a Geotrax train set.

We have told him it might or might not happen, and he needed to be good, and there were no guarantees, and dear-God-enough-already-don't-ask-again.

The persistence was impressive, as was the confidence. "Is today Christmas? I'll get my Geotrax."

We finally bought a set for him. I was torn between returning them (I don't want him to assume that everything he wants will always materialize with no effort), and keeping them (he really wants them, he seems to spend a lot of time with them at other friends' houses, it can be a good imagination set). We finally bought them, and gave them to him as the last gift on Christmas morning.

Good thing! Once we set it up, he ignored EVERYTHING else for almost 3 hours, while he played with the set. He was excited about several other gifts (matchbox cars and a matchbox play set, etch-a-sketch, Speed Racer Mach 5 car, trains for his train set), but I was impressed with his attention span at age 2 3/4. He has some serious focus sometimes.

Perceptive Kids

Alana's good friend Tommy (almost 5) opened the presents in his stocking. His Mom (Jo) said, "These are all from Santa!"

Without a beat, he said, "No they're not."

Jo: "Yes, they are."

Tommy: "No Mommy, this is the paper that you and An-Chian-ayi have been using."

(pause, while his grandparents start laughing, practically rolling on the floor)

Jo, thinking quickly: "Well...Santa doesn't always have enough paper...so sometimes he borrows some from the houses he visits...to wrap the gifts he brings."

She's not sure he bought it.

Good Big Sister

Alana helped feed Alexander his sandwich while we were packing up for Xmas. A big help!

She likes being a big sister. Occasionally too bossy, but she likes to be helpful.

Do You Have Any Clue?

In the car, I was adjusting the DVD player to get back to a menu for Alana (after hitting Stop by mistake in the dark). As I fumbled with buttons, trying to figure out which buttons were which in the dark, she asked, in a sweet and innocent voice,
"Daddy, do you have any clue what you're doing?"

Me: "Yes, actually, honey, I'm figuring it out."

Where's India, Exactly?

Kimberli: "He's from India. Do you know where that is?"
Alana: "The other world?"
Susheil, laughing: "Yes, that's right."

Rationalization

X wakes up, and decides he wants sunglasses...looking for a good reason, he says "The sun's too bright!"

This was at 5pm...in the winter. It was dark out.

Feel Free to Take a Nap

AC often tells the kids "Feel free to take a nap." They both came to understand early on that this means "lay down now, close your bloomin' eyes, and take a damn nap already." Recently, AC said this to Alexander.

He thought for a minute, then said, "But I feel free to not take a nap."

Alana's Take on Boys

Both of these were on the same day, from Alana to Xander, Tommy, and Owen:

"I don't want to play that game. All you can do is shoot everything. Is that all you boys think about?!"

"You boys need to remember to put the seat down after you pee!"

What's a Gizzard?

Tommy came to ask Alana and Jo, "What's a gizzard?"

After explaining that this was the gullet of a bird, where they grind up their food with pebbles, etc., they got a confused stare. They asked, "Why do you ask?"

Tommy said, "It's in the song [Burl Ives' ‘Holly Jolly Christmas']: 'Oh, ho, the mistletoe, hung where you can see. Somebody waits for you, gizzard once for me!' "

My Car is Mute

X, referring to one of his cars in which the batteries had died:
"It doesn't say brmm any more, Daddy."