a funny thing about . . .

. . . parker is that she has to have a definitive "yes" or "no" answer to a question.  no lame substitutions for the same words will do.

(overheard during bathtime today. . .)

parker:  "can you wash me after macy?"

daddy:  "alright."

parker:  "can you wash me after macy?"

daddy:  "sure."

parker:  "can you wash me after macy?"

daddy:  "okay."

parker:  "CAN YOU WASH ME AFTER MACY?"

daddy:  "YES."

parker:  "okay."

gotta love her determination.

. . . macy is that she is very expressive and acts out memories so that i know what she's talking about.  her favorite two are the "ladybug story" and the "airplane story". whenever she sees something that triggers these memories, she goes into her demonstrative telling of said memory.  

(the ladybug routine goes just like this . . .)

macy:  sees a ladybug or a picture of one.  her eyes light up and she looks excitedly at me. . .  

me:  "oh, a ladybug!"

macy:  nods happily . . . then walks her fingers on her arm like, well, a ladybug. . .

me:  "oh, did one crawl on your arm?"

macy:  touches her hair and looks to me for validation. . .

me:  "did one land in your hair?"

macy:  nods happily again . . . then flaps her arms. . .

me:  "did it fly away?"

macy:  happy i'm understanding her . . . then points to the ground. . .

me:  "oh, did it land on the ground?"

macy:  nods her head and then shrugs her shoulders and says "uh-oh". . .

me:  "yeah, did we lose it?"

macy:  gives a look of concern . . . then it's on to something else . . .

(the airplane routine is as follows . . .)

macy:  sees an airplane or someone says "airplane".  . . immediately she looks at me like "hey, i know what that is!  i went on one!"

me:  "did macy go on an airplane?

macy:  nods her head . . . points to oliver and says "ol". . . 

me:  "and did oliver go on a plane?"

macy:  nods again and smiles . . . points to me . . .

me:  "and mommy went on the plane?"

macy:  excitedly nodding, points to parker . . .

me:  "oh, and did parker go on the plane?"

macy:  nods happily and says "daddy". . .

me:  "and daddy too?"

macy:  grateful i figured it out . . . and then she's on to something else.

and it goes like that every single time.  i'll miss that when she can talk.

. . . oliver is that he just went through a phase where he'd wake up exactly a half hour after we would lay him down for the night. . .  just to hang out.  he wasn't upset or necessarily hungry, it was just as if he was thinking, "hey, if i wake up after my sisters are in bed, i can get 100% of my parents' attention!  and the important thing is to not make it too late, or to be awake too long because then mom and dad won't think it's as cute or be as forgiving . . ."