Bugs

People keep telling me to put bricks on Olivia's head. She is getting so tall. I am having a really hard time with her upcoming birthday. She turns seven on May 6th. SEVEN?? How is that possible? Really? Just yesterday, she looked like this.




Now she is big. But not exactly. Tonight when it was teeth brushing time - a time of day when I am usually thinking, "How quickly can I get these kids in bed?" - she stops and emerges in the bathroom with a bowl. She fills it with water and places a growing bug in it. In that moment, I really didn't think much about it except why was she choosing to fuss with that thing right now when I am trying to check "Brush Teeth" off the list. She left it there for the night. I think most of this went down without any commentary from her.

Meg was next in line. She noticed the bug and wondered what it was. I told her that Olivia was growing a bug/caterpillar thing. She said, "Oh. Into a butterfly." I told her it wasn't going to grow into a butterfly because it was a toy but that this one would just grow big in water. Again, I didn't think much of it in the moment.

It's quiet now and I am doing what I do most evenings as I wait for them to fall asleep. I am catching up on all the blogs I read each day. Most of these blogs are other moms chronicling their days with children (one, multiple, healthy, sick, etc.) They are more eloquent than I am but we still share lots in common which is obviously why I love reading them so much. As I was reflecting on some of their posts, it occurred to me that maybe Olivia is going to be seven soon but she's still so young. (Right??!!) She still loves silly toys and silly stories and Three Stooges-style antics. She still will find excitement in a growy bug from the toy bin at George's office and you bet I will be trying to figure out a way to keep that up for as long as I can.



The whole thing just really struck me because she is on the verge of being bigger but not being bigger. She acts like a little diva listening and dancing to Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers, etc. but then she also loves learning the cute little kiddie songs in music class and performing them for me. I think she could definitely stand to have a cupful of innocence poured down her throat while she's asleep but since that's not possible I guess I will have to settle for a growy bug in my bathroom.

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Update:
I just got done cleaning the kitchen. I found the plastic wrapper and instructions for the Gro Insect.

Take out of water and it will shrink to original size. It can be used over and over.

If only.

Mr. John

It's no secret I love Trader Joe's. It opened here in Nashville last November. Shopping at Trader Joe's puts me in a good mood. Pure and simple. My most favorite thing is shopping at Trader Joe's all by myself. Not only is it great to be alone so I can think clearly but it's also extra nice to be able to look at all the products since they get new stuff all the time. But tonight was a real treat - a surprising treat. I took Meg and Olivia because I was already on that side of town. As we entered the store, Meg dropped her new toy that she just received an hour earlier at a birthday party. It rolled under a big display piece and was unreachable. We asked a nice "Crew Member" to help us with a broomstick or something. He willingly obliged (as you would expect from a Trader Joe's Crew Member). He got down on his hands and knees and fished out that toy. This toy, by the way, was some wacky whistle which I will mention more about later. He got up from the floor and handed Meg the whistle. She said thank you and he said glad to help. Then she said to me, "Mom, that man was really handsome." I was cracking up.

So we're shopping through the store and she's blowing that silly whistle ... it's more like a whirring, whizzing whistle than a traditional whistle. And people (really just the other Crew Members in the store) are making great comments. One pair of Crew Members were debating whether or not it was a kazoo or a whistle. The man said to the woman, "No. It's a party whistle not a kazoo. With a kazoo you use your voice to hum."

We're close to being done with our shopping and Meg somehow tears the top of her yogurt container. She keeps saying that we needed to go see "that man" to get some tape to tape it. So when we approach the check out area, he's helping another customer but she goes right on up to talk to him, inspecting his shelves for tape. I tell her she needs to leave him alone while he's helping another customer. A different cashier comes us and says she can help us at another station. I tell her my daughter has a thing for "Mr. John" and so we'd wait for him. The cashier says she'll help him bag our groceries then. The carnival begins.

I tell Meg that his name is "Mr. John." Meg says, "Oh." And immediately begins singing John Jacob Jingle Heimer Schmidt and "Mr. John" says seriously back to her, "His name is my name, too." She is stunned! It was so funny and now we have the previous customer, the other cashier and who knows who else enjoying the fun. Olivia is doing the scanning for him and he gets the eggs out of our cart. He says, "Have you ever juggled eggs?" I said no, but I really have been wanting to learn to juggle. (This is for real.) So he juggles the eggs for a bit and then tries to show us something fancy and he drops one. It was hilarious. Then he takes off running to get us a new container. He tosses a cantaloupe into the air. We talk about watermelon tossing and other fun things. We all comment on how fun it is to shop at Trader Joe's.

Thanks, Mr. John, for helping us out tonight. Maybe I should bring my kids along to Trader Joe's more often.

Vocabulary

Mama mama mama mama (Mommy)

Shhhz (shoes)

Schshcshc (snake sound)

Pppupp (poop)

NaNa NaNa (every other word)


This is Will's vocabulary right now.

He's also really into this lately, too.




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Been keeping busy with all things child and house remodel related. Oddly enough, God has decided to inspire me using blogs (and the families these blogs are about). Who would have thought that is how it would work but He always has a plan. I have often thought about how transformational technology has been during my lifetime but now it's Transformational. Ha. These blogs and some things I am doing differently as a result of more prayer and more prayer and more prayer are proving quite fruitful for me (hopefully my family would say the same thing!).

This is a great song!

Check it out.