Quick Takes

1.) Do you have any idea how far Katherine has her daddy wrapped around her little finger? Sometimes even I find it unbelievable and I'm nearly as contorted around that tiny appendage as it's possible to be. Take this morning, for example. Chris was packing at the last minute, getting ready for his weekend trip to Greece, when Katherine walked over to him, wrapped her arms around his leg and said, "Daddy, will you make me your special muffins for breakfast before you go?" And he did! With only 15 minutes to spare before he had to walk out the door, he was in the kitchen mixing flour, making a cinnamon-sugar crumble, and helping Katherine measure out berries.

Once the muffins were safely in the oven, he sat down and started lacing up his boots, in a hurry to get to work. Sweetly, Katherine chose that moment to lean over, give him a kiss and say, "I'm giving you an extra kiss this morning, Daddy, so you'll remember that I'm always here for you." Heart melting, I know, and I could certainly see Chris melting, but then as he was throwing his bag into the the backseat, she called out, almost like an afterthought, "Oh! And I hope you see a flower shop while you're out there in the world. That way you can bring home some flowers for Mommy and me and Penelope!" What beautiful conniving! I'm curious to see if he will.

2.) We've had an almost perfect week. The weather's been breezy and cool, with evening storms and morning mist: perfect for exploring outside. The girls and I have been racing to get out each morning for our daily walk, and we've been well rewarded. Beetles and bugs, snails and slugs, it's a preschooler's dream and a toddler's delight. As for their squeamish Mama? Well, I'm having fun out there, too. What a surprise!

3.) Given the weather, it's not a huge surprise that Katherine's interests are starting to turn away from dinosaurs and toward insects, but for now she's got plenty of curiosity about them both. This morning she told me another installment in her dinosaur saga, which is apparently a book-in-progress; it's called 50 Dinosaurs and this is chapter 13 (I'm not sure what happened to 2-12):

Chapter 13

In Which the Dinosaurs Fight
by Katherine, age 4

It was a long, long time ago when a fierce flesh eater attacked another flesh eating dinosaur. After the first flesh eating dinosaur died, the other fierce dinosaur gobbled it up. Then another fierce dinosaur came along and ate that dinosaur up. Next, a whole herd of fierce dinosaurs came and started to rip each other open. During that time, everyone felt so unhappy; it was a really sad feeling. Luckily, a large herd of brontosaurs came along and they brought the king and queen of all dinosaurs with them. The princesses didn't come though. They stayed home so they could scrub the castle. At the same time, a herd of dinosaurs with smashing tails came to see what was the matter. Of course all the smashing-tail dinosaurs wore their pretty dresses and they brought their lovely friend, the T. Rex, with them. The smashing-tail dinosaurs were a very brave colony. Together, they tore up and smashed all the mean dinosaurs. Everyone was so happy because they were all saved. Even the dinosaurs who died were happy because they got to go up to Heaven and live with Mary. After that the dinosaurs lived happily ever after because they had all worked together to help stop the fierce ones. They even had a party to celebrate. The King and Queen held a feast at their castle, and everyone feasted on the bad dinosaurs who had died.  Afterward they had a slumber party and the princesses felt glad that the castle was so neat and clean.

The End. 

For Chapter One, the love story, click here.

4.) I hope I didn't lose you with the dinosaurs. For something a little less gruesome, I have to tell you how much I'm enjoying Penelope's bedtime routine these days. Until recently she's been the kind of baby who wouldn't let me hum more than a bar of Go To Sleep before reaching out and whimpering for her crib. But now! Now! She's discovered the joy of bedtime stories. She's actually handing me books, climbing into my lap and saying, "Boh! Boh!" until I read. When we're finished she'll turn the book over, flip back to page one, and ask me to read it again. She'll stay in my lap, warm and scented from her bath, sucking her thumb and snuggling against me for as long as I'll let her, and oh! how I let her!

5.) As quiet and snuggly as she is at bedtime though, Penelope's a handful on our walks. She's constantly picking up beetles, poking at slugs, sitting on top of colonies of ants. It's outrageous. I want her to be outside; I love to watch her explore. I think it's good for her, even healthy, to get dirty, but she comes home everyday covered, head-to-foot, in mud. The plus side is that after I rinse her off, strip her down and feed her, she almost always takes a nice, long nap. 

6.) This is an obvious question, but have you ever noticed how different kids are, well, different? Earlier this week Katherine made a new friend, Isador, at the park. The girls got along brilliantly, but it was interesting to watch them. For a four-year-old, Isador was incredibly bold. She taught Katherine how to climb up to the top of the spider's web (it's a toy) and jump onto the rope swing hanging below. She had them swinging their legs over an iron bar and then dangling their heads down toward the ground. They went across the monkey bars and then chased each other through the tall grass. They spent more than an hour together just running wild. I loved watching them. It thrilled me to see Katherine, who is normally so focused, playing with such goofy abandon. But at the same time I worried a little because Katherine seemed like such a hesitant girl by comparison.

Later that day we saw Isador at the library. The girls picked out a book and then asked me to read them the story. Since it was one of those picture books without words, I asked them to tell me the story instead. Katherine jumped right in, filling in with all sorts of silly detail, but Isador held back. She was smiling and laughing, but she insisted she couldn't think of what might happen next. I could tell the two girls were meant to be great friends, but I still wonder how in their four short years they've already developed into such wonderfully different people.

7.) Last, but not least, I won a blog award this week. This is a first for me and I'm really (almost giddily) excited, especially since it came from one of my favorite Mommy bloggers. Thanks, Sarah!

If you have any energy left after reading my long-winded quick takes, head over for more with Jen at Conversion Diary. Happy weekend, everyone!