Things They Say

M: Daddy, you can't go to work! You're Mommy's friend!

B: I don't want to be a mommy. I don't want the doctor to cut me open to take the baby out.
Me: Um, you don't have to be cut open.
B: So, how can the baby get out, then?
Me: The doctor takes the baby out.
B: How?
Me: The mommy pushes, and the doctor gets the baby out.
B: Where does the baby come out, then?
Me: Hm?
B: Where? Like, on the mommy's body? Where. Does. The. Baby. Come. Out??
Me: So sorry, gotta get these zoo tickets. Let's talk about this later.

In bed, in the same room, at my sister's house:
M: BERIT! I love you.
B: I love you too, Marta.
M: And I love YOU!
B: And I love YOU!
M: You're my best friend.
B: I know, you're my best friend, too.

Best Day

I know this post should be about the amazing Christmas we had, and it was -- we're still savoring the fun and the memories, and we think it might have been the very best in a long time -- but I have to write about the fun we girls had today.

We woke to another yucky, wintery morning with no school. I discovered that the Great Lakes Children's Museum, just outside of Traverse City, had a craft week going on with volunteers helping kids do all sorts of fun wintry stuff, and decided to make the 1 1/2-hour trek. Marta whined the whole way down, but let me tell you, this non-car sleeper snoozed the whole way back.

"I made this. I MADE it."

"Yellow jingle bells. RING!"

"No, Mom, I WANT it in front of my face."

Oddly, she was nervous to go through this short tunnel at first, and tried to get Marta to do it.

"In the waterfall!"

Marta = Obsessed with water.

Berit = Obsessed with posing.

OhMyGosh we're on TV.

MAGIC.

Berit, doing the bulk of her physical activity for the week.

She was smiling just before and just after I took this, but I can never catch her in the act.

Absolutely cracking up at the videotaped fish that swim in the entryway.

You can't see them here, but they're swimming around their feet.

So, after the museum we went to the mall where the girls rode the carousel and we all got a pretzel hot dog. Marta crashed on the way home and Berit said, "Mom, turn on the lullabies so Marta can have a nice sleep." She then sang them under her breath for the rest of the ride, gazing out the window.

When we got home, I pulled out the best Christmas gift ever, from my sister who put together a bunch of folder games for the girls -- matching, shapes, concepts, etc. -- and thought, "Wonder if they'll be able to understand any of these." Berit did each one in 2 seconds flat, and Marta did most of them right after.

Sigh. One of those days where I feel so good about being my girls' mommy, from morning to night.

Duly Noted:

Berit and Marta have been playing this game they made up entirely on their own for a couple of weeks now. Berit grabs either her or Marta's blankie, hands Marta one end and then pulls her around and around the circle that runs through our kitchen, entryway and living room. They sing "Mary Had A Little Lamb," and that's the name of the game, too. They. Crack. Up.

Berit has also been doing this clever little trick that I feel she learned from my mom, but I'll have no confirmation on this because my MOM DOESN'T READ MY BLOG. (Yes, I could just ask but it suits me better to point this out in public.) When she wants to surprise us (as in, every 20 minutes or less), she says, "OK, think about halloween." (Or dinner, or outside, or the dog, or whatever she comes up with.) She's DISTRACTING US while also giving us something to pass our time while waiting for her. It's very Mike Myers/Coffee Talk: "I'm going to eat this cheesecake; I'll give you a subject: ladybugs and their fondness for lightbulb swarming during house showings. Discuss."

Fast and Slow

I don't wanna go slow

I go fast

I'm a rabbit

I hop and I jump and I dash

And I'll go whizzing by in the blink of an eye

Just like a jet engine airplane

who speeds through the sky

I don't wanna go slow I go fast.

I don't wanna go fast

I go slow

That's the way that I move

I'm a turtle you know

Join me as I go by

We can laugh

We can cry

We can talk about pie

We don't want to go fast we go slow.

I don't wanna go slow

I go fast

I'm a rabbit

I hop and I jump and I dash

And I'll go whizzing by in the blink of an eye

Just like a jet engine airplane

Who speeds through the sky

I don't wanna go slow I go fast.

You don't want to go slow

You go fast

and you may find you're missing the world as you go past.

Crickets singing their sound

Golden leaves on the ground

You might find something new

that you wouldn't have found

If you never went slow only fast.

So won't you slow down

and wait for me.

Take it slow, take it slow, take it slow

C'mon slow down

We can share all the new things we see

when we're slow,

here, we go

Together we're slow.

And other times I can go fast!

(Lyrics: The Laurie Berkner Band)

Sugar and Spice

Berit has recently decided that life may be more fun if she sees her sister as a friend and playmate rather than a nuisance and parent-stealer. Which makes my own life not only simpler, but so much sweeter, as they do adorable things together and are sort of lost without one another. The photo to the left is of them seriously working on a sticker book (and their jammies) together. Every evening, Marta finds one of her blankies, finds Berit and Berit takes one end and pulls her around the house. They crack up.

Also fun from Berit lately: Last night she was singing in her sleep, "Queen Queen Caroline, washed her hair in turpentine, the turpentine made it shine, Queen Queen Caroline." Not awake, not in the least.

This morning, when she woke us up by climbing into our bed she said, "I'm going to wear a beautymite dress!" Which is her adaption/interpretation of the Wiggles' frequent comment, "Beauty, mate!"

She's been telling variations on the following story, which I just had her tell me and I wrote word for word (this morning at school she told it and included fairies):

"Once upon a time, there was a little bear and a little mouse and they were going to Mimi's house and then they were going to climb up on the couch and then they were going to fall down, the bear was going to fall down. And THEN they got there and they goed in and then the bear fell down and then the bear broke his arm. Then they had to go home and tie it with a bow. And then they needed to tape it. The end."