Month 34 - Recap

Oh, my silly little goober,
You are just the epitome of sweet. When you enter a room, you do so with a "Well, HI!" to whoever is there. You give Natalie a hug when it's only been 10 minutes since you've last seen her. You always sit thisclose to whoever you're sitting next to at a restaurant. You like holding my hand. As you get older, I hope you still hold on to that sweetness. It does wonders for your old mom.

You sometimes forget to say the S on some words. (ie: 'stop' is usually 'top'.) But all we need to do is say "with an S" and you say it correctly. The other day, you asked me to read 'The Monster at the End of This Book' to you. You handed me the book and had this (totally fake but nevertheless cute) scared look on your face, and you said "Oooh, Mommy! Dere's a cawwy [scary] monster in this book!" I laughed and said "With an S, please!" Do you know what you said? Do you?? You got on this sly little grin and said "Dere's a cawwy smonster in this book!" A cawwy smonster. CAWWY. SMONSTER. That you and Natalie have such rad senses of humor (sense of humors? senses of humors? English is hard, man.) is one of my most favorite things about life.

The last time we were at the pool, it seemed like you were trying to get my attention. You were paddling along the length of the steps and I was helping Natalie with something.

You: (hollering) Bay-BAY!
Me: (giggling) What did you just call me?
You: I not CALL you. I was just singing.
Me: Oh yeah? What were you singing?
You: I was singing Bay-BAY!
Me: What song?
You: The Bay-BAY song! From the Cobby Show!!!

Here it is, the Bay-BAY song, from the Cobby Show:


While it's still a shame you are plagued with Nighttime Broken Arms that prevent you from pullling up your own blanket if it falls off, you seem to have been blessed with Nighttime Ability to Always Put Patches [your stuffed dog] on Top of Your Face Because Apparently That's the Only Right Way to Sleep. It seems shocking that someone cursed with NBA can also simultaneously be blessed with NATAPPOTOYFBATTORWTS. You are a medical marvel, my dear boy.

A few weeks ago you came to me, gave me a hug, and said you wanted to marry me. I don't think I've seen you look as sad as you did when I had to break the news that Daddy had already snagged me up. Your lip poked waaaaay out and you were a nanosecond away from turning on the waterworks. It was so sad. And so sweet. I assured you that you'd find a really nice girl to marry. And then you saw the bag of Oreos and our heartwarming conversation was a thing of the past. But you learned a good lesson, my sweet boy. Oreos are always better than girls (except for Natalie and me).

Hugs and smooches,
Mommy & Daddy

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Headlines for September 9, 2014:

• Wettest Day on Record in Phoenix, Flooding Leaves 2 Dead
• Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 Downed by 'High-Energy' Impact: Report
• Denzel Washington: I want to be the next James Bond
• Harvest Moon Lights Up the Night Sky
• Kate Middleton's Hyperemesis Gravidarum Explained

August 2014 - Recap

My sweet girl,
We knew the day would eventually come. This summer heat has been fairly manageable (and coming from me, that's an impressive statement) up until August. We spent most of the summer at the pool. The outside temperature was warm but the pool stayed nice and cool. And then the heat fell upon us in suffocating waves. And the pool felt like bathwater. We went once and you were all, "Um, Mommy? This isn't refreshing at all. I'm sweating in the pool." And I'm all, "Sweet! Let's go home and eat ice cream." It rained so much last summer that we never once went to the pool. This summer, we more than made up for it. And that we made it till August before the pool water became warm? Not too shabby.

So since we're not going to the pool anymore, I send you and Charlie outside a lot to play. One particular day, you two were clomping around outside in your rain boots spraying some sidewalk chalk with the hose to see what happens (in case you're curious, Crayola chalk held up like a champ. Dollar Tree chalk melted like the Wicked Witch of the West). All of a sudden you flew into the house and yelled about seeing a wasp. Momma don't play around with stinging insects, so I went outside in search of the wasp spray. I couldn't find it, so I went to a shelf under our carport and lifted up a box lid to see if it was in there. I barely get the lid off before I heard "bzzzzzzz". I lose my ever-loving mind and started to yell for your and Charlie to get in the house. I got out "GET IN TH--" before I felt the sting on my ring finger. I yelled at the dumb bee for stinging me which made you and Charlie immediately burst into tears. You clomped up the stairs as fast as you could (fairly difficult to do in rain boots) but Charlie can't move very fast in them (think of a newborn giraffe) so he just stayed put. I scooped him up and we bolted inside. I haven't been stung in 20 years and clearly forgot how badly it burns. So ironic that I get stung by a bee while looking for wasp spray. I'm thankful that it was a bee and not a wasp, so I only got stung once. It took you a good 20 minutes to chill out and then you (in your most dramatic voice) declared "I am NEVER going outside again until I'm 21 or 23."

Not long after the bee incident, you and Charlie were being especially snippy to each other, so I sent you two outside to sweat out the snippiness. After a few minutes I noticed that you guys weren't playing, you were both sitting on the stairs. I went outside to check on you.

Me: What's up? Why aren't you guys playing?
You: Charlie and I split up. So I'm pouting on the stairs.
Charlie: Yeah, I pouting, too.
Me: Why did you split up?
You: Charlie won't play the way I'm telling him to.
Charlie: Nope! And Natawee won't pway da way I tell her to pway.
You: Nope. So we split up.
You: Oh, that's too bad. I suggest you two figure out a way to play together nicely or you'll be out here pouting until dinnertime.

Not two seconds later, you guys made up a game that involved a shovel, a jump rope, and a ball. And all was right for the Smithkids ... for at least five minutes.

You've been quite the strong-willed little tart this month. You only like doing something if it's fun (in case you were wondering, putting your dishes in the dishwasher is not fun). You only like playing with Charlie if he does exactly what you tell him to do (in case you're wondering, Charlie is not a fan of that idea). You only like writing if you form your letter the way you want to form them (in case you're wondering, your TeacherMomma isn't going to let that fly). So parts of this month have been especially trying. And now that we're delving into homeschool, I'm praying even more for wisdom and relying on His grace to fill in the (numerous) gaps in my ability to be a good momma and teacher. You are my heart, my darling girl. And while I know we'll butt heads, it's important to me to be the one to teach you to butt heads with someone in a respectful manner. Homeschool is going to be full of learning English, math, science, and history - but we're also going to take a lot of time to learn important life skills. Cooking, cleaning, sharing, disagreeing, apologizing, reading the Bible, volunteering, pulling weeds - these are also things I want you to learn. And I'm stoked to get to teach you, my love.

Hugs and smooches,
Mommy & Daddy

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Headlines for September 1, 2014:

• Ebola-Stricken Dr. Rick Sacra Arrives in United States for Treatment
• Lava Flow Threatens Residents on Hawaii's Big Island
• Joan Rivers Dead at 81
• New Rescue Mission for ISIS Hostages Difficult, Still Possible: Experts
• Great Dane Eats Nearly 44 Socks