Months 42 & 43 - Recap

My dearest second child,
I forgot to write your recap from April. Life happened and documenting yours didn't. My bad. But please tell your therapist hello for me when you inevitably end up on his couch from a month of no proof of your antics.

Daddy's dad passed away last month from pneumonia. I don't give you enough credit for how well your ears work because I had talked with Natalie a few times and talked to friends on the phone about it, but never talked directly to you about Grandpa's illness. But when you saw my mom a week or so before Grandpa passed away, you looked at her with a solemn expression on your face and told her about Grandpa's 'demonia'. And you told her how food sometimes goes down Grandpa's air tube instead of his food tube and that made him have demonia. DEMONIA. Lawsy mercy that's the cutest.

Know what else is the cutest? You call eczema 'eczemo'. Know what else is the cutest? You call the Incredible Hulk the Incredible Hunk. Or the Incredible Honk.

Back to Grandpa, though. We took you and Natalie to his funeral, and we think it ended up being absolutely the right decision. Natalie made it through about 90% of the service before she got antsy. You, on the other hand, cracked your first joke about 15 minutes into the service. While Pastor Joe described Grandpa's service in the Air Force, he mentioned that Grandpa served a tour of duty in Okinawa, Japan. Upon hearing that, you immediately perked up, looked at me, and said "Doodie! " What's even better was that I was recording the service (for the family members who couldn't make the trip), and your comment can be heard loud and clear on the video. You made it another 10 minutes before you fell asleep for the rest of the service. Fast asleep. And snoring (but your snores didn't make it on the video - bummer). Neither you nor Natalie have ever been ones to sleep anywhere and everywhere. You two sleep in your bed and your carseats, if you're especially tired. But anywhere else? You'd prefer the whine-until-I'm-in-my-bed approach rather than sleep-
wherever-I-am-if-I'm-tired approach. Except at funerals.

You said the snacktime prayer at Sunday School the other day. When your teacher told me, I melted. You usually don't do that kind of stuff in front of a group of people - sometimes you even get nervous in front of Daddy and me. But you did it at church, and I think that's awesome. You're a creature of prayer habit, so I'm assuming this was the prayer (probably said with your eyes squished shut and your hands poking your delightfully plump belly):

Dear Lord, Thank you for sending Your Son for dying on da cwoss and for saving us. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Hugs and smooches,
Mommy & Daddy

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Headlines for June 9, 2015:

• ISIS militants kidnap 88 Christian migrants in Libya
• Murderers Sweat, Matt on Run 4 Days After Escaping Clinton Correctional Facility
• Piglets Get Loose After Truck Overturns
• American Pharoah Jockey Victor Espinoza Gives Back to Cancer Center
• Teen carries brother 57 miles to raise awareness of cerebral palsy

May 2015 - Recap

Sweet Girl,
What a MONTH. In the middle of all the packing and throwing away and donating to get ready to move to Dothan, Daddy's dad, your grandpa, passed away. The Lord's hand was wonderfully present throughout his short illness, and Grandpa and Daddy were able to share some sweet moments together before Grandpa passed away.

Daddy and I initially decided to not have you and Charlie at the funeral, but we changed our mind after talking with a woman with Hospice. She told us she deals with many adults who have never been to a funeral before and don't know how to handle it. Because Grandpa had a long life, his death wasn't unexpected, and we knew he was in Heaven, that it might be a good idea to bring you and Charlie to the funeral. So we did. And it was really, really special to have you two there. You made it through about 90% of the funeral before you asked if we could leave and get some ice cream. That's a win in my book.

While we were in Pensacola for Grandpa's funeral, you lost one of your top teeth. It had been loose for a while and finally got to the point where it needed to come out or you'd swallow it while you slept. We were at my friend's house for the night so you got to have two mommas attending to you. You were all panicky and weepy over the thought of there being any pain and/or blood. My friend had the genius idea to sing the books of the Bible, and for each book, you had to wiggle your tooth. That worked great until she had to leave to help her son get ready for bed. You looked at me with big, tear-filled expectant eyes, ready for me to pick up the song where my friend left off. Except your mom doesn't KNOW the books of the Bible in order. And you didn't LIKE that your momma didn't know books of the Bible in order. And you didn't LIKE my suggestion of me reciting the 50 states in alphabetical order (I can't get that out of my head after 25 years). And you didn't LIKE my alternate suggestion of me singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I finally found something you like (hurricane names - alternating boy and girl names) and by the time I got to L, the tooth was in your hand. And all was right in the world.

Your second top tooth came out a week later. You and Charlie were doing your obstacle course in the living room (hopping over my legs [that are propped up on a chair], jumping over a pillow, jumping off a chair, and running back to my legs. Repeat forever.) You misjudged where my knees were and faceplanted on my knee. Your tooth was sideways and twisted and super gross. It took only two swishes of salt water before you spit it into the sink.

And you lisp a bit now. Great GOODness it's cute. And, in full dramatic fashion, you're lisping words that aren't even lispable. Like 'Charlie'. And 'pillow'. And 'water'. *eyeroll*

Speaking of eyerolling, in the midst of all the craziness of moving, you starting acting like a sullen, moody, eyerolling, put-upon little sass-pot. And I had my fill. So as a result, I assigned you sentences.

Me: Natalie, you have to write I WILL USE A KIND TONE 50 times.
You: FIFTY TIMES?! NO WAY! I can't do that!
Me: Now it's 60.
You: SIXTY? Well if I can't do 50, I certainly can't do 60!
Me: Now it's 70. Do you see a pattern?
You: This is the worst EVER.
Me: Now it's 80. Shall we continue?
You: No ma'am.

Not five minutes after turning in your sentences to me, you were rude to Charlie. Which bought you 40 I WILL USE KIND WORDS. You were none to happy but didn't talk back and earn yourself more.

I'm not sure I'll give you sentences to do again because it only took you writing two sentences before you learned the trick. You realized that it's much quicker to write a whole column of I's, then a whole column of WILLs, then a whole column of USEs, then a whole column of As, then a whole column of KINDs and a whole column of TONEs, than it was to write each complete sentence over and over again. I was 98% irritated and 2% amused to no end.

We are now Alabama residents and you love our new house. You love being close to church, you love the non-creaky floors, and you love that one wall in your room is all chalkboard paint and the other has a huge dry erase board on it. And you love being close to Target (I've taught you well).

Hugs and smooches,
Mommy & Daddy

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Headlines for June 1, 2015:

• Ohio Teen Chooses to Walk 30 Miles to Avoid Going to Jail
• Concern over Hillary's emails dates back 5 years 
• Duggar scandal: New police report reveals sister was 5 at time of abuse
• Owner wants over a million bucks for his VW Bug
• Amazon now offers free shipping on 'small and light' items, no minimum order