Someping Degot

Several months ago, I mentioned that Chloe liked to use the phrase, "Done Degot," to alert me when I had forgotten something. That phrase has now morphed into, "Someping Degot." And Chloe's not the only one using it. I was playing with girls the other day and Addie leaned over and said, "You someping degot to give me dat." I would correct her, but I'm curious to see if this can catch on outside our house.

In truth, I have been forgetful about writing down the cute things these girls say and the minutiae of their daily lives. I used to be much better about that. So here we go.

Chloe is getting so big, and much of what she says is no longer funny, but achingly grown up. She's so good at saying her prayers, and always asks for me to sleep well and for my hands not to hurt anymore. She loves to make up new words and names all the time lately. Bellia and Bageea were two favorites for a while, but now every time she plays pretend with Addie, she makes up new names for the both of them, and I'm supposed to remember them, though they change several times during the conversation. She's good at identifying what letter words start with, but when she runs out of real words, she just fills in with words of her own creation. "Mom, cow starts with C, and cat, and cookies and camea and calea and ceroonie." Sure it does. The other day she got me, though. We were doing the letter "M" and after the obligatory Maggie, and Mom and moon, she said, "And Moh starts with 'M.'" And I'm thinking, Moh, that's a short one for her. Then she finished, "Moh, like Dad mows the lawn," and I realized I'm the one who's so sleep deprived I'm incapable of remembering the English language.

She did crack me up the other day when I asked her, "Do you need to go to the bathroom?" "No, Mom, I'm not dancing yet." She actually seems to be doing the pee-pee dance a lot lately, and I'm afraid she's just picked it up as a habit, and that's how she moves now.

Whenever we go to a park, Chloe always comes up and asks me if it's okay if she makes friends. I say no. Just kidding, I'm the antisocial one. I always say yes, but inside I'm just praying that she does make friends and we're not yet entering the world of mean girls. But I also know I'm not enough for her socially anymore. She wakes up every morning and says, "Mom, where are we going to go today? What are we going to do?" I did take her on a date the other night. We went and got a treat to eat, then went to a store to get her new pajamas. As we got out of the car, she walked next to me and was so big and so grownup, and I just wished that she would still want to hold my hand. And then she reached out and took my hand and smiled at me and all was right in the world.

Addie is giving me major deja vu these days. My brother Matt was the talkingest darn thing you ever saw when he was growing up. He used to follow our neighbor around as she gardened, and she would say to him, "Matt, you talk and I'll listen." And he would. And so will Addie. She will follow me around all day, just talking and talking and talking, narrating everything. In her chipmunk voice. She picks up random objects around the house and acts out little plays constantly.

While I was making her Halloween costume, she came up to me and said, "I a princess now. I get married. Inna tempoh." Awesome. She also loves to wander around with a magic wand saying, "Bibbidi Bobbidi boo. I turn you into a goon." She is generally polite, though, and always says, "Thank yoooou food. Thank yooou milk." Also, if you ask her how things taste lately, you always get the same response. For instance, she was just examining an orange fruit snack, told me it was a watermelon and it, "Tastes like stawbees." Her other catch phrase right now is, "The best I can." All day long I hear, "The best I can," as she goes about her various activities. It makes me smile, also because I once asked Chloe what mom's do and she replied, "The best they can."

Potty training is still a much distant goal for Addie. I called her to lunch the other day and found her standing stock still with red watery eyes and new instantly what she was up to. Before I could act she said to me, "Yeave me ayone (Leave me alone). I mean it!"

Maggie is getting so big--almost 5 months old already. She can almost sit, and has finally remembered how to roll back onto her back when she gets stuck on her tummy. She loves cereal, but prefers to be fed while sitting on the lap of the feeder. I think it makes her think she's actually getting grownup food. I did slip her some black bean soup the other day, and she was in heaven. Often when I hold her now, she'll turn and give me an open mouth, lick kiss and I can't figure out if she's being affectionate or hungry. Then again, if she were hungry, she'd be attempting to burrow her way through my shirt.

We've been working on sleep training. It's been an ugly road. She had been sleeping through the night, waking once around 3, occasionally even sleeping the whole night through. Then she reverted to every 2-3 hours. So now we've been putting her down and letting her cry. She'll wake around 12, cry for about an hour, then sleep until 5:30, eat, and go back to sleep until 8. The night before last when I went in, she'd gotten one leg completely out of her sleeper. Last night, she'd pulled one arm totally out of her sleeve. I can't figure out if this is what is causing the wakeup, or if she's so mad during the wakeup that she manages to undress herself. Either way, the wakeup has got to stop. Everyone else in the house manages to sleep through the hour of crying, but I'm up for the whole thing. And usually ready to run away and not come back by the end of it. And then it takes me forever to get back to sleep. I know it will be worth it once she starts sleeping, but currently, I'm falling apart. It has been well over a year since I've consistently gotten more than 2-3 hours of sleep at a time. I'm thinking it is no coincidence that insomnia and insanity begin the same way. And so does infancy.