a post that's long overdue

I began this blog in order to remember the little moments with my children.  It has become a journal of sorts of our everyday lives.  By going back through older posts, I am reminded of special or funny or sweet moments that we have shared since they've come home from China.  One of the things that I've done over the years is to write down things they've said on little slips of paper, with the intention of posting it to the blog.  The best-laid plans...Well, I've finally decided to list some of the things they've said, in no particular order:

• Jack calls broccoli "trees" and LOVES fresh blueberries (which he calls "doodleberries") and grapes.
• Elizabeth called pom-poms "palm-palms."
• If I tell Jack not to touch something, he quickly replies, "Oh, I just lookin'."
• Jack loves to tease me when I say, "Excavator!"  He says, "No, ALLIGATOR!"
• Sometimes, Jack says something that I either didn't hear or didn't understand.  When I ask him to repeat himself, he'll tell me, "NO, I talking Jie Jie."  (In other words, mind your own buisness, Mama, I'm not talking to you!")  And sometimes I have to have Elizabeth translate Jack's conversations for me--she tells me that that's because she understands "baby talk."
• At evening pick-up at daycare, Jack runs to me with arms outstretched, yelling, "Mama!" and wraps his arms around my legs, giving me the bestest hug!
• When Elizabeth and I say good-bye from a distance, she wraps her arms around herself and hugs herself and then blows kisses to me--I do the same.
• Jack loves coffee, with lots of cream and sugar.
• Elizabeth had a hard time when she was little when I dropped her off at daycare until we did the "kissing hand" (I kissed the palm of her hand and then wrapped her fingers around it and told her that, whenever she missed me during the day, all she had to do was to place her hand on her cheek and it would be just as if I was giving her a kiss on the cheek.  It helped her immensely).
• Elizabeth called a weathervane a "windblower."
• Jack called a ladybug a "ladybub."
• Elizabeth called egg whites "drool."
• Teaching Both Elizabeth and Jack to yell, "Go, Patriots!" while pumping a fist into the air.
• I will always remember Elizabeth, sitting in her carseat with headphones on, singing along enthusiastically but off-key to her High School Musical CDs.
• When I would try to help Jack do something, he would say, "No, no, I got it!" (what an independent little guy).
• Jack calls railroad tracks "choo choo tracks" but used to call trains "toot toots."
• Jack does not like bugs (mosquitoes, flies, bees--anything that flies) and who can blame him?  He does, however, like spiders because, as he says, "Spiders eat bugs."
• For a long time, Elizabeth called skunks "stunks."  Makes sense to me.  She also calls hand sanitizer "hand-a-sizer."  Again, makes perfect sense to me.
• Both Elizabeth and Jack think it hysterically funny to make a big production out of wiping off one of my my kisses with their hands because I then snatch them up and kiss them all over until they dissolve into giggles.
• Jack loves to tell me, "I have a secret," and then whisper something totally unintelligible in my ear.
• Elizabeth used to say, "No, I am-ent," instead of "No, I'm not."
• On August 12, 2008, Elizabeth's foot fell asleep.  I think this was the first time that she really experienced that tingling sensation.  As it started to wake up, she told me, "Mama, it tickles!" (Yes, I even wrote the date down!)
• We were in the store, and Jack kept asking for candy.  I told him, "Candy or lunch--you choose."  His response?  "Candy!"  I heard a woman in the next aisle chuckle.
• On October 7, 2009 (and several times since, I might add), Jack flipped the emergency switch on the furnace, turning it off.  Of course, I never figured it out until the house got chilly and we had no hot water to speak of.
• On July 23, 2009, Elizabeth read a story to Jack.  When I praised her for reading to her little brother, she replied, "Just doing my job, Mom!"
• On July 20, 2009, I apparently said something to Elizabeth that she didn't like, because she told me, "I'm telling on you to Miss Kelly!" (Miss Kelly is our daycare provider).
• OK, here's one that I said:  At daycare drop-off (not pick-up!), I told Miss Kelly, "I'll see you tomorrow!"  (Oops).
• On October 22, 2009, I asked Elizabeth, "Who's better at CandyLand--you or Nanny?"  She replied, "Me!  When Nanny goes to get her coffee, I peak at the cards!"
• Instead of saying that it was drizzling outside, Elizabeth said that it was "dribbling" outside.
• Elizabeth called Fancy Feast "Stinky Feast" (canned cat food is pretty stinky...).
• Jack, as a very little guy, bending at the waist, clapping his hands, and calling to Baxter, our yellow Lab, "Come, Backie!"  The dog, of course, ignored him.
• Elizabeth called our minivan a "vinnie van," a tv commercial a "ma-kershall," a tv remote a "ma-rote," a seat belt a "belt seat," a fire hydrant a "hire fydrant," corn on the cob "corn on a stick," Walmart "Mall Mark," and 4th of July sparklers "sprinklers."
• More Elizabeth-isms:  ear muffs are called "ear muffins," a vacation is "baycation," and a toaster is a "toast popster."
• Elizabeth taught Jack the hand movements that go with singing "Wheels on the Bus" in the backseat of the minivan
• I taught Elizabeth all about traffic signals:  red means stop, green means go, and yellow means, "Speed up, Mama, you can make it!"
• Elizabeth said, "I wish our family would last forever!
• Wow, have things changed:  Elizabeth said that she didn't like to wear jeans because she looked "disgusting!"  Huh?  Now I struggle to get her to wear a dress every now and then.
• Elizabeth called Pocahontas "Hocapontas" and Windex "window-ex."
• If I try to cover Jack with a blanket, he kicks it off, telling me, "I like cold!"
• Elizabeth loved musicals, even as a toddler:  Mary Poppins, Sound of Music, Wizard of Oz, but most of all, Oklahoma!  She called Curly "Oklahoma" for the longest time.  (She now loves all things High School Musical, Camp Rock, and Hannah Montana, and she's only six (groan)!
• Elizabeth talks in her sleep a lot and takes over the bed when she shares it with me, whereas Jack is a very restless sleeper, flipping and turning constantly while he sleeps.  He never keeps the covers on.  Both are deep sleepers.

Those are just some of the things that I remembered to write down. I know that my children make me smile every-single-day.  I am so very blessed!

And,

• Right now, Jack loves all things Cars (as in the movie, Cars), cars and trucks, Thomas the Tank Engine, trains, Buzz Lightyear, Dora, reading (yes!!!), taking tubbies, orange juice, milk, fresh blueberries, Pez, "trees," rice, and dogs
• As for Elizabeth, she loves all things HSM, watching the Disney Channel, Hannah Montana, spelling, reading (yes!), math, ballet and tap/jazz, crafts,  P.E., apple juice, iced tea, Wheat Thins (or, as she calls them, Nanny crackers, because her Nanny introduced her to them), Chinese food (especially spring rolls and sweet-and-sour chicken), canteloupe and watermelon, painting her fingernails, and cats
• They both LOVE their blankies and sleep with them every night without fail