Growing up...its complicated

The past week Marielle has begun talking incessantly about when she grows up....

"When I grow up to be a mommy, I can sit in the front seat, JUST LIKE YOU, MOMMY!"

"When I grow up to be a woman, I can walk down the aisle in a wedding dress!"

"When I grow up to be a baby, I can sleep in a crib whenever I want."

(You might infer here what is the constant conflict in this girl's heart--do I want to be an independent big-girl, or a baby who gets cuddled by mommy all the time. We are straddling that line on any given day.)

"When I grow up to be a woman, I can get married. The sun will be beautiful and I will walk down the aisle, and it won't be scary!"

"When I grow up to be a woman, I can wear lacing beads like a necklace whenever I want!"

"A brown tree grows up to be a purple tree! And then I'll climb up the tree to the top with my markers, color the tree, and fly away in a helpicopter!" . . . This is no joke here, friends. Either this girl has an imagination, or her father is telling her some crazy bed-time stories (both very likely).

But the real highlight of the week was when our neighbor told Marielle in her very neighborly southern-drawl,"My, what a big girl you're becoming!"; to which Marielle promptly answered in a solemn whisper, "I'm growing up to be a woman." It was all I could do to not blush, and promise said-neighbor that this was not something that we were emphasizing at home. :-)

This chronicles one of our most peaceful mornings (i.e. this is rare)....Sister bonding over oatmeal. Sigh...It was very sweet. Marielle has taken an interest in feeding Genevieve her breakfast, since Genevieve still basically refuses to take this on for herself. :-) Marielle is surprisingly adept at getting the spoon gently into Genevieve's mouth. This is a great blessing to her mother, since I can be cleaning up the kitchen or get dressed while Genevieve is still happily being fed.

I know the soft morning light filtering in is giving this quite an angelic-looking aroma, so just in the spirit of keeping things real, below is a picture that was taken just hours later during lunch!

Youre probably wondering what happened to my happy little baby!? Well, you'll just have to read that in the next post. :-)

Nature-girl

Her father is teaching her well! MK loves climbing our magnolia tree, laying in the monkey grass, and laying on her belly watching ants and whatever insect she can find. . . .

Funny Sayings

Marielle's famous house-hold sayings: 3 years, 2 months


While contemplating the wind from the view of her car-seat: "The wind is blowing like a carousel."

"Mommy, I love you so much, I cant even tell you how much I love you!" (She took this from a children's song we listen to sometimes, but she probably tells me this at least 7-10 times a day.)


"Pushing green beans is NOT allowed!" (We assume in response to our oft-repeated reminder that pushing her sister is not allowed....

"Mommy, will you help me be a peacemaker?"....Also, in response to the often-reminded truth that she must be kind and gentle with her sister. :-) Ahhh, there is much at work in this little girl's heart!

Genevieve's favorite sayings (17 months)

"Buck, COME!"--our dearly beloved dog must hear this 20 times a day from all of us around here.

"Bi-Backkkk"--Translated "I'll be right back." She tells me this pretty much every time she leaves the room. :-)

"Chsssse"--everytime she sees me with a camera.

Genevieve's favorite new word is of course the name of the girl whom she looks up to and adores with reckless abandon--Marielle.

Farm Days at NC State

Our First Field Trip! We went with some other preschoolers to explore the farms at NC State University, and meet lots and lots of sweet farm animals. . . .

Not pictured here (though indelibly written in my memory) is Marielle holding a baby chick and proceeding to squeezing it to near-death...needless to say, she had no idea that she was NOT being gentle. :-) What can I say--Marielle is a fierce lover of animals!

Marielle's new favorite past-time . . . .

DANCING!

These days we dance in the morning, afternoon and evening. Marielle is one energetic girl, and dancing both lifts all our spirits while simultaneously getting some of that crazy energy out. I highly recommend it. :-) We dance to anything from Belle and Sebastian and James Brown to Kids' music (Music Together and Lori Birkner).

Marielle's arabesque

Jumping...

And the grand finale......

A pirouette!

Some pictures to catch up....

I havent posted in awhile, and you might be wondering what we've been up to. The answer is...not much! Just living life with two little girls. Here are some snapshots of everyday life.

can you tell who loooves taking a bath?

The girls' first dress-up party together

Genevieve all decked out with her lovely faux-fur orange hat and purse...yikes!


Pretty dress-up hats.

Daddy reading to his girls before bed