Playing Doctor

Eden and Leila were playing doctor.

Eden was the doctor and Leila was the patient.

Eden: "Let me listen to your heartbeat."

(Puts stethoscope to chest.)

Eden: "Oh, you feel pretty sick."

Eden: "Now I'm going to check your lungs."

(Puts stethoscope to chest.)

Eden: "Take a deep breath."

(Leila takes a deep breath and breaths out on Eden.)

Eden: "AH! Leila! You're lungs smell bad!"

The Piggy Bank

While dusting, I broke Eden's piggy bank.

Eden: "That was my favorite piggy bank!"

(Her ONLY piggy bank actually)

Eden: "I'm so sad that you broke my piggy bank."

Mom: "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. It was an accident."

Later that night we had family scriptures and prayer which is followed by a story of her choice.

Dad: "Do you want mommy or daddy to read the book tonight?"

Eden: "Daddy."

Dad: "Okay, what book do you want?"

Eden: "Let's read 'Bert and the Broken Teapot' so we can figure out why mom broke my piggy bank."

Eating Dinner

For the past two days Leila's been a stinker about eating her dinner. She'll throw it on the floor, not eat it if I try to feed it to her, and throw tantrums.

But both nights Eden saves me.

Eden: "Let me try to feed Leila."

"Leila, here's your food."

(Leila opens mouth nicely and eats)

Eden: "Let's do an airplane."

(Leila opens mouth nicely and eats)

Leila loves Eden. She'll eat for no one else.

Popularity

Sometimes I think "I think Eden has more friends than I do!"

Like tonight at Relief Society when we went to a lady in the ward's house and her son came down and said,

Will: "Hey, Is Eden here? I wanted to show her my snow cone machine."

Sometimes I think "How does Eden have so many friends?"

Like today at the end of preschool when everyone was playing and she calls everyone's attention to say,

Eden: "Hey guys! Just to let you know, I have leukocyte, toxoplasma gondii, and mononucleosis."

A Princess Prayer

Remind me to never let Eden say a prayer while in "princess character".

Mom: "Eden will you say the prayer tonight?"

Eden: "You mean Princess Eden?"

Mom: "....Sure...."

Eden: "Heavenly Father. Please bless my kingdom..."

Nativity Scene

I had Eden draw a picture of the nativity scene.

She drew the stable, a manger with baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph (laying on the hay because they don't have any beds), a sheep, and a giraffe.

And they are all wearing party hats because its Jesus birthday.

Signing Time

I'm surprised at how quickly the kids learn from Signing Time (a little kids show that teaching sign language).

I rented it from the library a few days ago and Leila already signed to me that she wanted juice in a cup.

Eden loves to do all the signs she knows.

The only problem is that now Eden makes up her own signs....and then teaches Leila.

Eden: "Leila. This is the sign for ICE CREAM."

(Leila frantically does the made-up sign in hope for ice cream.)

Muppets

While watching trailers for the new Muppet movie, there were only two times that Leila laughed out loud...

When a Muppet was electrocuted and when a Muppet was blown up.

Such a troublesome sense of humor.

p.s. For those of you who have seen the Muppet movie....Leila loves to do a "maniacal laugh".

Clothes

We got a hand-me-down outfit from family for Eden.

Overalls and a white shirt with pink polka dots.

I had Eden try them on and she laughed.

Eden: "Mom! I look like I'm ready to work!"

Mom: "Are those like work overalls?"

Eden: "Yeah. Papa Bear (Bernstein Bears) wears these!"

Mom: "I think they are cute."

(Eden starts to take them off.)

Mom: "Why are you taking them off?"

Eden: "These are BOY clothes."

(Eden proceeds to take off the shirt.)

Mom: "What about the shirt? Its not a boy shirt."

Eden: "I can't wear this because it makes me look like I have the chicken pox."

I don't think I'll ever get her to wear those.

Food is Important

Leila knows where to find good food.

Whenever we go to our friend Hillary's house she goes straight to the kitchen. And anytime she sees Hillary go into the kitchen, she follows her in hopes that she'll get something out of it.

She grunts, and points, and climbs, and begs.

I have to admit, its hard to say "no".

And after she's communicated what she wants and knows she's getting it. She gets really excited and knows the rules. She goes to the kid's table and sits down politely.

Then after eating a few bites she'll usually find some adult, bring her snack to them to show them what she has...gleaming with pride.

Eden Knows She's Loved

We were going to a friend's house for dinner.

Eden has a friend there named Braylee.

As we were leaving to go to Braylee's house...

Eden: "Braylee has been so happy today!"

Mom: "How do you know that?"

Eden: "Because I'M coming over to her house and she LOVES me!"

At least she's got a good self-esteem.

At Least She's Honest

Eden got in trouble and lost her Halloween candy for a day and she longingly watched Leila pick out and eat her candy.

Then Leila made a mess of it and the candy was taken away and Eden's mood seemed to brighten.

"Look! Leila lost HER candy privileges too!

Now it doesn't seem so bad anymore!"

Honestly, I would have thought the same thing if I were Eden. But leave it to a talkative 3 year old to vocalize it.

Kid-ish

We were at a dinner party at a friend's house. The adults started to play a game and the kids played around and watched a movie.

Eden decided to join the adults and sit at a chair.

She apparently found us boring as she proclaimed,

"This looks pretty mommy-ish and daddy-ish.

Not very kid-ish."

A Good Example for Mom and Dad

Eden lost a dear friend....Buddy Bear.

We just barely realized he was gone and she's been QUITE upset with spurts of tears here and there.

Last night she remembered that Buddy Bear was lost and burst out into tears.

Eden: "I don't have Buddy Bear!"

Dad: "I think we left him at grandma's house."

Eden: "But I want my Buddy Bear!"

Mom: "I'm sorry hun, there's nothing we can do about it."

Eden: "I need him!"

Dad: "Eden, please stop crying. There's nothing we can do."

Mom: "Its okay, you still have Lamb-y."

(Eden continues to cry)

(Leila goes into her bedroom and finds Lamb-y)

(Runs to give Eden Lamb-y for comfort)

(Eden stops crying)

Leila was such a good example. We just sat there, did nothing, and told her to stop crying. Leila actually got up and did something to help cheer her up.

Thank you Leila. You sure love your sister.

Library Books

Among the books Eden chose out at the library yesterday....

Cooking the German Way and Tapeworms

She's so funny.

The irony is that the cook book states that Germans use a lot of pork in their cooking and the tapeworm book talks about how they are most commonly found in pork....what are the odds?

Garden of Faith

During church I will often have Eden sit on my lap and I'll play with her arm pretending its a garden (planting seeds, sun, rain, etc.) It gets Eden to sit still during sacrament for a while.

A while back we had a lesson on faith and how its like a seed. For part of it we had her "pull out weeds" and name different things that could be weeds in our lives like disobedience and lying and not being nice to everyone.

Today I was doing the garden on her arm and in the middle she said, "Wait, we didn't weed the garden!" So, we weeded the garden and she named off "weeds" in our lives (she would say things like "not doing dishes...that's a mommy weed...not sharing...that's an Eden weed...").

After doing a vegetable garden and flower garden on her arm, Eden said that she wanted the next garden to be a garden of faith.

So, I planted a little garden of faith on her arm.

Going to the Doctor

Eden had a doctor's appointment today. She was very excited. But sad that she didn't need a shot. She was so intent on showing how brave she is.

But she is VERY excited to hear that she gets to have a flu shot.

Note: Story below is more of a bad-mommy-ism

During part of our visit the doctor was trying to be kid-friendly by using the stethoscope to hear her tummy.

Dr: "Oh, I bet that if I listen to your tummy, I could hear what you had for breakfast."

(I hid my head in shame....)

Dr: "Oh, was it...cereal?"

Eden: "No, it was PIE!"

Yes, we had pie for breakfast. Pie and eggs. I'm so ashamed.

Memorizing Books

Eden had just been put down to nap when I hear....

"CATASTROPHE! CALAMITY! A CONSIDERABLE SETBACK!"

I figured she wasn't really having an emergency. At least I wouldn't guess she would quote A Wish For Wings That Worked by Berkley Breathed if it were a real emergency. But I'm glad that book gave me a little chuckle when hearing my child quote it to delay going to sleep.

You Can Run But You Can't Hide

Eden is often grumpy when she wakes up.

Leila is ready to play...or eat...after she wakes up.

After nap Eden laid down on the floor with her blankie, a little grumpy and sensitive.

Leila ran up to her and jumped on her back ready to play.

Eden (whiny voice): "Mom! Leila's on top of me!"

Mom: "Maybe you should lay on the couch so she can't get you."

(Eden crawls to the couch and makes a fort of pillows)

Eden: "Now I'm safe from Leila!"

(Mom finishes some cleaning.)

(Leila grabs a kids chair)

(Leila takes the chair to the couch)

(Leila climbs up on the couch)

(Leila jumps on Eden)

Eden: "MOM!!!"

Good old Leila...

And here's a reenactment in picture form...

I wasn't able to reenact the beginning while Eden was on the floor. I also didn't get the very end with Leila pounces on Eden cause once Leila saw the camera she insisted on just looking at me innocently and smiling.

The Haircut

Stranger at the gas station: "Oh I love your cute hairstyle!"

Eden: "Its OK. It will grow back."

The Pack 'n Play

Eden and Leila's new favorite game is to climb inside of Leila's pack 'n play and play around together. They found out that if they get on the head of their giant, rocking caterpillar then they can tumble inside.

Eden's version of play: Pretend to be animals in a cage.

Leila's version of play: Sit and stand on Eden as much as possible.

Mr. Purple

Eden: "Mom, I'm going to marry Mr. Purple in the temple."

Eden loves the color purple so much that she wants her name to be Eden Finlinson Purple. Anyone meet someone with the last name Purple...let me know.

Salmonella

At the library I decided to get Eden a educational book. I lead her to the books about animals and asked her to pick one out. She decided said, "I don't want to learn about animals. I want to learn about this." She handed me a book on Salmonella. She wanted to learn about a disease over animals. Go figure.

Apparently she's been understanding the book.

Today's after dinner conversation.

Eden: "I think I'm sick. I have salmonella."

Mom: "How did you get salmonella?"

Eden: "I ate a raw egg. And you have salmonella."

Mom: "I do?"

Eden: "And dad has salmonella."

Mom: "Oh no, it must have been something I cooked."

Eden: "NO, it was something you DIDN'T cook."

She's got me there.

Backwards Undies

There is one pair of undies that Eden INSISTS on wearing backwards (even though it ends up giving her a wedgie). Today she put those undies on (backwards of course), came in, showed mom and dad, and said,

"I like my undies to be wedgies!"

Don't Cry

(Leila starts to cry.)

Eden (in a comforting voice): "Leila, don't cry. We live in the Plan of Happiness!"

Leila the Bear (& other noises and words she says)

My ward has an exercise group that gets together 2 times a week. The mom's exercise and they let the kids just run around the gym and play.

Eden, Leila, and another little boy discovered the storage under the shed for tables and chairs. They had climbed inside and I went over to make sure things were OK (and perhaps tell them not to play in there...I can't imagine that place is the safest and cleanest place in the world).

Mom: "Hey guys! What's going on?"

Eden: "Mom! There's a BEAR in here! RUN AWAY!"

(Eden and Roman run out.)

And there sad Leila....not running away from the bear.

Leila: "RAAAAAWR!!!"

Leila was the bear.

Leila loves animals and she does do the noises of a bear, dog, owl, cow, fish, leopard, lion, and whale.

Other than that, she doesn't say much else other than "mom", "dad", "nana" (for banana or other snack), "woah", "oooh", "that", "hi", "up", and "pop". But she does shake her head "yes" and "no" and can let us know plenty of what she's thinking with body language.

Fighting Viruses

I was sick a few days ago and I think Eden was getting tired of such a boring mother.

We explained that a virus was making me sick.

A little while later, Eden came inside the room wearing dad's hat, her pink backpack, and a stick she was holding like a gun.

"Mom! I'm going to kill the viruses!"

"PA-CHEW! PA-CHEW!"

Family Home Evening Song

Eden LOVES family home evening.

Last week we talked about the Plan of Salvation and she's been talking about it ever since.

This week we talked about the gospel and how to get to the Celestial Kingdom.

At the end of family home evening she said,

"I want to sing a song now."

Since it was technically still FHE time, we said, as long as it was a church song, it was OK.

Eden stood in front of everyone and sang (to the tune of "the more we work together")

"I'm going to the temple.

I'm going to the temple.

I'm going to the temple.

I'm going to marry a man

and go to the Celestial Kingdom.

And I'll be baptized and have faith."

It was a beautiful song.

Chores

I gave Eden some extra chores to do around the house for some money. She was very excited. I was just trying to get the place cleaned up. Eden would pick up one thing and before she put it away...decide she wanted to play for a while...so on and so forth.

After doing this a few times I said, "If you don't do your chores then I'm going to do them and you won't be able to earn money."

So, she picked something up and once again before putting it away she stopped to draw a picture.

I decided to just start doing her chores since mine were done.

She didn't notice I was doing her chores.

Eden: "OK! I'm done drawing! I'm doing chores!"

Mom: "Eden, I already did your chores."

Eden: "NOO!!!! I wanted to do them!"

Mom: "Sorry but I said if you didn't do them then I was going to."

(Eden start to cry and get a little hysterical)

Eden: "MOM!!! I REALLY AM GOING TO SELL YOU TO THE GYPSIES! I REALLY AM!"

(I'm trying not to laugh)

(Eden settles down and thinks a minute)

Eden: "Mom, I have a good idea. How about your write MORE chores down so I can do them."

Mom: "I'm sure there will be plenty of chores that will need to be done today."

And all day she keeps asking me to write a list of chores for her to do.

That was the first time I've heard her use the "I'm going to sell you the gypsies" comment where she was really serious. You could tell that she was serious....she wanted to sell me to the gypsies.

The Celestial Kingdom

Our last FHE we had a talk on the Plan of Salvation.

When general conference came on today, Eden heard, "The Celestial Kingdom" she responded,

"Mom!! That's where WE'RE going!"

Chameleon

Eden: "Can I have some juice please?"

Dad: "How about CATERPILLAR juice?"

Eden: "DAD! I don't eat caterpillars! I'm not a chameleon!"

(we all laugh)

Eden: "I'm not a chameleon cause I don't change colors!"

Side note: We recently got a book from the library about a chameleon that eats caterpillars.

50 Miles an Hour

Eden was taking a bite of food, but it was too hot. She quickly put the food back on the plate and said,

"It's HOT! Like 50 miles an hour hot!"

I have no idea where she learned that.

Dove Deodorant

A while back Eden saw me using Dove deodorant and asked what I was doing. After explaining what deodorant was she asked about the bird on it.

A few days later she saw me using the deodorant again and said,

"I want to smell like a dove!"

Later she saw a commercial for MEN's Dove deodorant and she said,

"Look! Even boys want to smell like a dove too."

50 Nifty United States

One of Eden's new favorite songs to sing is the states song (naming all the states). It usually goes something like this....

"Alabama, Alaska, Arizon-e-a, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Alaska, Arizon-e-a, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Alaska....."

Then I get her back on track by saying, "Connecticut"

"Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Alaska, Arizon-e-a, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Alaska...."

Then one day I tried to sing it all so she could get past those first few states. I got stuck for a second at New Jersey and was reviewing the states in my mind so I could figure out what came next.

Then Eden chimed in,

"New Mexico!"

And of course she was right.

Design Star

During nap I watched HGTV's Design Star on the computer.

Eden woke up and joined me.

Eden: "I like that one!"

Mom: "Oh yeah?"

Eden: "We should paint my room purple....

And the kitchen green...

And the family room blue...

And your room black."

We've got ourselves a Design Star in the making.

Leila and Aninals

Yesterday we went to Cabela's. Today we went to the pet store. The whole time Leila pointed at all the animals (real or not) and VERY LOUDLY said things like,

"WOAH!"

"OOH!"

"AHH!"

Needless to say, she LOVES animals.

Questions and Answers

We read a question out of our question jar....

Mom: "What is the funniest thing that has ever happened to you?"

Eden: "When daddy popped my toes!"

Mom: "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Eden: "A mommy." (although she often says she wants to be a nurse)

Mom: "Do you want a car or truck when you get older?"

Eden: "Truck."

Mom: "What color?"

Eden: "Purple."

Mom: "What is the best thing to ever happen to you?"

Eden: "When Leila was born."

Notes

Lately Eden's been into writing "notes".

After nursery she brought me a crumpled piece of paper (she said she made it into an airplane) and then she opened it and said,

"Dear Mommy, I suppose you are my best friend."

I "suppose" I'll take that as a compliment.

Reading

Eden: "Grandma? Did you get this cup from IKEA?"

(Mom and Grandma confused how she knows this)

Grandma: "Yes."

Mom: "Wait, did you tell her it was from IKEA?"

Grandma: "No...."

(Eden looks at the bottom of the cup)

Eden: "I.K.E.A. IKEA."

Sure enough, IKEA was spelled at the bottom of the cup. The first word she read without prompting or help....

IKEA.

Seashells

Eden is afraid of Grandma Namba's bathroom.

Eden: "I don't like the bathroom with seashells."

Mom: "Why?"

Eden: "I'm allergic to seashells."

My sister: "What happens when you are by seashells?"

Eden: "It makes it so I can't breathe."

There you have it.

Nursery

Eden brought home a paper fish attached to a string....

Grandpa: "Eden, what is that?"

Eden: "A fish!"

Grandpa: "Why do you have a fish?"

Eden: "To go fishing."

Grandpa: "Did you learn a story about fishing today?"

Eden: "Yeah. Cause we learned about Jesus."

Grandpa: "What was the story?"

Eden: "People were fishing and they didn't catch any fish and then they saw Jesus and said, 'We didn't catch any fish!' and he said to go fishing again. Then they caught LOTS of fish and the net almost BROKE!"

(Silence)

Mom: "Then what did Jesus say?"

Eden: "He said, 'WOAH! That's a lot of fish!"

(Laughing)

Mom: "Did he say to follow him and become fishers of men?"

Eden: "Oh yeah. And then they became his apostles."

An Old Friend's Wedding Reception

We went to an old friend's wedding reception. Eden barely recognized I was there and made herself right at home.

I'm positive that she went up to most everyone and either said,

"My name is Eden."

Or asked,

"What are you doing?"

When she heard someone being told to refill the water pitchers...

"Can I help you?!"

She went inside with the guy fill the pitchers.

Upon seeing someone who is pregnant...

"When I was a baby, I was in my mommy's tummy. It was really squishy in there."

And she was never shy to request from complete strangers...

"I need some more water."

"Can I have another cookie?"

"I want more watermelon please."

Another Sibling

While in Utah visiting with Tyson's sister, Kylie, who just had a baby....

Kylie: "Eden, you should get a baby brother so Sam will have another boy cousin to play with."

Eden: "I don't have a brother, I have a sister!"

Kylie: "I know. But you should get a baby brother."

Eden: "But I already have a sister."

Mom: "Would you like another brother or sister?"

Eden: "I already have one."

Mom: "Would you rather have a brother or a sister...or is one sister enough?"

Eden: "One's enough."

Can't you feel the love?

So Nice

We saw some construction work going on while taking a stroller ride.

One truck scooped up dirt and dumped it into another truck.

Eden: "Mom look! The trucks are SHARING! That's so nice!"

Four Wheeling

Eden and daddy (and McKell is in back) went 4-wheeling together. This was Eden's first time.

After a minute or so Eden yelled,

"STOP DADDY STOP! I DON'T LIKE FOUR WHEELING! I LIKE CARS!"

The Talent Show

(I forgot to post this ages ago.)

Back in Missouri, Eden performed in her first talent show. We didn't sign her up but after seeing what everyone was doing she was begging for a turn.

They squeezed her in.

I gave her the microphone to sing...but she decided she also wanted to play the piano. She started to play piano and sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" while I held the microphone for her. Soon she stopped and said, "I want to hold it." She grabbed the microphone, played with one hand, and sang "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" again.

She loved it!

After her performance was over the bishop stopped her,

Bishop: "Was that YOU up there singing!?"

Eden: "Yes. And I won!"

Apparently this was a competition.

Slagathor

Eden has a new cousin, baby Sam.

But Eden insists his name is Slagathor....

A Perfect Body

Eden was pretending to die, then come back alive.

This brought on a little conversation between us about the resurrection.

I explained that when we die our bodies change and become perfect....so on and so forth.

After I was done Eden got excited and exclaimed,

"When I die, I'm going to be DARK PURPLE!"

Humility

Someone at the 4th of July Parade: "You are so cute!"

Eden: "Yes. I. Am."

Later that day...

Grandma Sakamoto: "Eden, are you cute?"

Eden: "No. I'm not cute. I'm BEAUTIFUL."

Guess we better work on humility.

Hotel vs. Home

While driving to find a hotel in Grand Junction...

Eden: "Mom, I like hotels better than a house. It smells clean and you don't have to sweep or mop."

That may have been a personal stab at the cleanliness of my home...

Grand Junction

We stopped in Grand Junction on our way to Utah to find housing.

Mom: "Eden! We are in Grand Junction!"

Eden: "And there's a sign that says, 'Grand Junction Loves Eden!'."

Where You Go When You Die

Eden: "I'm dying! I'm dead."
Mom: "What happens when you die."
Eden: "You go to Heaven."

Eden: "I came back alive!"
Mom: "Oh good!"
Eden: "Oh, I'm dead again."
Mom: "Are you going to Heaven?"
Eden: "No. I'm not going to Heaven this time."
Mom: "Where are you going?"
Eden: "To Arizona."

Baby Johnny

Eden and Leila's cousin baby Johnny's been in the hospital, very sick. We were able to see him on video chat.

Today Eden wanted to play doctor:

"I'll be the doctor and you be baby Johnny."

(Eden sticks anything "tube like" anywhere she can)

I'm putting tubes in your arms."

(Eden sticks the "shot" in my mouth)

"This is your feeding tube."

(Pushes the shot)

"There's your apples."

(Pushes the shot again)

"There's your squash."

(Pushes the shot again)

"There's your pears"

(Gets the play scissors and tweezers)

"Now we need to do heart surgery."

(Pretends to cut open my chest and fix my heart.)

"There, now you're all better!"

I think Baby Johnny needs Eden as a doctor. She did a really good job. Hang in there baby Johnny. We love you!

Symbols

(Eden puts her arms on her back to look like wings)

Eden: "Look! I have wings cause I'm an angel!"

Dad: "Oh. But did you know that real angels don't have wings? Wings are symbols often showing power and abilities beyond what we have now on Earth."

(Thinks for a moment)

Eden: "Oh.....Look at my symbols!"

She got it right, "wings are symbols". Just not quite like how she imagined it.

Leila's Owie

I constantly need to make sure Leila SITS in the tub instead of stands.

This last tubby time, she was about to stand up, slipped, and hit her chin on the side of the tub.

Bleeding...lots of bleeding.

We got her out and held a cloth on her tongue to help her stop the bleeding.

She bit THROUGH her tongue with her top and bottom teeth.

Ouch. Poor thing.

We called the doctor and luckily tongues heal easily and she didn't need to go to the ER.

Questions and Answers

I got a jar of "getting-to-know-you" type questions as a gift. As soon as Eden saw the jar, she wanted to open it. I opened it and asked to ask her questions.

Mom: "What is your favorite color?"

Eden: "Umm...blue." (although I believe its dark purple)

Mom: "What is the messiest place in your house?"

Eden: "We need to clean the kitchen."

Mom: "What's your favorite household chore?"

Eden: "Mopping the floor."

Mom: "What is the best gift you've received and why was it so important?"

Eden: "Jesus, cause he helps our bodies."

She never ceases to amaze me.

I think I'm gonna try to get out this jar and ask her a few questions once a week and write her responses on this blog.

A Warning...

I was getting dinner ready and waiting a few more minutes to get it out of the oven. I was sitting on the floor with Leila and putting my hand in the oven mitt like a puppet. Then Eden comes over, bends down, and looks at Leila.

"Be careful Leila. Mom's gonna BAKE you."

Hi

Leila's new favorite word is "Hi."

She often just says, "Hi!" and waves. Or she'll take my phone and press it up to her mouth and say, "Hi". Her favorite person to say "hi" to is daddy. She'll run to his office (where he spends most of his days at the moment) and give a huge smile and say, "Hi dada."

Potty Trained

Eden is officially potty trained!

Water

Here's another dramatic moment brought to you by Eden. (These have been happening a lot lately.)

(Eden playing in nursery.)

(She runs up to me.)

Eden: "Mommy, I need some water or I'll DIE!"

Mom: "Soon they will be cleaning up then they'll have snacks and water."

Eden: "Okay."

(Play, clean up time, snack time)

(Eden holds up her sippy cup and yells across the room to me.)

Eden: "MOM! THEY GOT ME WATER SO I'M NOT GONNA DIE!"

More Than Just "Sad"

Eden and Leila were having a hard time sharing. So, I took a toy away from both of them.

Leila cried.

Eden cried.

I re-explained why I had to take it away and then said, "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit."

Eden looked at me with tears streaming down her face...

"I'm not throwing a fit. *sniff sniff*. I'm just traumatized."

Drinking Fluids

After all the sicknesses a while back, Eden was into playing doctor. That's when she learned that when you are sick you "drink fluids".

Today she said:

"Mom, I'm sick.

I have T-Gondii.

(nickname for the virus, toxoplasma gondii)

I need to drink more fluids."

Since our "sick days" Eden's has also said things like:

"Mom, I need some fluids."

"Leila wants a drink of fluid."

or my favorite was when she said...

"Mom, I want a drink of fluid....like MILK fluid, not water fluid."

Carrots

I told Eden a while back that it was important to eat her carrots because they are good for your eyes.

Yesterday we had carrots for dinner...

(Eden closing her eyes really tight)

"MOM! I'm BLIND! I need to eat some carrots!"

Words of Wisdom

(Eden talking to Leila.)

"Words of wisdom.

You get what you get,

and you don't throw a fit."

College

Eden was outside playing with the neighbor kids when she poked her head in and said,

"Mom, I want to go to college."

Although, I have no idea where that idea came from...I'm glad she's decided that.

Nursery Lesson

Everyday this week Eden has used her last week's nursery lesson against me.

Today's example:

My mom decided to take us to ice cream and I was joking around with Eden...

Me: "Maybe you don't want ice cream. Maybe I should just eat it."

(Eden gives me a serious look)

Eden: "Mom, in our nursery lesson we learned about sharing. You need to SHARE the ice cream and not eat it all."

She's reminded me to share (anything she wants that I have) many times this week.

Chop Sticks

While doing dishes, Eden opened up a drawer and took out the chop sticks...

"Mom, I need to use these chop sticks...cause I'm from China."

Birdies and Diapers

Eden saw some bird poo on the sidewalk.

"Mom, the birdies pooped out of their diapers."

"Umm...they wear grass diapers."

So creative.

President Monson

(Eden puts on dad's suit coat)

(Picks up my phone and holds it to her mouth)

"I'm President Monson.

Thou should not steal.

And you guys need to get married."

I see she listened during conference.

Cuddling

Lately Leila's into cuddling...with strangers.

If someone she doesn't know holds her, she'll put her head on their shoulder and cuddle with them. I think its her way of being shy.

Moving to Colorado

Eden and Leila came with me to Relief Society. We were cutting out papers and I gave Eden a paper and some crayons to color. She was sitting next to our friend, Leslie.

Eden: "We're moving to Colorado."

Leslie: "Yeah, I heard!"

Eden: "My mom's gonna miss you when we leave to Colorado."

Leslie: "OH! I'm gonna miss your mom too."

(Eden pauses to think...)

Eden: "Mom...Why ARE we moving to Colorado?"

It'll be sad to move away...

Lego Role Play

Most of the time when we play LEGOS, Eden has me build a "doctor's office"...today after playing doctor she thought of a new idea....

Pooh played by Eden. Piglet played by mom.

Pooh: "Piglet, come in the door."

(Enters Piglet.)

Pooh: "I'm King Pooh sitting on a throne."

Piglet: "Hi King. What would you like me to do for you?"

Pooh: "Go and do as the Lord hath commanded."

Piglet: "Oh, what did he command me to do?"

Pooh: "He commanded you to go clean your room."

Later...

(Piglet enters.)

Piglet: "King, my people need more food. Can you help us?"

Pooh: "Oh yes, I can help you."

Piglet: "Thanks, what should I do?"

Pooh: "Go to Foods Festival (local grocery store here)."

Piglet: "Oh, OK."

Pooh: "And close the door when you leave so flies don't come in."

Flowers

Eden started out being girlie when she went outside and picked a flower to give to me.

I told her that was very nice and got a cup of water to put the flower in.

After seeing the flower and the cup of water, Eden had a better idea.

She decided that the flower would be much better used as a "paintbrush" to paint pretty water pictures on our table.

Walking

Leila now walks more than she crawls.

The only time she crawls is when she really wants to get someplace or to something fast. She knows that crawling is faster than walking.

She often only takes a few steps and falls, then get up again and falls. But she's made it across the living room a few times all by herself.

Looking at My Eye

Eden was looking at the veins in my eyes and said,

"Mom, your eyes have cracks in them..."

Quoting Scripture

Eden loves to pretend to be people. One (at times problematic) person she likes to pretend to be is Jesus.

The other day she said to me,

"Mommy, I'm Jesus and I'm coming to Earth."

(Walks up to me)

"Suffer the little children to come unto me."

She's quoting scriptures better than I can...

Tookus and Tumpkus

Eden has recently named her "children" (they are her Play Doh containers). They are twin boys named Tookus and Tumpkus. She'll play with them like they are her real children.

A part of me says, "She's so creative and imaginative."

Another part of me says, "We need to get out more."

Cinnamon Knot

For those curious, a cinnamon knot is basically a bread stick covered in cinnamon and sugar, then tied in a knot and baked.

On with my story...

We had cinnamon knots the other day. Tyson wasn't feeling too good so we saved his for him. The next day Eden found it...

Eden: "Mommy, can I have the cinnamon knot?"

Mom: "Its dad's, you'd have to ask him."

Dad: "You can have SOME of it."

Mom: "You should ask dad nicely if you can have some of it."

(Eden turns to dad)

Eden: "Dad, can I have so...ALL of your cinnamon knot?"

Sneaky girl. Guess she realized mid-sentence that it was better to start by asking him for ALL of it, just in case. I mean, why settle for less?

Spelling

Eden has been able to spell her name for a while now (the letters...not always in the right order). Sometimes she does better than others.

But today she's really started to improve.

Eden: "I spelled 'MOM'!"

Mom: (checking if she did) "How did you spell it?"

Eden: "M-O-M."

(I looked and sure enough, 'MOM' was written on her paper.)

Eden: "I spelled 'Leila"!"

Mom: "Oh yeah?" (not REALLY believing it)

(I looked and she had written the letters "L", "E", "I", and "A".)

I'm impressed.

Who Needs a Dog?

Everyone but Eden had finished eating.

Before I know, Leila had crawled under the table and Eden was feeding Leila her food bit by bit.

But I admit, it was actually more "sharing" than "getting rid of food you HAVE TO eat" cause we made some dessert bread sticks....and that's what she was sharing with Leila.

I tried to get a picture...but my camera ran out of batteries.

Lists

Eden loves to pretend to make lists:

(Eden scribbling lines on paper)

"Mommy needs to clean the house."

"Eden needs to take her Vitamin D."

"Mommy needs to do potty training."

"Leila needs to get in trouble."

"Eden needs to clean her room."

"Leila needs to clean her room."

"Eden needs to watch a movie."

"Mommy needs to do laundry."

Guess my day is planned out. Better get to work....

Two Steps

Leila took two steps all by herself yesterday! She'll be walking before we know it!

Only My Child...

Eden was playing with her doll house. All the dolls, except one, was missing and she was wondering where they could have gone. With a surprised look on her face she says,

"Mom! Where did all the other humans go?!"

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Eden's hit some terrible twos. Its not all bad, mostly bedtime is the worst.

But these past few days Eden's actually been EXTREMELY nice....except at bedtime when she's EXTREMELY difficult.

During the day I hear:

"Thank you for this dinner mom."

"I would love if you could get me the sidewalk chalk."

"Could you come outside with me please?"

"Its important for you to read me a book."

Then bedtime and nap time roll around when I hear:

"NO NO NO NO NO!"

"I WON'T BE GOOD!"

"I need more water."

"I need another story."

"I need another song."

"I need you to stay here and talk with me."

Touchy-Feely Children

While going out to eat with my sister and her kids, Eden stood close to Trey and kept trying to sneak her hand over to hold his hand. Trey wouldn't have a part in that and took his hand away.

Then later, while Ramona and Leila were in the double stroller, Leila would reach over to Ramona and try to hold her hand. Ramona didn't respond (but then again, she's only 3 1/2 months old).

Llama

This is the llama that Eden gave to Leila when she was born.

Leila loves it.

In fact, she loves it so much that she can now say "Llama".

Words Leila says: "Mama", "Dada", "More", "Nana" (meaning "no no"), and now "Llama".

Stairs

Leila crawled up the stairs (from the very bottom to the top) all by herself. Trouble....

Getting Along

Eden and Leila best get along with each other while in the car.

They like to hold hands or Eden will tell me what Leila is doing or if she's asleep or not. Or else they will just talk to each other.

Falling Out of Bed

Eden fell out of bed and started to cry.

"Mom. I fell out of my bed and I hit my brain!"

Shoes

I went to take the garbage out and left the door open so Eden could come out if she wanted.

She didn't have any shoes by the front door, as she usually does. And she knows she isn't supposed to go outside the house without shoes on.

She really wanted to come outside. So, she improvised.

Those would be MY shoes.

Tubby

During breakfast we gave Eden a banana. She rubbed it all over her chest and said,

"I want to take a tubby!"

Ugh...

Pavlov's Dog

I've tried to teach Eden and Leila a few words in sign language, just for fun.

"More" is the word I've been trying to get Leila to sign. But she's not taking...she's become more like Pavlov's dog.

Now whenever I do the "more" sign...she just gets SUPER excited. Kicking, smiling, breathing heavily...cause she knows that means more food is on its way.

And instead of doing the "more" sign to me. If she wants more and I haven't offered or given her what she wants WHEN she wants it she yells "MA!" which I've interpreted to mean "MORE!"

She's obviously my child....verbal.

Its Hard to Stay Angry...

In line at the grocery store I was preparing to use coupons.

I had Eden help me out by holding the coupons for me while I put things on the conveyor belt to purchase.

Eden ripped the coupons in half.

I gave her a "mini-lecture" while in line.

While putting groceries in the car she did something that I told her not to do.

I gave her another "mini-lecture" and told her that since she disobeyed that she wasn't able to get any Veggie Straws (that we had just bought) today.

She got upset.

In the car ride home I started a longer lecture.

Eden: "Mom, you ruined my day!"

Mom: "Sorry, but....(lecture continues)"

(Eden quietly thinks to herself.)

Eden: "Mom, I'm sorry I ruined your feelings."

Mom: "Its OK. Its makes me feel better than you said sorry."

(Eden quietly thinks to herself.)

Eden: "Mom, you ruined my feelings."

Mom: "I'm sorry too. (Talk about consequences, saying sorry, and forgiveness.)

Eden: "Its OK mom. You can still be my friend."

Mom: "Thanks. I'm glad you're my friend."

Costco

Eden's found that she loves Costco....because they give samples.

Leila's found that she hates Costco....because they give samples. Samples that she can't eat but everyone else seems to be able to eat.

Trips to Costco = 1 Happy Girl and 1 Unhappy Girl.

p.s. Eden and Leila now where the same size diaper.

A Name for Baby Power

Tyson's sister and brother in law, Kylie and Zach Power, came to visit a few days ago. Kylie's pregnant with a baby boy *WAHOO!*

After talking about possible baby names we decided to ask Eden. Her answer:

"You should name the baby ACTION POWER!"

Then Kylie mentioned they liked the name Samuel. Eden's response:

"That's silly! Name your baby Samuel the Lamanite Power?!"

The Black Lung

Leila: *mini coughing attack*

Tyson: "You OK Leila?"

Leila: *coughing*

Tyson: "You got the black lung?"

Eden: "And I've got a PURPLE lung!"

1st Tooth

Leila's first tooth popped through a few days ago!

Bedtime Routine

When Tyson's not around to help...this is the bedtime routine for the kids.

Eden:

Get on PJs

Brush Teeth

Read Scriptures

Say Prayer

Read Non-Scripture Book

Drink Small Glass of Water

Sing Song

Go to Bed

Leila:

Get on PJs

Try to Keep Out of Trouble Until Eden Goes to Bed

Walk Around with Mommy, Blanket, and Llama

Turn Off All Lights

Go to Bed

The problem with this routine is the step: "Try to Keep Out of Trouble Until Eden Goes to Bed".

Today's Bedtime Routine:

Get On PJs

Brush Teeth

Keep Leila Away from Playing with Toilet Water

Read Scriptures

Keep Leila from Grabbing Scriptures

Say Prayer

Read Non-Scripture Book

Put Away All the REST of the Books Leila Pulled Off Shelf

Drink Small Glass of Water

Clean Up Glass of Water Leila Tipped Over

Sing Song

Put Clothes Back in Dresser that Leila Took Out While Singing Song

Eden Goes to Bed

Leila's Bedtime Routine

Leila Goes to bed

Yeah, I've gotta figure out a better plan. Leila's WAY too good at moving and causing trouble to keep this routine the way it is.

Getting Bigger

Leila can now climb up on small steps (although not up the stairs yet), walk around holding on to furniture, and loves to play a game of stand and then let go with her hands so see how long she can stand without falling. She's lasted probably 5 seconds at the most, which is pretty good.

Slippery Fish...Slippery Fish....

Eden was singing a song...

"Slippery fish. Slippery fish.

Swimming in the water.

Slippery fish. Slippery fish.

Glub. Glub. Glub.

Oh no! The fish was eaten by a...."

The song went on with a few verses.

"Enormous whale. Enormous whale...."

Then she started to make up verses.

"Enormous mommy....."

(Pause)

(Look at mommy)

"Pretty mommy. Pretty mommy.

Swimming in the water...."

*Phew* Close one. Good save Eden.

Then she went on.

"Beautiful Eden. Beautiful Eden.

Swimming in the water...."

Then to another verse.

"Pretty daddy. Pretty daddy....."

I commented to her that girls are pretty and boys are handsome. She corrected it.

"Handsome daddy. Handsome daddy.

Swimming in the water...."

I admit, was just glad she changed mine from "enormous" to "pretty".

Stars and Dots

Coming home later at night.

(Looking up at the night sky.)

Eden: "Mom, what are those dots up there?"

Mom: "Those are stars."

Eden: "But they don't have arms."

I do sometimes wonder why we draw pictures of stars with 5 points on them when you look in the sky and they just look like dots.

Sign Language

The missionaries are teaching a sign language class once a week for 5 weeks. I signed up.

Yesterday was the first lesson. It was great. Learned a lot of basic rules and a few common greetings as well as the alphabet and numbers.

This morning I wanted to see if I could teach Eden a little bit of what I learned.

Mom: "Eden? Want to learn some sign language? Its how people who can't hear talk to each other."

(Eden just kind of sits there looking at me funny.)

Mom: "This is how you say 'How are you?'." Then you can say "Good." or "Happy." or "Sad." or "Alright." or something else. So, Eden, how are you?"

(Eden beginning to show interest but not sure how to answer.)

Mom: "How do you want to answer? Good? Bad? Happy? Sad?"

Eden: "Exhausted!"

Man, didn't learn THAT one on my first sign language class.

Trouble

Eden and Leila share a room. I've been putting them down at the same time in the afternoon.

During nap time I could hear Eden run around her bedroom on occasion.

I went upstairs to tell her to take a nap so not to wake up Leila.

She had been taking things in the room and throwing them ON Leila in her crib. The biggest thing being a Boppy pillow. It was on Leila's head. I pulled it off (a little scared she was being suffocated) and Leila was still sleeping.

Guess she's a heavier sleeper than I thought.

Squishy Paper

Eden: "Mom. I'm coming downstairs cause

I want to draw on this squishy paper."

Curious, I look up at her coming down the stairs. The "squishy paper" was a piece of STYROFOAM.

Word of the Day

Tyson's phone has an app for Webster's Dictionary where he can look up the "Word of the Day". Lately he's been reading it out loud when the family is all around.

The other day the word was "Snaffle: To obtain especially by devious or irregular means. I snaffled the last cookie."

I stole Tyson's phone earlier that day and read the word to Eden. She didn't seem to be paying too much attention.

Later on in the day:

Tyson: "Want to hear the word of the day?"

Me: "Oh, I already read it to Eden. Its...umm...snuffle or something."

Tyson: "The word is...."

Eden: "I snaffled the last cookie!"

She WAS listening! That was the example sentence they gave in the app. I can't believe how good that girl's memory is.

The High Pony Tail

The other day I found myself saying, "Oh no, we're at THIS stage." Why?

Eden's favorite movie lately has been Hercules (that she always calls "Quicklies"). I often put on a movie while we get ready and I can do her hair while her she's holding still. I started to brush her hair when she said, "Mom, I want my hair to be like Meg's."

Luckily Meg only wears a high pony tail. I can handle that.

But if she asks for more difficult hair styles, I may be in trouble.

p.s. Eden was EXTREMELY proud of her hair all day. Telling people about how she looks like Meg.

Standing and a Love for Food

Leila can now get herself from sitting to standing (if she's holding on to something short enough).

And she also has a love for food. Wait, that doesn't describe it. She has an EXTREME LOVE for food. When we sit her down for food at breakfast and dinner, she EAT and EATS. I decided once that maybe we shouldn't give her as much and supplement with breast milk at the end. She wouldn't have it. She only wanted FOOD.

She's found a new love for foods that she can feed herself as well. She loves green beans, baby snacks, bread, ANYTHING.

Vanilla Extract

A very random conversation. I wasn't using or hadn't used vanilla extract in QUITE some time.

Eden: "Mom, I know how to make vanilla extract."

Mom: "Oh yeah? How do you make it?"

Eden: "Bananas and ice cream."

I never would have guessed it was so easy.

Crawling and Talking

Leila officially crawls! She also TALKS a lot more than she did previously (well, somewhat babble). She's learned the word "Dada" and hasn't stopped saying it since. She loves her dad. Its true. She occasionally says "Mama" and a little bit of babble and a decent amount of screaming. But dad is officially her new favorite.

Booger Sucker

(First off...is that how you spell "booger"? Anyhow....)

Eden's had a really runny nose. She hates it. Anytime she feels it she'll yell "MOM! A BOOGER! I NEED A TISSUE!" (or something like that).

I was getting frustrated with wiping her nose every 30 seconds,

Eden: "Mom! I have a booger!"

(Wipe nose)

Mom: "I'm about to get Leila's booger sucker and use it on your nose!"

Eden (fearful): "NO!"

(Eden ran off and played quietly for a long time.)

(She eventually came back to me.)

Eden: "Mom. You can use the booger sucker on me and I won't be afraid. I'll be a brave little toaster."

Daddy's Night Light

We're about to get ready for bed. Eden looks into our unlit bedroom where on the bed is daddy's laptop (open and turned on). She looks at it and says,

"Daddy, your computer night light is on."

p.s. Eden's AFRAID of night lights.

The Good Helper

I told Eden she could play a little while I put Leila to bed. Then after Leila was asleep, I'd put her to bed.

While I was off feeding and putting Leila to bed, Eden decided to be a big helper and take out the "pretties" in her hair, put on her pajamas for me, and pick out a bedtime book.

It would have been much more of a help if she wasn't getting ready for NAP TIME. So, now she's out of her clothes and in her pajamas with her hair undone....during nap. I may have to get Eden dressed and ready TWICE today.

But she was trying to be helpful. That's what counts.

Crawling....Kinda...

Leila's taken a few crawling steps. She's gotta be REALLY wanting something and people not paying attention to her (cause if she sees you are paying attention she'll give up trying in hopes that we'll give in to give her what she wants first).

She's quite the demolisher. I got her to crawl better than she's ever crawled today by playing LEGOs with Eden. When I build something Leila headed over FAST to, of course, demolish it. As soon as she had ripped it apart, she went back to playing with other things....occasionally checking if we re-built anything for her to destroy.

But Leila's other big thing is her love of CLIMBING. She'll climb on most anything she can climb up on. She loves to open her dresser drawers and and try and climb them. She also LOVES our big LEGO container. She knows what's inside. She'll grab it, tip it over, spread the LEGOs around, throw the box and the lid and then play, play, play!

Reading

Eden came into the bathroom while I was doing my make up. She noticed a box of medicine that Tyson's been taking cause he's sick (again).

Eden: "What's this?"

Mom: "Its daddy's medicine."

Eden: "Oh....I'm going to read it."

(Looks at the writing on the box.)

Eden: "It says, 'If you take this, you are prone to get better'. That's what it says."

Not Pretty Enough

Leila was able to get a hold of Eden's hair and started pulling it. Then Eden escaped and looked to me....

"Mom! Leila told me that my hair isn't pretty enough!"

Hmm....I'm pretty sure she didn't say that. I'm definitely gonna be skeptical when she "tattle tells" on someone. Honestly, I can usually tell when she's making things up or exaggerating....cause she'll say things that the other person would not or CAN NOT say.

Plus, that's such a girly and self-conscience thing to say for her age. She shouldn't be thinking things like that... Hope she didn't get that from me. I don't think I say things like that....

Drawing

Today Eden and I were drawing. For the first time, she drew a person.

I started off by drawing a circle with hair (although, she knows how to draw circles). Then from there she drew eyes, nose, mouth, body, arms, legs, and hands and feet (little circles on the end of each arm and leg) all by herself.

She's getting so big!

"Oh....You Know...."

(Eden looking at some books.)

Mom: "What are you doing Eden?"

Eden: "Oh.....you know.....just reading some important books."

Abinadi

Thanks to Abinadi....

Whenever Eden pretends to "tie me up and take me to prison/jail" she'll end with "and burn you in a fire!"

Humidifiers and Bathtubs

(Hears the bathtub filling up.)

Eden: "I want to take a tubby!"

Mom: "Dad's taking a tub cause he doesn't feel well."

Eden: "Oh."

(Pauses to think.)

Eden: "He's taking a tubby because his lungs don't work very well and so he needs to take a tubby to get some of the water in his lungs to help him get better?"

Mom: "Yep."

We recently borrowed our neighbor's humidifier and she apparently was listened to her father's in depth description of how the humidifier helps your body. Then she was able to relate the humidifier to the bathtub....which is the same principle for both.

I didn't even think of comparing the two. My thought was the simplified version of "because he doesn't feel well". She's good.

Just a Little about Leila

Leila is clapping her hands and she also gets up on all fours and SO CLOSE to crawling.

When she "talks" its "mom mom mom", shrieking/squealing, fake coughing, laughing, or spitting.

Today she went from lying on her belly to a sitting position all by herself, although I'm not sure if she just got lucky or if she will actually do it again.

She's LOVES food, squash being her #1 favorite.

When she wakes up she's often got a perm-a-grin on her face and when she's tired she's anything BUT perm-a-grinning (she's a GROUCH when she's tired).

Her "hate list" consists of stethoscopes, otoscopes, needles, scales, getting dressed and undressed, and anything having to do with the doctor's office.

Her "love list" consists of baths, being naked, her sister, her mom, and her dad.

When she's around other babies she'll look at them and try to talk to them and play with them.

And she loves giving kisses, but watch out for the large, open-mouthed slobber monster.

Be Good

Leila and I stayed home from church today since we're sick. Eden and Dad went to church.

On the way out...

Dad: "Bye Leila! Be good for mom, OK?"

Eden: "Bye mom! Be good for Leila, OK?"

Eden knows who the REAL troublemaker is in the family.

My Guess....She's Tired.

Eden woke up earlier than usual this morning.

Leila was also up and wanting to be fed. So, I started feeding and the house was silent. Eden stood outside the bedroom door and eventually laid down with her stomach on the floor.

Mom: "Eden, why don't you go back to bed. You look tired."

Eden: "I'm not tired mom."

(Pause.)

Eden: "I'm not tired. My ear is just cold."

Oh...so THAT'S why you have it pressed against the floor. NOT because you're tired. RIIIIGHT.