I’m glad it’s summer. For one thing, it means the end of the morning rush to get the kids up, dressed, fed and out the door at a specific time. I’m really bad at that so it’s nice to have a three-month reprieve. For another thing, it means that the girls will have a lot more time to spend together, and that’s nice because they’re finally at the stage that they can actually play together and have real conversations.
For example, the other morning I was up getting dressed while the kids slept. I heard Phoebe making noises so I went down the hall to get her. Then I stopped outside the door because she wasn’t actually calling for me, she was singing a song. I listened for a minute, and then I heard Mallory say, “Phoebe, are you singing?”
“Yeah!” Phoebe said.
“What are you singing about?”
“My toes hurt!”
“Your toes hurt?”
“Yeah.”
“Why do your toes hurt?”
“A-cause.”
“Well, I’m sorry about that.”
“My-ee’s toe hurts?”
“No, my toes are okay.”
“Oh. Good!”
They like to play Barbies together too – or rather, they play Barbies in the same room, and Phoebe echoes the conversations that Mallory makes up with her dolls. So Mallory will have one doll say to another: “Hello Seeping Bleauty*, that’s a pretty dress, would you like to marry me today?”, Phoebe will have her doll say, “Hello, dress, today!” Then Mallory says, “No, I don’t want to marry you because I’m going to marry Aladdin,” and Phoebe will say, “No, I don’t want, Aladdin!”
They also like to chase the poor dog around, and to pile pillows up at the bottom of the stairs and jump (Mallory shouting “Rocketship!” and Phoebe shouting “This fun!”). And the other day while I was half-asleep in a cold-induced haze, they spent thirty minutes in their playroom giggling and shrieking and doing something entirely** fun which involved, I later discovered, the smashing up of many many crayons into the carpet.
It’s nice that Mallory is getting along so nicely with Phoebe (except when she doesn’t) because she’s certainly pushing her parent’s buttons a lot lately. On Wednesday she insisted on staying in the bedroom where I was trying to put Phoebe down for a nap. She claimed to be sleepy too, but she wouldn’t stop talking. I told her she had to settle down. She wouldn’t. I said, “Mallory, if you don’t stop arguing with me you’ll have to leave the room.” She said, “If I leave the room, I’ll have no one to argue with!”
She’s developed a cast of imaginary friends with very convenient characteristics. For example, her friend Madeline “never has to buckle her seat belt, and the police do not care one bit. True!” And last night she told me about her friend Ashley. “You know my friend Ashley? Well, her parents wouldn’t let her leave her closet light on all night, and she definitely died. She did!”
Phoebe, on the other hand, is very polite. She says “Take-you” and “No-take-you” and “Please” and something resembling “You’re welcome.” She asks for hugs and kisses and says “I you!” for “I love you.” She does get a bit impatient with me when I can’t quite decipher what she means. The other night she was asking for a book off the shelf. “This one!” she said. I pointed to one. “This one?” I asked. “No! This that one!” she clarified. Later I asked if she needed help doing something and she said, “No, I don’t want Mommy help you!” Her favorite thing is her daddy’s “mean monkey” routine which really you have to see to understand.
It should be a fun summer.
*Seeping Bleauty is my all-time favorite kid-pronunciation. In fact Mallory now says this correctly, but I needed to record it for posterity.
**Mallory uses the word “entire” or “entirely” when she means “actual” or “really.” It’s too funny to correct and I’ve kind of internalized it and find myself using “entirely” when it’s not…entirely….appropriate.
For example, the other morning I was up getting dressed while the kids slept. I heard Phoebe making noises so I went down the hall to get her. Then I stopped outside the door because she wasn’t actually calling for me, she was singing a song. I listened for a minute, and then I heard Mallory say, “Phoebe, are you singing?”
“Yeah!” Phoebe said.
“What are you singing about?”
“My toes hurt!”
“Your toes hurt?”
“Yeah.”
“Why do your toes hurt?”
“A-cause.”
“Well, I’m sorry about that.”
“My-ee’s toe hurts?”
“No, my toes are okay.”
“Oh. Good!”
They like to play Barbies together too – or rather, they play Barbies in the same room, and Phoebe echoes the conversations that Mallory makes up with her dolls. So Mallory will have one doll say to another: “Hello Seeping Bleauty*, that’s a pretty dress, would you like to marry me today?”, Phoebe will have her doll say, “Hello, dress, today!” Then Mallory says, “No, I don’t want to marry you because I’m going to marry Aladdin,” and Phoebe will say, “No, I don’t want, Aladdin!”
They also like to chase the poor dog around, and to pile pillows up at the bottom of the stairs and jump (Mallory shouting “Rocketship!” and Phoebe shouting “This fun!”). And the other day while I was half-asleep in a cold-induced haze, they spent thirty minutes in their playroom giggling and shrieking and doing something entirely** fun which involved, I later discovered, the smashing up of many many crayons into the carpet.
It’s nice that Mallory is getting along so nicely with Phoebe (except when she doesn’t) because she’s certainly pushing her parent’s buttons a lot lately. On Wednesday she insisted on staying in the bedroom where I was trying to put Phoebe down for a nap. She claimed to be sleepy too, but she wouldn’t stop talking. I told her she had to settle down. She wouldn’t. I said, “Mallory, if you don’t stop arguing with me you’ll have to leave the room.” She said, “If I leave the room, I’ll have no one to argue with!”
She’s developed a cast of imaginary friends with very convenient characteristics. For example, her friend Madeline “never has to buckle her seat belt, and the police do not care one bit. True!” And last night she told me about her friend Ashley. “You know my friend Ashley? Well, her parents wouldn’t let her leave her closet light on all night, and she definitely died. She did!”
Phoebe, on the other hand, is very polite. She says “Take-you” and “No-take-you” and “Please” and something resembling “You’re welcome.” She asks for hugs and kisses and says “I you!” for “I love you.” She does get a bit impatient with me when I can’t quite decipher what she means. The other night she was asking for a book off the shelf. “This one!” she said. I pointed to one. “This one?” I asked. “No! This that one!” she clarified. Later I asked if she needed help doing something and she said, “No, I don’t want Mommy help you!” Her favorite thing is her daddy’s “mean monkey” routine which really you have to see to understand.
It should be a fun summer.
*Seeping Bleauty is my all-time favorite kid-pronunciation. In fact Mallory now says this correctly, but I needed to record it for posterity.
**Mallory uses the word “entire” or “entirely” when she means “actual” or “really.” It’s too funny to correct and I’ve kind of internalized it and find myself using “entirely” when it’s not…entirely….appropriate.
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