Snippets & Snatches

Days with a houseful of littles tend to be a blur occasionally.

Oh, all right. A lot of a blur, a lot of the time.

What I'm sayin' is, things tend to get busy. The children say and do things that make me laugh, sometimes out loud, sometimes a bit hysterically (you know, where it's laugh or cry/scream), and occasionally the kind of laugh that you have to simply walk out of the room to let the giggle escape and recompose your face to a more Mommy-ish look before you proceed. I make mental notes to jot these things down, thus the blog.

However, occasionally, and more so recently, I forget what it was that I was trying to remember. Follow me? But today, TODAY, ladies and gentlemen, I remembered them. Well, some of them.

Like this conversation between Perfect Stranger and Thomas:

PS - How old are you?
Thomas - I'm 4 and I am not looking forward to being 5.
PS - How come?
Thomas (tapping his teeth with his fingernail) - Teeth. They'll fall out.

For some reason, this conversation struck me as funny. Am I the only one? Apparently, I haven't filled that poor child in about the wonders of the Tooth Fairy.

Then there is Elizabeth and her amazing grasp of the English language. I mean, seriously, I think I have a pint size genius on my hands. The child cranks out these words and phrases that I know no other child her age I have ever met comprehends. Oh, yeah, including her older siblings. This morning when she was finished with her breakfast, she held out her cup and said 'Cup, empty. More please.' Yeah, I know. It doesn't sound like much, but she not even 21 months old yet! And you should hear her sing 'Baa, Baa Black Sheep'. Girlfriend can break it down!

As for Anna, she is flirting around with a full fledged smile. Her eyes are alight and the little corners of her mouth curl up sweetly into that almost-but-not-quite smile. The ones that so many folks try to chalk up to gas. Either way, it is a sight that warms this Mommy's heart. I know these moments are fleeting, and I choose to savor each sunny second of them.

And my Sarah Grace, I think one of the biggest things that she has going on right now is a need to be listened to. She will repeat a question or phrase until you verbally acknowledge her. She will sit and read a storybook to us, spinning a tale including everyone from Baby Jesus to Ariel and Spiderman. When she has completed the story, she will look up with those wide and lovely eyes and ask, 'Was that a wonderful story, Mommy?'

And of course I answer yes, because even if I have forgotten every word of it, the look on her sweet little face is etched into my memory, making whatever the story was perfect.