The adventures of two kiddos, her folks, and a cat The Belle No Longer Stands Alone

Annabel's Grandpa bought her a set of play tools for Christmas this year, and since they didn't come in a box, he wrapped them in a small cardboard box that used to contain a space heater. As she unwrapped the package, Sarah and I started joking that "A space heater makes a great gift for a toddler!" So as she opened the box and started taking out the tools, she looked puzzled and asked:

"Where's my heater?"

We haven't written these down in far too long. Here are some recent Belle quotes and stories.

1. Heresy.

Annabel is in a "why" phase. Everything gets a "Why?", including the answer to a previous Why question. Sarah was explaining to her why smoking was bad for you. Here is the end of their conversation. 

"Why?" 

"Because people breathe air." 

"Why?" 

"Because that's how God made us." 

"Why?" 

"I don't know, Belle. Only God knows." 

Annabel paused, and said, "Or maybe daddy."

2. Mommy (1)

She's 3 now, and potty training, and getting lots of affirmation that she's becoming a big girl. Apparently, she doesn't see a wide difference between being a big girl and being a mommy. Yesterday, we were decorating our Christmas tree, and she broke an ornament. She brought it to me to tell me about it, and I said we'd get a broom. She insisted on helping out (poking at the pieces a bit and then handing the broom to me). After we were done, she said "I'm getting to be a mommy!"

3. Mommy (2)

After dinner last night, she was talking to us about being a big girl, and she said: "I'm getting to be a mommy, and then I will have beer." (Disclaimer: Sarah had no beer last night, being pregnant and all.)

4. Obedience.

A few months ago, at maybe 2.5, Annabel was learning about obedience and discipline, and Sarah praised her for being obedient. Annabel responded with, "It's good to obey. And it's fun to obey!"

5. Dreams?

We aren't sure, but we think she's been having dreams lately. She told us a few weeks ago that Auntie (Steph) was in her room at night and was making scary faces. (Sorry, Steph.) Then tonight, she said that sometimes when she sleeps, she opens her eyes and sees movies and scary things. She started talking about scary movies, and I asked her where she got the idea of scary movies. She didn't really answer, so I asked her who had shown her scary movies. She answered with: "Auntie Becca." Again, no idea about this.

6. Prayer.

Annabel has been helpful in reminding us to pray lately. Before bed most nights, we ask her what we should tell Jesus, and most nights she says: "That I won't fall out of bed." (She went through a rough spell a few weeks ago of falling out of bed a few times a week.)

Sarah headed out of town this weekend to visit a friend, which means I'm a single dad. At three nights, this is the longest stretch of solo daddy-and-Annabel time we've had so far. She's been a champ, and actually napped today. (A rare occurrence these days, sadly.) The forecast calls for pancakes, waffles, and at least one visit to the park.

Ever since she was tiny, I've sung to Annabel to help her get to sleep. When she was a baby and I had to rock her to sleep in the middle of the night, I'd exhaust my store of hymns ("A Mighty Fortress is Our God" is great, since it has, like, 6 verses) and praise songs; when she was especially fussy, I'd even break out the Spanish praise choruses we used to sing on mission trips to Mexico.

Our current bedtime routine involves reading books, laying down with all FOUR loveys (this kid has lots of love to go around, and it goes to a crazy menagerie--Apu the Armadillo, Mechem the Spider, Mr. Bear, and Baby Yummy all have to get tucked in with her), and then singing three songs. For months now, she has always asked for Jesus Loves Me, "Praise God" (the Doxology), and then another hymn - there are three or four that she knows, and she usually picks from them.


Tonight, her song choice threw me, and I had an awful time keeping a straight face as I sang. We did Jesus Loves Me, and I was expecting the usual, "Sing praise God from whom all blessings flow!" Instead, she looked at me and announced, "Mommy can sing 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame!'"  
I did, and I even managed Rock of Ages before I got out of the room and completely cracked up. But it was awfully hard to keep a straight face - especially when she inserted, "Go Twins!" in the middle. 

I pulled two keys out of my pocket tonight to put on my keychain. Annabel looked at me and promptly responded:
"I want to hold that!"

I looked at her, and a few seconds later, she elaborated:

"I want to hold that because you're holding it!"

I've suspected that line of reasoning for a long time, but wasn't sure until she confirmed it.

Starting a week or two ago, Annabel started singing. All the time. Mostly music from "The Sound of Music" ("Do Re Me", etc.), but also other things - everything from "Jesus Loves Me" to silly songs she makes up. She does rhythm, pitch, and words - not perfectly, of course, but before a week or two ago, she'd never sung a real song before (at least while we were around).

The bad news is that she's pretty repetitive with her selections. It's the same 2-3 songs all day. The good news is that she likes music, and it keeps her happy for hours on end.

So Jon is out of town this week, at a conference in Las Vegas. When I commented to him that I'd be a single mom all week, his response?

"Just let her watch some Sesame Street. You're not a single parent as long as you have TV!"

Every night before bed we pray together, and Annabel has started to take a more active part. I've been trying to explain to her that when we pray, we're talking to God - it's our time to thank our Father for his goodness, to praise Jesus for his love, and to ask for their Spirit to be with us and give us things we need. I've been trying to emphasize that we can talk to God about anything.

So a few nights ago, before we prayed, I asked Annabel if there was anything she wanted to tell God. She thought for a minute, and then said, "My name is Annabel."

Not a bad place to start, really, in building a relationship...

Annabel has started a new game with us: she says to one of us, "what you need, little baby?" to prompt us to ask her that question. Usually she has something pretty specific in mind that she wants: "You need your pacifier, little baby," or "You need a hug, little baby." Yesterday afternoon, when we were walking home from the park, the conversation went like this:
Annabel: "What you need, little baby?"

Me: "What do you need, little baby?"

Annabel: "The baby needs ice cream!"


And yet another sideways attempt to get some ice cream:

Last night for dinner, in light of her request, I gave her some ice cream after she finished eating her ravioli. So this morning, when I asked her what she wanted for breakfast, she surprised us by asking for ravioli again. I thought she just really liked it (enough to eat it at 8 am), until she followed up her request with: "And when you have finished your ravioli, you can have some ice cream with your breakfast!"  I informed her there would be no 8 am ice cream consumption, and she promptly switched her request to peanut butter toast.

When Annabel got up this morning, the first thing she said was:

"Auntie's here!"

No, we explained to her, Auntie Steph isn't here right now. She's in Fargo. She returned and said, "Auntie will be back!"

Again, we explained that Auntie wasn't here, and we started to wonder if she had a dream about her Auntie. A few minutes later, the cat walked in and meowed, and Sarah said, "Annabel, look who came to see you?"

"Auntie!" she yelled and ran towards the front door.   

The Belle knows from whom to expect a good treat. Tonight, after she finished her dinner, I asked her, "Are you sure you're done?"  She looked at me with a big grin, and said, "You can have a treat!"

I asked her, "Annabel, what would you like for your treat?"

She just kept grinning, and said (and this is a RARE response from this kid), "Mommy can pick!"

Annabel knows well that Mommy is always good for ice cream or a cookie. I can be strict in all sorts of things, but I never knew it to hurt a kid to give them a little treat...

This morning, Jon and I were sitting on the couch enjoying some coffee. Annabel walked up and insisted, "You [meaning the Belle] can have some coffee!"

Jon responded, "You can have coffee when you're older, Belle."

She waited about 3 seconds, looked at us, and then announced, "You're older now!"

Last night at dinner, the Belle and I chatted while Mommy took care of something in another room. We talked about her day a bit, and then after a pause, she said:

"Tell you what - you have a good idea..."

And that was that.

We have a new member of our household: Coco, the imaginary friend. Coco showed up on our most recent trip to Florida, and accompanied us home, although s/he occasionally goes on vacation again, or out for long walks. (at least, according to the Belle)

Coco is mostly a boy, although sometimes a girl, sometimes a dog, and sometimes a cat. And sometimes both a dog and a cat, according to Annabel. S/he also is allowed to sit on the counter, even though Annabel isn't, and shows a marked preference for grilled cheese sandwiches.

When we were pulling into the airport earlier this week to come home, she had been babbling about Coco, so finally I asked her, "Annabel, who is Coco?" She responded, "Coco is your [meaning Annabel's] best friend!" 

The Belle is slowly and fitfully learning manners. Example: we're teaching her to ask politely to get up after a meal by saying "Excuse me, please!" Only she can't quite pronounce "excuse," and she goes a little overboard in her requests.

Tonight after dinner, she asked to get up, and we said, "How do you ask?" 

She responded with this litany:

"Kug mommy! Kug daddy! Kug Annabel! Kug kitty cat! Kug table! Kug plate! Kug num! Kug pocket!"