Babe?

Miyo's new thing is adding "babe" to everything. "I wanna go outside, babe." "I want koolaid, babe." I want don't shut door, okay? Babe." She is recently requesting that the door not be shut at nap time and bed time, and needs to repeat this to me several times while getting comfortable as I kiss her and leave the room.

Today we saw Jim and Shene leaving Target as we were entering. Jim picked up Miyo and she was all quiet. Then she told him, "I sad." So later when I put her in her carseat, I asked her why she was sad and she said, "I cwyin'." So cute.

waking up to snow

I walked into the living room this morning and discovered that it snowed. Look who tipped me off:

I dressed Murphy earlier than usual for school and we went out played. He was in heaven. By the way, last night he lost his other top front tooth!! Super cute.
Then Miyo wanted in on it.

Miles wasn't to enthused at first:
Until he discovered that it was perfect for snowballs:

Mr. Hexum

Murpherelli

I bought Murphy a pirate ship today. I was worried if I could get him to notice it, let alone play with it. He came home from school and, as usual, tried to hop the fence to the backyard. I made him come in and tried to get him to look at it. No dice.

He went outside and played and played and messed around in the backyard as usual for hours, even after it was getting dark. Alason was with him, so don't think I let him out by himself all day long. Anyway after awhile he came in and ate a some cereal and a banana (instead of homemade mac n cheese with broccoli). I'm messing around doing stuff and then notice, not only does he realize it exists, he is looking in it's little nooks and crannies and pushing on parts and seeing how things work on it. I am super excited. I hope he keeps it up.

We had some friends over and they were all crowded in the kitchen and dining room. Murphy came walking through and we told him to say hi. He stops and says, plain as day, "Hello friends." I can't believe the strides he's making! I want to use more than one exclamation mark, I might even be thinking of using one of these :). I want the world to break out in song like in a musical. We may have all never met and rehearsed, but we just make up the song on the spot, and we all know the words and the moves of the choreography.

Miyo is a girl

Shene brought over some Nad's to "wax" off her forest-y growth. She was putting on the Nad's then putting on the strip and ripping them off and then reacting. It was hard to watch without tensing up. Miyo was around the whole time, but didn't seem to care or notice.

Kady and Alason and I were all crowed in my bathroom talking (Murphy was in the bathtub). Miyo came in and I set her on the counter between the sinks. I had a couple of Nad's strips that you can use for face or bikini area sitting on the soap dish. No one was really paying attention to Miyo, but Kady stopped and noticed. Over her pajama pants, Miyo put the little strip on her leg (without opening it to the sticky part) and pulled it quick into the air and said, "Ouch, ouch!"

Miles' brush with death

Miles, as usual, was climbing the tree out back. Murphy was even venturing a little higher than before. I was taking pictures of them, and noticing how the leaves were off of it now, so that I could see them better in the branches. Miles bent forward and grabbed a branch. I heard a crack and snapped the picture. If you look closely at the photo, you can see the branch he is holding safely guide him towards earth, slowing down gravity. The branch was like all the others, reaching for the sky. He fell a long ways. Thanks to the branch he didn't mash his legs into the ground like a kid mashes a crayon on a hard surface. It was so shocking we just heaved a sigh of relief and looked at the photo and nervously laughed.

Another good thing was he was wearing little gardening gloves, so he didn't cut up his hands.

Miss Miyo Mess and the art of the run on sentence

I was making Baking Powder Biscuits today. Miyo was playing in the little kitchen, slamming doors and tossing around little toy utensils. I had my hands in the dough and was kneading it on a floured counter so I could roll it out. I look up and see Miyo with a little play measuring spoon and my nutmeg, dill, cloves and ground mustard in a nice big pyramid on the floor. The empty containers were rolling around next to her. I have to say it smelled like delicious pumpkin pie as I vacuumed it up. When I told her we needed to get the vacuum out to vacuum it up. She ran, super-happy, towards the bathroom, singing, "Take a baf, take a baf!" Sucks to be her, because she didn't have any on her, so I didn't give her one.

But now I am realizing she must not only love making the mess, but also she finds no punishment in the bath that comes afterwards. Her life is so great. I however feel achey from hunching over cleaning it up, then cleaning her off, peeling of the dirty clothes without making more of a mess, putting her in the tub, and washing her off. And depending on what she was in, trying to get it out of her hair without having to shampoo her too many times.

On the bright side for me: she loves emptying the dishwasher, whether the dishes are clean or dirty. She loves talking on the phone and throwing it when I approach to hang it back in the cradle. She likes to empty her dresser drawers and put on as many pairs of underwear (that I bought for when its time to potty train) that she can get on. She loves to type hardcore on the keyboard and click the mouse and slam the pullout table they are on when I walk in the room. She likes to open my makeup and put my brushes in them and powder the whole bathroom counter. She loves to paint the side of the toilet and half the floor of the bathroom with a brand-new $5 tube of toothpaste. She likes to get under the kitchen sink and touch the icky things under there. She doesn't mind when I discover all her hairbands and barrets in all the cardboard middles of the toilet paper under the bathroom sink. She loves to take the mess of paperwork on the desk, page by page and throw it on the floor. She LOVES to scream a fake scream of anger when told no.

Her days are always busy, whether she's painting the counter with yogurt, or emptying Murphy's cereal on the living room floor and dancing on the mess. As I type she sits beside me slapping the telephone and saying, "Shut up." Then she screams shrill and long. Then slaps it again and says, "Shut up, shut up." Then she sings, arms wide, and turns on and off the printer. I think these are all the reasons she is my favorite girl in the whole world.