Kids Say/Do the Darndest Things

A couple weeks ago, a whole group of us went over to Whidbey Island for my sister-in-law's first art show since moving to WA. The artsy town of Langley does an art walk where different artists are displayed in various stores throughout the downtown.

Dani's art was being displayed in a wonderful place (at least for me): a chocolatier! Yum! Fine art AND chocolate! What could be better?

Chocolate covered graham cracker!

Don't let this picture decieve you: she was covered in

chocolate by the time she was done!

Anyway~during this time, Teagan got a bit bored looking at art & eating chocolate (what can I say~she's only 20 months) so we went outside to look for something to do.

We found a windchime (she loves windchimes!) and a metal chair & a mirror hanging on the wall outside the store. What could be better? Music, a chair to tap dance on, and a mirror to watch herself doing so. She was delighted!

Except of course, she didn't want to remain there for too long, she had to go back inside to check on how everyone was surviving without her presence...or walk out into the rain to look for leaves...or try to follow the man with the umbrella (she is obsessed with umbrellas~which, living in the Pacific Northwest, might be a good thing!). But she always came back to the chair/mirror set up.

My brother & I were chatting as she collected leaves and then she bounced back to the chair and announced: "I want down!" to which I responded, "No, you want up."

Teag: "I want down!"
Me: "No, you want up in the chair."
Teag: "I said: I want down!!!"
(This goes on... simply add foot stomp & emphatic arm gestures from her to her dumb auntie for not getting her demand and laughter from her uncle.)
Me (picking her up): "See, you want up in the chair."
Her (having been placed in said chair): "Humph! You're Welcome!!!"

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 Our lil TeaRose sadly has some bowel issues...as she puts it: her poop gets stuck! Constipation sucks-I know; my many pills often do the same to me! Her parents have tried many different ways to help her & have finally hit upon Miralax (as it is tasteless & can just be stirred in to her water or juice). A day and a half after drinking down the Miralax, she woke up her parents at 7am shouting joyously, "I poop! I poop! I poop!!!!" Not usually the wake up call you want, but considering the circumstances...

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Teag is also a great self-comforter. If something startles her or she's unsure of something, she'll just use the mantra "Is okay...Is okay...(now looking at any nearby adult)...Is okay?" It's so cute. A few weeks ago, she woke up in the night, scared of a dream and her parents heard her comforting herself with "Is okay" through her sobs. Needless to say, she was scooped out of her bed and in to theirs~who could resist that?!?

Life is truly okay when you get to snuggle up with this girl!

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Teagan has also been exploring emotions as of late, appropriately announcing when she or someone else (even a TV character) is sad or happy or scared. She also loves it when, "It's soooo funny!!!!" She really gets humor. I'm often flumoxed by her ability to emphathize!

It's sooooooo funny!

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But Teagan isn't the only cute one...Van & Kenyan are constantly cracking me up with their little "isms." I think the funniest Kenyan story is from a couple years ago when she was in 1st grade. She came home announcing she had won an award at school: The Tolerance Award. Which, as she put it, "Is weird 'cause I'm not even the tallest one in my class!"

However, she has grown by leaps and bounds and I wouldn't be surprised if she was now one of the tallest kids in her class...and, yes, she is still a very kind, loving, and tolerant girl.

There was a time when Kenyan needed to stand on a chair to

reach our kitchen counter.

Those days are long gone. Kinda sad, really.

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Van is simply all boy! This summer he decided to put on a performance on a riding lawn mower for Teagan & I and had us cracking up! (Please note the lawn mower was not actually moving!) And he narrated his actions with silly quips. I was actually on the ground laughing at him! And shooting a jillion pictures!

And, yes, his shirt is correct: he does make dirt look good!

Speaking of being all boy...here we are on a nature walk. Au' natural!

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And then there's Ava who is an avid social networker. One day I recieved a message from her saying it was her cousin's birthday that day and could I please go to the Country Village (a collection of eclectic stores near us) to buy Tate a (looong) list of items for her American Girl doll. She even included directions to the specific stores, and I quote: "the egsact location is the countrey villaeg and for the jellys at the belly danceing place and for the high tops at the cat and dog place up stairs." When I told her that I (sadly) didn't have any extra money that month to shop for her, she said, "That's ok, I'll ask Mimi (her grandma) to send your some casholla!"

Crazy hair day at school...I think....might just be how she was rollin' that day.