Twice recently two separate children have pointed to pictures of African American men and thought it was a picture of me.
Makyra says at least twice a day, “Daddy I like Oleg and Chad.” Oleg is her uncle and Chad is Chad Armstrong, a college buddy of mine that lived in Dallas until recently. The two have never met and live in completely different states.
Elias says: “I’m funny!” everytime he laughs.
Makyra asks pretty much every day if we can “go to church later?” I have started to probe to better understand what it is that motivates her to want to go to church all the time. We had this conversation the other day:
Makyra: Daddy, we go to church later?
Me: Sure honey, what do you like about church?
Makyra: I like toys, and the workers!
Me: You like the people that work in the nursery?
Makyra: Yes, I like that.
Me: Do they teach you about the Bible?
Makyra: Yes, but I don’t like that.
Me: (sigh)
Zoey has started crying whenever she hears an airplane. Literally sobbing and crying out, “Airplane! Airplane!”
For a while whenever we would drop something the kids would laugh at us. But Stacey has trained them so well that whenever I drop something they say “Sorry Daddy!”
Zoey is obsessed with the potty. I think it might be time to potty train that girl!
Makyra always wants us to teach her something. The other day she asked, “Daddy you teach me how to use a knife later?” I responded, “Much later Makyra.”
Every night as soon as we shut the door to the kids’ room chaos breaks loose. Children start stealing blankets and teddies, somehow they get their legs caught between their bed and the wall, they put their arms through the neck hole in their pajamas, take the knobs off of the drawers on the dresser, pull the curtains until the rods come out of the wall, and put toys into the diaper pail. It has been so insane that we have moved them into two bedrooms instead of one and in the younger kids’ room we have placed the dresser in front of the window. For the most part Kaden and Makyra’s rooms stays pretty calm these days. 2 down, 2 to go!
Makyra tells us she is cold all the time. We live in Texas, it was 109 the other day!
Kaden is growing in his desire to clean and to help around the house. We actually have to tell him to stop cleaning at times because we want the other kids to learn how to clean too. He usually cries when we tell him to stop.
Zoey sat on Kaden’s lap today during story time.
At bedtime Elias becomes an octopus completely unable to keep his limbs on his bed. I am convinced that if he slept on the floor he would still hang off the edge.
Kyra always tells Zoey she is going to teach her to use the potty. If only!
We get all sorts of questions from Kaden and Makyra that we have no idea how to answer. Makyra asked me the other day, “Why little piggy stay home?” Kaden asked: “Do we live far away?” They will often point to something, like a bowl, and ask, “Why this?”
Elias often will get out of his bed and just stand next to the bed. Just stay in your bed kid!
Zoey can spot a butterfly or a flower from a mile away. And then immediately starts flailing and squeaking uncontrollably.
Makyra has become such a tender little girl. Whenever I stub my toe or otherwise hurt myself she will come over and pet my leg and say, “I’m sorry Daddy.”
Kaden begs to wear his sunglasses whenever we go outside (and sometimes inside too).
UPDATE: I just remembered something. Stacey wakes me up all the time at night correcting the children in her sleep. The other night she said, “No, no Zoey, you need to swallow what you have in your mouth.” One night she was petting her pillow saying in her talking-to-the-kids-voice: “this is Grandma! Hi Grandma!”
