#1. The other day, we're eating pancakes for breakfast, and Senya takes a bite out of hers and asks, "What do you think my pancake looks like?" Unimaginatively, I answer, "I don't know, a moon?" to the crescent-shaped pancake. "Yeah! You're right!" she says. After each bite, the pancake becomes something different. The next pancake has two bites taken out of it. "Look! It's an armadillo!" she says.
And lo, and behold, it looks exactly like a armadillo! Now, while armadillos are common animals in Texas (as roadkill usually), they are not a frequent topic of conversation around our household. We did have a library book once. Did I mention Senya has a very good and very particular memory?
#2. Ivan has a problem: he loves carrots, but doesn't have any teeth.
Since choking is a regular occurrence at mealtime for him anyway, carrots are totally off limits. Fortunately and unfortunately for him, he has been teething for weeks now, trying to cut his 4 molars at once. He's been in and out of grumpy, especially when I won't let him eat the carrots he so loves. Senya looked into his mouth this morning and exclaimed, "Mommy, Ivan's getting his carrot-chewers!"
Here they are eating something Ivan can eat very well, with or without molars: saltine crackers. (We call this The BathTub Snack. Bathtub Snacks happen after I have just mopped the kitchen and want to enjoy one full hour of crumb-free floors.)
#3. Senya's really into pretending to be different animals lately, so when she started morphing into a bat around bedtime when it was time to clean up, I got a little annoyed that it might take forever. But then I realized I could use it to my advantage. "Little bat," I called, "I need you to fly with your strong wings and take these stuffed animals back to your room." "Okay," she said happily and away she flew. So this went on a few more times, and then it was time for her to go to the bathroom one last time before bed. "Little bat," I said, "It's time to go to the bathroom." "Bats don't have to poop," Senya says factually. I explained that actually they did, so she needed to also. "Well, then," she said,
"I'm a rock."
