Responsible enough for a Fake Cat

When we got home from my parents' house on Sunday, Sophia had only one square left to fill in her resposibity chart in order to procure her kitty. Not unlike any other evening, a dilemma arose for her. I don't even remember what the issue was, but she had the choice between responding with calm disappointment or violent fury. Normally her response would be violent fury in her room, followed by calm disappointment in our presence. However, this particular evening, she chose to skip the first step and head straight to resignation. I know that doesn't sound like the biggest deal ever, but to the parent of a 3 1/2 year old, it's a VERY big deal. So in order to reward that particularly "responsible" choice, we filled in the square, celebrated and headed out to get Lulu the Kitty.

Their union was blissful. As of 24 hours later, they're still enamored. The cat has freaked us out a couple of times with the meowing and rolling around, but all in all, it's a great purchase.

Sophia took this picture to record her first night at home.

Longest Week on Record

Honestly, I can say that this has been the biggest waste of a week in my life. Well, maybe there have been bigger wastes, but I don't remember them. Monday I went in for a biopsy on an area on my nose that was worrying me because it acted just like the spot on my forehead from a couple of years ago. He decided to biopsy three areas on my face instead. The good news is that only the one I originally went in for is cancer. So, that's good news.

Monday night, I came down with a fever. Tuesday, Erick (my knight in shining armor) came home early so I could sleep the rest of the day. Wednesday and Thursday passed like blurs of groaning and pain. Achiness, nausea, fever, then a sore throat to make other sore throats feel like a soothing experience. Anyway, that's not the point. I have been down under this sickness, and I'm sick of it. Even though my throat still makes it hard to swallow, and it even makes it hard to breathe, for that matter, I am taking my attitude to a happier place.

This post is my declaration to this sickness that it can kiss my ass. That's all I needed to say. Thanks for listening. I am now going to be cheery.

Growing Up

 

I was looking over my pictures from the last few weeks and almost overlooked this one because I didn't think it was Sophia at first. Is it just me, or does she look like a great big girl in this picture? When did this happen?! We were at Ava's fourth birthday party. I can believe that other people's children are turning four, but to think that my own baby will be turning four this year is just a little too much to take in.

She is working hard on her responsibility chart to earn her Lulu the cat. But she has had significant trouble in the "listening" category. Unfortunately, her stickers for picking up plates and being nice to her friends don't carry over into that column. She was talking to my dad about it on the phone the other day and told him "Sometimes I have trouble listening." I heard him assure her that she could start listening any time and fill up her chart. She just shrugged and responded, "Weeeellll." She wasn't as confident in her desire, I think.

Granny's Lilacs

 

Sunday with Sophia

Erick played golf on Sunday morning (at my insistence), so Sophia and I had a weekend morning to ourselves. Even though we have every morning to ourselves, the weekends are just a little different.

We spent the better part of the morning outside, and lucky for me, Timothy from across the street was also hanging out in the sun. Tim is just about six weeks older than Sophia, and this spring has really awakened them to one another's presence. I think they have each hit their stride in imaginative play, and they seem to work it out together very well. He is a very sweet boy, and he also has a stinker side that I expect will come out more as we watch them grow...

Just take a look at that face.

 

Maybe it's just the look he had on that particular day, but he insisted on keeping his hand in his pocket the entire time I had the camera out. That and his collar apparently made for an irresistable combination for Sophia. She just can't get enough of that kid.

 

Then Erick got home, and we spent the day in a nearly vegetative state. Relaxed would be an understatement. It was nice. I had planned to go for a walk/jog, but Sophia flipped out at that prospect. Instead, I decided to do yoga. This is her version of one of the stretches.

 

She is much cuter while yogaing than I am...

 

Anyway, Sundays with Sophie are tons of fun. Looking forward to our summer!

Another Lulu - Different Species

Each time we go to Walmart and let Sophia look at toys, she gets hung up on the same one. Ironically, her name is Lulu. Maybe it's fate. She's a Furreal cat. She meows, moves, and whatnot. Honestly, if I can get Sophia to stop meowing, I'd do it... Lulu is $50. Because she's been so consistent about this, and because I love to open up problems for no apparent reason, I thought I'd use this as a learning opportunity. I told her about doing chores for money and I told her she could sell some toys (probably back to us, but she doesn't need to know that). So she's been all about making this happen. She vacillates between, "Can I get this tomorrow?" to "It will probably be two years, right, Mommy?"

So it's an interesting experiment. Let me know if you need to buy some toys or if you have some child labor to help a kid get a fake pet...

Spring Starts!

Spring is off to a beautiful start here in central Missouri. I'm not going to let the promise of a little nastiness this week dampen my spirits. The changing of seasons is one of my favorite things (especially when the one we're leaving sucked so badly.)

Lowe's didn't have many plants to choose from but we decided to go ahead and get started anyway. Here is my garden help analyzing the job ahead.

 

We planted a few geraniums and then I dropped her off with Mary so Erick and I could head out of town on Friday night. It was so incredibly pleasant to spend some quality time with my best friend. We laughed. I may have cried. I don't remember for sure, but it seems like a fair assumption. We stayed up until nearly 3 just for kicks! Weird, right? All because we could sleep as late as we wanted.

 

Then we came home and washed the van... Sophia had been wearing her Easter dress over these leggings, so Erick just took off the dress and added this jacket over her bare chest for a classy car wash look. Of course it works for her...

 

Then we headed out for our church's Easter service. Here is how we look when we wash up. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.

 

Now for an instructional video before you all take out and start planting in your own pots this year. Sophia's a great helper, and I will hire her out for the right price (paid to you, of course). Enjoy.

Prayers and Friends

Sophia and I have been having lots of talks with Jesus as night when she goes to bed. Neither of us make requests of him or anything, as that's a complicated view of prayer, even for an adult. However, apparently she made the connection in her mind at some point that if we thank Jesus for our friends, he is somehow responsible for their presence in our lives.

Here's the setup: Sophia spent all morning outside playing with her cousins and our neighbor Timothy, who is about six weeks older than Sophia. She really loves that kid. They are on the same imaginative plane and can enter one another's worlds seamlessly. Anyway, when it was time for him to go, Sophia lost it...yes, again. However, this time, she pretty much took care of her grief on her own.

She went upstairs to her room, where I heard her crying and say, "Lulu, what will I do with Timothy?!" More crying and talking to Lulu, then this.... "Jesus, please! I love Timothy! Please bring him back. Amen." I'm serious. That's what she said. I would not make that up.

When she came downstairs, I asked her if talking to Jesus about it helped her feel better. "No, I think I'll just watch some TV."