Curtains

Morning snack

Mess with Mara, and you'll have Kateri to deal with.

Sitting at the breakfast table with Mara in my lap, I told Kateri I had to leave for a minute to put clothes in the dryer.

K: "Can you leave Mara here?"

M: "No, because she can't sit in the chair by herself.  If I put her in the chair by herself, she would fall on the floor and bump her head."

K: "Mama, if you do that and Mara bumps her head, I will hit you.  OK?"

Date night

Ploughshares Brewery in Lincoln.  The beer, wine, and food were good.  Mara was well-behaved, so the establishment tolerated her.  All told, it was a nice evening out.

Lessons

At the beginning of preschool, Bernadette was furious when I tried to tell her which hand to use to make the sign of the cross.  "I don't care!  I can use whichever one I want!" she informed me.  At the end of the lesson, she climbed into my lap, mumbling gibberish.  I kissed her and said, "Bernadette, I think sometimes you want to be grown up and sometimes you want to be a baby."  After a thoughtful pause came the response: "I always want chocolate."

After reading a picture book about the Stations of the Cross, I heard two different reactions.
From Bernadette the Defender: "If I had been there, I would have said, 'Don't bother my Jesus!  Just leave Him alone!'"
From Isaiah the Pragmatist: "That just would have gotten you into trouble!"

Interpretation

Bernadette's animated retelling of "Godzilla," which was showing at the sushi restaurant in Lincoln where we ate last week:  "He was very irritated with buildings." Also: "I think he pulled someone's hair."

First tooth comes out

If you look closely, Isaiah is holding it. He wiggled it loose in the car before church at noon. Just yesterday he was drooling and fussy in New York while the first tooth came in.

Children's museum

Sushi night

Happy Valentine's Day, Daddy!

Bernadette discourses on art and nature.

B: "Is Peter Pan really alive?"

Mama: "That's a very good question.  Do you think he is?"

Pause.

B: "Bats come to our house at night."

Katewi Gwacie

Original girl

Kateri: "Bernadette's wearing gloves."

B: "That's because I'm original."

Some like it hot, and then again, some don't.

After blowing for a few seconds, Kateri gingerly tested her tea with a fingertip.  The report: "It won't stop hotting!"

A sisterly hand

Non Sequitor

Bernadette: "Without comic books, I don't know what's happening."

Mealtime conversations

Lunchtime. Isaiah wants a hot dog. I find three in the fridge and ask if he wants one or two. 

"Two," he says, "and that leaves one for you."

"Thanks," I say, "but I don't like hot dogs very much. I'm going to have tuna."

"Mama, no! A hot dog is a celebration in a bun!"

Later, around the supper table...

Isaiah: "Bernadette always calls chocolate milk cold chocolate milk."

B: "When I was half-little I called it that."

Mama: "What are you now?"

B: "Half-big."

Red tulips

They were an early Valentine for me.  Bernadette kissed them good night; wiggled her finger inside the petals to tickle them ("I like to call them laugh-y bloomies"); and blew on them ("to give them some fresh air").

A conversation about a conversation

From: Anne Tascio <anne.tascio@gmail.com>

I think it is because Magda has a fashion flair. Only Bernadette knows. Or maybe Magda can knows. 

Liz Tascio wrote:

I bet it's because Magda does what she darn well pleases in life, and Bernadette is going to be just like her when she grows up! ;) 

Marian Friedrichs  wrote:

Tonight she told me, "Sometimes when you're not looking I wear my pink tutu outside.  It's sort of like a Polish sort of a thing."  

"What does Polish mean?" I asked.

"Well, Magda was born in Polish."

"Right, but why is wearing your pink tutu outside sort of a Polish sort of a thing?"

"I don't know."

Anne Tascio wrote:

Oh, they are dried up!  Just wonderful to hear her chatter on.  Life is so exciting when you are past that toddler stage!!!!  :) 

 Liz Tascio wrote:

Oh, wow -- that is a lot of sweetness!! I love how she wasn't sure whether you could have a photo of her in new ballet costume. And how very, very sweet that she was looking for you in a group photo, Mom! 

Marian, quick, tell Mom some Bernadette stories that will dry up her tears ;) 

xoxo

Anne Tascio  wrote:

Bernadette and I had a chat this night - and it concerned, among other things;

Did the batteries she gave me work in the dragon?

She remembers sleeping at the apt. with her mom on the bed and she on a mattress on the floor - she didn't think I was there. 

They have more batteries at her house if I need any for the dragon.

And she asked if I had a lot of toys at my house - and I said, pretty much.  And she asked if Aunt Therese had a lot of toys - and I said, No.  And then she told me how they had so many toys at their house they had to give some away! 

We talked about snow and snowmen and swimming and lots of fun things.  Mostly I listened. 

We talked about photos - how i have the same photo of her when she was born - (she informed me that Kateri is in the toddler stage, but she, Bernadette is no longer in the toddler stage). 

I asked if I could have a photo of her in her new ballet recital when she gets her costume and she wasn't sure. 

And then she spoke about a photo where she couldn't see me in it, there were a lot of people, but not me.  She couldn't see my white hair or anything. 

I told her I'd send a picture.  And she explained I could send a picture from my phone to her Dad or Mom's phone and they would show her.  :) 

Bernadette doesn't miss a beat. 

Kateri spoke with me and I hardly understood unfortunately - but she seemed happy to talk - but happier to push buttons on the phone and pretty quickly relinquished the phone by hanging it up. 

I will have to get brave and Skype - but truth to tell, I did get a little teary listening to Bernadette.  :) 

Anyway - Aunt Therese and I are going to try to get out to see you all in the Spring - late Spring.  and give and get lots of hugs and kisses and stories. 

Have a good night all.

Love,

Mom

Happy Sphinx

Oh, hi!

An Evening with Kateri

When Daddy and Grandpa took Isaiah and Bernadette to town to watch the Super Bowl, Kateri was napping, so she and I got to have an evening alone (alone with Mara, that is).

I have to admit that at first I wished Kateri had timed her nap earlier so she could have joined the Super Bowl party--especially after she woke up just as Mara was nursing her way to blissful baby sleep in the glider.  Kateri was not happy to be awake; she cried loudly and relentlessly for half an hour straight.  But we got through that, and after a supper of hamburgers and apple slices, settled on the couch to read stories.

She "read" me a couple of picture books and then permitted me to read If You Give a Moose a Muffin.  In fact, she allowed me to read it twice before she took it out of my hands, saying, "Mama, I show you what to do."  She began by announcing the title: "Fings You Can Do Wif Your Muffin."  Unfortunately, I barely understood and cannot remember the rest of her version of the story.

What with all the reading aloud we were both doing, several water breaks were necessary.  During one such break Kateri peered thoughtfully into the water glass and explained, "I will put my socks in da water. Den you can make marshmallows in da cup."  Thankfully, neither of those things ended up happening.

The rest of the family is still out, Kateri and Mara are asleep, and the house is quiet.  In that quiet I have thanked God about a dozen times for my time "alone" with our one-of-a-kind Kateri.