10 Funny Things (Leah @ 32 Months)...

I know I have done a list like this before, but I like lists. And I like Leah. And I want to remember some of the funny things she says and does. 1. She likes to pretend that big floor lamps are "scary monsters." And she wants Mommy or Daddy to "hide from it" with her. In our room, that consists of going under the covers on the bed. Beneath the covers she says, "Is it still there?," peeks out, screams gleefully, and goes back under. 2. In the morning, her usual cry is "Mommy, I all done sleeping!!" (To which I would love to reply, "I'm not!") She can also be heard saying, "My cover's messed uuuuuup!" 3. We have been learning a hymn a month in our family devotion time, and sing it at bedtime. She now knows all the words to "In Christ Alone" if you sing it along with her. And she carries a tune really well! She is also starting to make up some of her own songs now, and they can be funny!

(She can sing it much better than this-- she just acts silly outside!)

(Here she's working on a "school" worksheet from a new Tracing book I bought her to start learning how to print letters! She understood drawing the straight lines, but not so much the curved lines, like in a maze. She seemed to enjoy it-- at least the part where she got to use a dry erase marker & wipe it clean afterward!)

4. She has a growing selection of VHS movies (Disney & other cartoons), thanks to Nana and various consignment sales I've been to. She will "fixate" on one movie for a week or two until I convince her to watch something else, or bring a new one out, and then she'll move on to that one. She'd watch her weekly favorite 2 or 3 times a day if I let her! Currently, her fave is Mulan, as well as Princess Stories, which are a series of cartoons with some of the Princesses in them. Before that it was Jungle Book 2 (and to this day she still calls Andrew a Jungle Boy when he acts crazy!). Though I usually don't sit down and watch the whole thing with her (neither does she, really-- she plays while watching)-- I can probably sing the songs from all of them! 5. Though she really hates anything in her hair (bows, etc.), her Daddy has convinced her it's fun to put them in just to "show Mommy." So he'll go upstairs, put rubber bands in for pigtails or a ponytail and then make her really excited to show me. (Of course, they come out seconds later, but hey, it's better than nothing). She LOVES to be a "princess" and show me or Brett how pretty she is! 6. She apparently has a lot more friends than those friends even realize. She can play with random kids at the park for just a few minutes and when they leave or go somewhere else, she will say, "Where did my best friends go?" Or, after a Sunday school class cookout where Leah got to play with lots of kids, I heard her say, "These are my best friends!" 7. She has some pronoun trouble; for example: "She's going to she's house." or "He has he's hat on!" 8. Though she really does show great concern for her little brother most of the time (and loves to make him giggle and teach him how to get into mischief), she still hates when he goes anywhere near her toys (and all the toys in our house are hers', apparently). We have been working on sharing, though, and lately she will take him a big pile of baby toys, that she does acknowledge are his. She will surround him with them and then declare, "I was good sharing!!" And she's so proud of herself for sharing his toys with him! When he's moved on to another toy, she will tell me "He gave this to me," so happy that he "let" her play with one of his toys!

(No, I do not normally make a habit of letting my children play with electrical cords. They're actually Andrew's current favorite toy, and you can see how his sister encourages his obsession!)

9. She is able to spot even the tiniest Dora or Disney Princess or Elmo from long distances and will loudly and excitedly announce to everyone that she sees it.

10. She has started to reach the questioning age-- though she doesn't know "why" just yet, she still asks, "What's that?" or "What are you doing?" or "Where are we going?" (and sometimes even if I've told her the answer many many times-- she will ask until she learns it for herself). Though she can be whiny and not always express herself in ways I like, and though she can be irritable when she doesn't obey or do what I expect of her, Leah is a fun little girl, very bright and imaginative, and you never know what to expect!