winter wonderland

Chloe and I were looking at our collection of snow globes. She had an
elaborate story about each one, who lived in the villages, etc. She got
to looking at one that has Santa in the woods by a glowing fire and
several woodland creatures (including a family of bears) huddled around
watching Santa. After staring intently for a few minutes, suddenly she
exclaimed "That couldn't happen!" Afraid she had discovered some secret
about Santa, I asked her what was wrong. She proudly said that the
bears couldn't be in the snow because they should be hibernating. Not
bad for a three year old!

parting is such sweet sorrow

We were dropping Chloe off at Grammy's house early Monday morning so
that we could take Paige to the doctor. As we neared the house, Chloe
announced, "Our family will be ruined when I leave." Apparently she
feels she is the glue that holds the family together. We pulled up the
driveway and Chloe eagerly exclaims, "Well God bless ya. You take care
of yourselves." We are still trying to figure out where she heard that one!

Chloe's letter to Santa

The following is the letter Chloe "wrote" to Santa this year (Chloe told
me her thoughts and I helped her write it down)
Dear Santa,
Do your reindeer have their bells that make them fly? Are the
reindeer working hard? Mrs. Claus remembered my name at the Christmas
party. I have been nice this year. Sometimes I am naughty , but today
I am nice. I am going to try harder to be nice ALL the time. I won't
hit, I will help Mommy and Daddy, and I will share toys with Paige.
When I don't feel like sharing, I will give her another toy to play
with. I would like to get a lot of dollies this year. I would like a
squishy toy for Paige. I would like a doll house with kids that go with
it. The mom should have green hair, the dad should have black hair, and
the kids should have brown hair. I would like some clothes for me and
my dollies. Please remember those kids who don't have a lot of things
and families who don't have food. Watch out for sharks and be careful
going down chimneys because they might have hard things that could bonk
you. I love you.

Love,

Chloe

interesting taste

Paige ate her first bug on Friday. She had been crawling around on the
floor when she got quiet. I went over to see what was going on and
noticed a black thing hanging out of her mouth. Upon closer
examination, it turned out to be the body of a pincher bug (I am not
sure of the real name--kind of looks like a centipede with pincers at
the front). Mind you that it was only the body that remained. She had
rolled it around in her mouth enough to strip it of its legs and
pincers. I took it away and made the appropriate YYYUUUCCCCKKK! sounds
to let her know that bugs are icky and we don't eat them. Apparently
the message didn't sink in because I found her not 2 hours later trying
to pick up another one.

On another note, Greg was holding Page when she began wildly reaching
for a piece of raw onion that was in a salad. Greg jokingly let her
taste a piece expecting her to immediately spit it out and make a
disgusted face. Much to his surprise, Paige liked it and got very angry
when he tried to take it away--go figure.

Paige update

Paige is walking! She will now take anywhere from a few to as many as
12 steps at a time. She poises herself at a steady stand with her legs
and arms spread wide and then does this sort of quick Frankenstein
movement keeping her legs far apart from each other. The longer she
walks, the faster she gets as she tries to maintain balance (she is
usually getting her head too far in front of her hips at this point)
until she plops down on her hands and knees. The best is her look of
pride afterward. She looks to your face with a huge grin that says,
"Did you see what I just did!!!"

Paige is also experimenting with sounds. On more than one occasion, she
has said sounds that could almost be words to the trained ear. She will
get the initial sound and the right number of syllables. Here are a
list of words that she has "said": Momma, Daddy, book, all done, more,
that, this.

Chloe's take on Christmas

Today we were playing some Christmas music when Chloe realized that she
had heard the word "Christmas" (no surprise there). She said,
"Christmas, that's Jesus' birthday!" "I bet that Mary and God are going
to get him a present this year." I couldn't resist asking what she
thought they were going to get him. She replied, "Oh maybe clothes or
something."