Sadie, Mary and Praying

Sadie discovered a coloring book of the rosary yesterday that I had hidden away for a later date. She immediately began to plead her case for using the book and then asked for her blue crayon. After that she spent quite a while paging through the book and coloring Mary blue, followed by looking for Jesus and coloring him yellow or, in the nativity scene, red (one of her favorite colors).

This morning she found some pieces of cardboard that I'd opted not to use as backing for the shelves and I told her she could use them to draw on. A few minutes later I noticed that she'd drawn a large blue person like shape in the middle of the paper, surrounded by a line of little blue dots at the edge of the paper. If I hadn't seen the book yesterday I probably would have missed what she was drawing.

"Is that Mary with a rosary around the page?" I asked her.

"Yes!" She grinned enthusiastically and proudly showed the picture.

She was also quite shocked yesterday when we went on a walk and I suggested we say a rosary as we walked along. We usually say our family rosary together and so, after a few prayers Sadie began to frantically ask: "Where's Daddy?" When I told her he was at school she said: "Why are we praying?" I replied that God likes it when we pray and talk to Him and she smiled and covered her face and looked a little embarrassed.

I've even heard her praying on her own lately (two days ago she said a little prayer thanking God for Mae Bae and a long list of family members I couldn't entirely understand) and earlier in the week she told me, quite adamantly that she would be asking God to send her another sister.

I can't help but wonder what she's going to say next.

Toddler Bathroom Etiquette

On a lighter note I just had to post this Sadie quote. As she walked into a restroom at a restaurant with Nani today she paused and said:

"I won't touch anything!"

She's also come up with the idea that we're going to Texas tomorrow. I'm not really sure where that came from but she told me several times.

Babies on the Brain

Sadie and Paul had an interesting little discussion last night.

I was standing in the doorway of the bathroom, telling Paul about Sadie's earlier baby comment, while Sadie played in the bathtub. Halfway through the conversation I asked Sadie the baby's name and she gave a repeat performance when Paul asked about the possibility of the baby being a boy. Sadie adamantly denied that there was any chance of that happening.

At some point someone said something along the lines of: "Wouldn't it be nice to have a little brother named Patrick?"

Sadie's response: "No it would not be nice."

Me: "That wouldn't be nice?"

Sadie: "No!"

Hmmm... I'm thinking we better find out the gender at twenty weeks if at all possible to help Sadie be ready for either possibility!

Sadie has actually been quite the little font of baby information lately (both true and not so true). She loves looking at one of the pregnancy books I have, that has images of babies in the womb. And since seeing those pictures she sees "pictures of babies" pretty much everywhere. A star being consumed by a black hole in a magazine? That's a baby. And not just any baby. That's our baby. She's got babies on the brain.

Then there was this afternoon's startling information. She was looking at her own baby pictures and she commented on her "icky belly button." When asked where it came from she said "the doctor" very seriously. The belly button obsession of the afternoon may have been a result of an earlier conversation when Sadie was trying to figure out how the baby was nursing inside of my tummy and I told her the baby got it's food from a tub that went in through the baby's belly button that gave the baby everything it needed. Sadie's eyes were probably the size of saucers by the end of the explanation. She thought about it for a few minutes, examining her own belly button. And now if you ask her how the baby gets food she points to her belly button.

Now if she'd just stop accusing her sister of "trying to eat the baby" every time Mae nurses...

Sadie Quote of the Day...

Sadie's thoughts on whether the baby is a boy or a girl...

Sadie: "Mary in your tummy."

Me: "But what if the baby's Patrick? It could be Mary or Patrick."

Sadie: (adamantly) "Mary! Mary! Mary! Mary!!!!"

Sadie Quotes at 10 Weeks Along

Sadie has been pretty hilarious this week. Her favorite topic of conversation is: "The baby in Mommy's tummy." As I mentioned before, one night the baby was "Pooh Bear" and for a while "George Monkey" although she pretty much always comes back to "Mary" or "PatrickorMary" (like it's one name). I did ask her if she liked the name "Holy Baby" for the baby and she looked at me like I was insane, and told me that the baby's name is "Pooh Bear" and that Mae's name is "Don Bosco" (in other words, she's Holy Baby!).

However, the sweetest moment came when we were sitting in the girl's room playing and Sadie said to herself: "I love the baby in Mommy's tummy! I love the baby in Mommy's tummy!" and Mae, not to be outdone, crawled over to me and actually kissed my tummy. So I guess Mae has noticed all the talk!

That may not have helped Sadie's... Mae Bae accusations...

Sadie has a new phrase that we've been hearing a lot lately. I hear it most often after Mae Bae has nursed. Sadie will look over, giggle and say "Mae Bae is trying to eat the baby in Mommy's tummy!!!!" and of course I will say, "No she's not." and Sadie will repeat it over and over again.

I wonder what they'll come up with next...

Sadie Quote of the Day...

Here is my favorite Sadie quote of the day. Sadie looked at me with a very serious expression and said... "Want to name the baby in your tummy... Pooh Bear!" and then proceeded to laugh hysterically and repeat it to anyone who would listen. She's developing quite the little sense of humor.

In other news Mae is barreling around the house at a gate between a walk and a run. After "taking steps" for the past two months (at a maximum of four at a time), she decided to take 11 steps on her birthday and now alternates between walking and crawling. I've found putting her in dresses encourages her to walk more because she can't do her little sprint crawl in a skirt!

Sadie Loves...

I just had to write a post about this.

Mae has been sick today and while she's feeling better at the moment (which may be because I'm letting her watch a movie and gave her infant tylenol not that long ago) Sadie went over to see Nani while her sister was having a tough time (she has, until the last half hour, pretty much wanted to be held since she started feeling badly). I called a little while ago on the phone and the conversation went something like this:

Me: "I love you so much Sadie!"

Sadie: "I love Puddy so much! I love Puddy so much!"

Me: "I love you so much!"

Sadie: "I love Puddy so much!"

"Puddy" is Pumpkin, Nani's 19 year old, tough-as-nails, deaf and rather mean (she was mean when I was in fifth grade and she's still pretty mean now) orange tabby cat.

Hmmmm... She did finally say: "I love Puddy! I love you too! I love Puddy!" or something like that... She was laughing the whole time though. We've noticed she's developing quite the little sense of humor lately.

"Is Biting Nice?"

Yesterday's cold ended up actually being the flu with Mae Bae faring the best so far (she's been a little fussy, but we're hoping she won't get the cough that Sadie and I have). Today she seemed less grumpy than she's been the last couple of days, despite the appearance of a second bottom tooth, and chased her big sister up onto my lap at one point.

Mae Bae is a tough little thing and has been known to tackle her sister, while grabbing a fistful of curls, to try and steal whatever toy her sister is playing with at the moment. Sadie is amazingly goodnatured about her sister's antics (who knew I'd find myself saying "Mae Bae, that's not nice, we don't..." ten times a day).

After chasing Sadie onto my lap this afternoon Mae decided to test out her new tooth on my thumb. We've been using any examples of biting in the house as a chance to talk with Sadie about how biting isn't nice (thankfully she does seem to be over that particular phase), and when Mae bit my thumb the conversation sounded something like this:

Me: "Mae bit my thumb. Is that nice?"

Sadie: "No!"

Me: "Is it mean to bite?"

Sadie: "No... Yes!!!!"

Me: "But, Mae is a baby..."

Sadie: "And she doesn't know better!"

Still, even through the wrestling matches, they are pretty sweet together... even when they wake up crying in tandem in the middle of the night!

Daily Dose of Cuteness: "Daddy's Driving Across America to..."

This conversation between Nani and Sadie had me smiling today:

Nani: "Who is going to be going on the airplane when you move to Florida?"

Sadie: "Mae Bae... and Mommy and Grumpa and Sadie and Nani!... Daddy is going to drive across America to bring my toys!"

She's been a little sponge lately. She knows her colors and shapes and can count to twenty in English and twelve in Spanish (and lately she prefers to count in Spanish). She's also taken to saying "I haven't done my music yet today!" if she hasn't had a chance to play on my keyboard which is at Nani's house (when she plays on it she adds "I'm trying to wake Mae Bae up" or "I'm trying to wake Dee up" [Dee is the cat]).

Sadie's favorite lesson seems to be geography. Nani put up a map of the US and Sadie loves to sit in front of it. She can tell us where we live and where her aunt lives in Texas and where the school in Florida is. Yesterday she told me that the President lives in Washington D.C. and that his name is "Barak O!" After that I decided to see how much she could remember and told her a few names and jobs. This morning when I asked her who our senators are she said "Barbara and Diane!" Okay... it's a little informal, but she's learning so much! I'm just amazed at what a two year old brain can absorb on any given day!

And Mae Bae has been showing everyone how much she understands by bursting into tears if any character on any of the DVDs Sadie watches aren't being nice. Today Sadie was watching Dora for a bit and there was a king who wouldn't share. When the king said he wouldn't share Mae looked around the room at each of us and then burst into tears. When Dora taught him to share she started laughing again.

Toddler Quote: You Know You Have A Nursing Baby in the House When...

Your Toddler announces to everyone:

"Want mine make milk too!!!!!!" in a slightly whiny voice.

Toddler Quotes: Anacondas, Spiders and Baths

A sample of today's conversations with Sadie (as well as I can remember them!):

Nani: "When Maggie's one she'll be big enough to take a bath in the big tub and you can take a bath together!"

Sadie: Turns and looks at Maggie sitting on Nani's lap and wags her finger at Maggie before saying "No!"

Later when Nani and Sadie went on a walk (I was cooped up sick inside on the couch with Mae):

Nani: "Animals make those holes." (As they walk past ground squirrel holes near the house)

Sadie: "Anaconda!"

Tonight when Sadie was playing in the sink with her two toy elephants:

Me: "Do you like elephants?"

Sadie: "Yeah!"

Me: "And anacondas?" (because she's a little obsessed with them at the moment... every snake is an "anaconda")

Sadie: "Yeah!"

Me: "And caymans?" (obsession #2... every alligator or crocodile that she sees is a "cayman!")

Sadie: "Yeah!"

Me: "And spiders?"

Sadie: "Ye... No!"

Me: "Bugs?"

Sadie: "Ick!" (a disgusted sort of raspberry sound)

She certainly has opinions... about everything these days!

Toddler Quotes (And a Video)

I should keep a running list of Sadie's Greatest Quotes. She comes up with something new every day and there's usually a pretty good chance that it's going to be hilarious (or at least, it will be when she says it). Here are some of her latest quotes from memory (I should just carry a recorder with me all the time):

Me: "What's you name?"
Sadie: "Mae Babe. Mae Babe." (usually accompanied by a look that lets me know she's feeling especially silly).
Me: "No, your name. What's your name?"
Sadie: "Hadie Kat Wall!"

Followed by a name change yesterday:

Me: "How do you say your name?"
Sadie: "Cat Wall!"
Me: "Your name's Cat?"
Sadie: "Cat Wall!"

While walking by the bank:
Me: "Who's that baby looking at you."
Sadie: "Mae Hot Babe!"
Nani: "What?"
Sadie: "Mae Hot Babe!"

We're all still baffled by that one.

And for those of you who wondered the other day (I need to go back and reply in the comments too) the rhyme Sadie was saying (and is constantly saying over and over again every day) is "Here is the church, here is the steeple..." After watching the video again though, there's no way I would have gotten that if I didn't know it.

And the final Sadie moment of the night:

Yesterday when we were at Mass Sadie and Maggie were both in fine form. I felt a bit like I might lose my mind as I tried to wrangle them and keep them quiet during an extra long weekday Mass (they were doing a novena during Mass and there are weekday homilies, so while it's nothing like Sunday it can seem long to a toddler). Sadie began by giggling in a strangle, fake voice. After being hushed she was quiet for a while, until she thought things had gone on a bit too long and she started saying "Ahhhhh- Meeeeeeeeeen!" over and over again (until the hushing worked... it's only a matter of seconds but it can seem much longer). We were in the home stretch after communion when I heard it- a loud fake snore as she pretended to be asleep. She certainly is a character! And she definitely keeps me on my toes...