Have a Heart!

Apparently the reality line between cartoons and real life has not been realized just yet for my sweet little girl.... I was giving her a big hug and kiss this evening and afterwards, she looked around and commented, "No hearts came out!" She was looking for the hearts that always surround people that love each other in cartoons. I told her that the hearts were definitely there, but we just couldn't see them. =)

Shout out the window and you will receive

Kyra has recently discovered the amazing feat of yelling out the window of a car at a plastic box, and then getting all kinds of yummy things to eat. The other day, we pulled up to the Arby's drive-thru to grab some lunch. Steven rolled down the window and began to order, when all of a sudden from the back seat, a small, but very loud voice begins to shout, "Um, I would wike a kid's fwosting please!" We had to stop ordering for a minute because we were laughing so hard. Then as we got our food and drove away, we tried to explain to her that only Wendy's had Frosties and that we had gone to Arby's instead that day. I'm not sure she got it, as now, every time we pull up to any drive thru, she tries again to order a "Kid's Fwosting."

Transference

We recently sold our house that had been on the market for about a year and half. During the transition time, we accepted an offer from some friends to stay with them for a month or so while we found a new place to call home. We didn't know how Kyra would handle the transition from our house to a temporary residence, but so far, she's handled it great. The other day, she surprised Steven and I by referring to our old house as "Robert's." Robert is the name of the man who bought our house. We found it amazing that a 3-year-old would grasp the concept of someone else buying our house and the house then becoming theirs, much less refer to it as "Robert's" instead of something like "Our old house."

The New Trinity?

Lately, Kyra has been making a strange connection with things that she learns at church. Each time we ask her what she learned about in class, she says, "God and Jesus...and Santa Claus." Seeing as it's the middle of summer, that seems a bit unlikely....

Breakfast in the Closet

As we're packing up our belongings all around the house and getting ready to move, Kyra has been quite curious as to what some items are that she doesn't recognize. Today, we were packing the coat closet by the front door. Steven was pulling out all the scarves, gloves, and hats, as well as a pair of old earmuffs that I haven't worn in years, but for some reason still have. Kyra grabbed them out of the box, turned them over several times, and said "Mommy, what are these things?" I answered that they are earmuffs. She said oh and continued to pick through the items that Steven was putting into the box. She came back to the earmuffs after a minute and announced, I'm going to wear the "Ear Muffins." Well, that's something I never hope to find in the breakfast aisle.

God and the balloon

We went to Applebee’s to eat with my parents last night and as we were leaving, Kyra was given a pretty pink balloon. We tied it around her wrist and went out towards the parking lot. As we were chatting with my parents and getting ready to say good-bye, Kyra began dancing along the sidewalk, jumping up and down, and consequently the balloon untied itself. Before we could react, it was floating high above our heads. Kyra handled it well, but kept asking for her balloon back. Someone ended up telling her that the balloon went up to God. She later asked me in the car, “Mommy where did my balloon go?” I somewhat mindlessly repeated that it went high up in the sky and went to God. She replied, “No Mommy, it can’t go to God in the sky!” That got my attention and I asked her why. She then informed me, “Because God is in our hearts.” So of course, I felt like a moron and told her how right she was. =)

Commercialization

Kyra and I were walking through Wal-Mart the other day, and we went down the dishwashing aisle to pick up some dishwasher detergent. As we went back down the aisle to return to the grocery section, all of a sudden Kyra yells, "Wait Mommy! We need some Palmolive Oxy Plus!" I have never bought that particular product before, so I stopped, backed up the cart to the dishwashing liquid section and clarified. I asked her "What is it we need to buy?" She then pointed right to the bottle of Palmolive Oxy Plus and repeated herself. After I realized they show that commercial fairly regularly in between Dora and Blues Clues, I died laughing and told her we don't need to buy everything we see commercials for on TV. A little scary, but amusing nonetheless.

Thank Heaven for Little Girls!

Steven and I just found out on Monday that we're going to be the proud parents of another beautiful baby GIRL! We're very excited that Kyra is going to be a big sister soon. She is already very sweet with the baby and regularly lifts my shirt up so she can kiss my tummy. The other day she said that she can't wait until the baby comes out so they can read books together. I told her that was a great idea and the baby would love it if Kyra would read books to her. The beginning of a beautiful friendship....

Performance Arts

Each day, both when she's waking up and settling down for a nap or bedtime, Kyra practices her art of conversation and singing. She sings everything from Dora the Explorer and Blues Clues songs to worship songs from church or our CDs. She also has long extended conversations with whoever it is that she talks to when no one is around. The other day, she had gone down for her nap with a certain stuffed animal friend who, at the end of naptime, was nowhere to be found. I asked where her little friend had gone and she informed me that she threw him under the stage. The stage? I inquired as to what she meant by under the stage, and she indicated that she had thrown the poor little guy under the bed, which at naptime and bedtime, apparently becomes her stage.

We're Happy!

Kyra and I went to Wal-Mart the other day and as we were walking through the aisles, out of nowhere, Kyra exclaims at the top of her lungs, "Look at us, everybody, we're happy!" It was hysterical. But I'm thrilled to have been able to provide her a childhood so far that she will remember as happy. That makes me happy too.

Story Time

Kyra has a book called "Guess How Much I Love You." In this book, you hear the story of Big Nutbrown Hare and Little Nutbrown Hare and how much they love each other. Well, the routine is Steven or I will read her a book, then she'll take the book and read it to us. We had just finished reading about Big and Little Nutbrown Hare, when she announced she was going to read it to us now. Things went downhill when she opened to the first page and started reading about "Little Butt Hare." I knew right away that we would need to read the book a few more times to make sure she got the names right....

Kyra Quote of the Day

As spoken by Kyra this morning when I tried to put some clothes on her,

"I want to be naked and dance."

Now That's Service!

Steven, Kyra, and I went to Subway for dinner this evening. As we sat down at our booth and finished up our sandwiches, Steven pulled out a small bag containing the cookies he always gets with his value meal. Kyra asked him what was in the bag. He said they were cookies. She said, "For me?" And Steven said, no they were his, but he'd share a piece with her. So then Kyra said, "Is the manager going to bring one out for me?" We about fell out of the booth we were laughing so hard.

2-year-old Theology

It's amazing to me how much Kyra understands about God even at only 2 years old. She's paying attention to and ingesting things that I don't even realize. She shocked me the other day as we were driving (a long long drive) to church. She was just making two-year-old conversation, talking about her little friend Brooke's new baby sister. Kyra's very into names and which people go together. When we talk about her friend Brooke, she always likes to review what Brooke's mommy's name is, what her daddy's name is, and now what her baby sister's name is. After this chain of events, she then started on her own family. She informed me that her own daddy's name is Steven and her mommy's name is Angewa. Then she asked "What's my sister's name?" I glanced back at her and said "Do you have a sister?" She said yes, so I asked her what she thought her sister's name was. She responded, "Somethin." This response is typical of late. She then asked "What's my brother's name?" I again asked her "Do you have a brother?" She again said yes, so I asked her what she thought her brother's name was. She once again replied with, "Somethin." I asked her if she wanted a baby brother or sister, and she said yes, so I told her she'd have to ask God to bless our family with a baby brother or sister. At this point, she began to talk about babies, and ended up saying, "Jesus was a baby!" I said that he sure was. Then she said, "But he went up into the sky at church." We had watched a video clip portraying Jesus' ascension a few weeks ago that I didn't even know she was paying attention to! Then she went on to say, "But he'll be back in a widdle bit. He wuvs us. And God does too." Out of the mouths of babes!!! It takes some people a lifetime just to get this far in their belief structure. I'm so thankful that she is learning this at an early age. I hope that basic truth always guides her in her life choices. Jesus came to earth as a baby, rose up to Heaven, but he'll be back in a little bit, and boy does he love us!

Vacation funnies

We just returned home from a week long vacation in Michigan to visit family and friends. We had a great time and accumulated quite a few Kyra funnies along the way:

Steven's mom has a Ukrainian girl living with her for a few months while she's in the country. Her name is Anya and Kyra had a great time playing with her. Each night, when we said our bedtime prayers, Kyra would add, "And thank you God for Onion." That still makes me chuckle every time I think about it.

One morning, Steven got up to find Kyra downstairs waving a ginormous flag around and yelling "I'm a Captain! I'm a Captain!"

While we were at my grandmother's house, a friend of ours came over who has a baby who's a few months shy of being a year old. Kyra was thrilled to see Baby Makenna and Baby Makenna's daddy. Kyra is very big on names and refers to people by name incessantly. Apparently, we forgot to inform her of Makenna's daddy's name. (It's Patrick.) So she was playing games with Patrick and laughing like crazy when he got up to put something in the kitchen. She followed him in there and from the kitchen we heard her say "Hey Dude, what are ya doing?" I wasn't quite sure if I had heard correctly, but as she ran out of the kitchen with Patrick not far behind her, I heard her say "Dude! Follow me, Dude!" So apparently, Dude was the best substitute for a name she could come up with. Needless to say, we all died laughing.

For the Love of Taxes...?

Steven's sister Melissa works seasonally for a tax preparation company (for "fun"). The other day, Steven decided to take Kyra to visit Melissa at the tax place for a little while. Kyra had a great time, and was very good about waiting for "Missa" while she was with a customer doing his taxes. When Melissa was ready, Kyra got to play with her and talk to her for a little while. However, when it was time to go, Kyra was quite distraught and wanted to stay there so Missa could do her taxes. Melissa told her she would come over the following day to see her, and would do her taxes for her then.

The next day, Melissa came over, as promised, to do Kyra's taxes. She asked her how much money she made last year, and Kyra said, "One and two." Then Melissa asked how much she had withheld from her paychecks, to which Kyra also said, "One and two." So Melissa told her that she would receive a refund of approximately 2 billion dollars. Kyra was content with this verdict and was glad to have "had her taxes done."

This brings us to last night. During our nightly prayer, Kyra typically interjects as we pray, with things she wants to pray for or give thanks for. I had just finished thanking God for Kyra's friend "Bwooke" when Kyra burst in with "And thank you for taxes!" I had to stifle my laughter, and say through gritted teeth, "And thank you God for taxes." I told Steven after we put her to bed that this may be the very first time ever in all of eternity that God has ever had someone thank him for taxes....

On Babies...

Kyra was reading magazines tonight, and as she flipped through an issue of Parenting, she stopped on a photo of a sleeping newborn. I said "Isn't that a sweet baby?" She just looked up and grinned. And then, since we've been entertaining the idea of expanding our family, I asked her, "Should we have a new baby in our house?" To this, she replied, "I'm reading a magazine right now, we'll have a baby in a minute." If only it were that simple.

Lyrical Stylings

Here are a couple of Kyra's most-rotated songs of late:

Ring Around the Rosie:

Wing A WaWa Wozee
Popta Fo A Posie
Azin da Azin
We Ah Fah Down!
This is followed by much giggles and usually another repetition.

And don't ask me what a "Popta Fo" is. I don't know. =)


The other is The Farmer in the Dell:
A Fahmah inna Deo
A Fahmah inna Deo
I no a day-e-o
A Fahmah inna Deo

A Fahmah takes a wife
A Fahmah takes a wife
I no a day-e-o
A Fahmah takes a wife

A Wipe takes a chy-ode (child)
A Wipe takes a chy-ode
I no a day-e-o
A Wipe takes a chy-ode

A dog takes a cat
A dog takes a cat
I no a day-e-o
A dog takes a cat

A cat takes a mouse
A cat takes a mouse
I no a day-e-o
A cat takes a mouse

Sometimes she inserts the mouse takes the cheese verse here, sometimes not.

Day all wun affa a mouse (they all run after the mouse...)
Day all wun affa a mouse
I no a day-e-o
Day all wun affa a mouse

Just being polite....

We've tried from the very beginning to instill manners and politeness into Kyra. Apparently, it's working a little too well. She excuses herself whenever she bumps into anything, no matter if it's an inanimate object. Today, she was getting out of her seat in the car and as she scooted into the floor and turned to exit, she bumped into the seat with her arm. So she says, "Skooz me cawseat." Then later on, she ran into the coffee table as she was dancing around the living room. She got up and said, "Oh, skooz me tabo!" Hopefully this will translate into people skills somehow in the future. =)

Making Music

Kyra has been expressing interest in musical instruments recently. Her daddy plays his guitar frequently, and she'll go up to him and say "Daddy less pway insumments!" So he goes and gets his guitar and she goes and gets an old broken Beta 58 mic that Steven gave her a while back, and they sing songs together. We figured now would be a great time to introduce her to some instruments of her own. So I ended up getting her a nice set called Band in a Box. It has a hollow wooden rhythm fish with a stick, a tambourine, a harmonica, 2 egg shaker maracas, spoons that are attached to each other with a handle, and a kazoo. She totally loves it! So now her favorite "insumments" are her "woccas and her hambowee." (Maracas and tambourine.) =)