Testing the Avian Psyche

As Siana and I were outside waiting for the bus this morning, she unsuccessfully attempted to chase down a bird. She came back to my side, and after a few moments and sidelong glances, she nonchalantly said, "I like flies better than birds." She looked around and calmly made this statement a couple more times before I asked, "You really like flies better than birds?" She looked at me, (and if she had known how to waggle her eyebrows, she would have done so) and said, head bowed toward me, voice soft and low, "I'm just saying that so the bird hears me." She then proceeded to shuffle ever so inconspicuously toward the bird, still repeating her mantra, until she suddenly made a run for it at her 5-year-old breakneck speed toward the bird who disinterestedly looked up and lazily flapped to the nearest branch. Next time bird, next time.

Call the Exterminator

Siana quote of the day: "Mommy, are these bumps on my tongue the tastebugs?"

Don't Skirt the Issue

Steven's family has a rich Scottish history, which goes as far back as being traced to Robert the Bruce. There is a Bruce family plaid, and Steven's dad has long wished to have a kilt made out of the family plaid. Well, this year for Christmas, he finally got his wish. As he pulled out the kilt from a gift bag, he was super excited and held it up for the rest of the family to see. As he said thank you to all of those involved in the purchase of the kilt, Siana very loudly pipes up with, "Ummmm...that looks like a skirt, dude."

Odd Employment Prospects

Siana and I were chatting in the car after I picked her up from school today when she commented that a boy in her class always pretends he has a gun and shoots things. She then went on to say that this particular boy says he wants to be a "Butt Puncher" when he grows up. This obviously gave me pause, and I asked her, "He wants to be a What?" She again said that he desired to be a Butt Puncher when he grows up. For further potential clarification, I asked her what a Butt Puncher does. Her response, "Um, somebody who goes around punching people in the bottom, I guess...???" After a brief pause during which I was racking my brain for solutions, I asked her, "Do you think he might have said 'Buck Hunter'...like a guy who hunts deer?" Another pause..."Oh. Maybe."

High Connections

The girls were playing in the kitchen today while I was making dinner, and Siana apparently grew tired of whatever Kyra was doing. So all of a sudden, in a regal and authoritative voice, I hear Siana declare, "Stop. Do not do that to the Lord's woman!" Preach it, baby girl. I hope she remembers that line for when she starts dating.

Only Mostly Dead

Siana happened upon a tootsie roll sized piece of fuzz, which she promptly declared to be her new friend, and was playing with it on the kitchen counter as I made coffee this morning. All of a sudden, I hear a very tragic-sounding "Ohhhh dearrrrrr!" I glanced over and inquired as to what was wrong, and Siana showed me with mournful eyes her fuzz-friend in 2 distinct pieces. I asked, "Uh-oh...what happened?" Siana replied, "She died." "Oh," I said, returning to my coffee prep, as I was not yet fully possessed of my mental capacities that early in the morning and pre-caffeination. A few seconds later, she, with a bit more amusement in her voice, said, "Uh-oh!" I turned to look and saw that her now defunct fuzz-friend appeared to have been hit by some sort of bomb and had become many small pieces. I laughingly asked her how that had happened, and her reply was, "She died more."

Evil Uno

While playing Dora Uno this morning, Siana narrows her eyes, flutters her fingers together in front of her face, and says, I have an evil plan...actually...twooooo evil plans!!! Her evil plans: 2 skip cards she was going to use on me.

First Day of School!

When I asked Siana how her first day of school was, she replied, "Great!!! I never had fun before!!!" Well, I'm glad she had the first fun of her life... =)

The Art of the Segue

Courtesy of Siana: "...speaking of high heels, where is Daddy?"

The Cast Hand

Even though Siana's cast has been gone for some time now, I think her left hand may forever be known as "The Cast Hand." When all 4 of us are crossing the street, she'll grab my hand as well as Steven's, and whoever is on the left will be informed with great excitement that they "get to hold the cast hand!" It's certainly always a treat to hold her sweet little hand, cast hand or not.

Siana Quote of the Week

An ordered but undiscussed plate of chicken is brought to our table at a restaurant.

Siana: "Speaking of chicken, I need to go potty."

Cast-igation

Siana showed me her cast this evening and pointed out a place where the cotton had worn down and was starting to irritate her. I felt inside the cast to see how far down the cotton was, and she said Ow! I apologized to her and said, Oh, I'm sorry, did that hurt?

Her reply: "No. That didn't hurt. I said Ow just in case. That was a bonus Ow."

Siana on NOT picking up after herself

I heard Siana crying in her bedroom this evening, so I went up to investigate. I walk into her room and I see some puzzle pieces lying on the floor that coordinate with the pieces lying on the bed next to her. I ask her why she's crying, and she says it's because she dropped the puzzle pieces on the floor. Logically, I suggest simply picking them up. Her response was, "I don't want to pick them up because if I go down there to get them, a bug might sneak on me because bugs are quiet." Hmmm, good point. We've not had any problems with ninja bugs as of yet, but I guess that may just mean they're good at what they do.

Siana Quote of the Week

While watching 2 birds make a nest in the tree outside our living room window, Siana exclaims, "Mommy! It's a splendid day to have the window open!"

Private Matters

McDonald's recently had the Penguins of Madagascar toys as Happy Meal prizes. Well, we got several of them over the course of a few weeks and Siana in particular loves them. One of these penguins is a bath toy that squirts water out. Why they picked this particular penguin to be the bath toy I'll never know. Of course, the one they chose is named "Private." Really? The character you choose for the bath toy HAS to be the one named Private??? So the other day, Siana is in the tub taking a bath and she discovers that both her bath toy and Kyra's bath toy are in the tub at the same time. So she loudly yells out to me, "Mommy...I don't need TWO privates in the bath!" This is even more comical when you consider the fact that we live in the second and third floors of a house that holds an office suite on the bottom floor. And yes, of course, she's yelling loud enough for even our new friends downstairs to hear. HA!

The Replacements

Siana has quite a goofball sense of humor, which is pretty funny most of the time. She's always found it absolutely hysterical to replace an expected word with something else. She has done this since she was very small, most of the time in the middle of a song we're singing. Well, here's what she busted out today that perfectly illustrates her sense of humor:

Me: Hey Siana, guess what?

Siana: What?

Me: I love you!

Siana: I love you too, Grandpaw!

This was accompanied by a big cheesy grin, like aren't I funny??? Plus, neither of her grandpas actually go by the name Grandpa...so that makes it even more random...what a goofy girl!

You Did What?

Well, while we've been busy adjusting to a new locale, meeting new people, forming relationships, playing, and just lazing the summer away, Siana apparently decided she was over the whole diaper thing. She's been in pullups for a while, and a few weeks ago, she just came in and announced that she'd gone poopoo in the potty all by herself. And apparently, she'd been putting pee in there all day too, because her pullup was completely dry as well. Ever since, she's been rocking and rolling. She's only had 1 or 2 accidents, and is even dry some mornings now. Let me just say, that this is sooooo much easier than our experience trying to potty-train Miss Kyra. We had to bribe that child through the entire process, but finally got it done after 2 weeks of a lot of work and a lot of prizes. So the self-potty training thing, yeah, that works for me. Way to go, baby girl!

Past Tense

Siana is one verbal kid, however, right now she's struggling with how to talk about things that happened in the past. She always starts by saying that she did it this morning, then if she knows it wasn't really this morning, but a day or two ago, she'll add "last days" and if it was a REALLY long time ago, she'll also add "couple days." She knows those have some sort of bearing on time and space, but she hasn't quite nailed it down yet. So here is a typical conversation:

Siana: Mommy, we went to Wah-Moat dis morning.
Me: We did?
Siana: Yeah! We went to Wah-Moat dis morning wast days...a couple days.
Me: We went to Wal-Mart a couple days ago?
Siana: Yep...we did!

She'll get it eventually, but it's pretty funny watching her try to figure it out!

Siana Quote of the Day

As we drove past Fazoli's, Siana looks up at the sign and says, "Look, Mommy...tomatoes!"

I agreed that they were tomatoes, and told her that was Fazoli's.

Normally, she repeats after me, but since she didn't this time, I asked her, "Siana, can you say Fazoli's?"

Her reply: "No. I can't say dat. I'm drivin'."

Siana Quote of the Day

Siana, interrupting and trying to get my attention while I'm talking to Steven:

"Mommy....." (pause pause pause)
"Mommy....." (pause pause pause)
"Ange!!!!"