What a great idea! Some days it's really the little things.

Here are my small successes today, in no particular order:

*I got Hannah to karate on time.

*I did music time with the kids for the 4th day straight -- we all had fun.

*We prayed our Rosary decade.

Other small success posts are up for your perusal, should you be interested, at Faith and Family Live!

Now she's not even waiting

until she's finished with her dessert. Before, Naomi used to finish her dessert, then start begging dessert from the other diners. Tonight, as we all ate our pumpkin chocolate chip vegan cupcakes (mmmmmmmmmm), Naomi began asking Michael for some of his before she'd had not more than 2 bites of hers. Better safe than sorry, you know, and you never know how quickly he's going to eat that thing!

More fears

Today as Simeon was taking a nap, I got the girls into the bath. When he woke up, I brought him down to the bathroom, since they weren't quite finished. Simeon loves his big sisters, and the feeling is definitely mutual, so I brought him over to the tub to say hello. Both girls greeted him enthusiastically. Simeon looked at them for a moment, then his lower lip stuck out, then he started bawling!

I was very surprised, and I took him over to the other side of the bathroom to calm down, thinking it must have been a fluke. However, when he'd calmed down, I brought him back to say hello and it happened all over again.

Poor kid is scared of his sisters in the bath. Once they got out, he was happy to smile and laugh at them again.

Fears

Kids often have irrational fears. For example, for a long time, Naomi has been deathly afraid of cows. She explained to me gravely that cows eat people. I have tried to tell her otherwise, but she seems to be clinging to the belief that cows are just waiting for one of us to get into their pasture before they pounce. She even screamed when we went into the cow barn at our state fair over the summer.

You would think that a girl who's scared of cows would be easily frightened of other things. The other day, Hannah was trying to elaborate about a scary monster.

Hannah: It will be a scary monster!
Naomi: I'm not scared of monsters.
Hannah: It will be as big as this table!
Naomi: I'm not scared of it.
Hannah: It will have claws!
Naomi: That's not scary.
Hannah: It will be as big as this whole house!
Naomi: Oh. That's not scary.

At this point, I decided that point-by-point scary monster descriptions were not perhaps going to be the best thing for the peaceful sleep of the children, so I decided to step in.

Me: What if it's a dog?
Naomi: Oh, I'm scared of dogs.

Simeon's doing well

He had his 4-month well baby checkup today:

26 1/4 inches
20 lb, 14 oz

Healthy and happy.

More on Hannah's future life

Hannah: When I grow up, I won't even BUY my kids jackets!
Me: Oh, well, that will be too bad. They won't be able to go outside when it's cold.
Hannah: No, they'll go outside, they just won't have to wear jackets. I hate my jacket.

****

Hannah: When I grow up, I will always buy whole pickles so that I can cut them myself.

****

Hannah: When I grow up, I won't ever buy meals. It's much more fun to make your own at home. I will always make dinner.

The Perfect Storm

What do you get when you combine a girl of almost 3, a great love of dolls, a Baptism lesson in which the girl of almost 3 has her baby baptized "St. Rose," and a new bunny costume made for dolls by a loving and sewing grandmother?

Naomi: St. Rose likes to dress up in her new bunny costume.