Quote Book Needed!

 Collin's before/after haircut today. What a handsome boy!

Three-year-olds are the masters of The Whine for sure. My favorite is when a crocodile-teary Collin puts together a string of actual words that come out like drunken moans, and then he looks at me with the expectation that I will not only translate his gibberish but also give in and deliver whatever it is that he wants. Right now. But when Collin isn't whining, he is saying something incredibly cute or heartfelt or funny or insightful, which is what makes age three pretty cool. Take my facebook status today, for instance:

Collin: I love my sissy. She's the only sissy I ever need. And when she grows up, she'll tell me the truth.
Mommy: The truth? What will she tell you?
Collin: That she loves me too.
[I swear, I couldn't make this stuff up! That's why I'm writing it down before I forget. *smile*]

 At lunch we were talking about food allergies and getting stuck (common topics around here). I told Collin he couldn't have a bite of O's sandwich because it had eggs (mayo) and cow milk (cheese) in it, which would make him sick, just like Mommy gets sick when she eats banana or pineapple. You know what he said? "If you eat pineapple, Mommy, you'll have to go to the hospital, and they will have to fish it out of your esophagus." Yes, he said "fish it out," which is the first time I think he's used figurative language to describe something. The fact that he used the word "esophagus" doesn't surprise me; we talk GI anatomy all the time, and he knows that the esophagus carries food/drink to the stomach and then the intestines and out as #2, and he knows the trachea carries air to the lungs for breathing.

 
What he doesn't know yet is that he has two rare conditions that affect his upper GI system, but from what he said about the pineapple and the hospital, I'm guessing he is starting to figure it out. The only time we went to the ER to have food "fished out" was back when he was just 17 months old, so there is no way he'd remember that, yet he associates allergic reaction with getting stuck with going to the hospital with removing the food that is blocking the food pipe. The pieces are coming together in that busy brain of his. It's only a matter of time when we'll start to explain that there are actual names for what he is describing and that other kids are EA/TEF and have EE too.

Olivia is figuring out how to express her thoughts more and more as well. Her latest words are windy ("money"), Ernie ("eye-ee"), get down ("dee-dun"), and bubble ("bub-oo"). She also ditched her Robeez that helped her learn to walk for some big girl, Converse-type sneaks.

Anyway, I need to get a cute, little quote book to jot down some of the creative one-liners these kids say (or quick gestures they make) that I can reference without having to turn on a computer, go to a page, and type. Who knows? It might make for a best-selling book one day. And even if not, its value to me (and later to my kids) is far beyond the millions of dollars those famous writers make. God, I love my little ones!

Sadly, there are too many moms out there who don't have the opportunity to write down any more words because time with their babies was cut short. Heaven got another angel this past weekend when W.E.B. received his wings. He was exactly one month younger than Olivia. My heart is breaking for his mom, my friend. There are no words for this unpredictable and most unfair part of life. You can bet I will be squeezing my babies extra tight tonight. RIP, sweet boy. ;(