#68 ¡Vámonos!

My nephew is pretty cute; I think I've mentioned him before. His dad speaks spanish and one day he was showing off, just a bit (Jackson, not his dad). I would ask him what a spanish word means, he would tell me. Now, he's not fluent; he's like me. His vocabulary is slightly bigger than what they teach you on Dora the Explorer. Here is an excerpt from our conversation:

Me: Ok, Jackson. What does... "azul" mean?

Jackson: (confidently) blue.

Me: Ok, let's see, how about "gracias"?

Jackson: Thank you.

Me: Ok, what does (trying to stump him).... "vámonos" mean?

Jackson: It means "¡Get in the car!"

Yep. I don't think that one was lost in translation. I'm pretty sure that is exactly what his dad meant. :) I couldn't stop laughing.

#67 Ch

This is an ongoing, recurring "cute thing". It's actually ceased to be cute for the present. Hopefully in years to come when I read this it will be cute again. It is a Harrington rule (as I'm sure it is with most families) to buckle up upon getting in the car. As with all rules the "buckle up" rule is met with opposition. But Brecken's methods have switched from protesting to this.

Me: (settling into the driver's seat) Ok. Buckle up.
Brecken: Ch. (yes she really says "ch")
Me: (sweetly) Come on, Breck. Buckle up.
Brecken: I did. Didn't you hear it?

Me: (a little less sweetly) Honey, you need to buckle up.

Brecken: (in mock defeat) Fine..... Ch.

Me: (not very sweetly at all) Brecken, I know that sound isn't buckling up. Please, buckle up now.

Brecken: (now in amazement) How do you know?!

The same dialogue has occurred dozens of times, with few variations. She continues to think her buckle mimicking is superb enough to fool me. I continue to see right through it. She continues to be amazed at my power of discernment. I continue to enforce the "buckle up" rule. I would love to see into her mind "Maybe this time. This time."

#66 Lying Never Gets You Anywhere

As it often happens, I was in the bathroom getting ready, leaving the girls unattended. Dangerous? Yes. But also inevitable. I wasn't too concerned, Hallie was sleeping, Brecken was occupied in her bedroom, and I could hear Taylor happily humming and singing in the kitchen.

As I was wrapping things up Taylor meandered into the bathroom...

Me: Hey, Taylor! How are you doing?
Taylor: Goooooooood.
Me: What were you playing?
Taylor: (long pause) Ummmm.... With the dollhouse.
Me: (totally fooled) Do you like playing with the doll house?
Taylor: Uh huh. (another long pause)... I don't like playing with marshmallows though.

Ah, kid. You should have stopped while you were ahead. I'm pretty sure I burst out laughing right then and there. And, yes, after a slight investigation I found the empty bag of marshmallows. How can you get mad at cuteness such as this?