The Christmas Story

We have lots of Christmas books in our house.  We have stories about Santa, stories about cats and bears at Christmas time, stories about parades, and various books about the birth of Christ.  A few nights ago, I read Caleigh a book called "The Newborn King."  She's been read this book many times before.  She loves the illustations in it. 

When we finished reading it, I tucked her in bed.  She said her prayers and then we started discussing the story we had just read.  We do this most every night with all of her books since I have read that asking questions about the story afterwards helps with story comprehension. 

So, we were talking about the story when she says, "You know who else was there?"

"Who?" I asked.

"Nonnie was there!" she said.

"Nonnie was there when Jesus was born?" I asked her almost laughing.

"NO, silly!" she tells me. "Nonnie wasn't there when He was born, she was there when He was alive."

"That was a long, long time ago.  Nonnie was not there." I gently told her.

"Oh yes she was!  She showed me the pictures and I saw her there!" she told me.

This is where I lost it and couldn't help laughing.  Caleigh, of course, got mad at me for laughing and told me that I would have to see the pictures myself! 

Christmas Tuba

Our town hangs Christmas lights from the telephone poles during the holiday season. While driving home the other night, Caleigh noticed that they had been hung.

She starts calling out what she sees.
"There's a snowflake, an angel, a present, a snowman, and a Christmas tuba!"

A CHRISTMAS TUBA?????

No Caleigh, that's a French horn, but good guess!

Her response when corrected?

"I still think it's a tuba!"

Long live the Christmas Tuba!

Political Parties

While watching the news this morning waiting for the weather report to come on, a report on the election was airing. Caleigh was paying close attention.

At the end of the segment, a vote sign with two voting booths appeared. One booth with a red curtain and elephant and the other with a blue curtain and donkey.

She studies the picture and asks "What is the elephant one?"

"It represents the Republican party," I tell her.

She quickly replies, "I like that one because it sounds like Publix and I like Publix."

Haha! Oh the mind of a four year old!

Under Instruction

The McDonald's near our house has been undergoing some renovations.  We stopped at the Zaxby's across the street from it the other day and the intercom in the drive thru wasn't working.  The sign on the intercom stated that due to the construction across the street, all orders would be taken at the drive thru window. 

We were just stopping for something to drink but ended up stuck for a while due to the slow ordering process.  Caleigh was wanting to know why the system wasn't working and I explained to her it was because of the "construction" that was going on across the street.

From our spot in the drive thru line, we could see bulldozers, bobcats, construction cones, dumpsters, and men in yellow hard hats working away.

Yesterday as we passed that same McDonalds on our way to the library, Caleigh looks over at it and asks me "Is that place still under instruction?" 

Chuckling under my breath, I replied, "Let's hope so!"

To which she stated, " I hope NOT!  I hope they are done so Zaxby's can have their drive thru back!"

Johnny Seedapple

Caleigh celebrated Johnny Appleseed day at her school.  They made hats that looked like pots to wear on their heads, watched a video about Johnny Appleseed, ate apples, drank apple juice boxes, and colored a sheet of apples.  She came home wearing her hat and telling me all the things that she learned about "Johnny Seedapple!" 

Impressed

According to the dictionary:

 impress: verb to affect deeply or strongly in mind or feelings; influence in opinion

I told Caleigh that I was really impressed with the way she played her soccer game.  She asked me what impressed meant and without having a dictionary handy I tried to explain the meaning of the word to her. 

Later that day, I fixed Caleigh some lunch. 

When I handed it to her, she looked at me and said, "Thanks mom, I'm really impressed." 

I couldn't help but laugh and she was bewildered as to why I was laughing at her "compliment."

She cracks me up!

"Peace"

Caleigh watched an old home video of herself from when she was about 14 months old.  It is a video in which she is repeatedly telling me " I love you."  The video melts my heart.  I love seeing it. 

At the end of the video, Chad tells her to tell the camera bye-bye.  Instead of saying bye-bye, she looks at the camera and very clearly says, "PEACE" and laughs. 

Chad had taught our neighbor boys to say this and Caleigh obviously thought it would be cute if she did too. 

Now, she says it ALL THE TIME and she adds to it the holding up of the two fingers in a peace sign.

Today, as I drop her off at preschool, she gets out of the car, with a peace sign on her shirt, and turns and flashes me the peace sign with her fingers and shouts "Peace, love you momma" as she takes the teachers hand and disappers into the building,  I can see and hear the teachers all around her laughing.

I drive away laughing and wonder what my crazy child is going to come up with next!

Hocks vs Peahocks

The family is driving down the road and a giant shadow passes over our car on a very sunny day.  We all look out the windows to see what it is. 

To our amazement, we see a very large hawk that has flown directly between our car and the sun casting said shadow. 

Upon watching the giant bird soar through the sky Caleigh remarks,

"I don't like hocks.  I only like peahocks.  I like it when they are on the ground, though. I don't like peahocks when they fly."


What causes her little brain to think of peacocks whenever we see a hawk is beyond me.  But, when she speaks with such sincerity, it is very hard for Chad and I to keep our composure and not laugh. 

You can check out an earlier Quip on peahocks here.

Hurt Pants!

I can't believe I haven't thought to put this on here sooner!!!!  It is a trademark Caleigh phrase!

When I was younger, if I ever got a spanking, my dad and mom called it "red hams". 

When Caleigh was much younger but could already make small sentences, she told us one day that she did not want to get "hurt pants."  We understood this to mean a spanking.

To this day, Caleigh still refers to a spanking as "hurt pants" and so do we! 

"Bi-knock-clee-ears"

Enough said.

Flipity flips

Flipity flips are known to the rest of the world as frisbees. However, Caleigh's continued love of the character Wubzy from the show Wow Wow Wubzy still provides her with some vocabulary that is authentic to Wuzzleberg!

Idditated

Caleigh shouts out "I'm so idditated!"

I say "You mean irritated?"

She says "No, idditated!"

I ask what that means.

She states, "It's when you are throwing something and your hands get tired!"

Um, ok!

Fencing

Caleigh: "Mom, come in here quick!  Look what's on! Hurry!"

Me: (hurrying to living room) "What is it?"

Caleigh: "It's Olympic Space Hitting!"

Me: (laughing)"That's called fencing, not space hitting!"

Caleigh: " OHHHH!  Well, what is space hitting then?"

Me: "I have no idea!"

"Harbee's"

The other day, Chad, Caleigh and I were out running some errands.  Lunch time came around and we were hungry!  Chad suggested we go to Arby's and grab something to eat.  Caleigh didn't like that idea.  So, we asked her what she wanted. 

She looked up and saw a billboard for Hardee's. 

She proudly proclaimed she wanted "Harbee's".  Chad and I laughed.  I told her that there was no such place.  There was a Hardee's and and Arby's but not a "Harbee's."

To this she chuckles and says "Oh! Guess you better put that on my Quips!" 

LOL!  What have I done to this child?  LOL

Three Bites, You're Out!

This week I had to distinguish umpires from vampires. Apparently, these two things are the same in Caleigh's mind and can be used interchangeably.

We have been watching a lot of Braves baseball together this summer. And now, with the Olympics up and going, umpires are everywhere!

Thank goodness there aren't vampires everywhere! And besides, aren't vampires notoriously night creatures? I doubt they could stand the intense heat and bright sun that Georgia offers its Braves and their fans!

I do have to admit when she called the Braves game umpire a vampire, I did secretly imagine a very pale man behind that mask and I had to laugh!

Mimples

Caleigh calls pimples, mimples! I Have caught her squeezing her face and when I asks what she is doing, she tells me she is getting her "mimples!"

Please slow down, Caleigh. I am almost 100% sure your days of "mimples" are coming. For now, please enjoy your beautiful flawless perfect skin on your face! It won't last forever!

I'm Fat

As I am washing dishes in the kitchen yesterday, Caleigh comes in and lifts her shirt.  She then rubs her belly and tells me that she is fat! 

I chuckle at her and then ask her why she thinks she is "fat".

She then tells me that she is fat because she ate a black watermelon seed and now she had a whole watermelon growing in her belly!

I couldn't help but laugh!

She got angry with me and I got straight faced really quickly as I didn't want to hurt her feelings.

I asked her who told her that a watermelon would grow in her belly and she very quickly said "Mish did when I accidently ate a black seed at her house!"

I called Mish at work and asked her why she was tormenting my kid!  She just laughed and laughed, which was all I could do as well. 

Then Mish tells me to ask her how big the watermelon is and Caleigh says "thankfully it is only the size of an orange!"  LOL!!!!!

Atlanta

"ATLANTA"

She says this word totally correct.  However, she emphasizes the "AT".  So, when we head into the city, she always asks "Are we in AT-lanta yet?"  LOL! I never really noticed it but my sister pointed out that it did sound very cute. 

Canyon Ball!!!!!

I am currently sitting outside watching Caleigh swim and jump into my parents pool. She has become a much better swimmer in the past few weeks than when she first got in this summer. It is almost like she has to re-learn to swim each year. And, since it will ONLY be getting to 106 degrees before the heat index this weekend, I think we should spend ample time in said pool!! However, I find it hilarious that she is constantly jumping into the pool screaming "CANYON BALL!". I have corrected her telling her that it is "CANNONBALL" today as I have on previous other pool days, but when she gets excited and starts into her jump, "CANYON BALL" is what escapes her lips every time!

Literally!

Caleigh "literally" cracks me up with her use of this word! 

For example, Caleigh was telling a friend of mine about our tubing trip in Helen, GA.

At one point Caleigh very enthusiastically tells her that "Actually, a fish literally jumped into my tube with me!"

WHAT???  Where was I when this "literally" happened.  I mean, I was tethered to your tube for the entire trip and I don't remember any fish in there with you!

She's been known to embelish at times, but using the words "acutally" and "literally" are a bit much!

Click-Clops

"Click-clops"



These little feet still don't quite fit the "click-clops" but that has never stopped her from wearing them!  Any shoe with any sort of elevated heel is a "click-clop" to her. 

I assume she named them from the sound she hears them make when I wear them but I don't know that for sure. 

All I know know is that whether it is a plastic princess dress up shoe or a pair of pumps she has wrangled from my closet, even at 4 years old, they are still called "click-clops"! 


(Thanks to Nonnie for reminding me of her shoe terminology!)

Always Put On Your...

"SCUN-SCREEN"! 

You heard her right!  It is so very important, especially in these horribly hot and humid Georgia summers, to wear your "scunscreen."  Caleigh hates to put the stuff on but only because it takes time away from whatever it is she is doing or wants to do at the time.  However, she has come to realize that she won't get to do (or continue to do) what she wants unless she lets me put the dreaded stuff all over her.  And even with SPF50 applied every 30 minutes, she still gets a golden brown tan.  Wish I could tan like her and her "scun-screen"!

Hanitizer

Hanitizer = Hand Sanitizer

We use gobs and gobs of this stuff on a routine basis.  From spraying it on public toilet seats to washing grubbing hands at parks, we go through bottles of it.  I still think it is cute though that Caleigh smushes the two words together and out comes "hanitizer". 



HANITIZER

"Totally Word"

Caleigh attended Vacation Bible School this past week at the church of some of her friends.  She went every night from 6pm-8:45pm.  She had such fun every day (even though she was struggling with her asthma the entire time). 

One of the "crafts" that they did was to color the cover of a new testement Bible.  On Friday she brought the Bible home.  Since then, she has been "reading" out of the Bible to me. 

She has informed me that the book is "God's 'totally' word". 

I told her she meant to say "God's 'HOLY' word" and she rebuked me!

She very strernly informed me that it was "God's 'totally' word"!

I had to concede.  I guess it is totally God's word but I really do think her VBS teachers were calling the Bible "God's Holy Word" and not "God's Totally Word". 

Maybe her "inner valley girl" is just trying to come out!  LOL!

Kitty Kat Pearls

Ugg!  I hate asthma!  Caleigh's flare ups are usually mild but they usually lead to a sore throat and chest for Caleigh and interrupted if not sleepless nights for everyone.  Most of the time the coughing will subside in a few minutes (sometimes hours) after a few puffs of her inhaler. 

The other night Caleigh was having a rough time with the cough.  She had climbed into our bed in the early hours of the the morning and turned our bed into a motion bed with her non-stop coughing.

After about 30 minutes or so of this coughing, Chad asks her to try to stop.  She very seriously tells him "If I try to stop coughing then I get kitty kat pearls and I HAVE to cough."  I couldn't help but laugh.  The hazy sleep that I been in slipped away with the laughter and I was now wide awake. 

"Kitty kat pearls" I asked?

She said "Yeah, when I don't cough I get pearls like a kitty kat and I have to cough to make it go away."

I wish I could make all of her "kitty kat pearls" go away for good!  But since I can't, I will just be content with letting her cough as much as she needs so she doesn't have "pearls".

Beat-up Songs

Caleigh LOVES music!  She is not prejudice.  She loves all kinds of music.  She likes everything from nursury songs and kids music to modern pop songs and traditional classical and everything in between. 

Ken and Barbie MUST have classical music playing when they get married.  Caleigh likes to have Kids Bop style music playing when she paints at her easel.  Contemporary christian music is usually her music of choice when she is getting ready for school or outside playing.  Like I said, she loves music. 

While riding in the car the other day, Caleigh asked if she could have our "music phone" which is a non-serviced phone we use like an iPod.  We hand her the phone and she proudly states,

"I am going to find a beat-up song!"

Perplexed, I asked her what she meant. 

She responded, " I want to hear a beat-up song!  YOU KNOW! A fast one!"

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I got it then!


For a second there I imagined her flipping through the music to find a good song to beat someone up to.

I tell her "You mean you want to hear an upbeat song" as I stifle my snickering. 

Oh, the things she says!

Cooperate and Frustrated

Big words for such a little mouth! These two words, used correctly I might add, are Caleigh's new favorite terms. I think it is so funny to hear these big words coming from her!

She likes to tell me all the time that her toys "won't cooperate!" LOL!

When she is pitching a fit and I try to calm her down and I ask her what is wrong, her typical response has become "I'm just so frustrated!" LOL!

When she talks like this, I sometimes have to remind myself that she really is only 4! Her language skills really do astound me at times.

A in T

I have been meaning to post this one for quite some time but always forget each time I make a post. Caleigh loves where her dad works. He works for AT&T.

Every time she sees a commercial, a van, a work truck, a billboard, a building, or even a sponsorship with the AT&T logo on it she shouts out "A in T that's where daddy works!" There is never two T's in her pronunciation of it. It is always and will forever be "A in T" in our house.

Cheeps

Caleigh has always been a marshmellow fan. She loves miniature ones, jet puffed ones, ropes, flavored ones, shaped ones, and she especially loves ones coated in sugar, AKA Peeps. But for some reason, she always calls them "Cheeps". Needless to say, she got lots of "Cheeps" this Easter.

You Can Talk About Your Men

Caleigh has been learning alot of Christian songs during chapel at school lately. She has been singing Onward Christian Soldier, What A Mighty God We Serve, and The Lord's Army to name a few.

While practicing her new favorite, Joshua Fought The Battle of Jehrico, she spouted out some interesting lyrics that caused Chad and I to crack up quite a bit. Her version goes as follows.....


"Joshua fought the battle of Jehrico, Jehrico, Jehrico
Joshua fought the battle of Jehrico, Jehrico, Jehrico
And the walls came tumbling down.

You can talk about your men of idiots
You can talk about your men of song
But there is no good ole Joshua in the battle of Jehrico!

Joshua fought the battle of Jehrico, Jehrico, Jehrico
Joshua fought the battle of Jehrico, Jehrico, Jehrico
And the walls came tumbling down."

4 Year Old Bad Day

Caleigh spent the night with her Nonnie and came home this afternoon. As soon as she got here, a neighbor girl came over and asked if Caleigh could come out and play. Nonnie was still here and so I told her not right now. Caleigh got very upset and threw herself onto the foyer floor pouting.

During this time, my sisters and their babies showed up to pick up a chair. I asked Caleigh to get the chair and she cheered up and happily took the chair out to their car. She was very excited for the few minutes they were here but then she asked if one of the babies could stay for the afternoon and her mom said no.

Caleigh went back into pout mode. So, I took her inside and we played together. We painted, listened to some music she likes, played some computer games, and then got ourselves a snack. She wanted to eat a pack of sticks and cheese and then she wanted a snack pack of cheese balls. And then another pack of cheese balls. When she asked for another pack, I refused.

Her world crumbled. She was so devastated. She told me she was having the worst day every! First, she couldn't play with the neighbor, then her cousin couldn't spend the afternoon, and now I wouldn't give her any more food! Worst day ever! How I wish that things as trivial as this could constitute my worst days ever. Oh, to have the traumas of a 4 year old again.

Bananas

It is a total crime in this house to open a banana for Caleigh without FIRST letting Caleigh hold the banana up to her ear like a phone and say "Hello". She has to see if anyone is on it and/or have a short conversation with the person on the banana before she is ok with letting someone take the peel off. It started when she was about a year old and now, three years later, she still has to say "Hello" to every banana!

Under

Last night, or rather, very early morning, storms moved through our area. Caleigh awoke and very quickly asked if she could get in our bed because of the "under." "Understorms" have always frightened her and even if they haven't been during the night, she usually is hiding out in our bed until they pass. We have blackout curtains in our room so not much light or lightning makes its way into our room.

In the beginning, Chad and I tried correcting her and telling her they were called "thunderstorms" and "thunder" but it never seem to stick in her vocabulary. So now, this is one of those things and Chad and I use her terminology for and you can often hear us referring to the "under" and "understorms" ourselves.

She also seems to think that the storms will go away if they make their way to our neighbor's house across the street. So, she is always wishing for the storm to go to their house. I don't know why she does this but for some reason I guess she thinks that they can control the weather over there or something. If they have figured out how to do that, I wish they would share the knowledge!

Being a Mom

Caleigh: "When I get tall and get married, I will let you be the mom. Ok?"

Me: "I'm your mom right now and I will always be your mom."

Caleigh: "Yeah, but when I am tall and get married I will still let you be my mom."

Me: "Well, thank you very much. I guess I have nothing to worry about then huh?"

Caleigh: "Yeah, you will have to worry about me kissing a boy!"

Me: in my mind "Oh Lord, help me!"

Fishy Treatment

We have been sorta sickly around here for the past week. Yucky coughs and headaches and sore throats and all that nasty stuff has been plaguing us. When Caleigh gets sick, she tends to start wheezing right away. Thus, we break out our "fishy treatment." This is what Caleigh calls her nebulizer. When she was about 9 months old, the doctors office gave us a nebulizer for the first time. I must admit that I was a bit intimidated by this machine at first. Especially since my husband was the one who got the machine as well as the instructions on how to use it and I had no idea what to do with it. Thankfully, it came with a video tutorial and I can remember watching it with my dad to figure out how to work the thing. I was so scared I was going to put it together wrong or not give it to her in the right way or even clean the thing wrong and cause even more problems. The nebulizer came with a mouthpiece and a mask. The mask has the design of a fish on it and Caleigh called it "fishy". So, the term "fishy treatment" was coined and has stuck around since.

Wheelin'

As we pass by a local doctor's office, Caleigh recalls a visit I had last year in which I had broken my toe. She pipes up and says, "Hey Mom, remember when you went there and you had hurt your foot and daddy had to take care of me while you rode around in the wheelin' chair?"

As I chuckle I told her I remembered very well but the chair is called a "wheel chair". She then laughs at me and says "NO, it is the chair that you can go round and round in, the wheelin' chair!"

Puckets

When Caleigh was two, Santa brought her a small wooden puppet show and a few little puppets. On that Christmas morning, she called it her "pucket show". Two years later, she stills calls it her "pucket show" even though she now correctly calls the puppets by their name, puppets. But to this mom, she will always have "puckets in her pucket shows" for as long as she lives!

Peahocks

She just couldn't get enough of all the "peahocks" roaming around. She even got to see one fly high up into the trees.

Those "peahocks" are just so beautiful!






And yes, she is in jeans, sneakers, a t-shirt, and bows and beads. That's my girl!

Goose what?

As I am lightly running my fingers across Caleigh's back, she shivers and says "Stop mom. You're giving me goosedots!" LOL!

An Injury

Caleigh stepped on something barefooted and got a small cut on the bottom of her foot. It was slightly bleeding and it caused her to have a little bit of anxiety. So, to ease her fear, I cleaned the "boo boo" and placed a Dora band-aid on the bottom of her foot. I knew she probably wouldn't wear it for very long though.
After I got her down off the counter, she tells me

"I'm glad I don't have a spring foot."

Chuckling, I asked her what a "spring foot" was.

She said "You know! It is when you have to go to the hospital and they put lots and lots of band-aids and wraps on your foot and you have to walk with crunches! That means you have a spring foot!"

So I gathered "spring foot" = sprained foot
and that "crunches" = crutches

"I'll Live"

Driving down road, Caleigh swallowed some juice the wrong way and began coughing. After a few seconds Chad asked her "Are you ok? Are you gonna live?"

She regained her composure and said "I'm ok."

A few minutes later, Caleigh asks "What does live mean?"

Chad then tries to explain to her what "live" means by saying that you are living if you are breathing. She seems satisfied with this explination and doesn't inquire about it anymore.

A few days later she is outside jumping on the neighbors trampoline. I call her over to me and she runs over all out of breath and exclaims

"Hang on mom, I am having trouble living!"

Pandas

"Wanna know what pandas eat? ------BABOONS!"

Haha! I bet they would prefer BAMBOO!

First Joke

Caleigh asked me "Wanna hear a joke?"

I say "Sure" expecting her to tell me something that completely doesn't make any sense as usual.

Instead I get the following joke.

"What flowers grow between your chin and your nose?"


"TULIPS!"


It acually made me smile!

Ok, so I laughed!

It was her very first joke!

Headaches

While driving to a birthday party Caleigh asked me to turn up the radio. I told Caleigh that I wasn't going to because I had a headache that I wanted to go away before we got to the party. Her immediate response.....

"Well why didn't you take some I-FEE-FRO-FEN?"

HAHAHAHAHA

What Changes The Channel?

Why, the "MEROTE" of course!

Not the "REMOTE".

I love that no matter how many times I correct her, she still switches the R and the M and calls it the "MEROTE"!

One Republic

Caleigh and I were on the way to meet my sister for lunch when I switched the radio on. The song "Apologize" by One Republic was playing. I saw in the mirror that Caleigh was paying VERY close attention to the song. A part of the song goes like this......

"That it's too late to apologize, it's too late
I said it's too late to apologize, it's too late"

In a very serious tone Caleigh asks me,

"Mom, why are they saying it is too late for Papa Johns?"

I laughed so hard tears ran down my face!