That's My Girl

Reagan got an MP3 player for Christmas this morning.  First thing she asked when she opened it?

"Can I put Tom Petty's 'Learning to Fly' on here?"

Oh, how you warm my heart, little thing :).  She's so much like her mama!!  I'm sure there will be a fair share of the Frozen soundtrack on there, too, but.... still.

Nice

Reagan: "Mom, I miss Fergie."
Mom: "I do, too, Reagan."
Reagan: "The only thing of her we have left is her crap in the basement."

Nice.  I DID pick that accident up, but it stained the floor!  I swear!

From the Archives

I had no idea Reagan had stolen my phone last year to make her own movie. Just found and watched this for the first time today.  It captures my astounding mother skills, as in "which frozen dinner would you like to eat tonight?"   But it also captures her world, her adorable little voice, and some cute little toes.    Oh, that goofy little girl!!!

Demanding child with interesting grammar....

Me, lying in bed, being lazy on a Saturday morning after a sleepless night.

Reagan, hungry.

"Mom, scattle along on your journey to make me breakfast."

Scattle????

Cutest Thing in the Whole Wide World: Reagan's Letter to Santa.

She even drew Santa with a bishop's miter, after our Feast of St. Nicholas!  OOOOOHHHH how I wish I could freeze her right NOW.  Please stay this sweet forever, little girl. 

Cooking in the Kitchen

Quinn, Reagan, and I were in the kitchen preparing our Thanksgiving Feast.  Quinn was in charge of the stuffing, and Reagan was his assistant, chopping vegetables.   His creative juices were flowing.  Recipe?  What recipe?  He was adding "secret ingredients" right and left. 

Quinn: "Mom, I need lime juice.  And pears.  And garlic.  Cinnamon?"  Mom put the kibosh on cinnamon with garlic.  "Hmmmm.  It needs more.  Where's the oregano?"

Reagan:  "You need me?"

Quinn: "No. I need the oregano."

Reagan: "That's me!!  O-Reagan-o!!!"

Funny girl. 

And for the record, the stuffing was FABULOUS.  We'll never be able to recreate it, but those kids did a really good job!!

Bloody Pears

Reagan started screaming. 
She rushed up to Rob and I, in utter horror, crying.

"WHAT?!?!?!"  We both asked.
"MY PEAR IS BLEEDING!  LOOK!!!"  And she showed us the evidence, spitting bites of the pear she was eating into her hands. 

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhh, Reagan, I suspect there's a tooth in that pear somewhere," I said.  And I dug around in the chewed up pear bits until I found it.  One, teeny, tiny little tooth.  Yup.  There it was.

"You lost a tooth, sweetie.  Your pear isn't bleeding."

"Oh," she said, and smiled, showing a gap on the bottom level.  How quickly the horror turns to glee.
"I hope the tooth fairy comes tonight!!"

Birthday Pizza with Grandma and Grandpa

Special Night with Daddy

Once a year, in honor of her birthday, Reagan gets to have a "slumber party" with just her and Daddy.  This is a very rare occurrence, because Reagan is a "mover" and Rob is the world's lightest sleeper.  The combination does not work well together.    BUT... because she begs and begs and begs.... one night year.  

This year, that date just happened to be on Halloween, because her birthday is on a school night, and we didn't anticipate a restful night of sleep.  Rob even insisted that Reagan sleep in her own separate sleeping bag, in an effort to contain her.  But it must not have worked.  The next morning, as she stumbled downstairs with a head full of tangled hair, I asked her how it went. 

She smiled and said "Dad didn't sleep a WINK!"

Not the same thing....

Reagan was climbing all over her brother, who was lying on the couch.

Colby: "Get OFF ME!"
Reagan: "No!  Mom said I could!"
Colby: "Mom did not say you could bug me!"
Reagan: "Yes she did.  She said I couldn't bug you when you were doing homework, which means I CAN bug you when you're not doing homework.  And you're not doing homework."

((sigh))

It's like living with the paparazzi, how my words are twisted and taken out of context. 

Filed under "Proving His Point".....

Reagan: "Mooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom!  Quinn just called me a tattle tale!"

Goals Achieved

So, the day before school starts, on this, the last day of summer vacation, Reagan accomplished the last of her summer goals.  Good on ya, Reagan!  She has learned to ride a two-wheeled bike, swim (mostly), blow bubbles with gum, read chapter books, AND, as of today.... tie her own shoes.  Far better than her middle-school-aged brothers, I might add.  Quinn said it was because I never sat down and worked with them like I do Reagan, but I call foul on that theory.  I have tried to teach the boys shoe-tying, and they know the basics, but they always end up with these loose, tangled messes.  Reagan's shoe-tying is concise and neat.  Probably because she has fine motor skills that put her poor brothers to shame.  All that crafting and coloring really helps!

Time to set new goals, little girl!!  I'm proud of you!!!

A New Trick

Reagan has learned a lot this summer.  She's riding a two wheeled bike, she's ALMOST swimming, she's reading light years ahead of where she was last year, and now this....

Little girl is growing up!!! 

Heritage Wear

This is the flower-girl dress that my Aunt Pat made for her daughter Teri to wear at my Aunt Mary's wedding over 50 years ago.  It's still as cute today as it was then!! 

 

Overheard:

Dad:  "This going to bed late and getting up late has got to end.  We're all still on Pacific time from our trip."

Mom: "Well, not me.  I'm the only one in this house who has to still get up at the crack of dawn."

Reagan: "What's a Crackadon?"

(pause as I register what she's saying)

Mom: "You know.  Those extinct dinosaurs that were always the first ones up in the morning to go to work."

Ba-dump-DUMP.

A Rite of Passage

There's this unspoken rule, that all little girls shall own an Easybake Oven at some point in their lives.  That day was yesterday for Reagan, who found her dream toy at the consignment shop.  And she fell in love.  She HAD to have it.  But it was $10, and she only had $3, if she used her gold coin from the tooth-fairy and a whole lot of nickels.  The lady at the checkout counter remembered the unspoken rule, though.  "Oh, how I loved my Easybake Oven growing up", and charged a whopping $3 for the thing, because that's what Reagan had.  She even calculated tax (actually ringing up $2.82 cents, so it would come out to exactly $3).  That was very kind, and Reagan was so excited (and still is) that she cannot stop talking about her oven and all the things she will make.  Her inaugural recipe was blueberry turn-overs for her and Colby.  And they turned out pretty dang good!

Underwater

Reagan does not yet know how to swim.  At six years of age.  That is ridiculous.  We've put her in lessons, and tried to teach her ourselves, but she has been deathly afraid of putting her head under water, and so swimming just hasn't happened.  She mentioned yesterday that this fear was because her brother pushed her underwater when she was little.  OK.  That makes sense.  Her brothers are gone for the week, though, and Reagan has been spending LOTS of time in the hot tub.  And she finally DID it!  She went under!!  And stayed under, for a good long time!  Now, I told her, all she had to do was move her arms and legs, and she'd totally swim.  Her hand is busy plugging her nose at the moment, but eventually, she will gain enough confidence to use both hands to propel instead of nose-plug, and then watch out.  Girl swimming.

Now... about that two-wheeled bike and tying those shoes.

A New Microwave

Lucky us.  We got a new microwave.  The OLD microwave was not really so old - maybe two years or so.  It's just, well, we have this daughter, see.....

Reagan got some candy from her Aunt the Chocolatier, as a gift for graduating from Kindergarten.  Candy in a little metal container.  And for some unfathomable reason, she wanted to MELT the candy, so little miss put it in the microwave, container and all. 

The sparks and flames were far more punishment than anything we could've said.  She crawled into her bed at 7 pm without being asked, and didn't surface until the next morning. 

Valuable lesson learned, though.

NEVER put metal in a microwave.

 She won't make that mistake twice, I am sure.

Nightmare

Little girl had crawled into my bed last night.  When she woke up this morning, first words out of her mouth were "I had a nightmare".  Oh no.  About what?
"A fire."  She has recurring nightmares about our house catching on fire.  I don't know why.
"Well, maybe we should practice what to do in case of a fire, so you won't be scared.  Would you hide in a closet if there's a fire?"
"No".
"Would you hide under the bed?"
"No".
"What would you do?"
"Go outside," little miss said.
That's right.  You go outside and meet the rest of us at the mailbox.
"But Mom," she insisted.  "What happens if there's a bear at the door when I try to go outside?"
Like there's a fire in the house AND a bear at the door?  That's a really bad day.
"Well, you'd go out the front door then," I said.
"What if there's a bear at the back door, and a wolf at the front door?"  And.... a fire in the house.
"Then you'd go out the window".
"And drop to the ground and die," she finished.

Glad we got our fire plan all worked out this early in the morning.

The Dangers of Taking Your Toys To School

Reagan At Six

Growing Up Way Too Fast.

 

 

 

The New/Old Gadget

Reagan saw this really cool thing on t.v. called a typewriter, and wanted one.  BAD.  Grandma and Grandpa dug out Daddy's old one from high school, and gave it to her.  It's been a popular gadget  with all three kids, who have typed up paper after paper after paper - mostly of gobbeldy-gook.

Guilty as charged

I've been working more hours that I'd like to of late.  Like, the last several months.  And it's starting to show.  The kids are having hot lunch again today, because their mother did not have time to make their lunches, or to tell THEM to make their lunches. 

Mom: "Well, I guess it's hot lunch again today, kids."
Reagan: "You haven't been making us lunches much at all lately."
Mom: "I know.  I'm sorry.  It's been busy."
Reagan: "Or dinner."
Mom: "I know."
Reagan: "Or breakfast."
Mom: "But I'm good at giving you a snack, right?"
Reagan: "Not so much."

Ouch.  OK.  Slacking on my "nourishing your family" role.  Time to change that.

Reagan and Darla

These little girls are so dang cute. 

The Things She Says

Reagan: "Mom, can I put a lollipop in my backpack?"
Mom: "There are only two of them, and we have three kids.  Someone won't get one."
Reagan: "Then I'll eat both of them, without anyone else seeing!"
Mom: "Well, that wouldn't be very fair, would it?"
Reagan: "Mom.  Life is NOT fair."

She may have heard that a time or two.  HA!

Pom Sunday

Reagan: can I wear this fuzzy to church today, Mom?

Mom: Sure, I guess.   

Reagan:  because it's Pom Sunday, you know. 

Ha!! I'll never look at Palm Sunday the same way again. 

Helpful Parental Advice

Reagan, knowing that her brother was in trouble for a poor choice, sat down next to me and sighed. 

"You know, Mom.  I think he needs a spanking with the belt.  Spanking with a hand just doesn't seem to do anything anymore."

Uhhhhh, thank you for that?  Apparently your disciplining is much more rigorous than mine, little girl. 

I was just going to ground him!

Scares me a bit how she relishes when her brothers get in trouble.

Singing the Blues

Snuggling in bed with Daddy and I on a Saturday morning before our ski trip, Reagan stretched, and said in her sleepy, creaky voice....

"Who ever heard of a six year old doing the blues?"

What????

"Is that a new career choice, Lado Lado?" Dad asked, because Reagan loves to sing. (note: Lado Lado is Dad's nickname for Reagan, just as it's 'Bedes' for the boys.  It's what they used to call themselves when they were toddlers.)

"No."  She was confused at our confusion.

"Just, wonder if today I'm going to do double black diamonds."

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.  Skiing.  Blue squares.  Intermediate runs.  We're talking about skiing, not singing.  Okay then.

Doing the blues. 

Little Sister Warming Herself By The Fire

The Substitute Sister

Reagan has been begging and begging and begging for a sister.  Unfortunately, her parents are old and uncooperative.  In desperation yesterday, she "made" herself a sister out of a bunch of paper. 
She'd probably like this one better, anyway.  She's quiet, always willing to listen, and won't steal her clothes or toys.

Poor little girl.  But good job on the "sister"!  She turned out pretty amazing.  I was impressed with her ingenuity.

Her Matching Game

Reagan got on my computer this morning, and started typing out a "Sentence Matching" game.  She did such a good job, coming up with sentences and typing them all on her own, using her sight words from school!!  My baby is learning how to read and write, and it's a really, really cool thing.

Reagan-isms

Really should take some video, because I just want to remember how this little girl talks.  Speech has always been a struggle for Reagan (grammar and intelligibility, not quantity).  But I think it's really cute, and she totally gets her point across. 

I love that she calls spaghetti Bisghetti.
And that she says "her" instead of "she", and "him" instead of "he".  As in "Her likes it" and "Him's a no-good pup". 

There's more.  I've got to video it, before her good grammar comes in, and her voice loses it's little girl quality. 

Same Book, Different Reaction

Started reading Reagan "Pippi Longstocking" tonight.  Just as I read it to Quinn and Colby when they were her age.  The reaction of boys vs girl to the first paragraph of the first chapter were polar opposite.

Upon learning that Pippi Longstocking does not have any parents, the boys cheered.  Loudly.

"Yeah!!!  Pippi's so lucky!  She doesn't have any parents to boss her around."

Reagan, on the other hand, leaned her head on my shoulder and said "Ohhhhhhhh.  That poor Pippi.  She doesn't have any parents."

I told her the boys' reaction years ago, and Reagan just scrunched up her nose. 
"I love parents!"  said my favorite daughter.  "I'm so lucky to have you!"

And I'm so lucky to have you, little girl.  SOOOOOOO lucky. 

Putting Me In My Place

Setting:  The dinner table.

The Cast:  Daddy, Mommy, and Reagan dutifully eating their dinners.  Quinn and Colby yuckin' it up, goofing off, not eating a thing. 

Background:  This is one of Mommy's BIGGEST pet peeves.  Making a meal for her family, which then goes largely uneaten because boys have snacked right before dinner and are too busy being goofy to consume more.  It's been an ongoing problem for years.

Mom: "BOYS!  I've had it!  Enough.  Sit down, be quiet, and eat your dinner.  I am setting the timer, and dinner is officially done in 10 minutes."

Reagan (appalled, even though I wasn't talking to her):  "Life is not a race, you know, Mom."

UGH.  Sometimes, I wish it was.  This wasting time playing happy feet at the table drives me bonkers.   

Reagan-isms

"Mom, the jammies you got me are so comfy-table.  They sleep good!"