A beautiful spring day at a beautiful sculpture garden.
It doesn’t get better than this!
Grounds for Sculpture!
Trou d’uc!
Chloe has really enjoyed playing card games with her aunt. She taught her French aunt how to play Spit, and her French aunt taught her how to play “Bataille Corse” and “President,” which is fondly known as “Trou d’uc” (a**hole in English).
You can imagine how much Chloe enjoys “Trou d’uc” for its English translation. She cracks herself up every time she says the phrase out loud. Only problem is that she’s forgetting that a**hole is a prohibited word, unless it’s used by her mom or dad.
But no mind. She loves the new games. But she still hates losing – and she’s lost a lot over the last couple of days. What saves her from making a completely clown of herself when she loses, however, is that as soon as we yell “Trou d’uc,” or better yet, “asshole!” she laughs. And laughs. And she’s no longer angry. At least not until she loses again.
Sandwiches on Pizza Day
Wednesdays are pizza days at Sophie’s pre-K. Every Wednesday, since the start of the school year, Sophie has had pizza for lunch. It’s great for me, because that’s one less sandwich I need to prepare.
When I got home earlier, however, Sophie emphatically announced that I need to pack her a sandwich on Wednesdays. “But Wednesday is pizza day,” I explained. “I know,” she replied, rolling her eyes and sticking her head out to let me know how ridiculous I was being. “So, I don’t understand. If Wednesday is pizza day, why do you need a sandwich?” “BECAUSE!” I told her that I was confused and she rolled her eyes again.
I give up. She doesn’t intend to eat both pizza and a sandwich – she told me so. And I don’t think it’s just to be safe, because I’ve never forgotten to give her the pizza money. I graduated Phi Beta Kappa from college and magna cum laude from law school. So much for higher ed. I have no idea what the hell she’s talking about. I’m going to try to resolve the mystery before next Wednesday, but I’m not holding out hope. Kids and logic just don’t mix.
Getting to Know Your Cousin
Chloe and her cousin, Romain, are very compatible. It’s fantastic when they play together because there’s very little yelling. Why is that, you ask?
Language barriers can be a great thing. Chloe speaks fractured French, and Romain knows about two words of English. There’s only so much disagreement that can occur when you are unable to fluently express your discontentment. I’m loving it.
All kidding aside, however, Chloe, Sophie and Romain are having a terrific time together. Romain is gentle with Sophie (whose flirting talents increase every day), and the fact that Chloe is a bit of a tomboy and willing to wrestle with her cousin is definitely a big plus.
We really need to seriously consider sending Chloe to France next summer. When the French side of our family is here, she makes a good effort to speak in French. Imagine what a few weeks living among the frogs would do for her bi-culturalism!
Pillow Fight a la Francaise
Chloe and Sophie very much enjoyed the first day of our French cousin’s visit. So much so that they had several pillow fights throughout the day. This highlight reel depicts their first battle, which took place earlier this morning. I do not doubt that there will be many more battles to come over the next week. Pillows, beware!
Bone-Bone and Sophie
Bone-Bone has recently become Sophie’s favorite stuffed animal. It used to be Shirley the lamb, and although Sophie still loves her and Shirley and Bone-Bone are the best of friends, Bone-Bone is the ONE. She loves him so much, she dressed him in a pink tutu.
Sophie brings Bone-Bone almost everywhere with her. Unless we warn her that a particular excursion is not Bone-Bone friendly. And she’ll do her best to convince us otherwise, but we generally hold our ground. Because we know how absolutely devastating it would be if Bone-Bone were to disappear.
In a little while, Chloe, Sophie and Papa are going to the airport to pick up my sister-in-law and nephew who are visiting from France. Sophie is prepared. She’s bringing Bone-Bone with her. She’s also bringing Shirley so Bone-Bone doesn’t get lonely, and her towel (a burp cloth that’s as old as she is) for extra comfort. Lucky animals.
A Panoply of Poems by Chloe
“Starry Night”
The burnt tree, the tree of skies.
The tree most rather despise.
The village of poor.
Never acknowledged before.
In the night the most wonderful sight.
***********
“Field of Poppies”
The poppies of light meant to be bright
The emptiness of the field
The stillness, like a shield
Made to be peace
Let the trapped silence cease.
************
Sleep, ahhhh
Dreams, good
Pillows, fluffy
Bed, made
Teeth, brushed
Lights, off
Zzzzzzzzz
************
Hiccups are annoying
They really are
I wish they’d stop
I do not like them
Not one bit
Stop, stop, stop!
Hiccup, hiccup, hiccup
UGH!
************
Bees. Buzz. Prick. Sting. Blood.
Bump. Hurts. Ouch.
Stop Kissing!
This is Sophie’s silly face. She’s quite good at making silly faces. One of my favorite Sophie faces is the one that involves her rolling her eyes when she thinks I’ve done or said something silly. I’ll have to try to get that mug on camera one day.
Sophie (and Chloe too, for that matter) generally doesn’t like it when her mommy and daddy kiss. “That’s gross!” she inevitably explains. And when we do it just to bug her, she rolls her eyes and turns away from us. If we do it again just to bug her, she yells, “STOP THAT, GUYS!”
The other day, however, Sophie requested that her parents kiss. And this time around, she thought it was the funniest thing ever. Don’t know what to make of her change in attitude. Maybe she doesn’t think boys are disgusting anymore. Maybe she’s seen too many princesses kissing princes. Maybe she likes a boy at school and thinks it would be fun to kiss him. Who knows?
What I do know is that Sophie’s newfound appreciation for her parents’ kissing won’t last. I’m sure she’ll be back to her old dismissive ways soon enough, especially when she hears Chloe continue to express her opinion that kissing is “GROSS.” She’ll succumb to the peer pressure to agree with her older sister, even if deep down inside, she thinks her kissing parents are cute.
Sleepy Sophie
Sophie didn’t have a particularly good night last night. At around midnight, she heard me puttering around and cried out. I went into her room and gave her a quick kiss and cuddle.
After settling back into my bed, I heard the the clicking of her lamp on and off. Not a good sign. I tried to ignore it, but after thinking that she had finally fallen back asleep, I heard the call. “Mommy, I need you!” So I returned to her lair. And this time, I crawled into bed next to her. And I started to fall asleep myself. But as she gets bigger and as she adds more and more stuffed animals to her bed, there’s less room for me. I remained with her until I thought she was sleeping again (the heavy breathing was a clue), and then I returned back to my room.
The calm lasted all of three minutes and the cries started again. I was starting to get grumpy – the night before I had only slept five hours and I was TIRED. So I returned to my little four-year old. And after a brief conversation with her, I decided to take action. I carried her into my bed and let her sleep with her Papa. I joined the stuffed animals in her bed and slept like a baby.
Head Butt!
Channeling rhinos.