What Ponies Say

The follow are snippets of a 'conversation' I overhead tonight. Katrina's beloved Purple Pony* was found tonight, and of course it had to go to bed with her tonight. As I sat on Katrina's bed for a few minutes, I listened to what Katrina pretended the ponies were saying, and gained some insight into what our three-year-old thinks.

The Characters
Purple Pony - the Mommy Pony
an ugly, stuffed, teal zebra** - the Daddy Pony
a miniature pony from Katrina's Easter basket - the Baby Pony

The Setting
A grassy field (also known as Katrina's bed, on top of her green blanket)


Baby Pony: "I hungry! I juicy [thirsty]!"
Mommy Pony: "Here you cup! No spill! You drink milk, Baby Pony. It yummy."
Baby Pony, to Daddy Pony: "I go sou-side [outside], okay?" (Katrina has been adding 'okay?' to the end of most of her sentences lately)
Daddy Pony: "Okay, we go sou-side."
Mommy Pony: "Wait minute! No you have shoes on! Where you shoes?"
(mumble, mumble)
Baby Pony, to Mommy Pony: "I love you, Mommy Pony!"
Baby Pony, to Daddy Pony: "I love you, Daddy Pony!"
(pause)
Katrina, to me: "Where 'Kayla Pony?? Her MISSING!"

*Purple Pony was "hiding" in a basket with Katrina's nativity set. I spent hours one day looking for the pony in every basket, play area, and hiding place I could think of, but I didn't check the nativity set. Why would a pony be there? Katrina's friend Reagan told me that Purple Pony was "with all the Jesus toys."

**I say the zebra is ugly not because I think Daddy is ugly or because Katrina thinks that, but because I hate (h-a-t-e) the color teal. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law sent Katrina the zebra just to spite me! They also gave Mikayla a onesie that says, "Does this make my b*tt look big?" because I hate that word.

Product of Society

Our child is definitely a product of society. We borrowed Cars from the Reynoldses and Katrina loves it! Except for the character-building parts. Every time it's the scene where Lightning and Sally look over Radiator Springs and talk about when the Interstate was built, Katrina says, "Movie over! More Cars, Mama, movie over!" I've tried to explain to her that just because the action/storyline has slowed down, it doesn't mean the show is over. She does the same thing with other shows she watches: when Dora asks, "What was your favorite part?" or when JoJo talks about what she learned or when it's curtain call time on The Little Einsteins.

Maybe this confirms what I've been trying to tell Ryan - Katrina watches too much television.

Domestic Goddess

Martha Stewart, I am not. For anyone who really knows me, you know that I am a messy, messy person. In high school, friends would come over and help me clean my room. (Thanks, Gipp girls!) My dad had a rule that I couldn't get my drivers license until I could keep my room clean ... well, it took me more than a year. It got worse in college. One night during open dorms, some guy friends found Sidra and me in another friend's room and said, "Come quick! Your room has been trashed!!" We explained that no one had attacked us ... that's how our room usually looked. I probably should have failed myself at room check (as an RA) more often, too.

I'm still a messy person. I just cleaned my computer desk two weekends ago. Right now it's piled with a Target bag (containing unmailed Fathers' Day and wedding cards), dirty dishes, baby wipe refills, and lightbulbs to replace ones that burned out approximately three months ago. The only reason our house is ever semi-presentable is because of our amazing nanny. Have I mentioned how much I love Clemence? Having her in our house every day holds us accountable to keep the house picked up AND she does light housework, too - vacuums the living room, loads and unloads the dishwasher, does the girls' laundry. It's great!

I've digressed. All of this background about me being messy supports a recent Katrina-ism. Saturday I pulled out the ironing board to press new curtains for the living room (we've been curtain-less for nearly 2 months, since some friends helped us paint). As I set up the ironing board and plugged in the iron, Katrina asked, "What's THAT?!"

*sigh*

I've probably ironed fewer than ten times in the last three years - her entire existence. Actually, I rarely saw my mom iron, either. She would press my dad's shirts every once in awhile, before going out to eat. But that was only in the spring and summer, if I remember correctly; he almost always wore a sweater over his dress shirts in the fall and winter. And since he wore t-shirts and jeans to work, there wasn't much else to iron. Ma would throw her wrinkly clothes in the dryer to dewrinkle (still does today - so do I).

I did make kumla on Sunday, though! I think it was my best batch yet. I only peeled 10 lbs of potatoes this time, instead of the usual 20 - 25 lbs. It made a smaller batch, of coure, but it also went faster. Even better, the kumla pans (12- and 16-quart stock pots) fit in our new dishwasher and they came out SPOTLESS.

I managed to burn my left index finger and thumb tonight. I grabbed a hot pan thoughtlessly. Ouch.

Mikayla turns six months old tomorrow and has a well-visit in the morning. I'll post her stats soon!

A quiet evening

Today is the 13th of the month, so it's Katrina and Ryan's 'date night.' At least once a month Ryan takes Katrina out for a date ... to the playground, out to eat ... whatever she decides is fun. The last few months have been crazy with work and such, so this is the first date in awhile. Katrina loves the time with her daddy. I can't wait to hear all about it!

I'm in the midst of yet another crazy proposal. A coworker commented the other day that I measure my children's ages in proposals, and he's right. I had just said how Mikayla is nearly six months old, and how the time has passed quickly - first it was the [NASA] proposal in February and March, then it was the [MPO] proposal in April, May, and now June. It's entirely possible this proposal will be extended again, into July. I'm thinking of taking two (2!) weeks off when work slows down, and maybe even taking the girls on a leisurely trip to Illinois. We'll see.

Funny things Katrina has said lately:

When asked what she wants to be when she grows up: "Dora"

When asked another time what she wants to be when she grows up: "I grow up and be 'Kayla! And I run! I get shoes and a purple shirt and I run! I get SWEATY!" (Ryan has recently taken up running again and she always wants to go with him when he runs. I think the purple shirt reference is from Wii Fit - her Mii wears a purple shirt.)

Upon seeing these:

"I want monkey food!"

Oops, they are home! Gotta go!!