WHAT SLOANE SAID.....IN AUGUST

One day last week, I had one of those days where my thumbs got tired from typing out all the ranting texts that I sent to Ken throughout the day - about how frustrated I was about our first floor being a cavernous space, about how tired I was, about how rude the contractors who were tramping through our house were, about my feelings regarding going back to work, etc.  It was a rough day.  I knew that a day like this could mean that I was shriveled and self-absorbed in a way that might result in me being distracted and impatient, so I made a conscious decision to clear a whole hour of time that I could spend with Sloane.

We played music on her toy record player while she danced on whirled around, we read stories galore, we told each other stories, and we had discussions about her stuffed animals.  It felt wonderful to be able to focus like that without any other distractions, and I was once again reminded that quality time is the best thing that I could give her right now.  Of course the problem is that there is never enough time - there are always chores to do, errands to run, places to come and go from, and now with a new baby it's busier than ever - but being eye level with my little girl and letting her know that I value her by giving her some of my time each day, has become even more important to me.

.....because Sloane is now three and she is a wonder to behold. She delights me and exhausts me. In my opinion she is the most adorable and brilliant specimen ever, but her age and development right now also means that she demands a lot of energy and attention.  

This one skipped the terrible two's altogether and boy I was glad about that, but also a tiny bit concerned, because I'm pretty sure all kids need to go through a boundary pushing, opinion making, foot stomping sort of phase so that they can hear, "no I'm the adult, yes you do need to obey me, yes you may make some decisions on your own, yes I will love you no matter what, no you cannot do that, yes I forgive you" over and over again.   

And now I know, with her in this "threenager" stage, it's also incredibly necessary for character building on the part of the parent, because there are moments when I swear I have come to the very last rung of my patience, but then, because there needs to be more, somehow, I can squeeze out more patience. I'm discovering that if I hold on, take a deep breath and look to the skies for help, my well of patience can be bottomless.  I'm practicing the art of doing just that. 

Also, is Walter the plant going to survive?? It doesn't look promising, but I'm doing my best.  The first thing that I see in these photos is that big brown spot on one of the leaves...which wasn't there before I left for Virginia Beach....Poor Walter, all of us were traumatized.  

Some of the things she said and did in the last month that I made note of: 

Regarding Logan: 

- "Mom, I wuv Logan so so much."

- "Logan is so cute!"

- Whenever Logan cries, "Aww, it's okay Logan. I'll pat you."
- "Oh Logan!" she'll say while she gives her a big hug. 

- "When baby sister gets bigger I'm going to teach her things."

- One night a few weeks ago, "Papa go hold baby sister so that mom can come cuddle with me..."

- "Why are you crying Logan? I'm Sloane, that's mama, that's papa, and we all love you so much!"

- "Logan, it's okay, we are here! We are your family!"

- To Ken's uncle about Logan, "She only eats boobs!"
- She is always patient while I nurse, which I am so thankful for, and often she'll say, "Mom, after Logan eats your boobs, can you come play with me?"

How she is like a toddler: 

- I love the way she talks right now. It makes me sad to know she won't always talk like this so I'm soaking it all up! Her "l" and "r"s are "w"s, as in: swoan, wion, wips (lips! probably one of my favorites), fwendly, wan (ran), etc. Also, it's fascinating how she puts words together, like she will say "felled" to mean "fall" in the past tense - which totally makes sense, seeing as most of our past tense words has "ed" at end of it!  
- She will ask permission for something and if it's something that she thought I might say no to but I say yes, she will ask me one more time to make sure that she heard right. "Yes???....Yay!" 

- I also find it hilarious that sometimes, after she asks Ken for something and he says yes, she will turn around and ask me the same thing, to make sure it's actually really ok. 

How she is like a grown up: 

- After I told her I was tired, "OH mom!...it's okay. You can take your glasses off and go back to sleep..", as she takes my glasses off for me and places them on my nightstand table.
- "Mom, you are a good teacher", as she strokes my hair.
- "So mom, how ARE you?"

- Out of the blue one day: "Why did God make iPads?"
- "Oh mom," she said with a fond and (very grown up) look over her shoulder, "I love you."

Her love of stories, song, and dance: 

- She has told a series of stories where the big bad wolf comes and eats the nice horse or cat, and the story ends with the horse or cat (who somehow comes back to life?) converting the wolf to a nice wolf and saying, "Please don't eat me ever again."

- Her song and dance numbers are amazing. Amazing in the sense that they are hilarious, and so imaginative, and rendered with such serious passion.
- Her imagination is incredibly fun and I love being a part of it. She's a kitty cat, she's a dinosaur, she's a baby, she's back to Sloane, etc.
- She is currently consumed with the movie, "Aristocats" about cats in Paris. We have listened to the soundtrack (which is all of five songs) over and over again, and she can sing along to each of the songs in a way that still amazes me. 
- I love watching her dance, especially when she throws herself into them with abandon. 
- Whenever she is upset or cranky, telling her a story will always put her in a better mood.

And here we have Sloane holding two imaginary kittens.  This was a day where she declared that she had 5 kitten and 5 puppies following her around everywhere. I posted about it here - believe you me, it takes a lot longer to get everyone out of the house when you have 10 imaginary pets to take care of.  

This is her talking to all of them together.  They are apparently lined up against the wall, and I believe she was telling them that they need to be good kittens and puppies.