Quoteables

"Baby you're a FIIIIIRE-Work, come on show them WHAAAAT you're worth...."  - Eva in the morning, from her bed, every morning when she wakes up


"What do you want to do when you grow up?" - Mom
"I want to be a ballet teacher, a mermaid, and a pastor!" - Eva

Travel logue part deux

Another great trip we made this summer was to the cabin in WI that we've rented for five years in a row. It's situated on a beautiful spot off a channel that leads into a great lake, and has shady views, a paddle boat, a pontoon that we take out many times a day, and a nice little town nearby where we go jogging, get email and coffee, and visited the thrift shop and grocery store.

This year was a fun one because Eva was old enough to do so much more than in previous years. We went swimming a lot, including braving high waves on a very windy, very humid day, with her floaty and while the boat was tethered to the trees nearby.  She went paddleboating with Grammy and Gramps, wanted to play baby and mommy mosquito and get "seahorse" rides in the water. She helped roast marshmallows for s'mores, practiced her dance routines with Grammy, and even helped set the table.  We also enjoyed game time at the cabin, finding a new park and nearby ice cream place, watching West Wing Season 3 in the evenings, and watching Tangled (adults only). 

On the drive home from the cabin, we saw lots of farms, animals, and beautiful country-scapes on the way. Eva enjoyed this change of view from her backseat vantage point, and noticing what was passing outside the window helped pass much of the time driving.

My favorite car comment of hers was as we were driving through cornfields in Wisconsin. She pointed to the right side of the car and said, "Mom, look how tall that corn is growing!" And I agreed. Then she pointed to the left side of the car, at what was probably a soybean field, and asked, "Is that shorter field where they grow the popcorn?"

Quoteables

Eva: "What is that thing in my ear again? You know, the big round thing, the hard thing? You know, the loud thing?"
Peter: "I don't know hon, are you thinking of your ear drum?"
Eva: "Yeah, it is big and loud! It is a huge drum in there! But how do I have a drum in my ear?"

...and...

While looking at a light bulb that needed replacing, Eva said: "Is that lightbulb dead mom?"
Me: "Yep, and we can put in a new one soon."
Eva: "But in three days it will be alive again!"

Three-Year-Old Theology... Easter

Eva has been more and more aware of faith and theological concepts lately. It fascinates me to hear what things stick out to her from stories or conversations we have, and what logical connections her little brain makes. It is also interesting to me how challenging it can be to describe to her the sometimes elusive concepts that describe having a relationship in an all-knowing, all-powerful, creator of all; a non-corporeal God, who then was a person for awhile and taught a lot of things and loved a lot of people and made a lot of people mad, but then died, then was alive again, and now is back in heaven and you can't see Him, but we can talk to him, listen to him, and thank him for things. It IS just a little confusing, right? 

I also laugh at myself at the temptation to both under and over-explain faith concepts to her. Sometimes I give a one sentence "Jesus loves you," rainbows and butterflies, kind of answer, and I swear she kind of looks at me with an expression that says, give me a little more to work with here mom. Other times, I try to connect all the big concepts we've talked about and get all excited about how profound and amazing something is, and she pulls me back to earth with the one detail that she cared about in my long rant and the way she heard it. A friend gave us this super cute kid devo book this week and I was loving the reflection for the day and all she would talk about was the baby bird in the picture. :) Oh well. It is a good reminder that she is experiential right now, connecting the dots to her feelings and her world. I am always surprised actually when she asks a specifically theological question, since I mostly leave it up to her to probe or go deeper. I figure our job right now is to immerse her in relationships and ways of life that will be explained logically when she is older...

But I think I am getting closer and closer to perceiving what level she understands and responding to what she is actually putting together, which is really kind of fun. We have conversations about a lot of topics lately, where she explains things and connects the dots for me, and its both hilarious and touching to hear how her brain reasons. Whether its her idea of what clothes should match, or where dad might be when he's at work, to why things are scary or not - her little brain is definitely thinking. 

Last night we were reading an Easter storybook that she always asks me to read her for bedtime. The book does an okay job of explaining to its characters - a family with three kids - how the Easter bunny/eggs, springtime, new life and Jesus are all related to Eastertime. I always read it a little differently then the author intended, however, and add a bunch of details around why Jesus was buried in a tomb with a big rock and then how he could be alive, and try to get across both how big of a deal dying was, and how big of a deal being alive again was. Lately she is wrestling with figuring out who God and Jesus are (as in both the same and different, we mostly stick to same), and wondering about where God is physically. And she's also been interested in connecting the creation story and Noah's animals to the idea that God made everything. During the story, she asked me about a dozen questions about the tomb, the stone, how God who was so strong and made everything could die, how God who was so strong was alive again, etc. 

Then she paused and said, "I just miss Jesus... I am tired of him being in that faraway country, you know heaven?" I kind of melted, and asked her where she thought that was. She said it was too far away, and also "upstairs, maybe with our neighbors?"  :) 

I was thinking, yeah, its hard for most adults to not see him too... I get it. I've tried the whole "Jesus is with each of us" a couple different ways as an explanation, but she doesn't go for that one yet. I asked if she talked to Jesus when she missed him, and she said yeah, but she was still sad he was gone. I said Jesus is with us whenever we ask Him to be, and told her that we pray so that we can talk to Jesus and listen to Him too. She asked where Jesus'  mom and dad were, if they missed him back in Bethlehem, or where they were. And she wondered if they were sad when he was behind the rock. Then she looked at me really seriously and said something roughly like, "Well, our house is really strong, 'cause God made it, and my books won't fall over, cause God made them strong too, but I think that God was really, really, really strong to get out and come from behind that rock!"

So - big creator God, overcomes big scary death, made all she has cause He is big and strong, and keeps her and her treasures safe, but is sometimes too far away to see or sense, and she wants to see Him more, so she misses Him. That is not a bad paraphrase of the message of Easter, actually. It is really fascinating what makes sense in a three-year-old's head, and what it helps me think about along the way!   

Two Year Old Theology ?

The other night, as I was snuggling and rocking Eva to sleep just before bedtime, she heard the word "heaven" in the first song on her lullabye CD (Be Thou My Vision.) She sat up and we had the following conversation:

Eva: Mom, where is heaven again?
Me: It's up in the sky kind of, it's a beautiful place where God is, remember?
Eva: Mom, God is in heaven, but isn't God with me too?
Me: Yes, God is in heaven and God is kind of everywhere too - He is with us now, and whenever we pray and talk to God He's there too - he is all around.
Eva: But mom, I don't think God is here now.
Me: Why babe?
Eva: (pointing) He isn't on my dresser; he isn't by my curtain; he isn't in my bed with me. Where IS HE?
Me: (smiling) I know its hard to not be able to see God, but remember when Jesus was born as a baby, in our Christmas stories, that was when God lived with us and was friends with children and sick people and good and mean people. Jesus was friends with everyone, so we would know that God wants to be everyone's friend.
Eva: Where did he go after Christmas?
Me: (hesitating a bit) Well, he grew up, and did lots of cool stuff, and then he died honey, but then God made him well again and took him up to heaven, and so now we pray to God and his Son Jesus and -
Eva: (cutting me off and putting her head down on my chest to go to sleep) I still can't see him here mom. Will he come here tomorrow?

I couldn't help but thinking that she was asking the same questions we grown ups struggle with. Adults of all ages have trouble with not being able to see God and know for sure if He is with us. I wonder how understanding things like the trinity, heaven, prayer, faith, and belief in an eternal and transcendent God must sound to a two year old... I kind of love the whole concept that our little girl is wondering about all this stuff.

A Spoonful of Sugar

We've been buried under snow, colds, ear infections, work trips, church trips, and a healthy dose of good fun lately! But I am not sure where the whole last month went - it kind of flew by. Anyway....

Eva LOVES watching the classic movie "Mary Poppins" lately. It's been our go-to movie this winter when she or we are sick - which has sadly been too often.  She knows almost all the words to the songs and dances along with various scenes. Her favorite parts are the chimney sweeps (although the fireworks are scary), the chalk drawing scene and the penguin waiters, and tidying up the nursery. (She also for some funny reason loves the scene in the bank with the old guys on the day the kids visit with their dad.)  I used to sing her "Feed the Birds" as a lullabye sometimes at night, and now its right up there with "Baby Mine" and "Jesus Loves Me" as one of her top three nighttime songs!

A few weeks ago, while eating her morning grapefruit, Eva took a long time to savor a delicious bite. She uttered a big long, "Mmmmmm," and then said, "Rum punch" with a grin. I didn't stop laughing for a full five minutes. If you know our girl's favorite movie well enough, you may recognize this line from when Mary Poppins doles out medicine to the kids and herself, and each spoonful (although all from the same bottle), comes out a different color and flavor. Mary Poppins drinks her spoonful and says, "Mmmmm, rum punch," which of course Eva doesn't know is a flavor, but apparently now thinks is an expression one says when something is delicious.  :) I kind of love that. Thank you Julie Andrews.    

 

Advent, when the stars held their breath...

"Was there a moment, known only to God, when all the stars held their breath,
when the galaxies paused in their dance for a fraction of a second,
and the Word, who had called it all into being,
went with all his love into the womb of a young girl,
and the universe started to breathe again,
and the ancient harmonies resumed their song,
and the angels clapped their hands for joy?"

- Madeline L’Engle

Laugh-out-loud Quoteable

While Eva and I were at a well-known department store the other day, a voice began speaking over the intercom and said something close to this:

"Thank you for shopping at Kohls. Please go online after your purchase is complete and fill out a survey to let us know about your shopping experience. Your satisfaction is important to us. We want to hear from you. Please remember to fill out a customer satisfaction survey. Thank you for shopping at Kohls."

To which Eva replied, with her head turned up toward the ceiling, and in a LOUD voice: "Okay, OKAY guy, I heard you the first time!!"

How many times have I wanted to say THAT in response to an overly long intercom message myself?

I couldn't stop laughing, for awhile; Eva kept walking next to me, totally unfazed.

Quoteables

Eva: (yelling) "Lambie, WOO!! Lambie WOO!!"

Peter: "Eva, can you please say 'Lambie Woo' quieter?"

Eva: "Lambie WOO QUIETER!! Lambie WOO QUIETER!" (still yelling)

Then Peter says, "Well I guess I meant more quiet-LY, but..."

Quoteable

At dinner the other night, we sat down and folded our hands to pray. Eva said she wanted to pray; well, actually she said, "Not you, and not you, and not you, I pray," while pointing toward each of us, which is her way of saying that she'll pray.

Anyway, she prayed in her characteristic way of praying, which lately is both very fast and very loud. She usually says, "Dear God, thank you for food, Amen." But it sounds like a speed-talker saying, "Dear-God-thankoo-food-A-MEN!"

After her prayer, I said, "Honey, can you try praying again a little slower so that we can hear you?"

To which she obediently repeated - "Ahhhh - mehhhhh - n."

Thanks babe - but I meant the whole prayer. :) Oh well.

Cabin Quotes

We just got back into town after a long week traveling to MN, then WI, then MN again, and then back to Chicago. Whew! Eva traveled fairly well, slept amazingly great at every new place, and the weather mostly cooperated (aside from a near-tornado billowing through sleepy Cumberland, WI, where we were staying!) Today has already been consumed with unpacking, cleaning, making grocery plans and babysitter/work plans for the week; and it's only 9am! But we all got a great break this past week and I feel refreshed and re-focused for our dive back into summer!

There are a slew of great photos coming soon... but before I forget, here are a few of my favorite memories from this past week in the form of Eva quoteables.

"Hi Bo! I like your dress!"
To Tim, as he picked her up for a hug, while he was wearing a t-shirt and shorts:

"Want to play me? Want to go with me?"
To everyone, all day, most days.

"I hear a frog! I hear it! I hear it! Shhh. Quiet."
Said while running toward the lake shore, with her hands on her face to help her 'be quiet' to find the frog.

"Awwww. Hi kitty! Awwww. She's coot! She's coot! Awwww. Come here Meow, Meow. Come here. Up the stairs with me Meow, Meow."
Said while playing with a stray kitty Peter found and brought home; Eva named her Meow Meow and spent quite a while walking up and down the front stairs with her, clapping and explaining how cute she was.

"Good job Megs! Good job fishin'."
Said to the fishing queen, after she caught a crappie.

"I will miss you! But I will see you again soon. You come again? You come play me again?"
Said to Grammy and Gramps as we were leaving.

Eva Quoteables

"Be very quiet, I lookin' for elle-fints. Shhhh..."
(whispered while peering around bushes from her stroller to 'look for elephants' on our neighborhood walk; this happened after her dad told her that we might see some elephants, but only if she was quiet. Silly dad. Also awesome dad. :) )

"Faster daddy, faster... FASTER!"
(yelled from her bike trailer behind her dad who was hauling his daughter - along with her two dollies, a purse, 'phone,' sippie cup and bucket with shovel - on our bike ride.)

"Look, here is Annie's dress, and here is Annie's shoes, she walkin' (said while animating her Raggedy Anne doll like she's walking.) Oh no, something is in her shoe - what is it Annie? Oh, its a sock, that's okay, keep walkin.' Oh, something is on her legs - what is it Annie? It's stripes, she has stripes. She is going climbing now - see bruthah? (now Anne - who Eva insists on calling Annie - kicks her brother Andy in the face.)"
(her very imaginative story at bedtime tonight when she was fascinated by the clothing of her Raggedy Anne and Andy dolls and made up both sides of their conversation.)

Emotions and Imaginations

In the last few months, Peter and I have both noticed that Eva's emotional and imaginative sides are developing like crazy! She's always been pretty aware of emotions, noticing crying, sadness, scared feelings, or happy feelings very frequently for the past year or so. She quickly learned to recognize feelings she was having and declared them, and then moved on to noting emotions in other people, in tv characters, or even in her animals/dolls/toys. This later stage of making up feelings that inanimate objects have is a current favorite past time. One example happened at breakfast today:

While we were finishing eating together, Peter raised his bare foot next to Eva's chair and wiggled his toes at her. Then Eva proceeded to talk to Peter's toes, in her sing-songy, pretending voice:

Eva: Hi there (directed at the toes), what is your name?
Peter: I am daddy's toes.
Eva: Hi toes, I'm Eva. Are you hungry?
Peter: No, toes don't eat!
Eva: Oh, okay, are you sad? Let me give you a hug (followed by gently hugging Peter's foot - while Peter and I laugh uncontrollably.)

Another interesting development is that almost every favorite toy now has its own personality, feelings and a voice of its own in Eva's world, including puzzle pieces, trains, baby dolls, lambie, bouncing balls - sometimes even food! Also, it is often true that if we talk to her toys about going to sleep, eating, or getting dressed, she will respond much faster then if we just ask her. She will also have a conversation with said toy about doing said activity. She will also mercilessly mimic us in her conversations. For example:

Liz: Eva, it's time to take a nap sweetie.
Eva: Nap sweetie... come lambie, let's nap sweetie.
Liz: Is lambie tired too?
Eva: (directed to lambie, in sing-songy voice) Are you tired too sweetie? Nap sweetie? Good night sweetie.

Also, she turned to Peter the other day and said, "Daddy, what you thinking about?" THAT one was mimicing mommy. :)

I kind of love all these things that she is picking up and reflecting to us... we just have to keep being intentional about how we talk and emote around this kiddo!

(this picture is Eva's response when I said, "Smile!" with the camera.)