Terence (7 years and 6 1/2 months of age): He seems to think he's allergic to jelly. He always says he's allergic to jelly but not jam. I'll hear his friends' moms telling me this after he's been at their home playing. The other day I asked him if he'd like a jam sandwich. He loves jam sandwiches (sans the peanut butter) after having it at his friend Harry's home. Every time we talk about jam he mentions his allergy towards jelly. He continues by explaining that he can eat jelly and nothing serious happens but whevever he sees it his throat hurts. For those of you who know Terence, you'll know how odd this is as he's a really clever (quite grown up in some ways) kid so this is unusual. He's been talking about it for a while so it's not just some short term phase.
Ali (2 years and 8 1/2 months of age): On Sunday morning the 5 of us went out for breakfast. Curt and I love going out for breakfast or lunch on the weekends and it's one of those pleasures we've tried to maintain even with small children. The Four Seasons hotel has a fantastic breakfast / lunch cafe that are used to us and our kids. They even bring them crayons, coloring books and toys when we arrive so it's quite comfortable. The kids' threshold for sitting still is not very long so they often lay on the floor next to our table playing. Shortly after (about the time Curt and I get our coffees and newspapers) they all seem to have to go to the potty. Once they walk through the hotel lobby to the bathrooms they seem to get a burst of energy. Inside the hotel lobby are 3 tall statues that I always make them stay away from as I fear that they'll fall over. On Sunday, another family's 4 year old son was climbing on them. I was appalled that these parents didn't stop him (I think they were Italian). Of course, Ali was the first to notice this so as soon as they left she went over to the statue. Torn between climbing it and listening to my voice repeatedly saying 'stay away' she touched it and looked over at me for my reaction. I mouthed 'NO'. She mouthed back 'YES'. This is when we parents have to bite out tongues and keep from laughing. I didn't run over to her and remained where I was and silently mouthed 'NO'. Then, she replied with a silent yet very clear 'Poopy Head'. We both had to laugh. I know... not the parenting ideal but it was so funny. The best part was that she only stood next to the statue and didn't climb it or even touch it again. It was just a silly game.
Mia (5 years and 8 1/2 months of age): Last night Mia crept downstairs to where our bedroom is (on the ground floor). Curt and I always compare her to a ghost as she sort of floats. She's the only child that we often don't wake up to until she is whispering in our ear trying to wake us up. She's also our child who sleep walks and we find roaming around in a daze (that's another story). Last night she floated down to our bedside and asked if she could crawl in with us for a while. Ever since she saw the Harry Potter movie (the first one) she's been having nightmares. So, we let her crawl in between us. She tossed and turned so I asked her if she was okay. She told me that she had another nightmare so I asked her to tell me about it. She started with, "My nightmare..." first I have to tell you that this has been a hard word for her to remember and pronounce. She's always called it other names that sounded similar but she has finally been able to say it correctly. I was especially impressed that it came out correctly at 2am. I'll continue with her explanation: "My nightmare was about...um... um... well, we were really rich". She took a long pause and I thought to myself, 'what kind of nightmare is that?' haha. Then she continued that we were really rich and had a lot of money in the house. We had to hide it under the sofa while the burglar and the hyena were downstairs in the basement. The burglar dressed like a clown (she's never liked clowns) and the hyena looked in the mirror (not sure what this had to do with anything). Then she continued telling me about how we had to hide upstairs. The story sort of faded as this must have been when she woke up. She still struggled to finish the story but I could tell she was starting to make up the ending. She's been having a lot of fears about having our home broken into in Budapest. She always asks about the windows, doors, locks, etc. Homes in Hungary do get burglared often - especially at night time when the family is home. She must have heard this and now fears it from happening. Truth is that the burglars here have never hurt anyone and always flee when they hear movement. I know because it's happened to many of my friends. I reassured her that we had strong locks, an alarm that would call the police right away and 3 giant dogs that would never let anyone hurt us. I also explained how big and strong daddy was and he'd beat up any burglars (as I looked over at him sound alseep ;-) She was convinced by this answer and slowly dozed back off. Leaving me to my insomnia and book for the next 2 hours. yawn! I am tired but it was worth it as I love to hear how her brain works. Sometimes these middle of the night talks are the only chance for some one-on-one chatting time.
