minnie talk

Minnie is my wild child. She is fun and sassy and super duper smart. It is unbelievable to me how much that little mind of hers can soak up and retain. She remembers things from when she was two. TWO! And they are things we rarely talk about so it always surprises me. I think one of the most fun things about this age is seeing how she processes all the information she holds up in that little brain of hers. The connections she makes are hilarious and often so so wise. Here are a few of the things she's done recently that I want to remember

• Since her Grandpa Collard passed we have been talking about how he's an angel in heaven now. Recently, while driving in the car (where we have most of our profound conversations) Minnie said, "Grandpa can't talk to Jesus because Jesus is too bright. He's like the sun." The pictures in our scripture reader all show resurrected Jesus as being very bright and I loved that she remembered that.

• She'll often tell me, "Louie's bum is big. We need to change her diaper." I'm hoping in the next month that Minnie either learns how to change Lou's diaper or Lou decides she's ready to be potty trained. 

• To Julia, Nick and Megan one evening at Sunday dinner as she was blabbering: "...swimming underground...with liberty and justice for all...serving God." What the what?! Reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at preschool every day has obviously got some phrases cemented in her little sponge of a brain. 

• Robert often calls Minnie "sweetheart" but from the day she could talk she's said "sweetie-heart." I've corrected her in the past, but now I just love it too much. She'll ask people, "Is she your sweetie-heart?" or when she's pretending to be in love with a prince she'll tell me, "Prince Eric is my sweetie-heart."

• The way she calls me "Laura" when we are pretending. "That was very nice piano playing, Laura" with a soft little pat on the back.

• While watching Robin Hood she asked, "Is Prince John the princesses fatha?" in a British accent. Don't know where she got that but I hope there's more where that came from.

• She was pretending and told me her friends name was "Excuse Me" and that her name was "Ariel Collard". I will never tire of this girl's imagination. 

• When on the seesaw with Lou, "I'm going up, up, up to heaven." I hope we all are, girlfriend. I hope we all are.

• "Grandma Collard lives downtown and we live uptown, right Mom?" I mean, that makes sense right? We do live north of downtown...albeit quite a ways north. 

• There was a robin taking a bath in my parent's gutter and Julia was explaining to Minnie that it's just like a bath she'd take. He hopped out and Min said, "But I don't think he has a towel." Excellent point. A bath without a towel is a very sad ending to a good bath in our book.

• When we were in the elevator at the resort in Arizona Lou was on Minnie's lap in the umbrella stroller as we walked to the car and Minnie announced to the group on the elevator, "This is my sister Louie. She's cute but she doesn't listen to my mommy." Already throwing her sister under the bus. Newsflash: you don't usually listen to me either, Minnie Lou.

• Minnie kept having to go to the bathroom and asked me, "Mom, why do I keep going pee pee?" I then explained that she might have an infection. A few minutes later she turned to me and said, "Mom, so because I have a collection, will I have to go visit the doctor?" Infection, collection. Tomato tomaaato.

• Minnie has been super interested in age lately. She knows white hair means you're old and she's pretty clear on who's a kid and who's not, but once I introduced the idea of teenagers to her it was like a whole new world opened up. There are ages between a kid and being old? We read the book "I'll Love You Forever" a lot which follows a boy as he grows up and how he'll always be his mom's baby, no matter how old he gets. When I explained to Minnie that her cousin DJ was a teenager she asked me, "Oh. So does he have strange friends?" I had no idea what she was talking about and then realized that in the book when the boy becomes a teenager it says he does strange things and has strange friends. We hadn't read the book for a long time so I was totally caught off guard. The girl has an unbelievable memory.

This little lady sure gives me a run for my money most days, but gosh she's sweet. Throughout the day she'll just lean into me and give me a hug then pull back, look right into my eyes and say, "Mom, I love you." No matter how nutty she's been, that melts me every dang time. Sure love this little girl and I can't believe she'll be 4 in a month!

Now, I will leave you with a typical Minnie face to appreciate.