Forget Me Nots

As usual with this blog these days, I am way behind on my updates. Here are several forget-me-nots, mostly from Gemma, but a couple for the big kids too!

1. Way back in August ( I told you I was overdue!) when Kyran had rehearsals until fairly late for Shrek, he asked Karyssa one morning, "Were you asleep when I came home last night or were you faking?" She responded, "I was asleep, but I wanted to fake being asleep so that I could spend time with you."

2. Again in August, Kyran had spilled some corn flakes on the floor and cleaned them up. He asked Karyssa if he should throw them away or put them back. She replied, "Put them back of course! Do you like (dog) hair in your food? Blech!" Gemma repeated, "Blech!"

3. Gemma's vocabulary continues to improve and she talks in paragraphs now with LOTS of questions! In September, she asked me once about the kids, "Are them talking?" and told me a couple of times, "You're my best friend." She also frequently requests "Will you play _______?" (fill in the name of a Shrek song or any other song she loves. When I did play one of the songs one time, Morning Person, she exclaimed, "That's my favorite one!" (She has lots of favorites now!) She also got quite good with the gerund form, as mentioned above with "talking" and when she says things like, "I'm eating a cracker". And the day of her dentist appointment, I said, "We're off to see the dentist!" She asked, "What does that mean?" Seriously, what two year old asks that??

4. One of her cutest expressions (forgive me if I've mentioned this) is after she sings a song and holds a long, loud note, she exclaims, "Clap for a minute!"

5. She doesn't do it as much anymore, but for a while, she would rub her index finger over her lip as I was singing and rocking her or as she was falling asleep. So adorable!

6. In September, she also began to recognize and tell us when she was sad.

7. One of our friends at The Therapy Place is a girl who has Costello Syndrome and has significant delays. She has made amazing strides just in the three years that we've known her. She has gone from using a walker to pretty much running on her own. She can talk now and she loves to tickle and play games! Gemma just adores her and mimics a lot of what she does. One day, she "took" my nose and "threw" it into another room. Gemma calmly walked to the door, grabbed at the air and put my nose "back on". Such amazing comprehension and pretend play!

The next few all took place on October 1st. Busy day!

8. Jason cooked bacon for us, and she held it up and asked him, "Is this a cow?" Amazing that she already understands that food is animals!

9. Jason tried to hug her and she said, "No, Daddy, don't touch me." He backed off, but asked, "Are you teasing Daddy? That's not very nice." Her face immediately fell, and she told him, "I love you, Daddy!"

10. We also realized that day that she identifies gender, and could tell us the gender of every person, animal or fictional character that we asked. I even tried to fool her with a short-haired girl and long-haired boy, but she still knew! Sometimes now, she'll tease us by saying the wrong answer with a big smile on her face.

11. We were watching football and one of the players got injured. She stopped what she was doing, stared at the screen for a while, then asked, "Is he ok, Mommy?"

12. Gemma: "I went to the doctor."
Me: "What did the doctor say?"
Gemma: "No more little monkeys jumping on the bed!"

13. The next day, October 2, we were watching Zootopia and it became very apparent that she was watching and following. At one point, the main character leaves a situation and then realizes she needs to go back. As she's driving away, Gemma asked, "Is she going back?" Then, later when the character is in danger, she said, "She needs to get down!"

14. On October 12, she grabbed me, patted me on the back, kissed me and said, "I got you, Mommy. Don't be scared, don't be scared, don't be scared." So, so sweet!

15. A few days later, we were at The Therapy Place, and she went over to the bookshelf and asked the receptionist if she could get a book. As she walked away, she called over her shoulder, "Thank you for having a library book!" When she was done with that one, she went back and asked, "Can I have one nother library book?" and kept doing the same thing each time.

16. That night, as I was putting the kids to bed Kyran prayed "Please let Mommy be happy with the choice she made to have twins and to have the cute, adorable Gemma. I hope that she thinks she is a good mommy because if she doesn't then she would be wrong. She's the best mommy I could ever have and I love her so much."

17. Then, when I was putting Gemma to bed she took my face in her hands and kissed my forehead and said, "I love you so much, mommy." Then she kissed my cheek, put her hands on my shoulders and said, "You are safe. Safe as all babies who travel this life." This is apparently from a song that my mom sings to her, but I was blown away!

18. The kids had their school performance (more on that later), and I had pulled my hair up and put on a little make up and a necklace. Gemma was in my arms and asked, "Are you dressed up, Mommy?" I answered, "Yes, I am." She reached up and touched my cheek and said, "Mommy, you are BEAUtiful!" I practically melted right there!

17. Gemma has become so independent recently. The other day, I walked into her room after her nap and saw that she had gotten her jeans and sunglasses from the top of her dresser and put them on. Granted the jeans were on backwards, but I was still pretty impressed!

18. Gemma started singing one of Kyran's show songs in her silliest voice.

Me: "Why are you singing in a silly voice? Can you sing pretty for me?"
Gemma (singing): "Pretty" 🎶

I'm still trying to figure out if she was being sarcastic or literal. 

19. Me: "Gemma, it's time to go inside."
Gemma: "No! I don't want to go inside."
Me: "Are you supposed to say no to Mommy?"
Gemma: "Um...um..."

I should know better than to ask her a trick question like that!
20. Last week, out of the blue Gemma told me, "I Beauty, you the beast."

21. Yesterday, when I woke her up from her nap, she heard a truck backing up outside and asked, "Where is that noise coming from? Is that a train?"

I'm sure I'm forgetting so much, but this is what I remembered to  post on Facebook or email to myself. These children are so amazing and I'm so blessed to be their mommy!