I think I need some onion food

On Monday, Elisabeth had her first filling. We went to the pediatric dentist a month or so ago, and were horrified to learn that she had several cavities. So we scheduled an appointment to have them filled as quickly as we could, and Monday was the big day. She was very brave, and the filling went really well, although her lip is swollen from the procedure.

On the way home we were talking about good foods to keep her tooth healthy and she announced,

"I think I need some onion food."

[She hates onions!]

Where did you get your name?

Last night as I was putting Elisabeth to bed, she asked me,

"Daddy, where did you get your name?"

I asked her who she thought gave me my name. She guessed and aunt and uncle before settling on Granddaddy and Grandmummy. Of course, that prompted another question:

"Who gave Mommy her name?"

Again, I turned the question on her. The same aunt and uncle topped the list as Mommy's name-givers. But eventually she figured out that Pop-pop and Grandma had given Mommy her name.

After I had tucked Elisabeth in, she wanted Mommy to tuck her in as well, and continued the same line of questions:

"Mommy, where did you get my name?"

Mommy explained that we had chosen the name because it means devoted to God. Elisabeth persisted:

"But how did you know how to spell it; you know, E-L-I-S-A-B-E-T-H?"

We still have a little ways to go on teaching phonics . . .

My parents' names

Recently when Rebecca picked Elisabeth up from school, the teacher greeted her at the door and said,

"Today Elisabeth told me that her father's name is Graham, and her mother's name is Mommy."

Turn off my imagination

Two nights ago Elisabeth was up frequently during the night. One of those times, she called me into her room and said to me,

"Daddy, can you stop my imagination?"

I smiled and said we could pray, and we did. Then she looked up at me and said,

"Can you turn off my imagination?"

We prayed again, as I tucked her in, and she was soon back to sleep.

Let the little children come

Recently we have been listening to Hide 'Em in Your Heart. The first song on the CD is called "Let the little children come," and Elisabeth has been singing along like this:

"Let the little children come.
Let the little children come.
And do not forgive them.
And do not forgive them!"

We need to add the word forbid to her vocabulary so that the song makes sense.

Turn of phrase

Recently Elisabeth was seated in the bathroom with the lights off and called out the door,

"Can someone turn off the dark?"

Why do you call me a 'drama queen'?

Yesterday as we were preparing for church, Elisabeth was providing more than necessary resistance to the morning routine. Midway through Elisabeth's antics, she turned to Mommy and said,

"Why do you call me a 'drama queen'?"

I wonder if she will begin to recognize that those comments coincide with her dramatic statements and actions . . .

Is this healthy?

Elisabeth has a recent fetish with healthy food. Before she puts (almost) anything in her mouth, she asks,

"Is this healthy?"

Thankfully the vast majority of the time, the answer is yes - so not only is she eating healthily, but she is learning to recognize a healthy diet. Her follow-on questions are more difficult:

"Why is it good for me?"

That question keeps me honest, and forces me to do some homework. (I recently learned that bell peppers are an excellent source of vitamin C.) Elisabeth is going to keep me healthy!

"I love you Daddy. You do good ponytails."

For almost my entire life as a father, I have been known by my daughter as the one who hurts her when putting in ponytails. In my opinion, I have dramatically improved over the span of her life. (I think I was really bad at it for the first year or so that she had enough hair to gather into pigtails, and then a ponytail.) However, I retained my distinction as the one who hurts her head.

So this morning I was shocked when Elisabeth came out of her room, climbed onto my lap on the couch and said,

"I love you Daddy. You do good ponytails."

That is a major milestone for me!

Don't do "__________"

Over the past several weeks, Elisabeth has developed a new mannerism. She now frequently tells us what she is not allowed to do, and in doing so demonstrates the proscribed behavior. It is not uncommon for her, without prompting, to say:

"We don't bang our forks on the table" (while shaking her head "no" and banging her fork on the table.

It is all that we can do as parents not to burst out laughing, because it almost never follows on us asking her not to do the particular behavior. It is as if she brainstorms all the actions that she knows she should not do, and then proceeds to tell us (always with demonstration) what would be inappropriate to do at that particular time.

I'm glad that she understands our expectations, and am ready for her to outgrow this mannerism.

It's good to be back where I belong

Yesterday we visited Uncle Gordon with Elisabeth's Granddaddy and Grandmummy (who were visiting for the weekend). At the end of a long day, as Rebecca was tucking Elisabeth into bed, Elisabeth looked up and said,

"It's good to be back where I belong."

It is hard to know whether she was speaking of home, or bed.

She doesn't like shots

Today Elisabeth went to the doctor for some immunizations. On the way to the doctor's office, Mommy explained that after their visit they would pick out a treat. Elisabeth quickly replied,

"Don't tell me that!"

Clearly she knew that treats were connected to the endurance of undesirable pricks in the doctor's office.

However, she kept up a brave face throughout the visit until the needles emerged. Then, crying after having received the first shot, she said through her tears:

"I'm crying because I didn't get to finish my painting in art today!"

Where does she come up with these?!

Flashback from pre-blogging days

On April 29, 2006 I wrote:

"I sat Elisabeth on my lap to talk about disobedience.
She said, 'May I have a chocolate after our conversation?'"

On April 5, I recorded:

"Carrying Elisabeth, I asked her to walk.
She replied, 'I don't want to walk.'
'Why?' I asked.
She answered, 'Sometimes I walk into things.'"

I love recalling and laughing over those days!

Poetic license

Tonight we covered the thirty-fourth question in the catechism:

What is not keeping God's law?
Not being or doing what God requires. Luke 10:31

We practiced it with Elisabeth by asking her, "What is not keeping God's law?"
She replied:

"Not being or doing what God acquires."

I tried to explain, "The word is requires, not acquires." To this she returned,

"But I like it better!"

I think that is where poetic license distorts meaning . . .

How good were they?

Tonight we covered the thirty-first question in our catechism:

Were Adam and Eve good when God made them?

The catechism's answer is:

Yes, very good. All that God made was good. Genesis 1:31.

After reciting it several times, Rebecca asked Elisabeth, "Were Adam and Eve good when God made them?"

Elisabeth replied, "Yes."

Not securing the full answer, Mommy asked, "How good?"

"As good as us," Elisabeth replied.

Seven-oh-zero

For the past several days, Elisabeth has been getting up long before sunrise, and wanting the attention of her parents. She knows that seven o'clock is the time to wake up, and she has a digital clock in her room so that she doesn't have to ask us if it is time yet. So yesterday (clearly already awake), she triumphantly said,

"It is seven oh zero!"

Today was even better. She slept right past seven!

We didn't worship yet!

In an attempt to move from bed-time Bible reading to family worship, we have been using the Seeds of Praise CD to sing our worship. (I'm hoping that our family worship time will push me to learn to play the guitar that I was given two years ago . . . and still can't play.)

Last night we were late in getting Elisabeth to bed, and I announced, "OK, time for bed!" to which Elisabeth responded,

"We didn't worship yet!"

O how I want that to continue, so that she eagerly anticipates our worship time each evening!

We were gone for several years

We spent about two weeks on the road spanning Thanksgiving (which is one of the reasons I have been so sparse in posting). When we returned home Elisabeth announced:

"We were gone for several years!"

Clearly she has grasped that a 'year' is a long time, even if she hasn't quite figured out just how long it is.

Can I have this please?

Elisabeth found an appealing looking can in the grocery store with a cartoon drawing on it, and brought it to Mommy.

"Mommy, can I have this please?" (She remembered her manners.)
"No, sweetheart, that's dog food."
"But I want it!" (Manners fading . . .)
"Sweetheart, that food is for dogs."
"But I like it!" (Good-bye manners.)

Clearly the advertising people missed their market on this one.

Do you know why I like my church?

Overheard, talking with Grandmummy:

"Do you know why I like my church? I like it because of the people."

What a great reminder of how the church represents Christ to the youngest among us.