Annie: Paul, can I tell you something?
Paul: NO!! I’m a TURTLE!
Annie: Turtle, can I tell you something?
Paul: Yes.
Annie: Turtle, um, you can swim, even if you’re not a mermaid.
Paul: Yeah, I can swim, in my turtle hat.
Annie: No, you have to swim in a swimming pool.
“Sometimes when I push on my eyes, I pretend they’re marshmallows.” —Annie
“When I grow up, I want to be a teacher, and when I’m a grown-up teacher, I want my name to be Elsa.” —Annie
“At school today me and Eloise were pretending to die, and Winnie was helping us SO SO FAST, and then Eloise’s dad came and we DIED, and he pretended to be sad.” — Annie
at the dinner table
Paul: I’m a grown-up.
Bryan: You look like a kid.
Paul: No, I growed up.
Leslie: You growed up at school today?
Paul: Yes, I DID growed up.
Annie: Paul, you’re very very little.
Paul: No, I’m VERY VERY BIG. SEE? My legs are SO LONG.
Bryan and I spent a lot of time and care with the kids tonight, executing the bedtime routine with precision and hanging around to chat and cuddle, to make sure they were comfortable in their big-kid beds and—most importantly—not going to pop right out of them the moment we closed the door.
Looking up at it, Annie told me how much she liked the big yellow A that hangs over her bed, and I told her I remembered getting it.
“It was before you were born, but I knew we wanted to name you ‘Annie.'”
She cupped my face in her hands and confided, “I wanted to name you ‘Mom.’ … Who named you ‘Mom?'”
“You did.”
With studious practice, Annie’s knowledge of the lyrics has improved.
2017: Jingle bells, jingle bells, ALL the way. (repeat)
2018:
Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way.
How much fun it is tonight
With our sleighed-on friends and say, HEY!
They dance, too. (Annie: Is this how ballerinas dance? Paul: I’m a ballerino!)