She Says

Me: Wasn't it fun to have the Lees over for dinner last night?
Bella (age 6): Yeah. Want to know what we played?
Me: Sure.
B: We acted out a scripture story!
Me: Ohh, that sounds fun! (thinking. Oh my gosh- they are such dorks.)
       Which one did you act out?
B: The Man Possessed By Evil Spirits.
Me: Oh dear!
B: What 'Oh dear'?
Me: Nothing. Who played what parts?
B: Well, Mia was Jesus.
Me: Okay, who was the man possessed?
B: Well there was only one boy!
Me: I don't know, Mia played Jesus, so...
B: Truman was the man. I read the story while they acted it out.
    And I was a pig.
Me: Aha.
B: We used hangers on Truman to be the chains he was tied up with that he could break out of.

(She really like to read the simplified, illustrated scriptures. She chooses an extra scripture story for her story each night, then often takes them to bed and continues reading. Oh dear.)

Pirate Lingo

Fiona is quite a little talker lately, and it's just the cutest thing in the world. I tried to get a few of my favorites on tape, but of course she just wanted to ham for the camera. You can tell the whole time I'm asking her stuff she tries to say it all through a pirate face, not really committing to either one.

She can more or less say whatever she needs to, if you know what to listen for. Some of my favorites are a simple 'Okay' in the affirmative when I tell her something, the excited 'Ta-Da! I did it!' for anything she is proud of, the drawn out 'I'm co-ming!', when she happily shouts 'Bella!' when Bella gets home from school, and an adorable 'awww', used either happily cooing at something cute, or in a lower tone to convey disappointment when she hears 'no'. Occasionally it's 'Aw, man!' When she gets dressed she runs to show anyone near, holding out her arms so they can survey her whole self, saying 'See? Cute!' Oh at lately, 'I'm pretty!' She yelled that rather loudly in the grocery store today. Basically anything coming out of a 2-year old's mouth sounds pretty damn cute. Especially this 2-year old.

She Says

I was trying to get Bella to try a bite of clementine, and she exclaimed 'No! It's hideous and gross!' (After which she ate two clementines.)

I was looking at some photos of my grandma and I got a little teary, explaining to Bella that I missed her. She reminded me I would see her again and I complained that it wouldn't be for  long time. After some thought Bella said 'Well.... I think the best thing you can do is... Wait until you die.' Right then.

Ever since 'Bella' or 'Isabella' made it to the number one girl's name we've been trying to convince Bella to let us call her 'Izzy' instead, to no avail. One day Timm was calling her 'Izzy' and "Busy Izzy' and 'Belle.' She strode over and stated with authority: "Let's get one thing straight. When you call me 'Izzy', I am not listening to you. But if you call me 'Bella', I'll do whatever you ask.'

We were watching Finding Nemo in the car, and it was the part when all the baby sea turtles were jumping all over Marlin. Bella asked, 'Why aren't they giving him any personal space?' (She got that from me, insisting that she give me some personal space during a moment of extreme smotherhood.)

A Little Bit of Bella

One day when Timm was home with the girls while I was in Denver, Bella came in to wake Timm up and he said he was getting up to get in the shower. When she came back in a few minutes later and he was still in bed she said with exasperation, "Dad- this is not the shower. When you go in a different room and turn something on and it rains, that's the shower."

Lately she does not want to wear a single thing I pick out. Not one. The other day I was lobbying with futility for an outfit when she told me, "I don't want you to pick out things that you think are cute but are a world of things that I don't like."

Edited to add today, on Sunday: "You'll like it. No more discussion." I think that was about some princess role-playing she was trying to get me to go along with.

I possibly see an attitude in our future.

We're funny like that.

Around here we have a wry sense of humor. Sometimes dry, sometimes sarcastic, often self-deprecating and usually a bit weird. Some recent examples:

Timm always asks Bella if she got her bum at the Cute Bum store. It's a running joke and it always elicits a laugh and protestations from her. Timm added that he got a great deal on an Iron Man model. (It's true, he has a great butt-) I responded that I got there late and they were all out of everything good so I had to get an Irregular.

I was combing Bella's hair and she kept squirming. At one time the dishwasher, which was running, made a loud groaning noise as she moved. She asked what it was and I replied "The dishwasher's mad at you for moving. It doesn't like that. You have to do things to make it happy." When she asked what she needed to do I said "First of all you need to stop moving. Then you could give it offerings, like unloading the clean dishes, loading all your dirty dishes. Just taking care of it." For a while after wards she kept asking if the dishwasher was done yet and could she unload it yet. I love that she just takes this stuff in passing and doesn't think I'm weird. Yet.

She was crying and I was trying to get her to stop so I could talk to her. I asked her if she was done yet and if she had stopped crying and with some hesitation she replied, " I paused..."

Today I overheard her counseling Smeagle.
"Smeagle, we have to talk about some things. Why did you growl like that at your sister Dobby? That probably really hurt her feelings. You have to be nicer to her."

Edited to add: This morning Bella told me that she didn't think she was going to like Kindergarten. When I asked her why she said "Oh, the involvement of listening."

She Says

1. I was listening to 'Silent Night.' The part 'Jesus, Lord at thy birth...' and Bella says "Why 'Jesus Wears a Diaper'?" ("Je-sus wears a dia-per..." Can you hear it?)
2. Bella's chewing ice. She says, "You know who else likes to eat ice? Jill." Jill, I don't know what you do when you have those girls at your house, but you have made a serious impact on Bella with the infrequent times she sees you.

She Says

I accidentally bumped her chandelier and it jangled all over. She said: 'Good thing it's your fault, because if I did it I'd be sure to get in trouble.' Sadly, she's probably right.

I was trying to clarify something she had said so I asked her 'Didn't you just go poop, honey?' She cryptically replied, 'Ohhhh, you'd be surprised at that.' Uh...

She starts to employ various words or phrases that she hears but they are not always in the correct context. Lately she uses 'certainly' and 'willing' a lot. The other night at bed she gave a stream something like 'I'd be willing to pick up these books. I'd like to read this one if you are willing. I would be willing to read every single one of these books.'

Bellaisms

*edited to add- We're planning on making Bella a robot costume for Halloween. When asked what she should say at the door she responded in a flat monotone robotic voice "trick-or-treat--mortal."

Among the approximately 500 squirrels that reside in or around our yard, she has named one. She is convinced that it is always the same one and says "There's my friend 'Q-Tip'!" Yep, 'Q-Tip'.

We were watching Beauty and the Beast for the first time and when the Beast was transformed back into a man Bella loudly exclaimed: "Resurrected!!"

We were taking a walk and saw a rather large ant pile. Bella talked about wanting to stomp on it and so we had a discussion about respecting ants and all life and leaving them alone to be happy with their ant families. She said "It's not like they'd be just dead, like dead forever." What do you mean Bella? "You know, resurrected!" I then tried to explain that concept a bit more and emphasize that mortal life was still important and fragile.

Today we had our primary program in church and Bella did perfectly. Her part was: "I can follow the gospel of Jesus Christ when I come to primary." Then she stepped down and to the side before returning to her seat and called out in a loud whisper : "Did you hear that Sophie?!" Sophie gave her 2 thumbs up and the congregation a low chuckle.

Tonight in her prayers she rattled off a long list of things she was grateful for, among them: "Thank you for all of the ice cream that they give out and the heavens above and the earth below."

She's a crack-up.

She Says

I haven't documented any Bellaisms in a while, so here is a catch-all of strange and funny things she says sometimes.

"In America salvation comes to be ours."
???

J: "Bella, you only had one piece of bread, that's not lunch."
B: "No, I had two- I tore it in half!"

"This sucker tastes like a rainbow and is made from unicorns!"

Sebastian: "Bella, I think I'm going to marry you when I grow up."
Bella: "No, I'm going to marry someone else."
S: "Why?"
(no response)
S: "Before you can marry someone else I'm going to come to your house, grab you by the hand, swipe you off your feet, and into the car we go!!"

I told her that she would have to share a toy she was bringing with us. When she told me that the other girl never asks to play with her things I told her she might have to offer.
"That's not the way I am, mom. I don't do that to someone who doesn't speak to me and only listens. Why offer? I'm not that way."

"We have African music. It's mixed with Indian music and sounds like unicorns with horns."
(What's with the unicorns?)

I think there's more but I'll have to think about it and edit later.

Always Good For a Laugh

Bella is always good for entertainment, as well as a heartwarming reassurance that vocabulary and an appreciation of words is not lost on the young. I'm pleased to reflect on my own conversations and see my daily influence on her impressions and expressions. Here are a few gems in no particular order, to each their own context, from my not-yet 4 year-old.

General words and expressions:

'This is trash, however.'
'As a matter of fact...'
'I'll take that as a yes.'
'I'd prefer to put it over here.'
'I'm just trying to be helpful.'
'It's going to be a puppet show, most likely.'
'I would be delighted to help you.'

A couple of nights ago we had tilapia and gave her some. Her response: 'I'd have this anytime! This is Delicious!'
She regularly tells people we meet on the street that they 'can come over anytime!'
Today in Joy School we were talking about belonging, and the most important group we belong to, our family. While trying to prompt the answer that family are the most important people Bella told me: 'Jill. I love her very, very much.' While I don't disagree, it was seemingly very random. Bella hasn't seen Jill since last July, so apparently she has left quite an impression.
'Won't it be sad when I get to be a grown up?' (No, it'll be fun- why, you don't want to grow up?) No, I want to stay to a kid.' very astute.
She was trying to cajole me into reading a book that I said was too long and we didn't have time for. 'Can you read half? (no.) A third? (no.) A fifth? (no!)

Recently she told me out of the blue that she misses her aunt, who she clarified as Michelle. Now often when she is sad she will also cry out that she misses Michelle. This has caused a great increase in one of her favorite role-playing games in which I play Michelle. Luckily for me I don't really have to affect any change or character, I just go about my business with the understanding that I am Shell. I only know that we're playing this game when Bella will ask me a question directed at Michelle. Yesterday was the most I have had to perform in a single day, about 50/50.

Today Fiona was stalking her as she often does since B is her favorite person. Bella was getting frustrated and cried out 'Fiona!! You are a very cute baby, but I LOVE YOU!' in a tone that did not match her words. Her tone was more suited for an insulting tirade.

That's all I can recall at the moment, but I jot these things down and least once or twice a day. Ah, she's a weirdo. A well-vocabulated weirdo. (That's for you Rin!)

She says...Again.

I have a lot of things I would like to write about, first of all being our Easter dinner at Linda's house, but I left my camera and thus all of my pictures there. So instead, I am going to post more weird things Bella has recently said, until I have pictures to support my posts.
Remember, she's not yet 4.
In no particular order:

'That's just the way my life has been lived.'

'That's just the way life goes.'

'Nematode!' (an exclamation of irritation gleaned from SpongeBob.)

'Boys have pieces.' (explaining the difference between boys and girls.)

'I can't believe it.'

'Don't you dare!' (directed at her dad-)

'Watch!' (Timm was trying to convince her that she could eat cereal in the living room just this one time. He kept telling her that it was okay and mama said it's okay. He told her to ask me, so when she turned to ask she cried 'Watch!' in a smiling, expectant tone, waiting for dad to get it. She doesn't let him get away with anything.)

Bella Lately

That crazy, crazy Bella. She continues to amuse me on a daily basis, whenever she's not driving me crazy that is. (She's a great kid, but she's still almost 4 and full of volatile emotions at times.) Let's see what she has been saying lately... This may be going back a bit.
A few months ago we were reading about the 10 Commandments in her illustrated Bible that we have been reading at night. As we were reading I tried to explain them in simpler terms for her. For some unknown reason she really latched onto the concept of stealing. I gave her some examples, some scenarios, and since then she was asking for them all day, every day. "Can you tell me a stealing story?" For a while I indulged her. Then he requests got more and more detailed. "Can I have a stealing story about two kids? With no mom or dad? And they're names aren't Dave or Billy? And no Bella?" Once I tried to involve her in the story, and even though she wasn't even a guilty party she freaked out. She wanted no association with stealing. In bored desperation I once tried to use two of her friends, Sebastian and Cai. Then that was all she wanted, but then I got worried about implicating them in imaginary scenarios so I stopped that. After trying every possible scenario, every moral angle, I was so freaking tired of stealing stories, so I put a stop to them. Then last week she was grocery shopping with me and she took one small raspberry gummy-like non-pareil covered thing from the bulk bin. I swooped in and asked her if she was eating one of those, and she stopped chewing and realized something was amiss. I explained that what she just did was stealing. She didn't react, so I explained it again. When it dawned on her, her eyes instantly filled with tears and she started crying, violently. Then I had to calm her down and reassure her that I was not mad, she was not in trouble, but that she cannot do that again. She was shaken for a while. I continue to say 'no' to more stealing stories.

A couple of days ago I heard her exclaiming "X X X- is hot!" several times. Umm....where did you hear that Bella? My mind reeled as I tried to imagine where she could have possibly come into contact with that phrase, or XXX alone... To my relief she said, on Sesame Street, remember? Then I remembered that X had in fact, been the letter of the day, but I still could not fathom how she got that phrase. To my knowledge there was not that type of vignette on Sesame Street. Fine by me until she said it in public, at my Weight Watchers meeting. Somehow I don't think they would buy the explanation, 'Oh that's just from Sesame Street. Letter of the day, you know. XXX.'

B: I always pick my nose.
J: Why?
B: Cause there's boogers in there.
J: That's why we blow our noses.
B: That doesn't get the boogers out.
J: Yes it does.
B: It doesn't. Trust me.

What else, what else?

Oh, Moose. Remember when we gave Moosey to Denise last June? Well before we did so I talked about it with Bella a lot. I explained what we were doing, where she was going, why, and that we wouldn't be getting her back. She assured me she was fine, didn't care, and wouldn't miss her at all. And all of that was true. For a few months. Then about 2 or 3 months ago, approximately 6 or 7 months after we sent her to Denver, she decided she wanted to Moosey back. Suddenly it was a constant. "When is Moosey coming back? Why can't she come back? We could send Denise another dog. I really want a dog. Why can't we have a dog? I miss Moosey." repeat as naseum. When something goes wrong and she has an inappropriate reaction so I ask her why she's crying she would exclaim "I just miss my dog Moosey!" I had to put a stop to that as it was obviously an excuse she thought would elicit sympathy and allow her to cry for ridiculous reasons. Sometimes it makes me sad that she will bemoan that she misses Moosey, and even sadder that she always calls her 'My dog Moosey', but what's done is done. However, Denise, if you were ever to move to the east coast it would surely send Bella into ecstasy.

Bella always goes to my Weight Watchers meetings with me and delights in clapping with everyone when we recognize successes. Last time I got a 5 pound star and Bella requested one too. Later at home it got crumpled on her shirt and she cried out 'Oh no! My five pound star!' Ha. Also last week the leader said that the average person eats out 5.8 times a week. "Isn't that amazing?" and Bella calls out "That's amazing!" to the delight of the room.

I think that's about it for now. I'll update if I think of more Bellaisms. I did video tape her 'exercising' and flexing her muscles, but it won't load. Mom and dad, I guess you'll just have to plan a visit stat.

She says...

On a funny note, in her prayers the other night Bella said: 'Thank you for the monsters that don't live in our house.'
But a few Sundays ago I scribbled this conversation, while driving, that Bella and I had on our way to church. It started when she asked if we could go to McDonald's and I reminded her that we don't do things like that on Sunday, and briefly explained why.

B: Does Satan go shopping?
J: Er, maybe. Sure, he goes all the time on Sundays.
B: I really want to get baptized.
J: Really? Why?
B: I want to show Satan that you have to get baptized.
J: Well, you know you need to wait until you're eight.
B: Yeah, that's when I want to tell him. I want to tell him when I die. Why does Satan not want to get baptized?
J: Satan didn't want to follow God and His commandments.
B: Well I want to do what God asks me to do. That's why I want to get baptized.

[pause]

B: Does Satan always go to McDonald's?

Then she sung Fiona a lullaby to calm her her crying. What a girl, She surprises me every day.