postcards of adoration

Aunt Julie is in town visiting, and she stayed with us yesterday. Caroline has been over the moon about having her around. When Julie stepped out of the room, Caroline turned to me and said, "I think Aunt Juju smells amazing... like lavender pie!"

...

The time came today for Julie to move on to another relative's house, though we'll see her again before she heads home; and Caroline was so sad about it. She teared up while getting ready for preschool. She flung herself into Julie's arms and said, "I'm going to miss you so much!"

Julie reminded her that she would see her again.

"It's not the same! I want you to stay in our house for three days," she said through tears.

Julie hugged her.

Then Caroline thought of a way to soothe her sad heart, "Well, maybe you could get me a toy to remember you by..."

...

On the way to school, she heard a song on the radio that she had listened to with Julie the night before in her room.

She shook her head and got misty-eyed, "I wish I could be dancing to this song with Aunt Juju. Now I'll never hear this song without being sad."

...

We got home from preschool, and Caroline ran into the house, hopeful for a miracle -- that Aunt Juju would still be here. Alas, she saw no suitcase and no Julie.

She said, very dramatically as she slumped over, "She's -- she's gone."

I patted her back and told her that we'd call Julie tonight so she can chat with her. She sat on the couch, sniffling and welling up with big tears.

A few minutes later, she looked at me and said, "I'm feeling a little better now." Then she smiled weakly and said, "At least I can still smell her lavender loveliness in the air."

mucinex un-testimonial

"I'm not taking that yucky medicine. I won't do it. Not on my watch!"

a very particular odor indeed

I walked into our bedroom this morning, and I smelled something... ick. Dirty smell. Not repulsive or rotten. Just, not pleasant. I had just washed the dog bed, so I knew I couldn't blame it on Reuben.

I turned to Chuck and asked, "It smells bad in here! Where is it coming from?"

Caroline, who was wrapped in Chuck's arm, sat up, shot him a look, and said very bluntly, "Yeah. It smells like boy stink to me."

renaming reptiles

Caroline: Can we get a pet alakazzammer?

Mama: Uh, probably not. But what is an alakazzammer?

Caroline: It's a little amphibian. It's not a mammal.

Mama: Do you mean salamander?

Caroline: Oh yeah. Silly me.

Mama: I like alakazzammer better.

Caroline: Yeah? Silly you.

kindreds

A painter has been helping us tackle a blistering problem in the ceiling of the bedroom Caroline will be moving into shortly. He was here power-sanding some special compound he applied. When he brought his shopvac down the stairs, Caroline told him, "That's quite a lot of noise you're making."

He smiled and said that it's just what he does, make a lot of noise.

She nodded and said, "Yeah, same here."

astronomy is personal

Caroline's a bit of Space Nerd, so we sometimes end up watching television shows about the solar system. This happened today, in fact. And as the narrator ominously described the planets that are inhospitable to humans, Caroline grew grumpier by the second.

She crossed her arms and started pouting, "I like Mars."

I shrugged since I'm entirely ignorant about these things and had nothing better to offer in reassurance.

She continued, growing more and more insulted, "Mars is not so bad! It's just a little windy. It's not like it's hot or anything! Like wind's a big deal. Really, this guy should try Venus."

seasonally appropriate, slightly alarming non sequitur

"Hey Mama, did you know that boys are sometimes romantique?"

this needs to be on reality tv

We were hanging in the playroom before school the other day, and she was playing with some of her plastic friends. I was talking to Chuck when I heard Caroline bark, "Drop and give me 3!"

I turned to see this:


Seems that Malibu Ken hired Slash as his personal trainer.

so proud

Mama: Are you kicking yourself in the face?!

Caroline: Not really. I want to see my knee. Up close. Really fast.

[a moment passes]

Caroline: OW!

Mama: Yeah.

Caroline: That was a ridiculous idea.