This morning while getting rea
dy for work, I used a new mouthwash. It burnt like fire, and tasted terrible. The taste was so bad, I wondered if it really freshened my breath. I approached Sophia, and breathing in her face, I asked, “Does my breath smell fresh?”
She replied, “Yeah! But they might not like it where you work.”
Looks like I’ll be scoping out some new mouthwash.
Sophia stayed with her Mawmaw and PawPaw the other day. While wowing them with her extensive knowledge, she made the following confession, “I know everything. But my Daddy knows more than me.”
I told you she was smart.
We passed a field with those big round hay bales in it a few months ago, and Sophia said, “Look at those wheelbarrows.” After making the connection, we corrected her by saying, “Those are hay bales, sweetie.” Now every time we pass a field with hay bales, Sophia says, “Look at those hay barrels.”
Humming birds have to be the most persistently optimistic animals in the world. Several years ago, Delia put out a hummingbird feeder. She only filled it a few times, but they still return every spring, looking in the window as if to ask her to put more out. Spring also brings out the wood bees, who spend a great deal of time eating our carport. These two spring time experiences gave rise to a new breed of animal in Sophia’s vocabulary. One day we were getting in the car, and Sophia warns, “Watch out for the humming bees.”
“This is a haircut,” I heard the tiny voice behind me say. I wasn’t sure I heard her correctly so I replied, “What?”
“This is a haircut.”
Yes, I heard her correctly, but I wasn’t quite sure what she meant. Haircut? I was thinking a fast as I could. “Yeah, I got a hair cut just the other day.” Of course, Sophia was with me when I got it cut, so why bring it up now?
“No, not your haircut, a haircut.” Sophia replied. Now I was really confused. I had guessed wrong, and was in the dark.
I asked, “You want a haircut?” I got the anticipated response, “NO!”
“You know–a haircut.” This time she said it slower. I’m scanning the area for some kind of sign that might have caught her attention, thinking we passed a barber shop or hair dresser. Nothing.
“A hair–” she was struggling to get the right word. Frustration was mounting. At that moment, the rewind button in my mind clicked in. I flashed back to the turn I had just taken down a side road. Then, it hit me. She wasn’t talking about hair at all. The word she was looking for was “short.”
I looked at her through the rearview mirror, smiled, and said, “Do you mean shortcut? Your right, we did take a shortcut.”
She smiled, “Yeah, a shortcut.”
Last Monday, Sophia started “Playschool.” It is like a test run for preschool. It’s a few hours once a week to give kids a taste of what school will be like. When I picked Sophia up from Playschool last week, I asked her if she had fun. She replied, “Yes.”
When I asked if she was excited about getting to go back in a week, she said, “No.” I didn’t like school as a kid. I would get home from school and almost always vow to never go back. I don’t want Sophia to hate school. So Delia and I have spent the last week trying to get Sophia excited about Playschool today.
This morning Sophia said, “I hope I learn how to read today. ‘Cause last week, I didn’t learn anything!”
We hope our ambitious toddler doesn’t intimidate her teachers. I can almost hear her now, “Hurry up and teach me how to read!” I’m glad she is developing a healthy love for reading.
We were cruising down the road the other day, when I noticed a snake slithering across the blacktop. I told Sophia, “There is a snake crossing the road.”
She said, “Why?”
So I replied, “To get to the other side!”
She didn’t laugh.
Sophia said, “I’m taller than my cousin Zac”. Now Zac is 6 “4 so I responded, “Sophia, your taller than Zac?” She was quick to say, “Well, only when I stand on a ladder!”
This past Friday we went to the Louisville Zoo. Although I started out driving, I couldn’t hardly hold my eyes open. After switching places with Delia, I took a nap. At one point, I reached in the back to get something I could rest my head on.
Sophia said, “Daddy, what are you doing?”
I replied, “I’m taking a nap, so I’ll be in a better mood later. Do you want to try it?”
Sophia responded quickly, “No, I’m in a good mood already!”
Thoroughly bested, I closed my eyes and drifted back to sleep.
At WinterJam Sunday night, amid the thundering music, Sophia shouted, “You know what I want to be when I grow up, Daddy?”
“What?” I said.
“A music helper!” She shouted.
This morning I took Sophia with me to the bank. When we got in the car she asked, “Do we have any gum in here?” Looking around I found her a piece of gum and handed it back to her.
As we were pulling into the bank drive thru, she said something to the affect of, “Gum, gum, gummy gum. Here.” I dutifully reached back and took the chewed offering and quickly brought it forward to get rid of it as I pulled up to the window.
When I dropped my check in the drawer, the teller said, “It looks like someone wants a sucker.” Curious, I turned to see what she meant, and saw Sophia waving at her. The nice lady said, “I better take care of her first.” She then dropped a sucker in the box, and made a very clever girl, very happy.
I thanked the teller (and so did Sophia). As I began unwrapping the sucker, Sophia said, “Is that the sucker?” Then all I heard after I gave it to her was crunch, crunch, mmmm. Here.” I dutifully reached back, and retrieved a suckerless stick.
Note: This picture was taken back in ’09 as we watched the quick demise of another sucker. Not to worry, there’s one born every minute. No, wait. That’s something else entirely.
Hope & Wisdom 