From the mouths of babes

• Xiana is under the impression that it is always her birthday so I explained to her that next is mommy's birthday and then Brian's. Well, mommy's birthday has come and gone so next is Brian's right? The other day we were playing at the neighbor's house and one of the boys said that is birthday is next week. Xiana defensively exclaimed, "no! Brian's birthday next!"
• One morning I saw her put a piece of cheese under her shirt and say, "my baby in my tummy."
• One of her new favorite expressions was coined one evening when Kacie and I were shopping. We were in the front seat talking and Xiana said, "hey, what you talking about guys?" I thought it was so adorable then.... but I might have mentioned it a time or two in her presence and as a result, she asks it several times throughout the day. If she doesn't understand or hear what we're talking about, or if she finds that she needs a little more attention than she was previously receiving.
• A car pulled out in front of me and I said, "look at this nonsense," to myself. My ever hearing child innocently asked, "what's nonsense?"
• We were reading the story of Samson and she perceptively exclaimed, "that boy hurting!"
• Yesterday she came to me while I was eating and said, "I up" "no" I replied. She waited all of 20 seconds before asking, "how bout now?"
• I was talking to Brian on the phone and asked if Kevin (his brother) was coming with us. Xiana immediately said, "hey, I know tevin, I yike tevin." She listens to every word I say whenever she is around. I have to be careful!
• Xiana came to me yesterday asking to sing the Jesus song. It took me a little while to discover that she was talking about "Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam." It's really sweet that rather than the irreverent and emphatic sunbeam for reference, she thinks of it as the Jesus song.
• Brian has been shaking Xiana'a hand and saying, "nice to meet you." Which she, of course, mimics. The other day she walked up to my dad, shook his hand and said, "nice to meet you grandpa." He was so impressed I didn't have the heart to tell him that she was not the originator of this expression.
• If ever she gets frustrated that someone doesn't understand her, she has taken to telling them, "tome here, I'll show you."
• Likewise, if you are eating her pretend food, or playing any of her wide array of imaginary games, she likes to tell you exactly how you should be playing. If you take a bite the wrong way, or drive or fly or talk on the phone the "wrong" way, she says, "no, not yike dat, yike dis," demonstrating the proper way.
• Brian was asking her what her whole name was the other day to which she replied, "Xiana with an X."
• Speaking of which, I don't know if I've mentioned she now calls herself Xiana. No more nana.
• We were shopping for a birthday present for one of her friends and Xiana said, "my pony." I explained to her that it was a present for Kamryn. She thought for a minute and then said, "and we share."
• Ever since it snowed she cautions me every time we leave the house, "be tareful mommy."
• I overheard her on the phone saying, "I'll email you." It took me a few to figure out where she got that. Then, we were watching Sesame Street and Elmo was checking his email. That must be the source as she is a Elmo junkie.
• We were at Walmart and Kacie and I were talking about how cute a pair of socks were. Xiana, listening as always, grabbed the socks off the shelf and yelled, "Oh! My! Gosh!"
• The shower curtain in our bathroom is lighthouses. Xiana always points to them and calls them temples.
• One day Garrett couldn't understand what she was saying when they were playing with her fake food. She said, "eat it tending," and he said, "no honey, we don't really eat this food." She replied, "no, tending!" I had to translate that she was saying pretending.
  
• I am still not sure where she got this one from, but all I can think is that her 2 year molars are coming in and I referenced them because yesterday she asked me to open my mouth so she could see my "molars" and then identified the correct teeth.
• When she plays hide-and-seek she can now count to 30. Also, she can spell her name.
• She was in the bath and I changed into a dress for school. When I came back in she said, "what you wearing mommy? You wear a dress? You a pretty princess?" I assured her that, yes, I am a pretty princess and that she is too. She looked down at her naked body in the tub and said, "no, I a mermaid."
• "I yike Elmo," she told me, "I no yike cookie monster, you yike cookie monster?" "Yes," I told her, "it's okay if you like them both. You can like Elmo and Cookie Monster." "Oh" she said. We went through this several more times throughout the day before she finally said, "no, I no yike cookie monster. He kinda scary."
• One day when she was pretending to drive her car to go grocery shopping she came into the kitchen with her arms full of "groceries" and asked, "hey, where I park my car?"
• I did her hair for church on Sunday and put bows on top. She asked if Garrett would get her dressed so he did. As we were heading out the door I asked, "hey, what happened to your bows?" She replied, "Garrett take them out." (which he most certainly did not) My dad said it was her first alibi.