Little Coffee Beans

tweet tweet tweet

 

"Mama, mama. Mama. You hear that 'tweet tweet tweet' bird over there? What kind of bird is that one Mama?"

"Hmn. I'm not sure sweetie."

"Hear that Mama? 'Tweet tweet tweet'?" 

"I do."

"And you hear that one up there on the hill Mama? It goes 'caw caw'. That's a crow Mama. You hear it?"

"Yes. You're right, it is a crow."

 

 

Five minutes prior to this conversation I was ready to run to the forest as fast as I could. We were having one of those afternoons and my girl was all over me. I was begging her for just a few minutes of space. Just a few minutes of quiet. She was amped up, and using that voice (you know, that one) and she couldn't be more than three inches from me at any time. 

A little exasperated I went inside and made a batch of popcorn, and we sat down in the sun for our afternoon snack. The popcorn quited her chattering, and she started listening to the sounds around us: the frogs, the creek, the breeze and the birds. Mid snack, she came over and gave me a big ol olive oil and yeast covered kiss and said, "Mama, I want to sit with you on your lap. Okay Mama? Let's listen to the birds."

"Okay sweetie, let's listen to the birds together."

And so we did.

 

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{this moment}

A few days ago as Linden let out a cry, Zinnia cozied up next to him and said, "it's okay baby, Rae Rae (Zinnia) is here."

                                                                                                                                                playing along with SouleMama

heart. melt.

One of Zinnia's favorite books is Guess How Much I Love You. She loves playing along with little nutbrown hare as he stretches his arms out wide and proclaims his love for big nutbrown hare. It's such a sweet story, and those last two pages are the best: "I love you right up to the moon - and back."

Recently, she's learned how to sign I LOVE... "Mama", "Dada" or whomever it is that she's expressing her affection for. It's the sweetest thing to not only hear, but to see her sign the sentiment. And following the lead of little nutbrown hare, she's begun stretching her arms out wide adding, "THIS much!"

Major. Heart. Melt.

A few days ago, Steve was changing her diaper and I could hear the two of them talking. I think they were going back and forth about who was putting on the butt cream. Zinnia quieted down as Steve fastened the diaper cover. After a moment of silence, I heard her say, "I love small baby THIS much!" 

I was blown away. Sure, we talk about the small baby often enough and she's felt him kick, but I wonder how much sense she really makes of it all. We look at her birth pictures and talk about the day she came out of Mama's belly and how happy we were to hold her, and kiss her. She asks if she can hold the small baby. And she thinks there's a small baby in her belly, too. I think what really touched me is the fact that, on her own, she was not only thinking of the baby, she was feeling love for him.

I already know I'll look back on these days of watching her slowly become a big sister as some of my favorite memories. 

chalk stories

We had a slow and low kind of weekend complete with lots of putzing around the house. These last few weeks of winter have really slowed us down - I'm starting to lose patience with the inside more than outside ratio. (Spring? Are you out there?) I also haven't made anything crafty since the holidays. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. My creative juices feel like they're in hibernation mode. I've got no ups.

Zinnia, on the other hand, is on fire creatively speaking and this chalkboard has been her vehicle for steady self expression. It's been really cool to see her imagination start to bud out, with chalk in hand. I didn't expect to see story telling happen at this age and I'm so intrigued by the workings of her little mind. Chalk flowers, dogs, cats, diggers and geckos come to life as she babbles on and on about this and that. The stories aren't always intelligible, but the light in her eye and the smirk on her face give away just how good they really must be. She giggles as she scribbles in circles, squealing about "big yellow diggers... crunch crunch crunch!"

One of the highlights of our weekend was meeting this little fella. Chapi! ("chop ee") Isn't he adorable? He's the new babe of a dear friend and they came by for a meet and greet on Saturday. Zinnia loves him and I think he was smitten with her, too. I mean she did taste like avocado, cheese and peanut butter after all. I think they'll be good friends.

Friends, I hope your week starts off with a few laughs and some time for something creative. Happy Monday to ya!

{happy}

My girl calls herself "Rae Rae." I'm not sure how "Zinnia" translates to "Rae Rae" but in her mind it works. It's really cute actually, her little self-titled nicknamed. "What's your name Zinnia?" "Rae Rae" she replies. Adorable. 

This morning while we were enjoying our oatmeal with blueberries, she looked at me and out of the blue said, "Rae Rae happy." 

I tell you, it's moments like this that make all the nights of little sleep, leg-clinging whining and seemingly pointless crying completely worth while. It's the moments like this that I choose to remember. 

Zinnia, Mama is happy, too. So very happy.