Car Provoking Questions...???

With Alex, before I answer a question I always have to consider what triggered the question in the first place so I can give her a satisfying answer. Because if she isn't satisfied with the answer she will keep on pressing until she is. She always seems to come up with the oddest questions while driving in the car. I guess her mind takes over since she is forced to sit in one place for a period of time.

In the car on the way home from running errands:
Alex: "Does everyone have hair?"
Hmmm...some people shave their heads, some people loose their hair, why is she asking this?
Alex: "Like on their arms?"
That simplifies things.
Me: "Yes they do"
Alex: "Why?"
Me: "Well, to keep us warm. You know how dogs and bears and lions have lots of hair? Well it's because they don't wear clothes so they need more hair to keep them warm. It's a good thing we have clothes to keep us warm isn't it?"
After a little conversation about animals wearing clothes Alex gets serious and says...
Alex: "I don't want any hair on me"
Me: "Uh...let's not worry about that right now"
Then Thinking to myself, "I'd better not let her watch me shave my legs anymore or she might decide she wants to do that too."

In the car on the way to her cousin's house:
Alex: "Does the sun move?"
I know she is asking this because the sun is currently in her eyes and it wasn't a minute ago when we were driving in a different direction. Trying to keep things simple I answer with...
Me: "Yes, it does"
My answer seemed to work, the subject was dropped.
A few minutes later...
Alex: "How does the sun move?"
Brad gives me a warning not to go into the whole "well the sun doesn't actually move, the earth moves around it and we're spinning on an axle...etc" answer.
Me: "Well it wakes up every morning over there (pointing towards the East) and it moves across the sky and goes to bed over there (pointing to the West).
A long conversation goes on about the sun moving and the direction we're facing in accordance to the sun. I was trying desperately to satisfy her with an answer that wasn't too advanced which would bring up more questions and we only had a short time until we would be at our destination and the conversation would have to end. Another long pause...
Alex: "So...why does the sun move?"
She really truly WANTS to know why the sun moves! I finally tell her that we're almost to her cousin's, I have a book at home that will explain all of that to her and I will answer her question then. So now I have to have an astronomy lesson with my 4 year old and teach her all about the sun and solar system and everything because she won't be satisfied until she has solved the mystery of the moving sun.

Story Time...

Here's a picture to look at while I tell a few of my own stories about my kids. We recently organized our book collection after receiving another box of books from Grammie. Books are probably Alex's second favorite present after pretty new dresses (of course).

ANNUAL TRIP TO THE MALL:
Ok, well today I was at the mall, yes the mall, I never go there and today I was reminded why. I wish I had a camera phone so I could have clicked a quick picture of my kids. I had one stroller and two kids, the mall is a big place and Alex doesn't have the patience to walk around it for very long at all. Although she does just great running around a park for a couple of hours. It wasn't long before Alex was in the stroller and Johnny was walking alongside me. After a few comments from people about how things looked a little mixed up and Johnny wandering a little too much, I made it so they could both fit in the stroller at the same time. We walked around for 2 hours with them both dancing around in this little stroller in every position possible and getting on each other's nerves as well as my own. I wasn't going to cut the trip short though, I was on a mission to find certain things and I wasn't going to leave until they were found. After a quick lunch, I decided to take the escalator down to the car. The kids had been begging to ride on it all day so I figured what the heck. I had Alex behind me with Johnny buckled into the stroller in front of me. I had Alex's hand, we've done this before, no big deal. As I get Johnny and myself onto the moving stairs my independant and stubborn 4 year old yanks her hand out of mine and says "I want to do it on my own". So here I am moving further and further away from her and she's too scared now to ACTUALLY do it "on her own!" I was so mad and so worried at the same time. As I'm yelling up at her "this is why I wanted you to hold my hand!" I notice the young mother and grandmother in front of me who kindly offer to watch Johnny in the stroller while I run back up and grab Alex. My Mom is going to kill me for writing this in my blog, oh well. I'm planning my next trip to the mall in 2008, maybe I'll bring back up or leave one or both of them with a friend.

MAKING NEW FRIENDS

The other day we were at the park across the street from my house. Now that the sun is coming out the kids in the neighborhood are too. And luckily for Alex we have lots of little 4 year old girls for her to play with on our street. Well on this day there was a new little girl that we hadn't met before. Alex was often running into her on the gym and glancing sideways at her as if trying to figure out who she was through telepathy. So after awhile they were all on the slide next to each other and I came up and asked the girls if they had met this girl yet and proceeded to asked her her name. She says "my name is Katie"..."Great! How old are you Katie?"..."I'm 4!" Then Alex chimes in excitedly "I'm 4 too!" And the two girls immediatly hold hands and slide down the slide together. They played for the rest of their time there as if they had been best friends all their lives.

A CHILD'S MEMORY:

Does it ever amaze you when you find out how much information your kids retain with every new thing thrown at them each day? The other day I was reading about Alma going on a mission in the Book of Mormon. He was just refered to as Alma at this time and Alex points out to me at different times as I'm reading that "he's the younger" (Alma the younger), that "he used to be bad and now he's good", and that "his Dad's name is Alma too". These are things we read about a couple of weeks ago and I figured she wasn't getting much out of the stories at all and here she's remembering details like this.

MONKEY SEE MONKEY DO:

The other night the kids were brushing their teeth and Johnny pulls some of Alex's headbands out of the drawer and puts them around his neck. Alex of course decides that she MUST have some headbands of her own to adorn her neck. So my kids went about their usual business for the rest of the night with multiple headbands around their neck. Each of them wishing the whole time that they had ALL of the headbands to themselves. This is how life is with two kids, they must always have what the other has no matter how senseless it is.

Getting ready for the ball!

My family has an obsession with little girl's

dresses and Alex, being the only granddaughter

on my side of the family is the beneficiary.

She calls this one her "Cinderella dress".