File under "Things my 4 yr old says"

1. I'm ready Freddy!
2. When I grow up am I going to have big boobs like you? (My answer was: "I hope not.")
3. Aye aye Captain! What's that mean?
4. Let's rock and roll!

Astrid thinking about her Papa

U. is away on business for a conference in Austin, TX. It's difficult to explain to a 4 year old where their other parent is, as they don't understand a) where they went, b) why, and c) when they're coming back - no matter how many times you try and explain so they understand.

An example of that is this conversation I had with Astrid tonight:
Astrid: "Where did Papa go?"
Me: "He's in Texas honey."
Astrid: "But why?"
Me: "He's there for work. He'll be back on Tuesday."
Astrid: "Where is he going to sleep?"
Me: "He's staying at a hotel."
Astrid: "Is he going to sleep in a bed?"
Me: "Yes, the hotel has a bed in his room."
Astrid: "But does he have a refrigerator?!"
Me: (laughing) "A refrigerator? Why would you ask that? Why does he need a refrigerator?"
Astrid: "So he can eat and cook food mama!"
Me: (still laughing) "Don't worry honey, he's in the city - not out in the boonies of Texas. There are plenty of restaurants. Don't worry about Papa. He'll be just fine."
Astrid: "Are you sure Mama?"
Me: "Yes I'm sure."

So U. if you're out there reading this, you may want to send us a pic of you eating so your daughter knows you aren't starving in some remote part of Texas.

Tissue vs. Napkin

"Do you need a tissue?" I asked.

After I heard the "Yes" in agreement, I handed Astrid what I thought would do the trick (as I was driving).

After a second Astrid said, "This is not a tissue! It's a napkin."

I had to laugh at that one. She actually knows the difference. When I shared this with U. his comment was, "It's not because she's smart, it's because she's spoiled. I didn't know the difference until I was 10 years old." Haha. Kids these days - pampered and all.

A few chuckles to share

#1 - Astrid was interested in trying some organic turkey jerky. When I gave her a piece she looked up at me with a mischievous grin and asked, "Mom, is this doggy treat?"

See my mom gives her dog jerky treats when training her to do stupid dog tricks. Many a time Astrid has been the one doling out treats and asking the dog to give her a high 10.

#2 - Astrid and I made a batch of vanilla cookies. After dinner Astrid had a cookie for dessert, and after she gave her dad a piece of her cookie to try, she said, "Say thank you to us."

Miss manners.

#3 - I was doing some yard work today, and Astrid as always wanted to come out to watch what I was doing. All of a sudden she screamed and jumped back. When I asked her what was the matter, she pointed and said, "There's a BIG ant and it's scary mommy!"

I looked down and saw a big black beetle trying to scurry for cover.

After I told her what it was and that it wouldn't hurt her, she asked me what they ate. Something to look up on Wikipedia. She decided on her own that they eat leaves and now less fearful, she tried to feed it.

Watching the Oscars with Astrid

Ask woke up from her nap and in a fog asked, "Is it almost time to watch TV?"

We promised Astrid that she could watch the Oscars award show on TV with us tonight. We're going to have a little feast of finger foods and guacamole - and make it a special family time.

Astrid: "Is it almost time to watch TV?"
Me: "Yes, we're gonna watch the Oscars together."
Astrid: (puzzled look on her face) "What's the Oscars?"
Me: "It's an award show for the movies."
Astrid: "Oh I know! Oscar's in the trash can."

My kid is confusing the Oscars (Academy Awards Show) with Oscar the Grouch (Sesame Street). So cute!

Astrid's a clever one

Astrid wanted to sit on my lap the entire time I was getting my nails done. The lady who was giving me a pedicure was trying to get Astrid off my lap so I could relax. She tried all sorts of things and nothing worked. So then she said, "I don't think you can walk."

Astrid: "Yes, I can."
Nail Salon Lady (NSL): "No, I don't think you can. I haven't seen it."
Astrid: "Yes."
NSL: "Why don't you show me. Can you show me that you can walk?"
Astrid: "No, not right now. When I leave you can see me walk."

All of the ladies in the nail salon who heard Astrid (including myself) burst out laughing. She's a clever one.

A 3 year olds concept of money

Astrid showed me the shiny penny that her dad had given to her and told me flat out, "Mom, I love money!"

Like a broken record

We had to take my car in to be serviced for a faulty window. One day it decided to go down and refused to come back up again.

For whatever reason Astrid asks me constantly what happened to my car and "Why you take it to fix it?"

It got to the point where I'm sick of repeating myself. No matter how many times I explained to her what happened, she would immediately ask me again, as if she wasn't hearing me, but just likes to hear me repeat myself over and over again.

So tonight the conversation went like this:

Astrid: "Mom? Why you fix you car?"
Me: "Astrid, I already told you 10 times in the last hour. You know why."
Astrid: "It broken?"
Me: "Yes, but I don't want to talk about it anymore tonight. Okay?"
Astrid: "Oh, okay"
Me: A sigh of relief escapes me thinking I've finally got her off the subject.
Astrid: "Mom, I want to talk to you. I want to talk a little bit."
Me: "Okay what do you want to talk about?"
Astrid: "Um...I want...I want...I want to talk about your car."

Whatcha gonna do? I just had to laugh out loud. And in the end Astrid and I were both laughing about it. Kids!

From the mouths of babes

Astrid was fascinated by all the people in the MAC store applying cosmetics. I didn't think much of it as I saw her staring. I was just happy I had some time to pick out a new lipstick while the little one was entertained by her surroundings. Until we left the store and Astrid starting talking, and showing me how people were applying makeup.

Astrid: "Why they put on their eye?"
Me: "Oh you mean mascara? They put that on their eyelashes."
Astrid: "Yeah on their eye."
(I'm thinking it must look strange from her point of view like they're putting something on their eye. This morning she quizzed me thoroughly about my eyelash curler and if it hurt. Which I assured her it didn't. Us women know it only hurts when we accidentally pinch ourselves.)
Astrid: "Why they do that?"
Me: "You mean why do they wear makeup?"
Astrid: "Yeah. Why???"
Me: "Oh I guess it's because they think it makes them look better."
Astrid pointed her little finger at me and said...
Astrid: "You too!"
I had to chuckle at that. Every morning she's watches me apply makeup in the bathroom before leaving the house. I'm guilty as charged.

Proof my kid is funny (a comedian in the making?)

Astrid has always taken great pleasure in making me laugh. And when she makes Papa laugh the whole house is filled with laughter.

After dinner tonight as I was strapping Astrid into her car seat we had this little back and forth

Astrid: "Mama take bath with me?"
Me: "No, I don't think so. Not tonight honey."
(Recently I have been taking a bath with her in the evening and then another one in the morning before work, but I'm trying to limit myself to just one bath in the morning so my skin doesn't get super dry.)
Astrid: "Why?"
Me: "Well, because I'm not dirty. I didn't run and play on the playground like you did."
Astrid: "You not dirty?"
Me: "No, I'm not dirty."
Astrid: "You butt not dirty?"
Me: (Pause) "No, my butt's not dirty." (laughter)
(I had to really think about it. She's right - you only get that shower fresh and clean feeling after a bath. Haha.)
Astrid: "Gotcha!"
(We both started cracking up, and I ended up bathing with her.)

In the bathtub

Astrid was using her toy trumpet as a phone. I tried to say something to her, when she put her finger up to her mouth and said - "Shhhhh. Just a second. I talking on phone. Don't cry." - and went back to talking on the phone (er trumpet), shooting me sideways glances until she couldn't hold it in any longer and started laughing out loud.

The things she says at 2 years and 8 months

Wanted to jot down some of the things Astrid is saying now (as it's constantly changing).

• "I want to see Papa's peter!" (peter = computer)
• "I have to go peep." (peep = short for pee pee)
• "What ya doin'?" (She always asks this of the other person she's speaking to on the phone.)
• "Icky mouth." (Said when I wet a tissue to wipe her face. Also "icky" in general when she gets kisses.)
• "Sorry, sorry, sorry" (She's quick to apologize about some things and stubborn like a bull about others.)
• "Let me kiss it." (We were in Target recently when Astrid ran the cart over my foot. She offered to kiss it, to make it better. Really sweet, but sorta embarrassing when you're standing in a store and your kid is down on the floor, repeatedly kissing your big toe.)
• "I have to call Lindsay now." (She tells me that she has to make a phone call to her friend. She's so phone crazy now, that I cringe at the thought of her future teenage phone obsession.)
• "I'm talking to Grandma." (Pretending to talk to Grandma on her cell phone.)
• "Mama where are you? There you are!" (She wants to know where I am at all times. Even when I'm in the shower and her dad is watching her she cries because she wants to be with me. Recently she laid down on the bathroom rug in front of the tub/shower, in the fetal position and waited for me.)
• "There it is! I got it!" (Whenever she finds something she's been looking for. All proud of herself.)
• "I can't find it. You found it?" (As you can see, we're constantly looking for things she misplaced like pieces of a puzzle, her blanket, toys, etc.)
• "Lemme do it. I'll do it. Lemme do it." (Said in rapid succession. She wants to be independent and put on her shoes, socks and clothes by herself.)
• "Look at me! Look at me!" (I first heard this said by a German kid..."Guck mal! Guck mal!" and now my own kid is saying it too in English. Something about this age when they want attention. It's super cute when she shouts this out when she's riding her tricycle.)
• "Sure." (I love it when I ask her to do something and she responds with "Sure" and promptly does it. It makes her sound so grown up and when we hear "Sure" we know there's no impending battle on our hands.)
• "I can't do it!" (The word "can't" has unfortunately entered her vocabulary. I keep reassuring her that she can, or that she only needs a little help.)
• "I need to go work." (We gave her the option of cooking or cleaning and she chose cooking.)
• "I need to go school." (She can't wait to go to school so she can play with the other kids and make more friends.)
• "Mama go work. Astrid go school." (We've been having a constant dialogue lately about me going back to work and Astrid going to school. I'm glad that she's showing that she understands what's going to happen once I start working again.)
• "No, it's mine." (I dislike hearing her say this, but it's the age. She gets very protective about another kid taking whatever she's playing with or eating. But in other circumstances she can be very generous with her belongings - especially with her friends and in a play group - so it just depends. In preschool she'll be forced to share so it'll be interesting to see how this stage will develop.)
• "Let's talk a little bit." (Every night at bedtime we talk about our day and what we did. She loves talking and she has the floor on this and 100% of my attention. If I let her she would talk all night. All I have to say to get her running towards her bedroom is, "Astrid don't you want to lay down and talk a little bit?")
• "Papa, can you hear me? I need to go pee pee." (Astrid shouts this every morning from her crib as soon as she wakes up. It's U.'s alarm clock to get Astrid, and her diaper has been consistently dry every morning.)
• "I want something else." (Not a picky eater, or picky in general, but she voices what she needs more and more, which is what I've been striving for. I keep telling her to use her words and not whine, so she can tell me what she wants.)
• "Hmmmm....let me think." (Cute to see that she consciously "thinks". She will stop and roll her eyes up and really "think" about it.)
• "I wanna see pictures Mom." (Still loves looking at photos of herself and her friends on my laptop.)
• "First?" (She understands sequence now and confirms with me if we are going to do something "first" before we do the next thing. For example: I need to wash the dishes first before I can play with her. Or she needs to eat her lunch first before she can have the animal crackers. Or we will go here first before we go there. Makes life a lot easier now that she understands this so she doesn't cry when she doesn't get instant gratification.)
• "Thanks!" (She started dropping "thank you", preferring to say "thanks" instead. Sounds so grown up.)
• "Put the robe on Mommy! I freezing!" (A request she makes every time she gets out of the bathtub. Sometimes it's accompanied by a very dramatic shiver like she's suffering from hypothermia and not in a warm house, after a warm bath. As soon as her robe is on, she's a perfectly happy kid again.)

I thought the "I know it all" stage came later

"It's not funny. It's FUNNY!" (This is her response when told it's not funny.)


"It's not 'Weihnachten', it's 'Christmas'!" (Weihnachten is Christmas in German.)


"No mommy. Rose!" (Astrid has gotten it in her head to call me "Rose". When I correct her and tell her I'm mommy, she tells me I'm not mommy that I'm Rose."

"No baby. I Astrid." (When she found the right puzzle piece I said to her, "Good job baby." She responded that she's not a baby; that she's Astrid. Sheesh.)


"Not Angel. Just Astrid!" (Astrid called for her Papa and he responded, "Yes my angel." Astrid in turn said she was not an angel and her name was Astrid."


"Papa you have to share!" (As you can guess - said when she can't have something.)

Shopping and found a furry funny hat

This morning I had to take my car in for a scheduled maintenance, and since it's close to Glendale Galleria, Astrid and I did some shopping while our car was getting serviced.

The children's clothing dept. was turned upside down by the Christmas shoppers and there was stuff lying on the floor which Astrid would pick through and look at - including this funny hat.

Astrid and I laughed and laughed and laughed. Is it a bear's head? Beats me what it was doing in the children's section but it was so ridiculous that I had to take a photo of it.

Shaken, not stirred please

You can never be too young to learn how to make a martini. Astrid was fascinated with the martini shaker, so U. showed her how it's done.Before you know it she'll be making our cocktails.

Uh Oh Duckie Fall Down

I bought Astrid this new blanket recently to replace her old baby blanket (that has holes and stains). See that duckie on the top, next to the hem, that's upside down and partially cut off? Astrid pointed to that duck and said, "Uh oh. Duckie fall down." It's so cute to get a peek into the thoughts of my 2 year old toddler. It made me think of Piaget and his stages of cognitive development.