The World According to HJ - Part 2

There were so many things that I forgot to include in my last post about the funny, sweet, uniquely HJ things that HJ says that I decided to compose a second edition. I like that it helps keep things in perspective for me, especially when we've had a rough couple weeks with sickness, crazy sleepless nights, and hectic mornings. So here goes, Part 2 of "The World According to HJ..."

"Mommy, I'm three," said very seriously in response to my worrying out loud to Sol about what HJ is going to be like when she is a teenager.

"Mommy, why you do that with your eyes?" asked when I was trying to imitate the cute, scrunched-up face she makes when she's trying to explain something or tell a dramatic story.

"I not want to relax!" in response to the constant reminders I give her to "just relax" when I am trying to shampoo her hair during her bath.

"I here, Lila. Don't cry, I here," when she gets into the car after I pick her up from preschool and she sees that Lila has been wailing away in her car seat.

"Hooray! You find your keys, Mommy!" with much clapping and fanfare after a particularly stressful morning of running around looking for my car keys before her friend Andrew's "Diego" birthday party.

"Ha-ji, look at this! Ha-ji, you want this?" said in a very sweet voice to my dad after a day after she had been not on her best behavior at my parents' house. She also offered him a tiny piece of her snack (normally HJ is most definitely not a food-sharer.)

"I lost my muffin! Call Mrs. Strauts!" said very urgently when she came home from preschool and she thought she had left her peach muffin from breakfast at school.

"I don't want Mommy go class, go doctor appointment, or color your hair," in an effort to remember all the times I had to leave her in the past week to do something where she couldn't come along.

"I don't want Lila to look my window, only her window," said while we were driving somewhere and Lila kept peering out of her car seat towards her direction.

"No Daddy! You're Korean!" when Sol tried to read the Spanish words in her Dora book.

"How morning, guys!" (translation "Good morning, guys") said very enthusiastically and loudly to her classmates when she came to preschool late yet again.

"Bye, friends! Bye!" as she leaves preschool everyday. Did I mention she loves preschool?

"I don't like Daddy make a fire and steak" (translation - No grilling, Daddy! Why? We're not sure. She doesn't like "the fire...")

"I want Daddy cook something else." And for some reason the only thing she wants Daddy to cook? Eggs... And more specifically, "No yellow part, only white."

Yes, that's our girl, our little HJ... Seriously, I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried...

The World According to HJ

So HJ has been talking up a storm these days. I'm not sure if it's the speech therapy, her age, or if she's just ready to share her thoughts with the world, but I'm loving it. I'm trying hard to remember all the funny and insightful things she says, because I know even a year ago, it was rare to hear her express so much verbally. So in no particular order, here are some of the things HJ has said in the last week that I don't want to forget...

"Mommy, it's a beautiful day," as we walk into church and she's eating a piece of canadian bacon and hashbrown from breakfast.

"I want Daddy to buy me that ________ " (fill in the blank -- bounce house, giant green plastic frog at the mall playground, whatever strikes her fancy). I find it pretty endearing at this point that she thinks Daddy can and will buy her whatever she wants. It's not like he really does.... usually!

"Daddy fix that..." in regard to any toy that breaks or runs out of batteries. To Sol's credit, he once painstakingly glued together a tiny plastic flower ring that Mommy had accidentally stepped on. 

"I want to lie down outside and look at the clouds with Corinna."

"No highway for you!" before Sol goes to work every morning. Sometimes followed by, "No highway. Not for Daddy, not for Mommy!"  for extra emphasis. 

"No Swiper, No!" every time Lila grabs one of HJ's toys and starts putting it in her mouth. Apparently Lila = Swiper. 

"No orange soap for you, Mommy (or Daddy)" -- HJ is very particular about which soap we use in the bathroom. The orange soap is hers; the blue soap is for everyone else. 

"Nobody look at my baby!" or "Nobody hold my baby!" Although Lila = Swiper sometimes, apparently she is also HJ's baby, and HJ is a very protective big sister!

Although there are still moments where I feel like we are playing charades with HJ (i.e. when she can't find something she's looking for and she can't quite describe it, I'm always like, "Ok, what color is it?" "Is it a book? A toy? Where did you play with it?") overall life has become a thousand times easier now that she can tell us how she's feeling and what she's thinking. Thank the Lord for those speech therapists and the fact that eventually HJ seems to catch up developmentally with her peers, even if it's on her own timetable. Just like everything else she does, I guess it's not her style to follow the crowd. She's just a girl who always has her own plans in mind... And now she's willing to let the world know all about it...