love letters

My daughter is a nerd.


She is obsessed with her ABCs. Like, seriously obsessed. 


She sings them. She recognizes them. (There are one gajillion "Xs" on the freeway, I'll have you know.) She giggles at them. She uses funny voices to recite them. She longs to watch YouTube videos about them. 


And yes, I think she loves them so much she wants to marry them. 


She even loves letters when she thinks no one is listening, as evidenced by this sneaky audio recording we took of Mags when she was supposed to be falling asleep. (We're stealth like that.) Her room was pitch black, but nothing could keep her from basking in the light of letter love. 

moms say the darndest things

THINGS I APPARENTLY SAY TO MY DAUGHTER:
(Because, you know, she totally now says them to me.)


"It's not a toy!"


"Just a minute."


"Sure!"


"You hungry?" 
(This is, naturally, how she states that SHE is hungry. I love it too much to correct her.)


"Bye you hungry."
(I don't say this one, but Maggie does when I tell her it's not time for lunch yet. I won't be correcting this one, either.)


"Hey look at this."


"Or ... " 
(Usually after I've offered a suggestion for lunch.)


"How 'bout this one?"


"Don't bite it!"


"I'm coming, Lydi!" or "It's OK, Lydi!" 
(Said to Lydi when she cries. And don't worry — Maggie likes to cry while she's saying it. Sister solidarity? Try, "That's so super annoying, Lydi.")


"Oh so pretty!"


"No splashing!"


"What did you do?!"


"Crying's not gonna help you." 
(Typically said whilst she's sobbing, of course. But my favorite moment? When she told a tearful Lydia that crying wasn't going to help her, either. It's hard out there for a toddler.)