Quotes!

Recent Quotes and Conversations From the Three Bambinos:

Owen tends to be overly dramatic at times about minor injuries (which is ironic since he has the highest pain tolerance you can possibly, possibly, possibly imagine). The other day we were in the kitchen and he banged his foot on the counter by accident. It was no big deal, but he started screaming as if the world were ending.

H: Owen, just remember, don’t be the boy who cried wolf.

O: I’m not! I’m the boy who cried foot!

*

If you’ve read this blog much at all, then you know the extent to which my boys can eat. Although they are only six years old, they have genuine appreciation for the all-you-can-eat-buffet~~

K: When we grow up, me and Owen are going to live together and go out to dinner every night at a big buffet.

*

Owen and Kyle have begun the life-long process of attempting to comprehend the social construction we call money. Ugh. Anyway…  they really want to grasp the meaning of money, and I see them trying to wrap their heads around it. They currently have two, and only two, ways of receiving money: 1) from the tooth fairy, and 2) from MorFar, who sometimes gives them a dollar or two when he sees them. The first time they each lost a tooth, the tooth fairy left them notes telling them to “save their money for something special.” They really took that to heart and are actively trying to save money. However, since we see MorFar infrequently, and they lose teeth even more infrequently, their money-making/saving ventures are quite slow-going. That doesn’t dampen their enthusiasm for it, however! The other day I walked into the family room to find them trying to pull each others teeth out. They each have a couple loose teeth, but they are very (very!) far from being ready to come out. Overheard~~

O: Kyle, I can’t get it! I can’t get your tooth out! I really can’t!

K: Come on Owen! Just yank it! Yank it as hard as you can!

O: It’s stuck!

K: [trying to encourage his brother to keep pulling—]  Make money Owen! Let’s make money! That’s what we’re trying to do!!!!!!!!!!!

*

Now that lawn-mowing season is slowing down, the boys are missing their beloved weekly ritual of harassing following the lawn-mowing guys around our yard when they come to mow. They have forever and always told us that as soon as they are old enough, they want us to buy a lawnmower and they will mow our lawn for us. We are absolutely all for that, and plan on taking them up on that offer ASAP! As far as K & O are concerned, the time cannot come soon enough. The other day~~

K: Mommy, you know what?I’m saving all my money to buy a lawnmower. I’m going to lose all my teeth and all my molars to buy it.

*

Fireworks are still a major topic of conversation in our house, even though the 4th of July was a whole 3 MONTHS AGO! (?!?!) The other day the three bambinos were playing in the playroom. K & O had concocted an elaborate scheme/scene wherein they were using various pieces of random toys to “set off fireworks.” Meera was enthralled with this and was playing along in her own way by continually repeating: “Fireworks! Fireworks scare me!”~~

O: [interrupting the action to get down on his knees to look Meera in the eye, totally completely sincerely—]  Meera, it’s ok! Fireworks are just a part of nature!!!

*

Kyle and Meera were playing alone in the playroom the other day while Owen and I were making dinner. It was unusually quiet (which always makes me nervous). I yelled into the playroom “Kyle, is Meera doing ok in there?” He yelled back~~

K: Yup! She’s doing ok! Don’t worry, if a monster comes I’ll protect her!!!

*

We still are getting the boys up every night before we go to bed to have them pee. If we don’t do this we risk having at least one, if not two, pee-pee accidents by morning. The reduction in laundry alone is worth the hassle of getting them up. (something people without lots of experience with twins probably don’t think of much: double the pee pee accidents). The other night as we were putting them to bed~~

O: Don’t forget to wake me up to pee so that I don’t have an accident! O.k.? Oh! And yeah— get me up in the MIDDLE of the night, not the SIDE of the night, o.k.?!

*

The three bambinos continue to be OBSESSED with The Lion King. Even Meera, who wasn’t even at the Broadway show with us, and has barely a clue as to what The Lion King even actually is, is just as obsessed as her brothers. They put on the music and go nuts — regularly (like, almost daily). But now they do more than just play out all the parts– they plan for the future when THEY will star in the Broadway show. K & O plan to both play the part of Simba (they’ve learned that sometimes productions like to cast twins to take turns night-by-night playing one role and they think that this is a fabulous idea). The other day~~

K: O.k., Owen, you will be Simba on the even days and I will be Simba on the odd days. Right?

O: Yes, that’s right.

K: And what will Meera be?
O: Meera will be Nala. I figured it out! We’ll paint her skin brown with body paint! We will paint it every night! We’ll paint everything except for her private parts because nobody is allowed to see those parts anyway so they’ll never know that she’s actually white!”

*

A couple of weeks ago we were watching the movie Princess and the Frog. Anyone who has seen it knows that in it there are two major female characters who, throughout the story, are close friends— Tiana (who is clearly black), and Charlotte (who is clearly white). The thing that was so fascinating to me about the following was what it reveals about K & O’s understanding of the –for them, very probable and ‘natural’– potential for black and white people to be siblings (or, apparently, even twins):

K: Owen, you see them? Tiana and Charlotte?
O: Yup.

K: Remember how Papi said that they’re best friends?
O: Yup.

K: Do you think that’s true or not?
O: I don’t know.

K: Are they actually sisters? are they twins?

O: I think so.

K: I think so too. I think they are actually sisters or maybe twins.

*

The first week of school I made macaroni-and-cheese for “The Swap”. Owen LOVED it and couldn’t get enough of it. At school one day that week, during pick-up, we saw Shalinee and Kavya. We were already in the car and driving out of the parking lot, but I stopped so that the boys could say hi to them from the backseat. We chatted for a minute and Shalinee mentioned that they were going to be eating the macaroni-and-cheese for dinner that night. We had eaten it the night before. Owen and Kyle got very excited, telling them how good it was and how they were going to just LOVE it! As we pulled away Owen screamed wildly out the window, “The macaroni and cheese is sooooo gooooooood! IT WILL WATER YOUR MOUTH!!!”

*

One day the boys were playing in the backyard. I was watching them from our kitchen window, as I was washing dishes at the sink. They each had a big stick that they were carrying around with them the whole time — from the swings, to the sandbox, to the grass, etc. — regardless of what they were doing, they had the sticks with them. Apparently, the sticks were “spears.” Overheard~~

O: Kyle! I have to pee! I’m going to go inside to the bathroom! I’m bringing my spear!

K: Ok!

O: Don’t worry, I’ll be right back!

K: Ok!

O: Don’t worry, Kyle! If we separate, its okay, because we have our spears!

*

Now… switching gears a bit…

(I have thought a lot about this one, and still find it quite profound…)  One day toward the end of the summer I was sitting at the kitchen table with all three kids while they were coloring. Out of the blue~~

K: Meera, do you want to go to Haiti? to our country?

M: Sure!

K: Do you want to see our country?

M: Sure!

K: Because we’re already seeing your country.

*

Braydon and the boys, driving to the grocery store a while back– out of the blue, from the backseat~~

K: Papi, did you know that I wish I grew in Mommy’s belly?

*

Recently~~

K: Mommy, when I grow up I’m going to marry someone from Haiti, but we’re not going to live there because I’m too scared of earthquakes.

*

And…  switching gears again…   for the first time ever… quotes from Meera!~~~~~

The other morning I came downstairs after getting dressed for work, and as I walked into the kitchen where Meera was playing she looked up at me, her face lit up, and she exclaimed: “Mama! I like your outfit!!”  (!!!!!!!! age 2.)

And Meera’s current favorite choice phrases: “I got it first!” (we hear this at least 100 times a day and believe us when we say that she usually did NOT get it –whatever it is at any given moment– first).  “My coming too!” (again, at least 100 times a day, trailing behind K & O no matter where they are going or how fast they are going there). After just about every single thing that she eats enters her mouth: “Delicious!”  And her most used and over-used remark, for any and everything, at least 200 times a day: “Oh my gosh! Oh my goodness!”

*

And, saving the best for last… last but not least… my favorite…

Out of the blue one day, from Kyle to me~~

K: Mommy, I just love you so much I wish I was married with you.