Erin cracks me up. She’s totally into the “why?” stage, which can get totally annoying very quickly. But when she’s willing to have an actual conversation, she has an answer for absolutely everything.
Like when I tell her to come to the table for a meal, and she responds, “I’ll be right there Mommy. But first I have to finish putting up the green letters. Okay. Then I be there.”
That answer usually gets her in trouble for stalling instead of obeying.
But then there are times, like tonight, where just about everything that comes out of her mouth makes me laugh. She came with me all by herself to run a couple of quick errands.
Our first stop was Target where we’d accidentally left the diaper bag on Monday (they called us to let us know they had it…twice, just to make sure we knew where to find it…how nice!). Anyway, as we were walking across the parking lot, she announces, “Mommy be careful. Watch out for cars. Sometimes cars hit people.”
We got our bag and headed for Meijer to get her pink Cheerios (Yogurt Burst…definitely yummy). On the way, she is chattering away about where the Meijer was and where all the people are and where all the cars are going, and she asks me why we left the diaper bag at Meijer. I told her it was because she had thrown a fit on our way out of the store, and I was hurrying to get her and Alex and Megan into the van, and the bag was on the bottom of the cart so I missed it. But then, I said, they found it and called us which made me happy because my coupons were in there. And somehow, in that context, she throws out, “But Jesus and God, they make people happy, right Mommy?” Um…something like that, Sweetie.
We did make it to Meijer (she was amazed to see all the cars at the Applebees right in front of the store) and got our shopping trip quickly taken care of. On the way out, we started reviewing all her nicknames. “I am Daddy’s Pinkydink. And I am Papa’s Skinny Minnie.” But we got distracted just as I asked what I call her (the answer: Erin Elizabeth). So as we were getting into the car, she says again, “Mommy, I Daddy’s Pinkydink.” And I said, That’s right, and Skinny Minnie to boot. Her response: “Mommy, I not Boot. Papa call me Skinny Minnie. I saw Boot with Dora last night.” Oh…of course, my bad.
And that is pretty much life with Erin these days. She’s sharp as a tack and verbal as they come and keeps me on my toes. Gotta love that girl!
