Larkin's new favorite saying is, "I have a good idea." She says it at least 500 times a day. Most of the time she really does have a pretty good idea, like sharing a toy, or picking a book to read, but every now and then her concept of a good idea and mine don't exactly mesh.

Larkin loves to sing Christmas songs. I am amazed at all the songs she knows this year. Granted, we have Christmas songs playing every day at our house in December, but still ... she knows the words to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, Jingle Bells (this one she learned last year), Deck the Halls, Santa Clause is Coming to Town, Silver Bells, Away in a Manger, Up on the Housetop, White Christmas, The Hippopotamus song, and a few others I'm sure I'm forgetting.

I had to laugh yesterday when The First Noel came on the radio in the car and she belts out the chorus from the back seat, "Nowhere! NOWHERE! Nowhere! NOWHERE!"

I still smile when I think about her singing "Nowhere" instead of "Noel" :)

We opened up the Christmas books last night, and I read this one to Larkin before bed. She listened with intensity as the Grinch went about being nasty, and commented several times that he wasn't being very nice.

This morning she searched and searched through all the Christmas books and kept asking, "Where's that Grouch book?"

:)

... The Grouch who stole Christmas ... sounds about right!

Christmas Found

We spent the evening roaming around the mall (along with everyone else in Sacramento) when Larkin spied Santa perched on his comfy couch and posing for photos. She tugged on my hand and said, "Look mom, there's Christmas. There he is."

I laughed and said, "Larkin, that's Santa."

Larkin tugged on my hand again and said, "I want to go see him. I'll tell daddy I found Christmas."

Larkin is a little dramatic. Just a tad of drama with this little girl. One of her favorite phrases lately has been, "I'm freaking out!" and usually she is absolutely correct ... she is freaking out. It's funny to hear her say it though.

I have been working with Larkin on her first and last name, as well as the street we live on. The other night we were out for a walk and I asked her:

"What street do you live on Larkin?"

Larkin: "The Empty Street."

Me: "The Empty Street? We live on Anthea Street. Can you say Anthea Street?"

Larkin: "Empty Street."

Me. "Pretty close. How about your name, do you know your name?"

Larkin: "Larkin Amy"

Me: That's pretty close. Your name is Larkin Rice."

Larkin: "No, I'm Amy Rice."

... we will revisit this later.

Polka Dots

Today as I was putting on lotion, Larkin got some lotion and said, "Hold still momma. I put lotion on your polka dots." I laughed and told her, "Those are my freckles."

Ice-cones

Ice cream cones at our house have become "Ice-cones" ... and let's be honest, who really has time to add an extra syllable anyhow!

Larkin has also started saying, "What about this one?" or "How about I want a turn?" or "What about that over there?" It is very funny to me that she has added "What about ... and how about" to her vocabulary. It makes her sound so grown up to communicate that way.

Larkin loves to sing. Sometimes I hear her combining several songs together or adapting the words, and it always makes me smile. One of her latest adaptations is to the ABC song. I heard her singing the other day, "A B C D F and G" :)

Larkin loves her class at church. I always ask her what she learned in her class and she tells me she played with balls, or sang songs, or ate snack ... sometimes I wonder what her little mind is learning, if anything at all. Then the other day she sat me down and said, "It's time to listen momma." Then she opened up her book (I believe it was about dinosaurs) and showed me the picture and said, "This Jesus Price." She turned the page and said, "This Jesus Price. He love sharing."

Jesus Price??? And He loves sharing huh!?! Good to know.

Snapshots of Larkin

We sat at our favorite burger place eating french fries dipped in ketchup and Larkin spied some peanut shells on the ground under our table. Pointing at the mess, she exclaimed in disgust, "Oh man! Mom look .... I HATE that!"

We were packing to go camping. It was going to be a busy weekend with lots of family, and we had talked with Larkin about what she could expect ... in the bathtub she played with some toys and talked happily to herself, "You my cousins. Hi cousins. These my cousin friends. Hi cousin friends."

I put on a skirt to go to the store and Larkin insisted in wearing a "big skirt" too. I went to her closet and pulled out a pink ballerina skirt. When she checked herself out in the mirror she squealed with delight, "I look like princess! I a princess momma! I so cute!" {Don't you worry she insisted on wearing her pajama shirt to the store with her "princess" skirt}

Twinkle Twinkle

Larkin's new favorite pastime ...

StAr GaZiNg!

Every night this past week we have gone out back to watch the stars. We even saw the little dipper. Every time I point it out Larkin says, "Deeper Deeper Deeper."

I love you all day!

A few Larkinisms from the last few weeks

"I love you all day!"

Whenever we find a mystery puddle of anything at our house, "That is not okay!"

Adding ING to the end of words is a favorite right now. "It's darking outside.", "I'm stucking."

While driving in the car to church in the morning, "It's too late." "It's too late." "It's too late."

Whenever she yawns she has to say, "Oh. I so tired."

Funny Face

I love this time of year. We spend lots of time outside exploring and having adventures, and that means my camera is handy for snapping a few pics of Larkin (if I had a nickel for every picture I take of her, I would literally be a millionaire!)

Scot and Larkin at the Drive-In Movie ... check out that face!

I am in love with the faces Larkin makes right now. This one cracks me up! Like "Yep. I'm having fun. I'm cute. I'm two."

Check out this quiet moment of our trip to Fairy Tale Town ...

That face melts my heart!

Tonight Larkin says, "My dad work in a chicken. Yeah. A chicken."

I was cracking up.

A Little Science and Religion

A few weeks ago we were out walking in our neighborhood and we saw a rainbow. It was a beautiful day and the rainbow was trapped in the water vapor in a cloud in the bright blue sky.

It was beautiful. I pointed it out to Larkin and we talked about all the colors in the rainbow while we walked.

Pretty soon she asked, "I touch it momma?"

I laughed and told her that it was too high up in the sky for her to touch it.

She asked, "You touch the wainbow momma?"

I told her the rainbow was too high for anyone to touch. Only planes and birds and Jesus could touch rainbows because they are so high up in the sky.

She said, "Yeah. Jesus touch the wainbow."

Several weeks later ... Larkin tells the checker and the grocery store, "Jesus touch the wainbow." Larkin tells our friends, "Jesus touch the wainbow." Lakin tells her teacher, "Jesus touch the wainbow."

She tells anyone and everyone who will listen that Jesus can touch the rainbows.

I am a Child of God

Larkin LOVES to sing.

Her favorite lately has been "I am a Child of God"

We sing it every night before bed. We sing it in the car. We sing it constantly.

I recently heard Larkin waking up from her nap, laying in bed, singing ...

"lead I gonna walk inside a .....

teach a tall tall I a do

.....a love a me me me"

the real words: "lead me, guide me, walk beside me .....

teach me all that I must do to live with Him someday"

Larkin has been saying, "Oh my goodness!" this past week. It is so stinking cute. I will show her something, like a marker, and she will get excited and exclaim, "Oh my goodness!" It cracks me up every time!

Or when she spilled her cereal this morning at breakfast she banged her fist on the table in frustration and said, "Oh goodness!"

Larkinisms

Larkin cracks me up every day. She says the funniest stuff. This week she has been telling me to "Close the light off." when she wants me to turn off the light, and when she is in the bathroom and wants privacy she will say, "Close the lid." instead of "Close the door."

I spent some time with Larkin at her school on Friday and noticed a little boy named Luke who was trying really hard to play with her. He even tried to give her a smooch. She seemed oblivious, but I was curious if she did play with him at other times. In the car later I asked her if Luke was her friend.

Her response: Puke?

Me: No, Luke. Is Luke your friend?

Larkin: Puke?

Me: Luke. In your class. Is Luke your friend at school?

Larkin: Oh! Lukie. Yeah. He my friend.

I was cracking up.

{Puke? Is Puke my friend? No mom ... puke is not anyone's friend!}

Larkin loves pretending to put her baby doll to sleep. She carries this baby around all day and tells it "Shhhh" and "I love you baby" so I asked Larkin what her baby's name is.

Her response: Oink.

Me: Oink? Thats what a pig says.

Larkin: Yeah.

Me: Is your baby's name Megan?

Larkin: No. She name Oink.

Me: Your baby's name is Oink?

Larkin: Yeah. Oink Oink.

Me: Okay. I love you Oink Oink.

Larkin: I love you baby Oink.

{I could not make this stuff up if I tried!}

If You're Happy & You Know It ...

Shout HOORAY!

Bummer!

Larkin's new favorite word lately is "BUMMER!" She says it when things don't go her way, or when someone else seems frustrated, or when she or a friend gets hurt.

Larkin is also going through a bossy phase. Just the other day she was bossing her aunts and mom around telling us to put on our skirts and shoes so we could all go to church. Never mind that we didn't need to go to church for several hours. Larkin wanted to go to church, and she set about making sure we were all ready to go. I admire how strong and focused Larkin can be. She knows what she wants, and is seldom swayed from her goal. She is turning out to be a great little communicator, and a master negotiator!

Dear Larkin,

When did you become such a big girl?

On Monday you start school.

Be kind. Be creative. Be yourself.

I know it is only a matter of time until you take over the world!

Love,

Your mother

After a While Crocodile

Larkin and I were leaving the house this morning and as I was closing the door she said, "Bye bye Tucker!" I chimed in, "See you later alligator!" ... she added the final word by saying, "See you la la la la la la!"

Later in the car once dad was home I was retelling the story so Scot could get a good chuckle over how darling our daughter can be, and Larkin piped up from the back seat, "BYE BYE GATOR! BYE BYE GATOR!"

Oh Larkin, you make me happy every day!