My heart belongs to ME

Just some random stuff about Ari...

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As I was getting Ari dressed one morning last week, she said, "Mommy, can you put my hair in a pretty ponytail? I want to look bee-YOO-tiful today!"

Of course I said yes. And also made a point of telling her that she's beautiful no matter what.

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Lately, we've been teaching Ari her address, Daddy's phone number, etc. I mean, they say it's important for kids to know stuff like that, right? The problem is, she likes to share that information with random strangers--last week, it was the cashier at Target. I guess we need to make sure we also teach her the right times to share that kind of stuff.

She's getting a lot more bold with strangers, lately, which amuses me. She talked to a man in a wheelchair at Target, asking him his name and what he was doing. When we were walking a few nights ago, she asked the same questions of a man we passed on the sidewalk... and then proceeded to invite him over to our house. Goofball.

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We've been struggling a little bit at bedtime with Ari. She's always been a fantastic sleeper, and would usually go to bed with no issues. Now, she keeps getting up. At first, she would say she had to go potty--and how can you argue with that? But then it would turn into 3 or 4 trips to the potty, so we finally told her she would get in trouble if she got up and didn't go potty. But now she's moved on from that to just making random excuses to get up--like saying she wants different pajamas, or different animals for her bed, or there's a light shining through her curtains, or she misses us. Really, it's SO hard not to laugh at some of the crazy excuses she comes up with. There was one time recently where she kept yelling for me, and when I finally went to her and asked her what was wrong, she went, "Um... uh..." and I swear I could see the wheels turning in her head as she struggled to come up with a legitimate reason for calling me. Little rascal.

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Ari brought me a toy car yesterday, saying, "Mommy, look." She shoved it under my nose and calmly said, "Spider." And, indeed, there was a real, live spider sitting on the seat. I set the car on the coffee table, trying to be all calm and cool, and told her to go get me a tissue. When she came back, she kind of grinned nervously at me and said, "I'm scared." Of course, I told her not to be, trying my best to be reassuring. I picked up the car, turned it upside down, and hit it lightly against the table, figuring it would be easier to kill the spider if it was on the table instead of in the car. Sure enough, the spider fell out, and I went to smash it with the tissue, feeling pretty proud of myself for being so chill about this. Except the spider kind of started to move, and my fingers were kind of right on the edge of the tissue, and I kind of half-smushed it with my bare fingers, and as soon as I realized I'd done that, and also not really killed it, I yelped like the sissy little girl that I am as I lifted the tissue and brought it back down right on top of the spider, killing it for good. Then I glanced at Ari, and she was just staring at me, a bit wide-eyed, but with a hint of a smile, as if she were trying to figure out how to react. So of course, I went back to being the calm and cool mom, and laughed and said everything was fine. Then she grinned full-on and said, "I knew you could do it, Mommy!" And then I laughed for real and hugged her.

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Conversation Tony and Ari had as he was putting her in her pajamas last night...

Tony: Hey, Ari, do you know what your shirt says?
Ari: What?
Tony: It says, "My heart belongs to Daddy."
Ari: No, it belongs to ME!