Marriage. By Kate and Doug

A transcript of a conversation Kate and Doug had on the drive home from day care one day last week.

“Daddy, when can I get married?”


“When you’re older, Kate.”

“When I’m 10?”

“No Kate, not when you’re 10.”

“Why?”

“Well, 10 is far too young. You want to be have fun being a girl first. When you’re a woman you can get married.”

“When will I be a woman?”

“Well, I guess when you’re older like 21 or so.”

“Whooooaaaah! That’s a long time, daddy. Can I marry you when I’m a woman, daddy?”

“No. I’m married to mommy. You get to marry someone else.”

“But I want to marry you, daddy. I love you.”

“And I love you too. But daddies don’t marry their daughters. Why would you want to marry your dad anyway?”

“Because you’re handsome and smart and funny and good and strong, daddy.”

“Well then, you will find a man some day that is all of those things too.”

“Can I marry Max? He will have all of those things.”

“No. I am sure he will have all of those things. But, sisters can’t marry their brothers either. Max will find a good woman one day and you will find a good man one day and Tray will find a good woman one day and our family will keep getting bigger and better. Doesn’t that sound good?”

“Yeah. … Can I marry Maron and Sion?” (The 2 neighbor girls next door)

“Well, you could marry one of them I guess. Do you like girls?”

“Yep. I like girls and boys. I could marry Sion and Max could marry Maron.”

“Sounds like you have it pretty figured out, then.”

“Could I wear a pink dress?”

“Well most women wear white dresses. Mommy wore a white dress. She was so beautiful that day.”

“But I wanted to wear a pink dress and green boots.”

“Well, when it is your special day, honey. You can wear whatever you want. I’ll be there for you.”

“I love you daddy.”

“I love you too Kate.”

Helpers

Kate helped me make overnight eggs. 

She tore up all the bread (and initally piled it up on one side of the pan.)

 Bob Marley was helping Tray do his homework.  Apparently the cat is very good at adding fractions.

Sleeping poses

These pictures were taken within minutes of each other.

Construction with the kids

After framing out the new closet, children were brought in to test its strength.

Kate in a free-hang.

 Tray doing a pull-up.

 Max just enjoying wearing Doug's hat.



Fun on the weekend

Let me look at the outdoors.  I PROMISE that if you let me you let me out, I will not put everything I find in my mouth.  Really.

 Kate, will you help me make a break for it?

 Mommy, can I let him?

 Let's try something different.  What happens if I eat a boot?

 Or let my sister play with my music table...

.... while I read a book?

 The bucket still fits as a helmet.

 Tray is walking through with his breakfast.

 Kate had Max try on the helmut.  It must have been too heavy for him.  But at least he had head protection when he tipped over.

Crib time

Sleeping babies are always cute.  I'm pretty sure he woke up with crib-slat mark on the top of his head.

 Mommy, I was awake for a while before I made much noise.  You might want to move changing table supplies to a more secure location before I learn to make a real mess of things.



Bath time

Kate LOVES taking a bath. 

 Max LOVES hanging out at the tub watching her take a bath.

He loves even more BEING in the bath tub.  However, he also likes trying to take headers into the water, so recently his baths are a lot of work.  On Sunday, it was Max, Kate, and myself all in the tub at the same time! 



Kate's Art

Kate is frequently creating drawings for us.  Some more abstract than others.

She's also been bringing home work from pre-school (a part of day care).  Each day we get a report of how her day went.  Whether she had to go in the corner or not (usually not).  Who did have to go in the corner and why.  We often hear about her friend Hailey going into the corner for running, pushing, taking toys, etc. 

Doug asked her last night why she likes to be friends with someone who doesn't seem to be very nice to her.

Her response: "I can take care of myself."

Enter much laughter at the dinner table.

Max on the move

So, a disadvantage of having older children in the house is that we haven't been really motivated to but up some sort of gate to keep Max in the family room.  It worked when we had Kate.  However, I think I might go nuts if I had to move the gate every time Kate wanted to get through right now.

 So Max has quickly learned the skill of climbing up the 2 steps.  He's very fast with it.

 Especially if he can find something to put in his mouth...