Jordi Said It

A Week in Lexington

2008-07-29T08:47:00.010-04:00

Pics from our "vacation" in Lexington -

The week started with a visit to the Hall house.

Jordi is starting to figure out this bike thing.

Jordi tossing a buck in the basket to show her appreciation.

With clouds overhead we decided to scrap our original plan to swim and, instead, visited the Kentucky Horse Park .

The threat of rain was enough to keep the crowds away. Here's Jordi and Caro waiting their turn for a pony ride.

As you can see, they both had a great time!

After a relaxing dinner at Ramsey's, we ended the day by cooling off in one Lexington's many fountains.

More pics coming soon!...

"Caking Stuff"

2007-05-05T14:23:00.000-04:00

As probably most 3 year olds do, Jordi has quite an imagination. She loves to play at just about everything, whether she has actual toys or just imaginary items. This morning, as we were getting dressed, Jordi was playing baker-chef. She pretended to mix, bake, & frost a cake, and then hand me the pretend finished product so I could eat it. She probably made a half-dozen cakes this way before we got downstairs for breakfast!

So, we're finally all downstairs and ready to sit down at the breakfast table. I was discussing Jordi's morning cake-making with her and complimenting her technique & the resulting delicious cakes. She acknowledged this praise with a matter-of-fact, but very sweet, comment: "My Grandad learned me all my caking stuff."

Too Excited to Sleep

2007-03-13T09:54:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned in the other blog, the Pullem family has two birthdays to celebrate in March: Chris' on the 12th and Judy's a week later on the 19th. The frequency of birthday parties and the cakes that go with them means a lot to the girls, especially Jordi since she's old enough now to both remember & anticipate all the fun that goes along with these occasions. So, this is what she said as I was tucking her in last night:

"Mom...do you know that big girls who are excited about people's birthdays don't know how to sleep?"

I replied, "Oh, really?"

"Yeah..."

Jordi's "What Not to Wear"

2007-02-19T22:05:00.000-05:00

Without knowing it, Jordi gave me some astute fashion analysis today. We were getting ready to leave the house for Jordi's weekly ballet class. She was ready to go, and just nonchalantly observing me tuck in my shirt and button up my pants, a pair of khakis that are admittedly worn looking, too big, and unfashionably high-waisted, but among the few pairs that of pants that are fitting me these days!

"Mommy, (removing thumb and pointing), are those pants too high?" (Jordi doesn't like the feel of any waistband whatsoever around her waist; it causes her to frantically push it away, saying "AIGGH! Too high! Too high!")

Although Chris was cracking up in the background, I tried to stay matter-of-fact and calmly said "Yes, Jordi, they are too high."

She continued to observe as I cinched the waist in order to buckle my belt, then innocently asked "Mommy, are those Daddy's pants?"

Groan! Obviously, these pants are not giving me my best look. I guess I either need to go shopping or get dressed in private!

Bread Hair

2007-01-23T13:20:00.001-05:00

As you may know, Jordi attends weekly ballet lessons on Monday nights. Their big recital is coming up in May, and we've been letting her hair grow out a bit so that we can put it up properly for her stage debut. So, the other day when we were talking about going to ballet class, we had the following conversation:

"Mommy, maybe today you can make my hair into a bread, so when I get there, I will show Miss Maria that I have my hair right for ballet."

"Oh, a bread? Do you mean a braid?"

"No, Mommy.. a BREAD. Sometimes Little Emily's mommy puts her hair up, like this (gesturing on top of her head with her hands), when she is going to ballet class."

A-ha! I get it! "Aaah, you mean a BUN! You want Mommy to put your hair in a BUN for ballet class!"

"Yes, Mommy! A bun..."

How Good is a Tootsie Roll?

2006-10-27T09:15:00.000-04:00

It's not that Jordi hasn't said anything worth posting in the last two months, but rather that I can never remember it long enough to get it published! Luckily, though, this comment is recent enough that I still remember it enough to write it here:

The other day, we took the girls trick-or-treating at the mall, and the girls look forward to enjoying a bit of their candy each day. Yesterday, I let Jordi have her choice of candy from her bucket, and she chose a tootsie roll (her ususal first choice, by the way!) Shortly after she finished eating it, she came with me to get Caroline up from her afternoon nap. As I got Caroline out of bed, Jordi climbed onto the loveseat in the room and started jumping, saying "It tastes so good, it makes me want to hop! hop! hop!" I was pretty sure I knew the answer, but I asked anyway, "What tastes so good?" Sure enough, her enthusiastic answer was "My tootsie roll!"

Don't you wish a piece of candy could still make you feel that way??!

This Little Piggy...

2006-08-13T07:37:00.000-04:00

After she finished her breakfast yesterday, Jordi was dancing around in the living room while I sat at the table, finishing up with Caroline. All of a sudden, Jordi let out a little cry of pain. I looked over, and she was sitting on the ground, clutching her foot.

"Jordi, did you get hurt?"
"Yeah. I hurt my foot!"
"Oh, no... what happened? did you stub your toe?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, that does hurt. Can you tell which one?"
"Yeah. The one that went to market..."

That's not how I would have put it, but it's still an accurate answer! Chris & I got a big kick out of that!

Hmm, I wonder what's in it?

2006-07-27T14:43:00.000-04:00

The other evening, Jordi's cousin Emily was spending some time over at our house. Emily hadn't had dinner yet, so, at her request, Chris drove through and got her a Happy Meal. Jordi loves it whenever she's around, and even though Emily wasn't feeling so great, they had a nice visit. OK, that's the background for the short discussion we had while cleaning up after Emily left...

"Mommy, is that from Emily's Happy Meal?"
"Yes."
"I like Happy Meals..."
"I know you do, because they taste good!"
"... but I don't like Sad Meals."

That gave Chris & me a big smile, to say the least!

What the "warm kids" are up to...

2006-07-18T15:51:00.000-04:00

It's been so hot lately that I thought Jordi would enjoy a nice, cool bath before bed last night. Afterwards, while she was saying good night to Daddy, she requested to put on her nightgown. I told her that she wasn't going to wear one, since it was so warm upstairs. This wasn't OK with her, and she started to get a bit upset at the idea of sleeping without a nightgown on. Chris tried to reassure her that not wearing a nightgown is alright because "that's what all the cool kids do." Jordi is a thoughtful child, and she did mull this over for a minute. This was her reply: "Well... but the WARM kids do wear nightgowns." Touche! We got a big kick out of this comment, and when Chris asked her to confirm whether she was a "cool kid" or a "warm kid," Jordi replied, very confidently, that she was indeed a warm kid!

"...this is for my blog-dot-com"

2006-05-24T08:50:00.000-04:00

Jordi made this magic marker picture on the back of an empty Cheerios box the other day. I knew that using markers was a big deal for her, but I guess I didn't realize exactly how big. Today is trash day, and I had put this picture in with the rest of the paper trash to take out to the curb. However, Jordi must have disagreed with that decision, because she when she spotted it in the trash, she pulled it out and admonished me by saying: "Mo-om, you can't put this in the trash! This is mine because I made it!" So I said, "Oh? that's yours? Well, I didn't know that." And then she went on to say, "Because this is for my blog-dot-com. Yeah!" Of course, I agreed that was a wonderful idea, and told her we would post it right away. And we did!

The Dogwood Tree

2006-05-10T14:12:00.000-04:00

Each spring, one of my favorite blooming trees is the dogwood. This year, we have a lovely pink dogwood tree in the front yard. The girls & I enjoyed several nice afternoons underneath or near it during the two weeks or so it was in bloom. But now that it's leafed out, it looks like the other trees in the yard.

The other day, Jordi & I were getting the mail and checking on our potted plant out front. We'd been out there for a little while when Jordi stopped what she was doing, stood up, and looked around from side to side, as if she was trying to find something. I soon figured out what she was looking for when she asked, "Mommy, where'd the tree with all the pink flowers go?" I was so glad she noticed! We then spent some time checking out the dropped petals covering the ground and the new green leaves that took their place on the tree. As an added bonus, we even found a robin's eggshell on the ground!

Too Big for Diapers

2006-05-06T20:21:00.000-04:00

Jordi said something very funny while we were having dinner tonight. We were in Huntington, eating at Uno's, and there was a table of Prom couples nearby. As they walked by to be seated, Jordi was immediately captivated by the fancy dresses. Shortly thereafter, one of the girls passed by again, headed (we assumed) for the ladies' room.

Jordi: "Where'd the girl with the fancy dress go? I want to get down and find her..."
Lisa: "No, Jordi, she's just going to the bathroom. She'll be right back."
Chris: "That's right, then you can see her fancy dress again."
(short pause while Jordi thinks): "...maybe she need to change her diaper!"

Priceless! Chris & I got quite a kick out of that comment! (Of course, that lead to our next conversation about how girls who big enough to wear fancy dresses are too big to wear diapers!)

Oreo'd

2006-05-04T09:35:00.000-04:00

Jordi goes to bed around 9 p.m., and it's our habit to give her a small snack after she gets her p.j.'s on between 8-9 o'clock. Last night, her snack happened to be the pack of 2 Oreo cookies that came with her kid's meal from Grinder's. Well, you know what happens to your mouth, inside and out, after eating even one of these cookies! Keep that in mind as you read this...

I've just helped Jordi up onto the chair in the bathroom so she can see her reflection in the mirror while we wash up & brush her teeth. She gets a big smile on her face as she looked in the mirror:
"Mommy! What's on my face!"
"I think that's from your Oreo cookies, Jordi."
"Yeah! Ha ha! Wow!"She enjoys making a few funny faces in the mirror, watching how the chocolate ring around her mouth moves when she does so. Suddenly, she notices something else:
"Mommy! Look at my tongue! It's all..(short pause while the wheels turn, trying to find the right word)...OREO'D!"

And then, as if that wasn't exciting enough, she got another thrill to discover that, after brushing, her toothbrush had become "Oreo'd", too!

"I don't want to be happy!"

2006-05-01T09:55:00.000-04:00

If you saw our post about Libby's birthday party, then you saw a picture of Jordi using her magic wand. Well, this game has continued over the past few days, with Jordi using her imagination to "magic" various things into other things. This is done with a lot of flair: big wand waving followed by a loud "P-schew!" For example, she "magic'd" the house into a hotel. She also said, "Mommy, I will magic you smart! P-schew!" At any rate, you get the picture.

So we are visiting with the Fords last night, and Jordi was getting tired (and therefore cranky) as the evening wore on. Big Richard often likes to tease her a bit, and in trying to inject some humor into an episode of toddler crankiness, he waved her her magic wand at her and said, "Jordi, I magic you happy!" Unfortunately, our girl can't yet see the humor in a comment like that, so her reply to him was a resounding"NOOOO! I DON'T WANT TO BE HAPPY!"

Talking About Swimming Lessons

2006-04-30T09:57:00.000-04:00

Both girls are enrolled in swimming lessons at the Y, and our first dip in the pool was yesterday morning. Jordi had the following conversation with Susie last night about it:
Suzy: "Jordi, where did you go swimming yesterday?"
Jordi: "In the water."
"Where was the water?"
"In the pool."
"And where was the pool?"
"At the YMCA!"

Jordi Sings the Birthday Song

2006-04-27T09:56:00.000-04:00

Libby, one of Jordi's cousins, is visiting from Virginia this week, and yesterday she had her 3rd birthday party over at the Fords' house (I'll post some picutures soon!). Jordi has been having a great time visiting with her little cousin, and was even more excited about going to this party. So, when the guest of honor arrived, Jordi led her right over to the piano, started "playing," and proceeded to sing the entire Birthday Song to her! It caught all of us off guard, as it was completely unprompted and unrehearsed. But it was so cute, and I'm glad I got to see it!

"What's the 'E' eating?"

2006-04-24T13:54:00.000-04:00

This story is a couple months old, but still a favorite of ours:

At bedtime one night, I was reading "Go, Dog. Go!" to Jordi. It's a beginner reading book, and uses very simple words with lots of appropriate punctuation. Anyway, as I was reading one of the lines, Jordi interrupted me:
"Mommy, what's the 'e' eating?"
What is she talking about? "What's the 'e' eating?" I repeated.
"Yes, Mommy," she said, pointing to a comma following a word ending in 'e', "What's the 'e' eating?"
Aha! How observant! "Well, Jordi, that's called a comma, and the 'e' is not eating it. It's called punctuation, and..."
And then we proceeded to have a nice conversation about commas, periods, question marks & exclamation points! (However, explaining punctuation is not as easy as you may think.)

Stumped by a Toddler

2006-04-13T10:36:00.000-04:00

I always knew it would happen, I just didn't think the first time she asked me a question I couldn't answer would be when she was two and a half!!

Jordi has developed an interest in reading the clock as a way of knowing when Mommy will be turning the TV on for one of her shows. She has two favorites: "Blue's Clues" comes on at 10 o'clock while Caroline's sleeping and "Deal or No Deal" comes on at 8 o'clock when the sun's going down. So, as I was putting Jordi to bed after "DOND" the other night, we had the following conversation, in which she asked me a question that I simply couldn't answer:

"Mommy, is it 9 o'clock?" (There's a little clock with a dial on her nightstand.)
"Yes, the little hand is pointing to the 9, so that means it's 9 o'clock!"
"Mommy! When it's 8 o'clock, "Deal or No Deal" will be on! and I will watch it!" (she's always excited by the thought of watching this show!)
"Yes, Jordi, but it's 9 o'clock now, and "Deal or No Deal" is over."
"NO! I want to go back downstairs and watch "Deal or No Deal" NOW!"
"Now, Jordi, this is how it works... the numbers go in order on the clock. See? It starts at 1 o'clock, then it's 2 o'clock.. (I went through all the numbers a couple times; you get the idea.) So, it was 8 o'clock when "Deal or No Deal" came on, but now it's 9 o'clock, and "Deal or No Deal" is over."
(Here comes the stumper:) "Mommy, where did the 8 go??"
"Hmmmm," I thought, "I could be in trouble on this one... where does the 8 go? The little hand just goes past it, but it's still right there on the dial..."

I ummm-ed a couple times, hoping something appropriate would come to me, but nothing did (which surprised me since usually I'm pretty good coming up with explanations Jordi can understand!). And now, days later, I still don't know where the 8 went!

Trouble Sleeping

2006-04-09T09:49:00.000-04:00

Jordi has always been a good sleeper, but every once in awhile, like last night, she has trouble getting to sleep.

About 10:40 p.m., a small voice from upstairs called out: "Mommy.. Mom-my.. will you come talk to me for a little minute?" How could I refuse? Anyway, the start of our conversation was very cute. Here it is:
"Here I am, Jordi. What's the matter?"
"I don't feel good."
"You don't? What's wrong?"
"I'm a little bit sad."
"Sad? Why are you sad?"
"Because I'm not tired..."
Hmmph, don't I know that feeling! And, really, don't we all?

"When I Get to be a Birdie.."

2006-04-07T10:13:00.000-04:00

One common explanation given to a 2-year-old for why she can't do something now is that she has to wait, as in "when you get to be a grown up, then you can drive a car." Jordi grasps this concept well, and has taken to applying it very liberally when processing new information or experiences.

For example, here's a conversation we had yesterday as we walked from the car to the house:
Jordi, pointing to a white spot on the driveway: "Mommy, what's that spot?"
"That's bird poop."
"Why?"
"Well, birds sit in trees and, see those branches up there? that's where they sit and sometimes while they're sitting there, they poop, and it lands in the driveway. See? there's some more white spots.. more bird poop!"
"Yeah! More bird poop on the driveway!"
"Don't touch it, Jordi, just look at it..."
"OK, Mommy. Mommy? when I get to be a birdie, I will be in the tree, and I will poop on the driveway..."

As if hearing it the first time wasn't amusing enough, Jordi was so pleased with her conclusion that she brought it up for discussion several more times throughout the day! Too much!