sliced & dead

Thurs 12.01.11


This morning I hear Kapria shout: "My finger is sliced open!" I run into the bathroom (where she's reading) and see that her finger is, indeed, bleeding. But not cut open, thank goodness.

"The paper sliced my finger open, Mom," she says while holding up her pointer finger.

"Oh, you got your first paper cut. Ouch. That happens sometimes," I said.

"I will never read a book again," she said.

"You can still read books, Kapria. It was just an accident. Your finger will get better."

"But the book sliced me! I don't want it to ever happen again!"

"Think of all the times you've read books," I said. "You never got a cut until today. It doesn't happen that often. You can still read books."

"Okay," she says.
But then she hands me the offending book and says, "Will you read it to me? I can't hold it right now. It sliced me."

Hours later and she's still coddling her paper-cut finger. For some reason those little cuts can really sting. We keep putting neosporin and new bandaids on it because she says it stings so much. Poor finger.

The Culprit:

Poor book. I hope it's forgiven soon.

This afternoon at the park, Kapria runs up to me and grabs my hand."Mom! I have to show you something!" she says.

She pulls me over to a park maintenance truck, which is full of fallen leaves, tree branches, and pine needles that the workers have been cleaning up since before we arrived. She points and says, "Is that a dead manatee?"

I look around, trying to see anything that could possibly resemble a dead manatee. Then I notice a large, bulging bundle laying on the ground next to the truck.

"Do you mean that?" I ask.

"Yeah! It's a dead manatee. Right, Mom?"

Well no, it's not a dead manatee in the middle of a park in the middle of our city. But I can see why she thinks so.

"It's a tarp, sweetie," I say, still staring at the cream-colored plastic and picturing its roundness starting with a head and whiskers and tapering down to a wide, floppy tail. "It's full of all the leaves and pine needles that the guys are raking up."

"Oh. I thought it was a dead manatee," she says in soft, disappointed voice.

"I'm glad it's not a dead manatee!" I say. "It's better to see them alive."

"Okay, Mom." she says, then runs back to the playground.

Pretty sure she wasn't convinced, since she ran by the "dead manatee" several times the rest of our visit. Anyone know of a great place to visit living manatees? I'm thinking a trip to Florida would be just the thing to convince her.

(photos from here)

kapria conversations: 4 years old

I like to post snippets of our conversations with Kapria on facebook. But I thought it would be nice to have them here on the blog for us to remember and enjoy. So here we go.

9.27.11

fyi: the password is "jungle jimes" (just in case you come over and want to get past kapria at the front door.)

9.26.11

last night at dinner kapria kept bugging mila: poking her, touching her head, putting her arm on mila's chair. so we had a conversation about personal space. it started off like this:
trav: everyone has their own bubble around them.
kapria: then i will POP it!
yeah . . . it took awhile to convince her that that was not an option.

 9.22.11

kapria told me today that she's training mila to be good. sometimes i just wish she'd take her own training advice, too.

9.19.11

we have a new niece! when i told kapria that aunt chelsea and uncle rob hadn't picked her name yet, she said, "They can call her Sparkles!"

9.13.11

conversation at the dinner table tonight goes like this:
kapria: what are you scared of, dad?
mila: what you scared of?
trav: the only thing i'm scared of is you girls getting hurt.
kapria: the only thing i'm scared of is being eaten by crocodiles.
mila: yeah! crocodiles!

being awesome

of dvds and other things

Kapria: Mom, can I put the dvd in the xbox?

Me: No, that's my job.

K: But please? I can do it, Mom.

M: I need to do that. You can't touch the dvds because they get scratched, remember? And when they get scratched, they don't play anymore. Remember how Monster's Inc is broken because it got scratched?

K: But please, Mom. I'm a big girl now. I can do it on my own.

M: I'm sorry, but you can't hold the dvds, Kapria. I will put it in and you can push the button to close it.

K: But I'm bigger than Mila.

M: You're right. You are bigger than Mila. But you're not big enough to put the dvd in the xbox.

K: So when I'm a mom I can?

M: Yes, when you're older, you can.

K: And when I'm a mom, I can let my kids put it in by themselves?

M: Yes, when you're a mom you can decide the rules for your house.

K: And when I'm a mom I'll have boobs?

M: !

M: Um. Yep. When you're a mom, you'll have boobs.

K: Okay.

M: And just so you know, women who aren't moms have boobs too.

K: I know. Can we watch Mulan now?

a lunch conversation

Kapria: The girl at the park told me her friend died.
Me: Really? Her friend died?
Kapria: Yeah, she died.
Me: Did she tell you what happened?
Kapria: Her friend got in a accident. She didn't hold hands when she crossed the street. And she died.
Me: That's really sad. Sometimes people we love die.
Kapria: Is Mack dead?
Me: No! Mack's not dead.
Kapria: Good. Because I love Mack. He's my best friend.

Yep, we're very glad that Mack is alive and well!

it's not a card

Sunday 03.06.2011

Kapria got mail! When she opened it up, it was a thank you card from her friend Andrew. Even better: a Diego thank you card. She was so excited and promptly took the card and ran off to play.

But a little while later she came up to me and said, "Mom, this notebook is broken."
I said, "What do you mean? It's not a notebook, it's a card."
She said, "It's not a card, Mom. It's a notebook. But the pages won't turn."
She was getting really upset at this point, pointing at the pages and trying to turn them.
"It's just a card, sweetie," I said, "but how 'bout we turn it into a real notebook?"
"Yes, Mom, yes!" she said.

At first she was adamant that I not use glue, but I explained to her that it either had to be glue or sewing the pages in or punching holes and using string (our stapler is broken). So she decided after hearing all the options that glue would be okay. Good thing, because it really was the easiest. I was dreading that sewing option...

And here's our finished notebook:

I love that something so simple can totally make her day happy. She played with it all week and wouldn't draw in it because she didn't want to write on her "stories." Instead she pretended to read stories out of it.

notes

We got a fun valentine package in the mail from Nicole and the boys. The girls and I had so much fun opening it. Kapria got this note from Weston (with an added sticker from Mila):

As she was holding it in her hands I said, "Kapria that's awesome - Weston drew a picture of you!"

She said, "I love it so much!"

Then she looked in the package again.

"But where's Mila's? Did he draw one of her?"

I said, "I don't think so."

She was still holding the picture in her hand. She looked down. Then she turned the paper over.

"Oh look, Mom, he did!"

And so he did:

Thank you West - for *both* our pictures!

awesome

Me: Good job eating all your lunch, Kapria. You did great!

Kapria: Do I get a sticker on my nice chart?

Me: No...I'm just telling you that you did a really great job and that you're awesome!

Kapria: I don't care about awesome.

at this moment

We are currently staying in a hotel in Utah. At this moment I'm sitting on the bed. Mila's asleep in the playpen in the bathroom. (Sidenote: this hotel room has the toilet in its own room and the shower in a separate room. The playpen fits nicely in the shower room, so now she has her own space for our stay here.)

Trav and Kapria recently came in from dinner and fun with the family. He helped her get ready for bed. Then they climbed onto the bed so they're right next to me. I'm typing and listening to them talk.

Trav: "I'm falling apart!" (after his feet have been hurting for days...turns out from a staf infection)
Kapria: "I don't want you to fall apart Daddy!"
Gives big hug.
Kapria: "We'll put you back together."

it's the dress

Kapria got dressed in her "Cinderella" dress.
Then she walked out of her room.
She stood in front of me and held out her hand.
"Shall we dance?" she asked.
Me:
Me: Where did she learn that?
"Mom, let's dance!" she repeated.
Me: "I'd love to!"

you do that, mom

Sunday, June 6.
Sacrament Meeting

I had thought all day that maybe I should bear my testimony, but I couldn’t decide. Then my friend got up and talked about how she feels the nerves when she’s supposed to bear her testimony. I thought, “I feel the same way when I’m supposed to! Am I feeling that? Kind of, but…it’s almost the end of the meeting. I don’t really need to get up.”

As soon as my friend sat down, Kapria looked at me and said, “Should you do that?” I said, “What?” She said, “Go up there. Should you do that?” I said, “I don’t know. Should I?” She said, “Yes! You do that, Mom.”

Well, there was my answer. I had to be told twice what I already knew before going to church.
So, we went up together and I bore my testimony. I'd like to share it with you too:

I know that Heavenly Father watches over us and guides our lives. I know that as we pray – and we pray for specifics – he answers us specifically. We have been praying for some pretty specific things lately in regards to this move and Travis going to school, and one by one God has been answering those prayers. Not always exactly how we expected, but he IS listening and answering. I know that as we follow his will in our lives, we are happier and more at peace. I am so comforted by the knowledge that he will always guide us. I don’t have to be scared, because he will make sure my life is the best it can be. I need ony have faith and trust in him.

I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and that President Monson is our prophet today. If we follow their teachings, and the teachings of the apostles through conference talks and Ensign articles, we will be happiest. I know our Savior loves us and helps us. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I felt the Spirit tell me those things were true. I have seen so much the hand of God in our lives lately, and I’m grateful to him for guiding us.

Later that day we grabbed Trav's camera and took the girls to a cool spot for some photos. The photo opp didn't go very well. But Kapria decided the tripod was her microphone. The rest of the night she kept doing this:

She said, "I'm bearing my testimony!"
I love hearing what she has to say.