I Am Puss...In Boots!

Hannah loves many, many movies. One of her most favorites recently has been "Shrek 2" with "the kitty, Puss". "He makes the kitty-face, Mommy!" Yes, he does indeedy make a sweet, melting, bigged eyed kitten face, and Hannah laughs uproriously every time she sees it. So, the other day, she comes clomping down the stairs in my boots. Now, on me, these boots come up to mid-calf. On Hannah, well, you can see the results at the bottom of the page. She grabbed her daddy's hat, and proceeded to make the kitty-face. She had us in stitches. Hannah does that a lot these days.

Hannah has always been a funny little kid. The other day, on the way to work, I was reminiscing about all the funny things Hannah used to do.

When she was around two years old, I taught her to chant "The Three Bears", a song I learned at church camp. It is very rhythmic and sounds somewhat like a rap and to hear it from the mouth of a two year old was so funny! "Hey baba ree bear, said the little wee bear, bye bye bye bye bye bye bye! HUH!"

Also around this time we taught her "How Much is That Doggy in the Window" She quickly mastered the "arf arf"ing in the appropriate places, so we soon moved on to other animals. "How much is that kitty in the window? (meow meow)" etc. Brien and I liked to include strange and unusual animals so Hannah could roar, crow, make monkey sounds, etc. You couldn't help but laugh =).

Now, my little monkey is such a big girl. She has been saving her allowance for quite some time. She has a chore chart and gets a sticker for each day she completes each chore. Each sticker is worth a nickel, so she can earn up to a dollar a week. Hannah decided she wanted to purchase a new Groovy Girl (because goodness knows we don't have enough of them...).

She was so sweet. She emptied out her "piggy pank" and put all her "monies" in the monkey purse that Aunt Jessie gave her. We counted out the "monies" so she would know what to give the cashier when the time came.

We walked into Target and Hannah seemed a bit apprehensive--"you mean I have to give the lady all my monies? And then I won't have any more? Then I'll have to earn more monies by getting stickers?". When we had reassured her she could indeed earn more nickels, she was pleased. We went, found the doll she wanted (Kylee with Miss Pinky-paws the kitty), and headed for check-out. Luckily there was no line. Hannah was so sweet and determined. She handed the lady her gift card. Then, she began to count out her dollars. She ver solemnly handed the cashier her "monies" (it should be mentioned here that the cashier was VERY patient!) and she in turn handed Hannah Kylee. Hannah couldn't have been more delighted, nor could she have felt more grown-up.

I think by making Hannah save her money and then give it to the cashier in order to purchase her doll, instead of us just buying it for her, was an invaluable lesson. Hannah will remember this for a long long time. Heck, I still remember Jessie saving for that Barbie swimming pool she wanted!

Finally, Hannah is becoming bigger and bigger every day. You can see in the first few pictures our family's night-time routine. Hannah has begun to read to us every evening. I found some wonderful non-fiction texts on her level and she adores them, practicing her decoding skills. It's amazing to me how far Hannah has come in such a decidely short amount of time.

And, speaking of evening routines, it's time for ours (a little late tonight, unfortunately. I try to stick to a schedule, but life just seems to interfere). So, I'm off for now. 'night!