A rose by any other name...

Froggy - John & Allison speak for cloudy or misty days. "Mom it sure is froggy out here!" To which Katie always responds, "Be careful Mom! It isn't safe to drive in this bad weather."

Allison's recent diatribe as she sat in her carseat on her way to the grocery store with me: Mommy, I HURT my finger! I hurt my finger a lot. I need to go to the doctor and the doctor needs to give me a lollipop! Note to fellow moms - Lollipops cure better than Bandaids! Those DumDum pops only have 25 calories and 5 grams of sugar per and they don't contain any awful ingredients.

Katie is never thrilled with new experiences nor interactions with new people. She and John recently went in for their 4 year old check up where they both were required to stand behind the line and read the eye chart. John went first, stood alone and loudly called out each letter the nurse pointed to. I had significant doubts about Katie's willingness to participate in the test... When it was her turn she grabbed my hand and pulled me along next to her. I knelt quietly beside her, wondering how the whole thing would play out. When the nurse pointed to the first letter Katie turned to me, took the time to push my hair to the side and whispered the answer in my ear. Her voice was so quiet I asked her to repeat herself several times before I understood. She went through the entire chart like that, stopping just a few times to hang her head and shake it back and forth, almost imperceptibly, when she could not read the letter. The nurse and I fought to maintain our composure - it was too darn cute not to laugh!

Allison has many nicknames. Most recently John told her Allison, you are red and roses are red so your name is Rose. She accepted that explanation and now I have a little girl names Rose!