Us and Things: Lunch with Lillian in real time

Monday, May 11, 2009

Lunch with Lillian in real time

Scene 1: Eating Lunch. Lillian is eating peanut butter and honey, Amanda has a PB&J with her homemade jam that set up beautifully (if you were wondering). Nora is sitting nearby in a bumpo-type chair.

Lillian: (laughing) Nora made a shovel. She made a shovel.
Me: What?
Lillian: I'm eating my sandwich in my own chair. I have my own chair. That's.... I WANT TO WASH MY HANDS!
Me: OK, let's go to the sink. (Walks to sink)
Lillian: I need soap.
Me: Are you finished with your sandwich?
Lillian: No, thanks. (Walks back to the table starts eating again) You're drinking Daddy's sicky water, I'm sicky, I'm a big girl. I have juice. My juice is for Nora and you have Daddy's sicky water. [When I was sick, I drank from a certain water bottle and called it my sicky water, so she would know not to drink from it too. I am currently drinking from this bottle.] Please flowers... (she says to my Mother's Day flowers on the table) I'm trying to get up.
Me: What do you want the flowers to do?
Lillian: Eating sandwiches. Do you need some, flowers? They need sandwiches. Need sandwiches. She growed up.
Me: Who grew up?
Lillian: Nora! Nora growed up.
Me: Just now?
Lillian: Nora growed up. (Nora spits up) BURP cloth, BURP cloth!
(I wipe Nora's mouth)
Lillian: MOM, MOM, MOM, MOM
Me: Yes?
Lillian: Do you want to share your water? Come on, it will be fun.
Me: You have juice.
Lillian: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, yum, yum, yum, yum. Mmmmm, bread. (She takes a bite then starts to pretend cry)
Me: What's wrong?
Lillian: Yum, yum, yum. I can't reach you. (She pretends to try to reach me with her legs) I can't reach you to tickle you.
Me: That's silly.
Lillian: I want to wash hands.

End scene.

3 comments:

Natchel said...: So, is she just playing a strange game of free word association with herself or has she gone crazy?; Mon May 11, 04:25:00 PM MST
Stephanie said...: I don't believe she talks that much. When I would babysit her she would hardly say two words. Mostly she would point at books, cry in the bath, and play with stuff in the kitchen. Weird.; Tue May 12, 05:59:00 AM MST
Bridget said...: This is so Lillian. WHIMSICAL, I tell you. :); Tue May 12, 06:58:00 PM MST

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A taste of the Ball life

Amanda: What do you want for lunch: ham sandwich or peanut butter sandwich?
Lillian: Ham. No, peanut butter. No... ham... No, peanut butter.
Amanda: Ok, I'm going to make you a peanut butter sandwich. (makes sandwich)
Lillian: NO! I WANTED HAM!!!!
Amanda: You said peanut butter, and I told you I was going to make you peanut butter.
Lillian: No... I think you just spaced out Mom.

Tyler on dodo birds: I mean, any species that can be wiped out by rats probably didn't deserve to live. Nature should have selected them a long time ago to go extinct... it's like it forgot and got there late.

Lillian: I like carrots mom. They're like... juice you eat.

Tyler was reading Lillian a picture book in which a little boy finds an airplane in his closet and takes it into space where he runs out of gas and lands on the moon. On the moon, he meets a little Martian boy, wearing a space suit, who's spaceship had crashed.
Tyler: How come the Martian needs a space suit and the little boy doesn't? This book is so inaccurate.

Lillian threw a piece of food during dinner.
Tyler: Lillian don't throw food.
Lillian: But, it was just a little bit of food.

At 2 AM, Tyler pokes Amanda and says, "The baby is crying"
"No, that's a dog."
"No, it's Nora. I have superhuman hearing, that's why they call me Eagle Ears."

Amanda looks over and sees Lillian desperately trying to shove the Camelbak valve into Nora's mouth.
Amanda: Stop that! Don't put that into her mouth!
Lillian: Mom, I'm just playing doctor.
Amanda: Well, don't put it into her mouth.
Lillian (accompanied with change in tactic): Just her ears.

Lillian (pointing): This is my neck. This is Daddy's neck. This is Mom's neck. Nora doesn't have a neck.

Amanda: Listen to this, "The men and women of the Yana tribe in California speak different dialects." (TIME Magazine).
Tyler: The men and women speak different dialects in our house: sense and nonsense.

I ran upstairs briefly and left Nora in her chair with a curious Lillian looking on. Nora started fussing and crying a little and I heard Lillian say, "Nora! Stop Crying! Use your words!"

We practiced and practiced saying "Daddy, I missed you" all the way to the bus stop, a full five minute drive. Upon arrival, I prep Lillian one last time. I roll down the window, Tyler sticks his head in, and I prompt Lillian, "do you have something to say to daddy?"
Lillian looks up at him with her eyes full and sincere, "Juicebox."

Amanda: This dictionary says Wednesday can be pronounced wendz-dee or wendz-day.
Tyler: Well... that dictionary was written by an old person.