Surprise

"Close your eyes, Mommy," Selah requested. "I'm drawing you a picture." She turned back to her work, but noticed I still hadn't shut my eyes.

"I said close your eyes!" she snapped. I complied. She paused. "Oh, and close your mouth, too."

It must have been gaping in shock that my darling daughter sounds very much like an artistic tyrant.

Your kisses

"Oh, I need kisses from my sweet, sweet boy," I squealed between kisses and lumberjack squeezes. Judah giggled.

"And, oh, I need kisses from my sweet, sweet girl," I said. I rolled Selah around the bed and planted kisses all over her face.

After a thorough kissing, Selah sat back on her knees and grinned.

"They have to drain down," she announced. She made a motion from her mouth to her chest. "Your kisses have to drain down to my heart."

Halloween Haha

Selah was a cute, little rogue pirate princess. Judah was a mischievous garden gnome. And Mom was moving toward an exotic East Indian princess.

"What are you doing, Mom," Selah asked.

"Putting on my makeup," I answered as I swept teal shadow over my lid and up to my temple. "I'm a princess."

"Stop, Mom, stop!" she complained. "You have to stop. You have to take that off."

"Why?" I asked. "I think it is pretty."

"But you won't be an Indian princess if you put too much on," she replied.

"I won't? What will I be?" I asked.

"A dragon!" she cried. "You'll be a dragon!"

If only we were rick

"Hey, Mom," Selah said as we breezed home in the car.

"What?," I answered.

"If we were rick, we'd have a TV in the car, right?," she asked.

"If we were rick?," I responded.

"Yes, we'd have a TV in the seat of the car for me to watch while you drive," she said.

"If we were rick?," I asked again still not getting it. "Oh, if we were rich!"

Ding. Ding. Ding.

"Yes, if we were rick," she said again.

And Says

Selah spent four days with Papaw and Grandma while Mommy was away on a trip and Daddy worked. Of course, Selah didn't stop talking. And, courtesy of Papaw, this is what she said:

A rainy day. Papaw and Selah are in the study writing a letter, Papaw and pen scrunched over a blank piece of paper, Selah and pen scrunched over another. Papaw writes slowly and says each word. Selah scrawls slowly and repeats each word. "Dear Selah," Papaw says, writing. "Dear Selah," Selah says, writing. "Please be advised," Papaw says, writing. "Please be advised," Selah says, writing. "That you are a major..." Papaw says writing, pausing. "Kumquat," Selah says, looking up at Papaw.

Yes, they are!

Selah entertained Judah while I was cooking dinner. She dragged him around the room, stopping periodically to 'feed' him, check his diaper and hand him a toy.

"Here, Judah," she said. "Take a bite."

He opened his mouth, but was bewildered when the pretend bite didn't satisfy. Soon Judah grew weary of the game and began to cry.

"Oh," Selah sighed and planted her hands on her hips. She turned to me and said, "Boy, babies are a lot of work, Mom."

"Yes, they are!" I chimed cheerily from the kitchen. "Yes, they are!"

Future President

Selah and I caught a few precious moments together while Judah slept. We were upstairs while he slumbered in a room below. Before we finished our projects -- me on the computer and Selah at her own Selah-sized desk, we heard little guy's cries.

"Judah is awake," Selah declared and jumped up.

"Yep, let's get him," I suggested and walked toward the stairs.

Selah dashed from the room behind me.

"Wait, wait," she hollered. "I go first. I'm a leader, not a follower. I'm the leader."

Looks like we've got a future president on our hands. Or CEO. Or, yes, a mother.