smatterings

I did miss a few things in our garden - peppermint and dill. Along with basil those are pretty essential. There are mints in our woods running wild...but I don't feel enough confidence to go looking for them when I want some.

Esme asked for fish sticks this morning and is now reading a book in her bed. She was incredibly sweet yesterday all day long, and it may continue today but it may not. I'm not setting my sights yet! At one point yesterday she asked me to paint her fingernails - which I only do if she is really good. So, I did. And halfway through she says 'I'm a lady' and holds up the hand that was done. 'Lady fingers, all purples.' It is her favorite shade of heliotrope purple. She went on to say that Mama was a lady, and she was a little lady, now we were two ladies.. and that it was all the beautifuls (Esmespeak). She was very proud of her fingers and still is today. That was sappy sweet. She was playing with her little dollhouse and her Duplo figures and was making them dance together to the music and then was trying to order the 'little buddy' around the house (go do dishes, watch tv, talk on the telephone) while the girl figure danced. *I thought I was getting a tomboy!* Well, she was hopping around filthy with mud in a mudpuddle yesterday, saying 'ribbit ribbit ribbit oh a radishes!' and pulling up weeds by hand. 'Not a radish. ribbit ribbit ribbit.' I didn't know frogs could garden quite that way ;)

Mark said yesterday about Esme's word combination examples: 'She didn't get language, it got her.' And they're still battling it out. She said that one cat drinking was 'onebody drink cat', and two cats drinking is 'twobody drinks cat' and more than that is 'everybody drinks'. I also had to explain to her it was possible to 'eat all' of just her toast, when she was insisting to me that 'eat all' meant her cereal AND her toast.. which she didn't want to do. Then eat all the toast. NO EAT ALL. "one toastbread all gone, eat all toastbread, make all gone" was what finally got it across. Even I'm speaking 'Esmespeak' now... but she slowly filling in the spaces.