Because I can't forget this cuteness!

My sister just posted a bunch of funny/cute stories about her little girl, so I got to thinking that I had better get some of my recent funny/cute experiences with my little girls written down before I forget.

Ainsley has had a few nights recently where she doesn't want to go to sleep. She'll start crying in her bed after she's been in there a while, and when I go in to check on her, she's just so stinking cute, that I bring her downstairs to cuddle with us on the couch. Then she does the cutest thing (and she'll do it to whoever is holding her). She'll rub my cheeks with her hand, then she'll rub her cheek against my cheek, then she'll kiss me on the cheek, give me some butterfly kisses, then rub her cheek against my cheek again.....and on and on and on. Since she is normally a very independent, opinionated kid, this cuddly sweetness is a real rarity. I love it!

A couple of months after turning 4, Cecily TAUGHT HERSELF how to tie her shoes. She has one pair of shoes that lace up, and I had shown her one time a few weeks before. I told her to put her shoes on, and when I went to tie them, she was already done with one, and working on the other! The kid's a genius.

Ainsley is such a daddy's girl of late. She is constantly asking where Daddy is, and when I say he's at work, she'll reply, "ohhh," in a sad, yet impatiently bugged, voice. She often cries when he walks out the door, even if he isn't leaving the house.

Cecily takes a couple of dance classes. But when you turn the music on, the kid goes nuts and makes up these dances with moves I've never seen at dance class. I have no idea where she gets it! But boy does she feel that music!

Ainsley has started a new tradition. When we have family prayer, it's usually in the morning right before Derrick leaves to go to work. Then he will give us all kisses before he walks out the door. So now, whenever we have family prayer, as soon as the "Amen's" are said, she yells out, "KISSES!!!!" And we all get kisses!

Cecily is learning how to read. She loves to bring her books home and read them to me and anyone who will listen to her. She even called Grandma Thomas on the phone to read a book to her.

When Ainsley is bothered by something, she'll go off a ways, plop on the floor, fold her arms, and pucker her lips in a very stuck-up, "I-don't-like-that-so-I'll-have-nothing-to-do-with-it" look. Half the time, I have no clue what I've done wrong.

The other day, Cecily wanted to ride bikes with the neighbor kids across the street (their youngest is 8). So the brave girl went to their door and asked them if they would ride bikes with her. When they told her they were doing their homework, she thought quick, and said, "Maybe when you get done with your homework you can come and ride with me." And guess what? They did! She was so proud! Okay, scratch that. I WAS SO PROUD! I hadn't been home, so I got to hear the story after I returned and the girls were in bed. I don't think I would have been so brave as a child! She thinks those kids are so cool. And they are. We have such awesome neighbors!

I love when Ainsley is watching a tv show and I find her laying on her tummy with her hands under her chin. She looks like such a big girl in a tiny little body. People are often surprised that she talks as well as she does, because she still looks like such a little baby.

Cecily is really into praying that we can be healthy. The majority of all of her prayers are about us eating healthy, taking care of our bodies, etc. It's hilarious. I love listening to her pray that Ainsley will be nice and not hit or take her toys.

She's talking a lot more now, but a few months before she turned two, Ainsley was really into chewing me out in her own language, then immediately giving me a kiss to make up for it. Unfortunately, she still likes to chew me out, but in English, and I usually don't get the kiss afterwards! (But it does make her kisses all the sweeter when I do get them!)

The other day, Cecily says, "Um, Mom, we need to take Ains to No Hitting School so she can learn to be nice and not hit." Actually, Cecily is really into different schools. She just asked last night if she could go to Training Wheel School so she could learn how to ride a bike with out training wheels.

Ainsley's favorite phrase: "I want cheese." Her favorite word: "NO!" And she says it just like that. Real quick, stern and to the point. She enjoys saying it to all children at the store, at church, in the car next to us... She also likes to instruct them, "Do NOT HIT!" Doesn't matter that she feels obliged to hit anyone she wants, whenever she wants. She will not tolerate other children hitting. Even if they weren't planning on it, she feels it is her duty to tell them not to hit. I love this kid!

One of Cecily's best friends is a little boy named Trey. One night last year, when they first started playing together, Trey's dad had brought Trey to our house (Trey's parents are friends of ours). Cecily was already in bed, but I saw her peeking out her window, so I told her to come down and jump on the trampoline with Trey. She was so excited! When I asked her why she was so excited, she said it was because "that boy has hair like Annie!" As in little orphan Annie. I had introduced Cecily to that movie recently, and Trey has naturally curly, curly hair. And she just thought that was the coolest thing ever!

Ainsley is the MESSIEST EATER EVER! The girl makes a mess of EVERYTHING she eats! Yesterday I caught her finger-painting baked beans on her stomach. Oh, and if she doesn't want the food, she will throw it on the floor. And if you put a bib on her, she will reach her messy hands under the bib and rub. So yeah, bibs are kind of pointless.

Ainsley is into getting "pretty cute." When I do her hair, she says its "pretty cute." When she wants to put on a dress-up, she says she wants to get "pretty cute." And she loves to dance. Probably because she looks "pretty cute" when she does it.