Mommy Panda or Daddy Panda

Kimmie has always used the word "Daddy" a lot. She often uses it in place of "man". For instance, she preceeds many male names with "Daddy." She will sign "Daddy Aladdin" or "Daddy Blue Genie." She has done this since she was very small.

"Mommy" she only uses to refer to me.

As most of you know, Kimmie has a passion for pandas. We have multiple documentary DVDs on pandas that she watches over and over. We have many books about pandas. She has plastic toy pandas. She has many stuffed pandas and a wardrobe of panda shirts and pajamas.

A common theme on the DVDs, in the books and in the toys is baby pandas with their mothers. Kimmie, however, always tells us that it is Daddy and baby. When we correct her and tell her that it is Mommy and baby, she gets mad at us and yells.

We were talking about this a while back and I told Dad that I thought she felt threatened by the idea that someone else was "Mommy." I suggested that for Kimmie there is only one Mommy. Dad thought about it and agreed that could be the explanation for her insistence that the adult panda is NOT Mommy.

--Mom

Daddy's Girl or Grandpa's Girl

We have decided that Kimmie is more Grandpa's Girl than Daddy's Girl.

You see, Daddy's favorite sport is basketball. Kimmie doesn't like to watch basketball. She fusses at Daddy when he turns to basketball.

Grandpa's favorite sport is football. Kimmie likes watching football. She will even ask to watch it, sometimes.

Kimmie's favorite sport is baseball. She will sometimes ask to watch baseball, especially when she's laying down and ready to go to sleep! Since Mommy's favorite sport has always been baseball, I think Mommy trumps both Daddy and Grandpa!

--Mom!

Eeyore Stories

Kimmie has been telling us Eeyore stories. I'm not sure if she has seen these stories in books or on TV or if she has made them up.

One of the stories is about Eeyore flying. Her story goes something like this: "Flying, blue Eeyore, blue magic shoes, back, Piglet, back, red-shirt Pooh bear, flying." He always has his blue magic shoes when he is flying. Sometimes Kimmie is flying on Eeyore's back, but lately it has been Piglet and Pooh that are riding on Eeyore's back. Eeyore has magic shoes. We have asked her if he wears the magic shoes on his feet. She tells us, "No, back." Everyone is happy in this story.

Another story is about Piglet being scared of Eeyore. Piglet is scared of Eeyore because Eeyore is making a dragon sound. Sometimes Eeyore is in a cave making a dragon sound. I thought I saw this in a book, but have been unable to find it again. What I recall is that Eeyore was sleeping and snoring. As it echoed through the Hundred Acre Wood, Piglet was afraid and thought it was a dragon or other ferocious animal.

Kimmie hasn't been sleeping well and the other night she was awake in her bed a lot. Of course someone always has to be there with her if she is awake. I was laying down with her that night. The next day I asked her why she was awake so much. She responded, "Scared, Eeyore dragon sound."

We asked her if Daddy was making a dragon sound. "No."

We asked her if Mommy was making a dragon sound. "No."

We asked her if Bethany was making a dragon sound. "No. Eeyore."

--Mom

Christmas Gifts

Ever since we put the tree up and lined the gifts up underneath, Kimmie has been going in the living room, sitting and pointing to them. She tells us, "Open presents."

We have told her we will open them on December 24, Christmas Eve. Every time she tells us it is time to open the presents, we ask her, “When are we going to open the presents?”

She replies, “Twenty-four.”

Bethany asked her one day who those presents are for. Kimmie answered, “Kimmie.”

Bethany asked her if they were all for Kimmie. Kimmie answered, “Yes!”

I asked her the next day, “Whose gifts are those?”

Kimmie answered, “Kimmie.”

I asked her, “Who else?”

She answered, “Mommy.”

“Who else?”

“Daddy.”

“Who else?”

“Reed.”

“Who else?”

“Bethany.”

I stopped there. I thought that was good enough, just needed to make sure she knew they were not all for her.

Another day she was sitting next to the tree pointing at a gift. I asked her who that gift was for. “Kimmie.”

I turned the tag over and looked. I told her it was for Bethany. That made Kimmie mad. I pointed to another tag. That one was for Daddy. That didn’t make her any happier. Then I found a couple with her name on them. She still wasn’t too happy, but I wasn’t going to go around the whole tree.

Three more days to wait . . . .

--Mom