go away and hold me

oh, eva. she's just been full of quotable quotes today. we had this conversation on the way home from swimming at deep eddy (lilly's first time swimming! too bad she slept through most of it :).

as hazel cried in her car seat a bit:
-- "it's okay, i love you hazel." (to me:) "mama, i think hazel hates her car seat."
-- well, i don't think she hates it, i think she'd just rather have someone hold her and snuggle her. you know, when you were little, you cried in your car seat, too, because you wanted me to hold you.
-- "and you took care of me?"
-- yeah, i did take care of you. i took care of you when you when you were a baby, and i take care of you now, and i'll take care of you until all the way until you are a big grown-up woman. and then i'll *still* take care of you, the way my mama still takes care of me. like how she came down to take care of all of us when hazel was born.
-- "hmm, but actually grandma is pretty old."
-- oh really? (trying not to laugh)
-- "uh huh, and gram is old, and grammie is old, ..." (trails off)
-- who else is old?
-- "i don't know."
-- hmm, then who is young?
-- "um... well, i *used* to be young."
-- well, if you're not young anymore, then are you old?
-- "no, mama, i'm just regular!" (pronounced "reg-lee-ar")

this afternoon, we were all sitting together in the living room, and eva was asking for chocolate milk (that was a slippery slope we've slid right down -- used to be she got an individual-sized box of organic chocolate milk at the grocery store as a cheap bribe to buy a bit more time at the end, but somehow they made it into the home. *sigh*.) she asked larry, and he said ask mama. i said to larry, oh sure, passing that one off to me, huh? then told eva, you have to discuss that with papa. she turns back to him (we're all within 5 feet of each other), and says "mama said yes. mama said i can have it." ooooh, boy. here we go into that realm of parenting! at least for now she can't quite outsmart us, but soon enough. (my first tip to her: try this tactic when larry and i aren't in the same room as each other.)

later today, she was having a bit of an issue, very upset over something in that way only an almost three year old can manage. she's a fan of telling larry or i to "go away!" in a stern angry voice. also, when she's been upset a while and now is looking to reconnect, she'll ask to be held. today, we had the inevitable collision of those worlds, a humorous juxtaposition that pretty much sums up our last few months. eva to larry: "(angrily) papa, go away! (softening, pleading) and hold me." oh eva. it's not easy being almost three, is it?