The Caskey Family

Today I gave Micah prunes for the first time and Elijah sees me put a spoonful in his mouth and squeals in excitement to Merry, “LOOK! Micah’s getting ‘focolate (chocolate)!” I correct him, “no Elijah, babies can’t have chocolate, only big people” hoping to avoid a mishap later with them giving him some of their own. Elijah looks again closely at what I’m feeding him and gives his final assessment: “Oh. . .’dat baby ‘focolate, Momma.”

This morning Merry said to me “I a princess (in her fluffy church dress) and you a princess, mommy.” This comes on the heels of Elijah yesterday saying to me, “‘Scuse me, I saying somefing mommy. . .you not stop talking all day!” And in case I didn’t get it, Jeremy pokes his head in the doorway of the living room and adds, “that’s toddler-speak for, ‘I can’t get a word in edgewise.'”

This afternoon we went out to do some shopping for Jeremy (I had to convince him that he probably will need more than two pair of pants now that he’s not wearing uniforms most of the time!) This was an interesting undertaking as we took the three children with us.

At one store, Jeremy went into the changing room and before I knew it, Elijah and Merry ran in after him. I run up to the entrance dressing room to see Elijah and Merry looking down the long row into the open ones for Jeremy. They stop in front of one (I’m not wanting to go down there, thinking it may be the men’s side, so I’m just calling for them) of course they seem deaf to my cries for them to turn around and come to me. They are both standing in front of one of the open dressing room doors LOOKING, not moving. I come up behind them, not looking into the door in case someone isn’t dressed. Elijah says very loudly to me as I take him by the arm and walk him and Merry out of there as I correct them for not coming to mommy when she called them. . .”Mommy, there was a naked lady in there!” “Of course she’s naked, Elijah, she’s trying on clothes,” I say, “But MOMMY, SHE WAS NAKED!” (of course louder as I drag them out of there) and Merry chimes in in her little raspy voice “she naked, momma.” As if to confirm that Elijah was REALLY telling the truth.

I put them into the stroller and we stand just outside the dressing rooms waiting for Jeremy to come out. A few minutes later two girls come out chatting loudly to each other when Elijah screams out and points “‘Dat the lady naked in there Momma!” She doesn’t hear him, but I HEAR HIM AGAIN, “Momma, DAT DA NAKED LADY IN THERE!”

Don’t mind me, I’ll just hide behind this rack of clothes over here.

FOLLOW-UP: It appears that the two girls were trying on swimsuits and had the door open an opinion from the other. “Naked” is defined by Elijah, it seems lately, as “wearing less clothing.”