A Brave, But FUNNY Almost Four Year-Old

So Jesstine had a bad day yesterday in swim lessons. As a result I took her swimming that night and worked with her some more with a toy to motivate her. She was able to swim BY HERSELF without a flotation device or me holding her from the midpoint of my mother-in-love's neighborhood pool, all the way to the safety of the steps! I don't know if this had anything to do with it, but she did some good work in swim lessons too! NO crying today! I watched from above. She is still very apprehensive, but I am satisfied! She is only 3 (not quite four!!!) and it is probably safer for her to have reservations at this age! So, I am pretty sure that no matter what goes on tomorrow, I will be taking her to see the movie in the very near future. I will still encourage her tomorrow to be very brave!

So, what's with the OTHER part of the title? Well, we also took a trip to Applebee's with my mom and brother today. My brother heads off to Marine boot camp in a few days, so we have been meeting up as much as we can with him before he leaves. So, Jesstine brought her menu home from Applebee's. She decided that she wanted Mommy to play waitress with her. So we went downstairs after dinner tonight and I put Emmitt in his exersaucer to watch Baby Einstein and I sat down at the table with her menu. While she was preparing my order, I filled out her Mad Lib on her menu by asking her questions (the best way possible since she doesn't know what an adjective or verb is yet). Here is the story she came up with (words in all caps are her additions):

A FUNNY Camping Adventure

One RAINY day, under the bright PINK skies of the TEXAS forest, JESSTINE and KYLIE decided to go on a hike. They put on their SHIRTS (thank GOODNESS....my addition, not hers) and headed for the mountains. Before long, they saw a big ZEBRA walking towards the picnic area. "FEE-FIE-FOE-FUM" said KYLIE. "He sure looks hungry, I bet he'd love a giant plate of GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH!" And with that they laughed and SWAM to AUNT JENNI'S!   The End!

I thought it was too cute not to share. She laughed the whole time! Then it was her turn to be waited upon (as if this is a foreign concept)! I wheeled the shopping cart over for Dumpty as a "high chair." I asked her what she would like to drink. She wanted lemonade and a water for her "baby." I headed to the kitchen and searched for a lemon to make lemonade. I guess that was the WRONG way because Jesstine came over and helped me find the "lemonade" button on the fridge (which I guess she thinks the ice cubes are lemon slices). I directed her back to her seat and told her that her order would be ready in a few moments. As I was getting her order (a hot dog, french fries, and some grapes), I started to yell at the "chef" about how he had made a huge mess of the kitchen and their was cake all over the wall! She about fell off of her chair laughing! I went over (after composing myself of course; yelling at an imaginary chef can take it out of ya) and served her what she ordered and proceeded to tell her that we no longer had cake available for dessert. She was still laughing so hard she was crying. It continued like this for most of the next hour...including when she had her bath and she kept telling us over and over about how there was not any pizza any longer because the chef threw it at her head. It was a great moment with her! (Also, while she ordered I asked if her baby needed any food. She quickly replied with, "Oh, no thank you, she has everything she needs in this shopping cart." I am still laughing at this one!)

So, the next time you are seated next to the kitchen in a restaurant, listen for the chef and the waitresses, you may hear something interesting. And of course, ALWAYS wear your shirts on a camping trip so you can see a zebra and swim to Aunt Jenni's in the mountains of Texas under the pink sky with your BFF!

In Him,

The Hutchins Family

P.S. On a sweet note, as Jesstine was brushing her teeth, she said, "I need to say a prayer so God will heal my chin (which she hurt yesterday, not badly, but it is something she can see)." While we were praying as a family before the kids were going to bed, she kept her eyes closed and her hands together and kept whispering. She was finishing with her OWN prayers! It was perhaps one of the sweetest moments I have EVER had with my daughter!