siena dictates for cat named pig

Once again, Siena stated the following while wearing a leotard, tights and a crown:

Daddy, it’s serious business being a princess ballerina dancer.
(pause to let it sink in while doing a couple twirls) Serious business.

Siena was, of course, in her leotard. Actually, she hasn’t been out of the leotard the last three days, except when wearing pajamas to sleep. She wore it to the zoo on Sunday and out to watch the Super Bowl. Here’s the exchange when I walked down the stairs:

Siena: Daddy, I found a lady on tv that showed me ballet.
Matt: Will you show me what you did?
Siena: You’ve already seen what I do.
Matt: Yeah, but after following the lady and learning, you probably do it better.
Siena: Well…uhhh…I already did it better without her.

Whew. I think that statement just saved us a fortune on private dance lessons.

Laura had a writing deadline on Sunday, so I took the kids to the zoo for a few hours in the morning, braving the wind and rain. It went really well, as we spent three hours inside and rode the monorail. Along the ride, the driver tells us what animals we should look for.

Driver: On side A, you’ll see the caribou…caribou are also called reindeer.
Siena: Daddy, they have reindeer. They must really like this rain.
Matt: (humming “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”)

I had come home from work earlier in the week, after Laura had called me 2-3 times to give updates on how sick the kids seemed to be. I walked in the door and had this exchange with Siena:

Matt: I heard you guys are tired and sick.
Siena: Yeah…at school today, I was breathing hot air.
Matt: Really? Sounds like a tough day.
Siena: Yeah, it was really hard to talk with all the air.

Siena had a sleepover 10 days ago, in which she and her cousin slept on the floor in their sleeping bags. Her room hasn’t changed since then, and when I tried to convince her to move back up to her bed, she responded:

But it reminds me of all my sleepovers and how much fun it was in our sleep right there.

She gets another night.

We put a small cup of “cold water from the fridge” next to Siena’s bed each night, in the hopes that she won’t come to us in the middle of it. Well, she was at my bedside Monday night – at 3:27am – cup in hand, tears forming in her eyes:

Daddy, I spilled this a long, long time ago…right after you put me to bed.

Driving to the farmer’s market on Saturday morning, Siena’s looking out the window and notes:

Siena: That building has eyebrows.
Laura: You mean the green awning over each window?
Siena: No, up at the top of it.

We look up and, sure enough, the top of the brick building has different colored bricks rising above two windows, which look like eyebrows. Observant, this one.

After waking up from a nap, laying by me on the couch, Siena softly said with a sleepy voice:

Daddy, I think my tummy woke up on the wrong side of the bed…pause…that means that it hurts right now.

Siena had to suffer and watch with me the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. There were endless interviews with delegates, one of which caught her attention:

How come she’s a girl with a boy’s voice? – about a Texas delegate being interviewed on Public TV before McCain’s speech.

I had no answer. And this, after she and Elliot were playing, unsuccessfully, with blocks, and I had announced that it was his bedtime:

Now I don’t have to worry about knock-over boy.

Siena was drawing large circles, stacked, at the table the other day.

Siena: Mama, guess what I’m drawinnnnng?
Laura: What?
Siena: A fat little munnnchkinnnnn. And you know who it is?
Laura: Ummm….Elliot?
Siena: Nope. Grandpa Larrrryyyyyyy.

Not very nice, but still provided a laugh. And isn’t it supposed to be controversial?