From the mind of a 3 year old

Below is part of an e-mail Bryan wrote to his mom about something Rebekah said to us today...she has really started thinking recently, and it has been fun to see her little mind work! I should mention for those of you who don't know, "Grandma Melissa" is Bryan's mom and we are going to vist her in a couple of weeks.

Bryan wrote:

Just thought you guys would get a kick out of this little story:
We went to a 50's diner tonight for dinner. That's not important to the story, but there was music playing in the background. It stopped for a few seconds and Alex realized it. He started shushing us with his little finger over his mouth. 3 or 4 times....ssshhh, sshh, sshh. Then, with an intent little look on his face, he silently mouthed a complete, commanding sentence. Not a sound. Just that little look and his little mouth moving.

Julie and I busted out laughing. It was so stinkin' cute. We've said several times recently, and I reiterated at this point, "Grandma Melissa is just going to eat you up!"

I can only guess at this point, because I didn't witness it, but I don't think Rebekah moved a muscle after that. Because, about 30 seconds later, she said "MaMa Melissa eat Alex up?" We looked at her and immediately knew what and why she was asking that. She had a confused expression that was obviously mixed with a certain amount of fear. I tried to explain that sometimes our words don't mean EXACTLY what we say. Julie said to her that it meant Grandma was just going to give Alex lots of kisses and then demonstrated on Rebekah's cheek. Rebekah then said "No eat Alex, only eat food." She was quite disturbed by the newfound knowledge that Grandma might eat kids.

We tried and tried to reassure her that Grandma wasn't going to do anything to her or Alex other than hug or kiss, but she just wasn't too sure about believing us. (Hopefully the anxiety will wear off before we get to Grandma's!)

Her little 3-year-old existence has been fraught with new, amazing, and somewhat perplexing information. A few weeks ago, we were out eating and she was getting a little antsy. I (remember this is BRYAN speaking) figured her mind needed occupying, so I said, "Bekah, guess what? In a few years, all of your teeth are going to fall out." That settled her down. Her brow furrowed, and you could see the gears come grinding to a halt through those big, blue eyes. "All my teeth fall out?" she asked. "Yep," I said, "but, then they'll grow in again with a new set." That kept her occupied for a while.

The very next night, when we were putting her to bed, she went climbing up the ladder to her just-for-fun elevated rental bed and started jumping around. I said "Rebekah, stop jumping or you're going to fall off and brake your head open." She stopped, put her hands on her cheeks, and with that same little concerned look asked, "My head brake off?" She went to sleep in deep contemplation that night.

A few days ago, we were eating dinner and Rebekah was pulling at her ear. Julie asked her "Bekah, can you take your ear off?" Bekah responded with a definitive "Noooo." Silly Mommy. Julie asked, "Can you take your lip off?" Rebekah answered, "No, I no take my lip off." Then thinking for a moment she said excitedly, "Maybe use scissors!" We had to get THAT little thought out of her mind. Julie was trying to make a point, "That's right. God didn't make us like that." Of course, I had to pipe in. I asked, "Rebekah, can you take your finger off?" She again said, "Noooo", with a little grin cause she knew she couldn't and she was sure I was "playing along". Then I told her I could, and proceeded to show her the same old take-off-my-finger trick that mesmerized me as a kid. As soon as the "tip" moved away from the "finger", Bekah's face just about went white and her mouth dropped open. I quickly replaced my finger and put out my hand so she could inspect it. She wrapped her little hand around my finger and said "Do it again?" I said okay and did it again for my amazed little audience of one. But, then Rebekah said something neither I or Julie expected. In the middle of the trick she asked, "I hold it?"