Wren these days

"A plane! A yellow airplane!" from the backseat, driving home from running errands. "Oh, Mama! You missed it! I'm SO SORRY you didn't get to see it."


On the phone last night with her Nana, "Goodnight, Nana. If you need anything at night, you can just call me and I'll take care of it."

Pausing, at dinner with Richard and the family, to tell us her blessing was "loading," and she'd say it in a minute.

Chase: Wren, sometimes you say very cute things...
Wren: Daddy sometimes you say things that are BORING! HAHAHA.

She dances around the house, screaming wildly, and then 10 seconds later she is totally involved in playing with her tiny dollhouse, arranging the creatures just so, and doing different tiny animal voices for each one. She has a better concept of time, and a better memory in general, than she did just months ago. Her memory has always been amazing- "Mama remember that red crabby sandbox we had when I was a tiny baby?" Um... yes. But it's a little bit creepy that you do..."

This is both a curse ("Mama remember you said I could have a treat when we got home! I want a treat that is chocolate!") and a blessing ("Remember that time, when Grandma came and took me to get ice cream?") Yes, honey. I do remember that over a year ago, Grandma dropped by the house we used to live in, and surprised you with a trip to get ice cream. The whole thing lasted about an hour and a half, and although we probably talked about it for a few days afterward, I surely hadn't remembered it again, or mentioned it, in at least a year.

It's really incredibly wonderful that she has so many memories of Grandma. I don't think she'll ever walk up to the door of the house on Bamford without a tiny part of her expecting Grandma to flip the metal letter door up and surprise her.

Wren tells involved, rambling, hilarious stories. She sings until she cries (which is genetic, actually), and she is still so excited about seeing the people she loves that she becomes a babbling mess when they appear (also probably genetic, I'm afraid). She is a little shy with strangers, and incredibly articulate with people she's comfortable with. She can be articulate to the point of intense bossiness with Jane, directing her like a little puppet master. I don't know how many times a day I say, "WREN. YOU ARE NOT THE MAMA. I am the Mama." When things don't go her way (crumbling block towers, disobedient siblings or dogs...) Wren says "I just need to take a little break" and goes to her room, by herself. She likes to get a stack of books, and a flashlight, and read under the covers in her bed. This might also be genetic. When she's had enough of any situation, too much school, too many errands, whatever the problem, she just wants to be home, in her bed. She is our little homing beacon. In contrast, Jane is more of a food beacon.

Four years old is a blast, so far. Chase and I bargain over who takes the kids where, now that Wren is more like shopping with your weird and distractable friend, and less like shopping with your wiggly squirmy 30lb bag of screaming time bomb, who also wants to throw herself into traffic. Wren is a delight, and I just wanted to write this down so I would remember how fun she is right now.