Kelly begged me to take her picture last week with Barbie, and the second I hit the button, she moved from a perfect little smile, to THIS.  Then she laughed and laughed and giggled and smirked.  So…very…Kelly of her.

Kelly’s in Bird Month at school.  Whoah-boy, is she excited.  Real owls visited the classroom, and she made binoculars out of ribbon and toilet paper tubes.  She won’t take them off.  We pulled into the grocery store parking lot, and knowing my strict rule about no carrying toys from home into stores (because who will have to carry them after about 30 seconds of walking??? Her name is Mommy, and she looks a lot like ME), she asked,

Kelly: Tam I take my akanoculars into the store?

Mommy: Sure.

Kelly: Really?  Don’t they sell akanoculars at Wal-Mart?  (I tell them they can’t carry anything into the store that is for sale inside, which works well at Wal-Mart, and horribly at Whole Foods.)

(Insert thought: who takes the word binoculars and actually makes it harder to pronounce?)

Mommy: They do sell binoculars, but, um…not the kind your wearing (thinking to myself, honey, if you want to wear 2 toilet paper tubes strapped to your chest, that’s so your call).

Kelly: (after a moment of silence): How could you POSSIBLY know that?

Mommy: Did you just use the word possibly in a sentence?

Kelly: (sensing opportunity at hand) I’m taking dem.

She has now stumbled through half the stores in Indy, falling about like a drunk Oompa Loompa, while attempting to look at the world via toilet paper tubes.  She is so proud of them, and so many people have stopped to comment on their practicality, that I wouldn’t dare mention to her that she is wearing bathroom trash around her neck.

Kelly is 3 and a half today.  Be on the lookout for my cry-fests as she creeps closer to 4.  FOUR is “turning into a kid” age.  5 is when it happens, but 4 goes by very quickly; everyone knows this.  After 3, your baby is a baby no mo’.  We made cupcakes for her to take to school, as my summer babies never get classroom parties, and therefore her school celebrates summer half-birthdays.  This morning I ran into her room:

Mommy: Kelly!  Happy Half Birthday honey!

Kelly: Am I 3 and a half today?!

Mommy: You are!  You are finally 3 and a half!

Kelly (face turning into a huge frown): But why am I not 3 and 3-quarters?  I wanted to be 3 and 3-quarters!!

Mommy: You must be joking.

Kelly is her own favorite audience.

Kelly is now talking non-stop, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.  Luckily, she really does not care if anyone is listening.  When we do try to pay attention and ask her questions about her perpetual monologue, she replies, “OH, I was talking to myself.”  The need to talk incessantly?  WHERE did she get that?  I just have no idea.  Not a single clue.  Zero-point-zero thoughts about from whom she got this gene.  Speaking of genes…