Little E, 3.5

I don’t know if there’s much more exciting than watching God teach your kids without your overt plan.  Little E is trying to figure out the trinity (try explaining that one to a three year old) and at night likes to bless God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and God’s kid.  Despite her limited knowledge of God, lately He’s started building up my tiny daughter’s faith by answering her prayers and calming her fears.

One morning during breakfast, Little E was looking at the back of the cereal box as usual and became excited when she discovered that more free books come with other Cheerios boxes.  We already had one, and she wanted the rest of them.  I told her that I couldn’t promise that we would get any more.  A minute later, I heard her praying quietly to God, asking Him for all the books on the back of the cereal box.  When she was done, I told her that it was good she asked God, that He might say no, but it was good to ask Him just in case.  I didn’t think anything more about it, and I didn’t plan to answer her prayer for her.  The next time I went grocery shopping, because of a big sale going on and coupons that I had, I was able to save the most amount of money to buy a bunch of Cheerios boxes, so I did.  Between that trip and one other, we ended up with every single book on the back of that box.  I didn’t plan it, but God answered my daughter’s prayer for books!

A day or two later, Little E was scared about something, and I tried to comfort her, saying that God would be there with her and that she didn’t need to be afraid.  That night, our Bible story happened to be about Moses crossing the Red Sea, and the exact same language that I had used about fear was used in the story to comfort the scared Israelites.  Little E recognized it and pointed it out, and once again, I was amazed at what God was doing in her heart.

Mr. C once said that Little E’s favorite color is fancy, and he’s right.  That girl loves anything that makes her feel pretty.  Don’t most girls?  She knows I love her curls, so since it turned humid this summer, she’s been feeling especially pretty.  I thought her curls were on their way out, but now I’m not sure they are yet!

Here are some Little E anecdotes:

Little E and Mr. C are forever bringing me toys to fix.  Invariably, the way I fix them is by hot glue.  I realized that I might be doing it a little too much when Little E asked, “If my leg breaks off, will you glue it back on with hot glue?”

I was telling Mr. C and Little E that Daddy went to school a long time, meaning that he took classes for many years.  Little E piped up and asked, “He didn’t want to go to work or the grocery store??”

We have a Disney song that says “beware” a lot. One day, I realized that Little E was confused by the song when she said, “Beware. Where could you be?”

To pass the time during lunch, Little E, Mr. C, and I were playing 20 questions a lot.  For the first few weeks, here’s how it would go when Little E would take a turn:
E:  Thinked about it!
C: Is it an animal?
E:  Uh huh.
C: Does it have a mane?
E:  Uh huh.
C: Is it a lion?
E:  Uh HUH!!
Pretty much every time.

Another game Mr. C liked to play was “Raise Your Hand,” which I think he just made up.  He would say, “Raise your hand if you like hot dogs!” or “Raise your hand if you like pickles!” and we were supposed to raise our hands if we did.  Little E tried it a few times–here’s what she came up with: “Raise your hand if you like bananas on your bruises!!”

As might be obvious by now, Little E loves to do what Mr. C does, and lately Mr. C has been interested in rules and letting us know what the rules are.  Little E has a few rules, too, which she let us know at the lunch table the other day.
E:  I have a rule.  Don’t touch monsters if it’s a real monster.
Me:  Good rule, E.
E:  I have another rule.  Don’t touch trees if they’re monster trees.
I hope you’re taking notes.