Our Family's Voyage: Vignettes from Life with Mary Joyce

Mary Joyce, as all who have ever met her will attest, is a real character. Most days she keeps us in stitches, laughing at whatever she has come up with at any given moment. You just never know what she is going to do or say.

A few examples...

The other day, we were in the car headed out to eat and then to the grocery store. Katherine had a band-aid on her leg where she had scratched the top off of a scab. (Keep in mind she had been wearing the band-aid for awhile before this came up.) We stopped for gas, and while we were sitting in the car and Chet was pumping the gas, I looked back at Katherine in her car seat. (We have one of those mirrors where you can see the baby when they are in a rear facing seat.) I saw her put something that looked like paper in her mouth. I got out of the car, opened the back door, and stuck my finger in her mouth to pull out the "paper." She had pulled off her band-aid and put the entire thing in her mouth! Once I got back into my seat and threw away the band-aid, Mary Joyce looked at me and said, "Mama, baby eat ben-daid!" My thought--"Why didn't you tell me that when she stuck it in her mouth?" Oh, well...better late than never...

Another time we were at the gas station (the last story reminded me of this one), and Chet got out to pump the gas. Mary Joyce was really bothered for some reason by the fact that her daddy was out of the car. I told her, as I had many times before, "Daddy is putting gas in the car to make the car go." At that, she said, "Beep, beep!" Evidently someone at church or the babysitter has taught her that the car goes "beep beep." It caught me off-guard, as that one just hadn't come up before.

At church this past Wednesday, Mary Joyce and Katherine were in the nursery while I was in choir practice, and Chet was taking care of some pastoral duties. There is a speaker in the nursery so that you can hear what is going on in the sanctuary. At choir practice, we sang "Happy Birthday" to the guy running the sound board. Mary Joyce looked at Mrs. Christy, the nursery worker, and said, "Cake?"

I love the way 2 year olds phrase things. When Mary Joyce does something, she will say, "I dud it!" or "Mummy I dud it!" (She calls herself "Mummy.") Evidently "I dud it!" is a verb, because when Katherine does something, Mary Joyce will say, "Baby I dud it!"

And now, for a few pictures of our silly, sweet girl--

This picture is one where Mary Joyce decided she was going to pose for the camera. She very carefully chose where she was going to stand so I could make a picture for the sole purpose of her being able to come and look at it on the camera when I was done. Also, note the shoes... She loves that pair of shoes, and would wear them all the time if I would let her. Never mind that they are church shoes and are almost too small...

The other day, Mary Joyce was carrying blocks very deliberately into the kitchen. When she finished her masterpiece, she was jumping up and down saying, "Yea, Mummy!" over and over. When I looked, each drawer pull in the kitchen had a single purple block sitting on it. I guess she thought the drawers needed a little color.

There is a little gap between the dresser in the girls' room and the wall. Mary Joyce thinks it makes a great hiding spot. She also loves that toy microphone that she got from a kids' meal at Subway. (We have some video to post about that later...)