Alexander's Religious Education

One of Alexander's friends recently lost her grandmother.

Here's a conversation we had on the way home from school:

"Where's Cedra?"

"She's probably at school or has already been picked up."

"Oh, yeah. She's been picked up. Her grandma picked her up."

"Did she?"

"Oh, no. Her grandma's dead."

"Did Cedra tell you that?"

"Yeah." Pause. "She was nailed."

"She was what?"

"Nailed."

"Nailed?"

"Nailed!" Getting impatient with me. "With the cross thing!"

"Where was she nailed?"

"With the wood cross."

"I mean, where on her body?"

"I don't know. I think right here in her belly."

"Sweatheart, are you thinking of Jesus?"

"Yeah, Jesus--that guy."

"I don't think Gretchen was nailed."

"No. She's dead, but she's going to come back."

"Well, when people die, they stay dead. They don't come back."

"Except Jesus."

"Where did you hear about Jesus? Was someone at school telling you about him?"

"No. I just know."

Sibling Rivalry?

After helping Grandma and Grandpa pick out their Christmas Tree, Alexander said to me, "Annabel is my best friend, even though she's just a baby." (Actually, he said, "...still that she's just a baby." He hasn't quite got the "even though" down yet.)

Of course I let out an "Aw, aren't you sweet" sigh.

In the next breath he said, "But sometimes I don't like it when she comes over and ruins the things that I'm playing with."

She does get in his way lately. When they're together I'm constantly hearing, "No, Annabel," "Don't do that, Annabel," or the ever-popular, highly exasperated, "Anna-BEL."

He does a good job of not retaliating. Last week, he kept running away from her saying, "Ow, she's hitting me," and calling her a bully. Yes, my 9-month-old daughter is bullying my three-year-old son. Good times!

First Step

It was a little one, but she definitely took it. There she was, freestanding in the hallway, reaching for a cord she knew she wasn't supposed to mess around with. Instead of her normal upper-body lunge to get the things she wants, she moved a foot, and took her first step on Nov. 29th, 2010.

Then she promptly plopped down on her butt.

She's repeated the feat a couple of times since, but I doubt she'll be truly walking anytime soon. Still, it's a step. And now whenever she stands, she does a little jiggly dance with her knees as if she's desperately trying to lift those feet.