so many words

i don't know why i was just thinking about this, but i remember a bunch of years ago, my friends were having their house built by their dad, who happened to be an architect/contractor/jack-of-all-trades kind of guy. he was an old guy. korean. super-serious. scared me just to walk by him at church. not mean. just serious. anyway, his then very young grand-daughter, i think she was about 5 at the time, looked at him while he worked on building the fireplace. he was hard at work, and she was hard at work staring in amazement. she looked at her grandfather and said: "you're an artist."

oh my goodness. blew everyone away. such simple words. words that the old man had probably never ever heard in his long and illustrious career as a man who knew how to make good money. my friends were blown away at the sincerity and beauty of their daughter's words.

kids and words. so amazing. having the kids talk right now is my favorite. everything they say, the way they say it, the voices that say what they say. so awesome. i love kids and their words.

lily has been repeating everything i say lately. and of course, she says it way cuter than i do.

the other day she hit topher. she had a time out, and when she came out of it, we talked about the wrong that she had done, and then i told her to apologize to her brother. so she called him over: "topher." no response. topher is a spce ranger. "topher" she repeated. still nothing. she is standing right behind him. now she's serious: "topher. look at me." (i tell the kids to look at me all the time when they are in trouble, or i am trying to convey a very important message) topher turns around obediently. "topher, i am so sorry i hit you." and as always topher says: "that's ok noona." what a great brother and sister pair.

then this morning, as we are eating breakfast, lily looks at me and says: "mom, i need to talk to you." man this 3 year-old can be serious! "yes, lily?" i am intrigued. "i am sorry i came into your room again." now listen here reader- she didn't come into my room and see anything inappropriate or anything crazy like that. lily has been coming into our room almost every night for the last couple of nights, again, and i have had to get up and bring her back to her bed every time. exhausting! we have talked about how my room is only for mommy and daddy sleeping, even though two mornings ago, i woke up to find both lily and topher asleep in a heap on the floor near our bed. so adorable. anyway, with lily's sudden apology this morning, we'll see if things change.

but one thing that will not change is just how stinking awesome it is to have great conversations with great kids. or even better, to hear great conversations between great kids.