Fat Lips, Flirting and Full Sentences.

It was a weekend full of firsts for the Beans.

We spent the day on Saturday chilling with my momma. Even though I was no longer in the horizontal position (a barbeque led to food poisoning, which led to throwing up and…other things, which led to throwing out my always unpredictable back), I was pretty much L-shaped for the week and so Mom instructed that I bring the Beans over from some fun in the sun (them) and Thai food (me).

Later in the afternoon, we were to meet up with Daddy Bean and head over to his boss’ house for a team BBQ. Seriously, I changed the Beans’ shirts no less than three (3) times and swore to my father that if he got one speck of chocolate on their clothing, he’d be asking for it. I was anticipating total meltdown on the part of the Beans while at the BBQ (mostly from Her Royal Pie-ness, as she inherited a bit of the anti-social bug from her father) so I thought that by dressing them up in cute but casually cool BBQ attire, it would deflect attention from the hot dog throwing temper tantrums I was expecting.

Well, it turns out that I had no reason to worry. Not only were the Beans on their best behavior, they were fun and flirtatious!! Most of Daddy Bean’s co-workers are 20-something single men and the Beans just ate it up. They high-fived everyone, showed off their exemplary tumbling skills, conned more than a few potato chips when I wasn’t looking and may have even asked for a sip of beer! They were upset about leaving! Apparently, they have inherited a bit of my family’s party animal instincts. The only time HRP even whimpered was when a woman tried to pick her up for a cuddle. That wasn’t the case for J’s boss Mike, whose arms Maggie had a hard time leaving!

On Sunday, it rained all day long. The girls stood at the doorwall, in despair that their swing and slide were left untouched and they were stuck in the house with their dreadful parents. We attempted to cure their mood by kicking on a little bit of Toy Story 2 (their latest obsession…adios George, hello Woody) but that only cheered them up temporarily. Soon enough they found ways to amuse themselves, one being the wrap and tug. The Pie would wrap herself in a blanket and Audie Bear would tug the blanket until they both fell into a pile on the floor, giggling uncontrollably. And repeat. During one round, Audie’s lips met the edge of a Mega Blok and she burst into angry tears. When I rushed to grab her, she fought me. Her lip was growing purple and she was bleeding into her mouth but the girl wasn’t upset. She was pissed. She’s such a tiny little thing, and for the most part, she’s pretty laid back. But she’s a little spitfire when she’s angry. She refused my medical treatment (read: hugs, kisses, Ziplock bag and ice) and stomped away, biting her lip in fury, just daring it to bleed some more.

And finally, on Sunday night, The Pie walked up to me as I was sitting on the couch, pushed “Goodnight Moon” into my hands and said, “Read the book.” Huh? You speak? In sentences? I mean, I was just getting over Audie putting together Daddy Bean’s current location (“Daddy work”), and now you’re actually conversing like…people? I would have preferred their first sentence to be, “The winning lottery numbers are…” or “Momma is beautiful,” but I’ll take “Read the book,” for now. And, yes. I did read the book. Four times.