Ernie, We Miss You

BBJ has a cousin. (Yes, just one...but that will all change later this year! Ernie will have a sibling in September, and the Winster will have her first in October. Way to set the pace, guys!)

Anyhow, as I was saying. BBJ has a cousin. She LOVES her cousin. (It was a love/hate relationship for a while. The girls would both start to scream whenever they saw each other...but they would still ask to go to their cousin's house whenever they drove by!) They were more like siblings than cousins. Literally - Wonder Woman and I are identical twins, so the kids...what does that make them. Half-sisters? I mean, half their DNA is identical, right? BBJ just got more of an Asian Flavor...and Ernie got all the blond haired, blue eyed goodness that South Dakota could bring to the party.

Did I ever tell you that Wonder Woman and I lived across the street from each other, until this whole moving fiasco? Yeah...it was great for the girls. If I had known how much I would miss it, I might not have enjoyed it so much!

Now that we're in East Coast Land...I miss having family so close by. We have found lots of little kids BBJ's age at church, but they all come with pre-school aged siblings. Don't get me wrong - I love the siblings, but there is NOTHING in this house (that ought to be played with) that can successfully occupy a 4 year old for more than a few minutes! After that, it's all about going down to the lake...which is all sorts of dangerous for the babies, and cold for the mommies.

Until today. All I can say is that God answers prayers, y'all! I've been wishing that I could find a friend for BBJ, one that could come over and be entertained here. If said kid's mommy could be my friend, too...so much the better! I wasn't exactly sure where to look, though. (I mean, it's kind of rude to go into church and start asking if there are any kids WITHOUT siblings that could play with my little angel, right?)

This morning, a woman called me and wanted to know if she could stop by with some lesson materials for Louh Gung and I. I said sure, we'd just come back from our morning errands, and we'd be home for the rest of the day. A few minutes later, a mini van pulled up, and out hops a woman I recognized from church...and a little miniature blond barbie doll. She had stick straight hair, as yellow as corn and twice as silky, in a cute bob that came to her shoulders. She was wearing a pink shirt, pink pants, and some pink sandals. She came bouncing in, and introduced herself as Zoe. Her mother then gave me a VERY apologetic look and said, "I've come all the way out here to give you your manuals...and I left them at home!" She started to collect her daughter, but I told her it would be perfectly alright to leave her daughter here while she ran home. (She only lives about two miles away.) She agreed and took off again.

Do I even need to tell you how it melts a mommy's heart to see her baby, happily playing with another baby, after moving ACROSS the country? BBJ and Zoe ran around the house, requested a glass of OJ and a glass of water each, ate some noodles (Zoe was confused when I offered her macaroni noodles. She sweetly asked me if there was any cheese in the noodles, after tasting them. I explained, no, they were just noodles cooked in chicken broth. She said, "Oh" and didn't eat any more...but she never complained.) By the time Zoe's mama had returned (10 minutes later, mind you) both girls had finished their snacks and were rearranging the playroom furniture. Zoe had found herself a seat on our little rocking toy, and was explaining to me that Teah was rocking her.

The match up was perfect, and it made me laugh. You see, Ernie is blond...Zoe is blond. Ernie will be three next month, Zoe just turned three a few weeks ago. Ernie and Zoe are just old enough to come up with ideas for games, but not so old that ideas become orders. And don't even get me started on Zoe's mama - she's constantly laughing, loves video games and...lives super close!

I was just so happy when they showed up. Since BBJ needed her nap, we promised the girls we'd set up another playdate soon, at Zoe's house.

Things are definitely looking up! Oh, and BBJ can almost say her name. I said, "BBJ, say 'Zoe'." She scrunched up her face and said, "Woen." That's close, right?