A Mile a Minute…

For about a week now, I have been “collecting” certain statements of Ryley’s. I guess, because this is my journal of sorts (albeit a public one),  I want to make sure I adequately document this very entertaining part of her personality while it lasts. :-)

Ryley is just so incredibly talkative – a trait which definitely comes from her daddy, am I right? But in every conversation and situation, she feels the need to re-state what was just said and then go one step further, whether it is to create a “fact” or blanket statement that lumps all similar situations with this same conclusion, or to vividly imagine and re-create the circumstances that caused this conclusion. That’s what inspired our “Jump to Conclusions Mat” back at Christmas.

For instance:

Tonight she and I were discussing where we should place our mugs of hot chocolate so that they would be out of reach of Juliet. I had suggested the end table.

“Mommy, we can’t put the mugs on top of the Bible. Nothing ever gets put on top of the Bible. If you have a stack of books, stack everything else first, then leave the Bible for last so you can put the Bible on top. Otherwise leave the Bible alone. Unless you’re reading it, of course.”

I don’t know if she just craves rules? She is always looking for patterns and consistency within the universe. “This always does this.” Very scientific.

Or maybe it’s just that she has such a big imagination. If you tell her The Titanic sank, she will start talking about the ship’s captain and what he must have thought or what he must have been doing when the ship struck the iceberg. She wants to know why. And if she can’t know why, she will create the why.

Here are some more:

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"You are so cuddly, Mommy. I love cuddling with you. Some mommies don't like to cuddle with their kids, and they spank them all the time instead, and they are bad parents."

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The Byrds’ “Turn, Turn, Turn” comes on my iTunes and….

“Oh, I know this song. There’s a time for everything. There’s a time for my microscope, and there’s a time for homework. There’s a time for winter and a time for spring. There’s a time to get glasses because most people get glasses at some time in their life. Some people are young when they get glasses, and some people are old. You got glasses when you were young. Did your friends make fun of you the first time they saw you with your glasses?”

And a minute later…

“There’s a time for me to get married and a time for me to have babies. There’s a time in your life for everything. Some time in your life you will have time for something that you never had time to do. Some time in your life you will have time to read this book you bought.”

“I have read that book,” I retorted.

“No, I didn’t mean you and that book. I just meant….”

“In general?”

“Yeah.”

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We were watching the Red Carpet for the Golden Globes, and Ryley admired Nicole Kidman’s accent.

“She’s from Australia,” I told her.

“So they're all from Australia,” she responded, matter-of-factly.

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We were watching the Miss America pageant, and they showed footage of all the contestants hanging out at Disneyland.

“Oh, they did lots of activities so they could get used to one another."

And when somebody yelled out and cheered loudly in the crowd after a contestant performed her talent: “Oh, I think that was her mother that was screaming.”

And when she saw last year’s Miss America: “Oh, she is beautiful! No wonder she was Miss America! And she visited the army in the hospitals in Germany, and they were glad to see her because she represented their country!”

And when the runners up were walked off the stage: “They don't want to be runner up, but at least they get flowers!”

And when Miss Nebraska was being crowned: “The crown is so sticky that it won't fall off your head, so you can put your head back like this.” (And she tilted her head back to demonstrate)

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We were talking about how, as Christians, our light overcomes the darkness. I asked her, “If you put a candle in a dark room, will the candle stay lit?”

“Yes, unless it's windy,” she answered. “Or if there's no air.”

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She completely fascinates us. All the time. It’s exhausting because we are constantly having to correct her assumptions and come up with hypothetical alternatives to the conclusions she’s jumped to. Sometimes I want to say, “Ryley! No! That’s not how it always is. Relax. Life isn’t that cut and dry. You have to roll with the punches!” But at the same time, I have to appreciate her desire for order in the universe.

Like I said, I don’t know how long this phase will last. It’s been at least six months so far. It’s just a quirky part of her personality.

Here are some more Ryley Stories:

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Ryley is discovering the power of Google.

Unbeknownst to us, on Christmas Eve, she helped herself to our computer and typed into the browser, “Where is Santa?” What she got was a link to the NORAD page. She came running down the stairs telling us she found out Santa was in Asia.

The other day she asked me what she can do to make her hair grow longer. I told her we’d have to Google it. So she did. Ten minutes later, armed with a water bottle, she was outside playing on her swing-set and running around the yard with Juliet. Curious, I stopped by the computer to see what it said: Drink plenty of water and get lots of exercise.

She’s gotten a little too comfortable with the computer, and we have had to have a talk about only using it with Mommy and Daddy. :-)

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In the last couple of weeks, Ryley has been taking it upon herself to check the expiration date of everything in our fridge, as she uses it.

“Ughhh! 2010! Mommy, this Ranch dressing is old! Gross!”

“Oh, good. August 2011. So this one’s still good.”

I asked her why she was suddenly interested in checking expiration dates.

“It’s a new year, and I thought it would be a good thing to do,” she answered. “Just make sure everything says 2011.”

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Ryley is fascinated by people being “drawn” to Jesus. She said, “When someone comes to Jesus, it's like Jesus is fishing in a lake, and the person is like a fish, and He catches the fish and puts it in His boat with the other fish, which are like other Christians.”

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She has expressed more and more interest in football (or at least she tries to because she wants Ryan to feel good! :-) ), and the other day she saw a picture of Tom Brady when Ryan was reading a story on the Internet.

“Mommy thinks he’s good-looking. Do you think he is?” Ryan asked her.

“He’s just trying to be good-looking,” she answered, slightly disgusted. And then she imitated Tom Brady’s smoldering, “sexy” look. Silly girl.

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I know this is a long post. I had Ryan read it, and I asked him if all the stories about Ryley are too much. He said, “Well, it’s our life. Our lives are too much.” :-)

She is lovely and quirky, and we love her to pieces. We can’t wait to see what God has in store for her life…how He will choose to use her and her very, very unique and beautiful personality.