Tabby Tales

Would you believe that cute little girl, was puking her guts out just a couple hours earlier? I got up this morning to find the poor thing crouched outside my bedroom door shivering like the dickens. I wrapped her in a blanket and cuddled her until she said, "Dad, I need to throw up in the toilet." Very calmly. No hurry. Just, "hey, Dad, fyi . . ."

About 15 mins after that was done, "Dad, I'm hungry for breakfast. I want a bagel."

"A bagel is kind of heavy, Tabby. I don't want you to throw up a bagel. How about some toast? Toast is light."

"Um. Well, toaster strudel is light, too. Can I have some toaster strudel?"

We settled on a small bowl of cereal.

After breakfast she ran downstairs laughing and spent the next half hour or so dodging the nerf darts her brothers were shooting at each other across the basement while she gathered up the darts and brought them back so Sam and Ben could reload and keep going.

I think she's fine now. We're staying home from church anyway just to be sure we don't turn the kids' primary into a disease hub.

The other day at work a shift manager named Gigi came in and asked, "Hey Jack, do you have any more stories about Tabby to share?" And guess what? I did! Which got me to thinking I should share them here, too. I mean, they're not real involved stories, just cute little things she's done.

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Like she hates it when I get called in to "Pizza Work", as she calls it. I'm not sure if she actually hates Pizza Hut. She gets real excited when we drive by. "Dad! It's your Pizza Work!" But she likes it when I'm home to put her to bed. Probably just because sometimes I'm not here for it, I get to be her favorite when I am. So those evenings when I'm on call and have to phone in to ask if I'm needed Tabby always assures me, "They're going to tell you to stay home and play with Tabby."

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It's getting nice here most days. Like up into the 60s. Sometimes, anyway. Well, the other day it got up to 70 degrees out. Tabby was out playing on our back porch, blowing bubbles. I was watching from the living room. She left the porch, went out of sight, so I walked to the door to check on her and saw Tabby lounging on the lawn.

"Tabby, what are you up to?"

"I'm just sitting here. On the grass." Then she sprawled out backwards throwing her arms wide and grinning, "It's Spring, Dad! See our leaves!"

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Garage sale season is in full swing. That Tinkerbell nightgown Tabby's wearing up there? $1 at a garage sale. I don't think our little girl has ever had a nightgown and she sure was excited to get one. To get that one! "Dad, I have a nightgrown." She always put the r in there and pronounced it like rhyming with "growl". Instead of telling her she was doing it wrong and trying to correct her, I decided to try aggressively modelling it and see if she'd catch on. So I just started rhyming it with "down" and fell into chanting

Nightgown, nightgown
Tabby's going to lay down
Down, down into bed
Tired little sleepyhead.

Tabby loved it and started repeating it with me. Sure enough, in about 10-15 minutes she was saying it correctly.

Well, she loves the nightgown so much, I had to put a picture of it here.

"Tabby, should we get a picture of your nightgown on the computer?"

"Yes! Take a picture of me flying!"

"Flying?"

"Yes! Like Tinkerbell!"

So there it is.

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As we were looking at pictures on the camera we came across some Becky had taken of Tabby following me while I mowed the lawn. Every time I turned, Tabby would squeal and run away behind me to follow again. Tabby declared this picture was her "fravorite" (anyone know a word to rhyme with "favorite"?) and we had to post it, too. So here's another.