August 22, 2008
Sadie is in her closet deciding whether to wear the "peace, love, and chocolate" tank top I bought her. "Yeah, I definitely love love. And I like chocolate when it's good. But peace? Not so much." So I ask her what peace means to her: "Like getting quiet time all by yourself—I don't ever want that!"

August 21, 2008
Tonight's ponderable: "Do people ever grow freckles on their teeth?"

July 29, 2008
Sadie is just about to take an attitude with me when she stops, says (to no one in particular), "oh wait, I'm gonna shake it all out," shakes her head vigorously, and continues, "There! I shook all the rudeness out, and now I can be nice."

July 2, 2008
We’re in the Honda Pilot on our way to the annual Marin County Fair, and we’re discussing the exhibits we plan to visit, the entertainment we hope to enjoy, and the food we intend to devour. It seems Sadie has more practical matters in mind: she chimes in with, "I'm just going to cross my fingers for no porta potties."

October 25, 2007
Sadie has a fever, so she’s home from school today. She asks to do hula hoop in the backyard (she can’t be feeling too badly, eh?), but I reply no, sick days are to be spent drawing, sleeping, and reading.

She retorts, "well, then why do YOU get to do LAUNDRY and DISHES when YOU'RE sick?"

(Yeah, why?)

August 2, 2007
Sawyer asks Sadie why she's in a swimsuit (we have no pool plans). "It's all about the saving the world thing,” she answers. “This is my costume to save the world."

Okay then. Carry on.

January 5, 2007
I ask Sadie whether her room is a mess. She replies, with all sincerity and not a hint of sarcasm, "well, did you clean it?"

April 28, 2006
Sadie’s at the pool, dripping wet and frantic: "I can't find my privates! Where's my privates? Mama, help me find my privates!"

Turns out she's in desperate want of her terry-cloth "cover-up."

March 15, 2006
We're driving home from preschool. Sadie is unusually quiet, and I'm absentmindedly singing along with James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" on the radio: "You're beautiful. You're beautiful. You're beautiful, it's true...." We arrive at the house just as the song wraps. I remove the key from the ignition, and Sadie pipes up from the backseat, "Hey thanks, Mama, for saying I'm beautiful!"