I remember when we had brought 9 home to our little brick ranch that hot day in July. My father quietly looked down at us snuggling on the couch and said, "He is all yours." It is one of those memories that are snapshots in your mind. And I remember hearing from all the seasoned mothers including my own, "Cherish these times because they fly by." I have tried to keep those words close to the functioning part of my sleep exhausted and often fogged mind. I remember the night snuggling with him and tucking him in, that he didn't 'fit' in the crook of my body, like he had so many nights before. He was growing, he was changing, and I couldn't stop it.
Then I had 6 and heard the same words echoed by those who love us. He was the tiniest of my babies and I was amazed at how much he loved to snuggle. He was perfect, and tiny, and sweet. Surely he wouldn't get too big too fast, right? Wrong.
And finally we greeted 2. What a joyous time when all who love us realized we were having a little girl. We were assured that our lives were going to be very different from having the 'boy' world that 9 and 6 had ushered us into. Quite frankly I thought "How different could it really be?" I wasn't a big lover of pink as a girl, and certainly wasn't prissy and girly. Maybe she would be a lot like me. I mean she is my child after all.
How different are the worlds a part in the universe? How different is chocolate from vanilla? How different is English from Swahili? Do you get my point here?
Let me tell you a little something about 2, she will tell you what she thinks. First of all, if you ask her how old she is, she will tell you "I four!" She knows how to count and can count easily to thirteen, but she has chosen to jump birthdays and just thinks 4 must be more fun, and quite frankly if she is as precocious at 2, I can only imagine what we are up against at 4. I just wish she would bounce back to 2 for a while, get the potty training thing down, and THEN move on. A mother can only wish.
She is a talker. I know surprising right? As I type she is calling me from her bedroom, for the sixteenth time, "Mom, where is my mom? I NEED her!" She has gone potty, she has gotten a drink, I have read her a book, her Daddy has read her a book. I think 9 even read her a book tonight. She has been tucked and retucked in her bed after having to find her pet rubber crocodile to sleep with. She can stall bedtime like a champ welter weight.
I also think it is hilarious when she, the epic staler, is in her bed and scolding her brothers in the neighboring room, "Boys, you hear me in there? You need to go night night right now, and stop talking!" I think she will be great disciplinarian one day. Perhaps a drill sergeant.
She is also fearless. Of all my children she is the most fearless, which both amazes me and scares me to death. I know that having two older brothers makes her more prone to try new and amazing tricks, but quite frankly on her own she is pretty no nonsense. Case in point, yesterday she was investigating the back yard in the glorious weather we were having. We have many trees in our neighborhood with cicadas who shed their skin. At any given time our front tree has approximately 70 cicada shells that the children love to collect. It is not uncommon for her to find a 'buggy bug' and carry it around for hours, often times bringing it to trips to the local Aldi. " I loves them, and they are so cute" she will swoon. Well last night, she found a dead cicada and wanted to show it to her brothers. She had no problem picking it up and carrying around the large dead bug all evening. Here is the proof.
Notice 6 has the squeamish stance, and although 9 is not normally afraid of such things, he also is armed with the water gun. One never knows when things might come back from the dead. He is prepared for the zombie apocalypse.
So, in case you thought that perhaps my camera was taking pictures with some sort of colorful rainbow filter you are horribly mistaken. This leads me to point number three when talking about 2. She really gets into her work, and rarely cares what this may look like in terms of her physical appearance. I know that her immune system is thanking me for allowing her to be inquisitive and ingesting dirt as she goes. I pray that she continues this lack of caring about outward appearance as she grows older and is pulled in the many directions our media pulls young girls.
Recently she has been doing a lot of things on her own and when I offer to help her she will say, "No Mom, I do it 'my big self'." It is the cutest thing I have ever heard, and the most heart breaking at the same time. It means that she is growing and thriving and having all the confidence that a mother wants for her girl, but it also means that she is growing faster than I can hold her. Faster than I can snap the pictures in my mind or on the camera for that matter. She doesn't want to snuggle, she wants to explore.
On one hand I am so proud of her confidence because if she feels this sure of herself at 2 I know that she will be a girl who doesn't need other people or addictions to make herself feel strong. I know all this will help her to be a well adjusted, confident girl, and unfortunately that may mean that she doesn't need me near as long as I thought she would in many ways.
I hope and pray that as 2 grows, she will continue to have this carefree spirit and know that it is great to be able to clean up and look nice, but it is also important to love something that you are doing SOOOO much that you really don't care that you got chocolate and chalk all over your favorite puppy t-shirt, because that stuff all comes out in the wash.
I hope that as she continues to grow she realizes that there are lots of girls who can look really pretty all the time, but feel pretty lousy a lot of time. I want her to know that deep down, she is the one who has to love herself, because the love of others will mean nothing if she doesn't believe in herself first, and that above all God loves her, pink chalk, cicada loving and all.
I want her to believe that she truly can do what ever she puts her mind to, and that she was a gift to our family that made it complete. Her spirit and joy brings us all the smiles we need on days when laughing is the remedy for all that ails our hearts and minds. I want her to know that her warm nature calms the hearts of perfect strangers when she takes the time, at 2, to say hello to them.
I want her to feel at 20 like this picture shows her, at 2, which is comfortable in her own 'pink' skin, and ready to take on the world because I will be ready and waiting to try any adventure she throws my way. I am ready for the journey my girl is going to take me on, and boy what a ride it is going to be, 'buggy bugs' and all.
Then I had 6 and heard the same words echoed by those who love us. He was the tiniest of my babies and I was amazed at how much he loved to snuggle. He was perfect, and tiny, and sweet. Surely he wouldn't get too big too fast, right? Wrong.
And finally we greeted 2. What a joyous time when all who love us realized we were having a little girl. We were assured that our lives were going to be very different from having the 'boy' world that 9 and 6 had ushered us into. Quite frankly I thought "How different could it really be?" I wasn't a big lover of pink as a girl, and certainly wasn't prissy and girly. Maybe she would be a lot like me. I mean she is my child after all.
How different are the worlds a part in the universe? How different is chocolate from vanilla? How different is English from Swahili? Do you get my point here?
Let me tell you a little something about 2, she will tell you what she thinks. First of all, if you ask her how old she is, she will tell you "I four!" She knows how to count and can count easily to thirteen, but she has chosen to jump birthdays and just thinks 4 must be more fun, and quite frankly if she is as precocious at 2, I can only imagine what we are up against at 4. I just wish she would bounce back to 2 for a while, get the potty training thing down, and THEN move on. A mother can only wish.
She is a talker. I know surprising right? As I type she is calling me from her bedroom, for the sixteenth time, "Mom, where is my mom? I NEED her!" She has gone potty, she has gotten a drink, I have read her a book, her Daddy has read her a book. I think 9 even read her a book tonight. She has been tucked and retucked in her bed after having to find her pet rubber crocodile to sleep with. She can stall bedtime like a champ welter weight.
I also think it is hilarious when she, the epic staler, is in her bed and scolding her brothers in the neighboring room, "Boys, you hear me in there? You need to go night night right now, and stop talking!" I think she will be great disciplinarian one day. Perhaps a drill sergeant.
She is also fearless. Of all my children she is the most fearless, which both amazes me and scares me to death. I know that having two older brothers makes her more prone to try new and amazing tricks, but quite frankly on her own she is pretty no nonsense. Case in point, yesterday she was investigating the back yard in the glorious weather we were having. We have many trees in our neighborhood with cicadas who shed their skin. At any given time our front tree has approximately 70 cicada shells that the children love to collect. It is not uncommon for her to find a 'buggy bug' and carry it around for hours, often times bringing it to trips to the local Aldi. " I loves them, and they are so cute" she will swoon. Well last night, she found a dead cicada and wanted to show it to her brothers. She had no problem picking it up and carrying around the large dead bug all evening. Here is the proof.
Notice 6 has the squeamish stance, and although 9 is not normally afraid of such things, he also is armed with the water gun. One never knows when things might come back from the dead. He is prepared for the zombie apocalypse.
Recently she has been doing a lot of things on her own and when I offer to help her she will say, "No Mom, I do it 'my big self'." It is the cutest thing I have ever heard, and the most heart breaking at the same time. It means that she is growing and thriving and having all the confidence that a mother wants for her girl, but it also means that she is growing faster than I can hold her. Faster than I can snap the pictures in my mind or on the camera for that matter. She doesn't want to snuggle, she wants to explore.
On one hand I am so proud of her confidence because if she feels this sure of herself at 2 I know that she will be a girl who doesn't need other people or addictions to make herself feel strong. I know all this will help her to be a well adjusted, confident girl, and unfortunately that may mean that she doesn't need me near as long as I thought she would in many ways.
I hope and pray that as 2 grows, she will continue to have this carefree spirit and know that it is great to be able to clean up and look nice, but it is also important to love something that you are doing SOOOO much that you really don't care that you got chocolate and chalk all over your favorite puppy t-shirt, because that stuff all comes out in the wash.
I want her to believe that she truly can do what ever she puts her mind to, and that she was a gift to our family that made it complete. Her spirit and joy brings us all the smiles we need on days when laughing is the remedy for all that ails our hearts and minds. I want her to know that her warm nature calms the hearts of perfect strangers when she takes the time, at 2, to say hello to them.
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