Mini-us

I laid down with B last night as she was falling asleep. She wanted to read Llama Llama Misses Mama about 10 times before she finally fell asleep. I was thinking that we could be done when dusk turned to dark, but she was doing such a good job of reading the book to me (she almost has every rhyming line in it memorized) and I was thoroughly enjoying the expression she used when she was reading. She loves reading like her dad and I do.

Then she turned and said, "Excuse me, mommy, can you turn a light on so I can see it better?" So much for just gradually letting it get dark. How could I resist when that was the first time she had ever said excuse me. "Sure baby girl..." I laid back down and saw the delight in her eyes that we could keep going for a bit more, and she said, "Is that a lamp?" "Yes, it is" "It's kind of like that song, Mary had a Little Lamp isn't it?" This little girl is too cute, and after a few more laughs and times reading the story, she fell asleep with her hand in mine. Pure mommy bliss.

I was very happy to have this time with her as she needed some one on one time after our fun weekend of activity. It is kind of funny when you realize you have accidentally created a little bit of a mini-me. Well, it's funny sometimes. B happens to be quite the mini-combo of J and I. The good and the bad. Here are some examples:

B has to know what we are doing next at all times. She was bound to be plagued by impatience and obsessed with pre-planned agendas and productivity (yes, I started planning out a couple of homemade Christmas gifts in my mind yesterday...It's just a genetic mutation I have, I guess :) And, her dad hasn't relaxed since he was born (just kidding - sort of!) T just requests to go the park every time we leave the house.

B is a bit on the moody side (that's from daddy!). Just ask her Nana, Papa, Aunt, and Uncle who took us to Newport Beach with them for the weekend. We had a great time spending time with them, riding a ferry, checking out Balboa Island, playing at the beach, and eating lots of delicious food. She is really good-natured most of the time, and spent the majority of it happily running around, chatting, taking care of her baby doll, and pretend talking on the phone for literal hours. But, then she got really upset if someone gave her a compliment on her shirt or we tried to say grace before dinner, and would run away mad. I'm sure getting angry when someone gives you a compliment seemed rather appropriate to her. Just not us.

Our family very graciously witnessed this "attention overload." She loves being around people like I do, but we both need a little down time apparently (I am just starting to realize this about myself after watching her). She loves playing but starts to get a bit snippy when she has been with people for an extended period of time. I have a bit of a bratty streak myself - surprised, right? T has picked up a bit of this moodiness as well, but we think his is more focused on the fact that he has a hard time with anyone leaving at all. And he has the gifts of incessancy and having a one-track mind...umm...I mean, persistence.

Anyway, at times she resembles a little teenager. This makes both mommy and daddy very nervous! I have heard the two's are a bit of a preview for the teens...oh boy. She is the most precious little girl who can be as sweet as sugar and as spunky as possible. All in all, I wouldn't have it any other way. I am glad she has a mind of her own - now we just need to figure out how to nurture that little thing!

Her brother is all boy - not too moody, but wild as all get out! He loves a good snuggle and a good jump off of a playground or into a pool. The kid naturally knew to hold his breath, and then jumped into the water at the pool, went completely under, and happily waited for his dad to scoop him up about 50 times. Then upon emerging from the water in daddy's arms he yelled, "More!?"
Neither J nor I are very daring (don't tell J I said that), so I guess this just goes to show that nature may play a bigger role than I had always assumed... Even though T was surrounded by dress-up high heels and baby dolls, he chooses, trucks, cars, trains, and tools to play with. There's another vote for nature. But then, on the nuture-side, he does have some glaring similarities already - he loves to TALK (sentences these days), he loves watching "Bastetball" with his daddy, is super creative and fun-loving like B, and can throw a pretty mean tantrum like his sis when he gets upset. He also has J's weird texture-based-primarily-carbohydrate eating habits. So pizza and "fasta" it is!

Nevertheless, we seem to have gotten two of the best but very different personalities in the world to raise! And we wouldn't trade a minute of it (which is pretty big for me to be able to write after B's anger about me not letting her buckle her own car seat and T's 20 minute melt-down this afternoon). I would have maybe fast-forwarded through those 20 minutes a bit. :)