Sweet face. Smart girl.

She’s pretty, isn’t she?  I’m biased, and yeah, she resembles her mom a little… what can I say??

But really… sometimes I’m just surprised at how sweet she can be. Like when I told her the other day that I didn’t feel well, and she jumped up from across the room where she was playing.  “Mom, don’t worry, I’ll come give you a hug and a kiss and that will make you all better.”  She proceeded to do just that, with gusto.  And darn it, if I didn’t feel a bit better right then.

She has been returning a bit to the ultra-dramatic phase, and that’s no fun, but in between… she is pretty fun.  She has a “buddy” for various things… Daddy is her “swim buddy,”  Miss Julie is her “QT buddy,”  and of course, her “shopping buddy” is Auntie Rach.  Just ask her.  She’s happy to tell you.

Quite often, she will ask about feelings… “Mom, how are you feeling?”  And she is not asking about feeling tired or sick. She wants to know if I’m “pleased” or “grouchy” or “sad.”  Those are her most common options.  She will assign feelings to people around her, (even the dog) comment on the feelings she sees in people faces, and when she does wrong and sees less than a “pleased face” on me, she is so sensitive to it. And yet, sometimes it seems she just can’t keep from making bad choices.

She’s very into reading.  Like reading books, signs, ads, anything.  She asked if she could look in my purse today, and she picked up a pack of gum and said, “Mom, why does this say “Big Red?”  I know she can read those words, but it’s just funny to me when she pops up with those things in real life use. 

Her sight word list is well over 200.  And she knows all her sounds and is getting a lot better at sounding out words phonetically. It’s amazing to watch her LOVE to learn.  At 2 1/2 years old.  Except for the writing element, she meets and far exceeds all the requirements for kindergarten.  (As does her sister…)

I’m not the best mom, and I often have days where I fail more than I succeed in parenting.  But I’m so grateful to have these two girls to stick with me as I try to get it right.