The little one

Prologue:  Camping Adventure 2014 episode 2 has come and gone, again more successfully than not.  This was even a longer trip (2 nights!!  Are you gasping in shock yet?), but all survived.  Because I'm sure my devoted fan base (???) is wondering based on Camping Adventure 2014 episode 1, the answer is YES.  It was again far, far too cold at night.  In July.  It's not like we haven't made an honest effort at sweltering; Mother Nature hasn't gotten that memo. 

I want to take a moment and talk about the little one.  The peanut.  Our sweet baby cakes. 

First of all, she's almost all the way potty trained, and that's pretty great.  This turn of events led me to "deconstructing" the changing table...with a rubber mallet.  It was hauled away in the garbage truck this morning.  Why such brute force?  Well.  Surely by now I've made this point, but just in case--WE'RE ALMOST DONE WITH DIAPERS FOREVERRRRRR.  We're not excited about that.  A couple of days ago, she was working on a #2 on her potty seat when she suddenly ducked her head and covered her eyes.  When questioned, she responded "I'm hiding...from the poopy."  Aren't we all.

The little bean is good for 7-8 word sentences, which is fun.  She's also a crazy little mimic, mostly of big sister.  This results in all sorts of hilarity.  She also just told the boy to "Hey...take your hands off of me!" when he was helping her onto his lap.  I wonder where she heard that before. 

Sweetness is also good for memorizing her favorite books after a couple of read-throughs.  It's always good to let the kid do all of the work at story time.  That let's me start my own nap time that much earlier.  (Anyone want to hear a variation on Boo Boo or Brown Bear, Brown Bear?  She has a whole repertoire.)

The nugget still insists on a very specific set list for "cuddles" before sleep: Silent Night, then ABCs, kiss, lay down and tuck in (including animals), then Peace be Still, and finally Jingle Bells.  But you can't smile during Jingle Bells.  That's a crime in toddler-ville.  And you dare not cut in for the "hey!" and the "ha ha ha" parts of the favorite Christmas song.  You get a serious tongue lashing for that.

Sweet pea is turning into my baseball buddy.  As she climbed up in my lap yesterday while I had a game on, she told me that she likes baseball.  However, she repeatedly tells my boys on the senior circuit to "Don't run!  Walk!"  Who said that baseball is too slow?  Apparently, it's not slow enough.

All of this is to say that I'm thoroughly absorbing as much of the little one's incredible toddler-ness while it lasts.  For here's the thing--she's my girl.  Truly, truly, I'm her favorite, her world.  I have never, ever ever ever, had this with her sister, and this devotion working in conjunction with she's our final little homemade confection that I'll ever bake, it's my IT right now.  It's the highlight of many a day.  It's the way I thought #1 would be.

We made a good choice to make a kid that likes me for a change.