She climbs out of shopping carts regularly. She shrieks to get her way. She doesn’t stop saying “I do! I do!” I hear a lot of “No, mama. No, mama. No, mama. No!” She has a bad habit of hitting when she’s angry. She hides things behind her back if she feels at all threatened. She likes to find pens and crayons carelessly left behind and decorate whatever she can find with them. She removes her diaper when she’s bored. Climbing on tables and window sills is a regular occurrence.
But…
She dances with no care in the world. She mimics everything I do down to the way I’m standing or holding my hands while speaking. She spontaneously says to me, “Hi, mommy” 100 times a day. She asks to pray and repeats the last word of my every phrase. She swims with such determination. She wants pig tails to look like Ashlyn and then admires herself in the mirror. And, she is absolutely heart-stopping adorable when she smiles and crinkles up her little nose.
And, she’s mine.
