My Lovey Dovey Girl

Can you believe that life existed before the birth of this fabulous little human? Does life get any better than this? I submit that it does not. Sometimes Elizabeth can be extremely frustrating and confusing and a lot of hard work, like when she throws a fit because it takes me more than 30 seconds to get her juice, or when she climbs up on the chairs at church and falls through the back numerous times and I keep thinking "she'll learn" not to do it. Or when I have just changed her diaper and within 5 minutes I smell the need for another diaper change. But all of this pales in comparison to how magnificent she is in all the little things she does.

I love that when she likes the food presented to her, she shows it by shoving as much of it in her mouth and usually all over her face as possible. Both hands must be full of food at all times. This will also be paired with "yums" and "mmms" while she eats.

I love that she is old/smart enough to help me with things and do things for herself. When she wants to color, I hand her a piece of paper and a box of crayons and she walks over to her table or lies down on her tummy on the floor and she happily colors. I love that she takes great care with her coloring. Some kids just scribble, but Elizabeth scribbles and then looks at the page to evaluate where more scribbling is needed and fills in the blank spots. Sometimes deciding that a single line or circle is necessary to fill the spot. All of her colorings seem so deliberate and carefully planned out that I feel like I need to hang on to them so she can tell me what she was drawing, because I'm pretty sure she has something in mind. When she needs a diaper change, half the time she just goes over to the diaper basket, gets a diaper and lies down on the floor. That's my cue. She throws away garbage, she takes her own clothes off for her bath, she gets her own shoes and is getting very close to putting them on correctly by herself, she turns on her humidifier and air purifier before bed time, she climbs into the car and gets into her car seat by herself. I mean, seriously!?!?!? Is it just me or is she exceedingly efficient and helpful?!?!?!?

I love that when Daddy comes home, he knocks on the door and half the time she stops what she's doing and runs over to me so I can protect her from the stranger at the door and the other half of the time she knows it's daddy and she runs toward the door yelling "daddy daddy".

I love that when I pick her up from day care after work, I can peek through the window to see what she is doing and once I open the door, no matter what she was doing, she drops it and runs up to me yelling "mommy" with a HUGE smile on her face and gives me a long tight hug and then goes back to playing. (It's a perfect balance so I know she loves and misses me but is having a lot of fun while she's waiting for mommy to come home.)

I love that she loves to read. She has her favorites, "Are You My Mother," "The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear," "Anthony the Monster," "One Little Bear and Her Friends" to name a few. But she still loves to read just about anything and everything she gets her hands on. When I get a random magazine in the mail (Education magazines mostly) I keep them in the car to give her for the drive home. Catalogs and magazines around the house become her books. I have to make up stories when she comes to me with a catalog and she wants me to read it to her. I love that when I am reading a book, once she notices that I am reading a book, she runs to get one of hers and sits down next to me while I read.

I love approximately 1,234,534 more things, but it's getting late.

I have a wonderful little girl. I have a wonderful husband. I'm so glad that I made all the right decisions to take me to the right places to meet and fall in love with the right person so that I could have the life I have now. I LOVE IT!!! I could use more time, more money, more patience, more etc., but I have everything I've ever wanted. (Other than writing the great American novel. That will come later.)

I feel like a cheesy weirdo for writing all of this. Let me know if it is totally awkward for me to have this on a blog. :)

Here is some photo evidence of my lovey little girl: