"Little Girl."

Sadie is growing up so much so quickly! I realize this is the ultimate cliche about children, but I can't help myself from joining the ranks of parents who start to wonder where the time is going. Her cognition and language development are on fire. She says things constantly that we didn't realize she knew/remembered/absorbed. She mimics my facial expressions and inflections and intonations when speaking.
She is definitely exerting her will more, and we are experiencing the telltale toddler impatience, especially if she's hungry or tired. She continues her love affair with the word "no" but I have successfully taught her "no, thank you" as well. She actually corrects herself if I give her "the look". (you know - the one your mom used to give you that says 'you'd-better-shape-up-right-now-or-else'?)
All of this is just to say that she's certainly growing up. I see moms everywhere with babies; Sadie looks like a giant in comparison. She is definitely not a baby anymore. At all. I still call her "baby" and "baby girl" sometimes, and we still do "baby things" like nursing in the morning and rocking her to Brahm's Lullaby before bed. She is a serious snuggle-bug and I love holding her in my arms. I hope we have a few more years of her wanting to be held.

Her hair is getting in her eyes again, which is what prompted me to cut it 2 months ago, but instead of reaching for the scissors just yet, I thought I'd take another pass at the whole pig-tail thing. I figured she'd just yank them out and end up hurting her head & pulling out her hair, but she surprised me. She held still while I explained what I was doing and when I was done she said "thank you, mama!" I asked her if she wanted to go look in the mirror, which she did. She walked down the hall, stopped at the mirror and said rather decidedly, "little girl."

I guess she sees it, too.

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