Dear Daughters: Shine a Light

Often times I sit with my computer on my lap and stare at the blank screen in my front of me with my fingertips paralyzed and my thoughts muddied up and blurry. Let me just say, it drives me absolutely BONKERS when this happens!! I have so much to tell. So many stories to share. Hilarious moments. Sad moments. Stressful moments. And just downright share-able moments. I'm done with staring at the screen waiting for some divine spirit to overcome me and make my fingers type. I'm just going to type. Here's me shining a light on life lately. Get ready...some parts may be blinding. ;)

First things first. I need to talk about Hallie's motor mouth. It's stuck in overdrive and I don't think there is any downshifting happening in the near future. And Riley and I are quite alright with that. Her voice and newly acquired vocab provide hours of free entertainment. I've done my very best to keep mental post-its of her newest words/sayings. Basically my brain is stacked and covered with pink and purple post-its. I'm going to get to digging. Words first....pictures second!!!

She has begun to associate items with who bought them for her. She mainly does this with clothing items but also some toys and other objects. Aunt Katie returned Hallie's DVD player a few days ago and each morning she hops in the car, points to the player and yells "Katie!!" When I lay out her clothes she makes sure to tell me who bought it for her. I'm always amazed at her memory....heck, I don't even remember that information sometimes. So if you have gifted Hallie with a piece of clothing rest assured she is grateful and will NEVER forget. Ha!
She has taken up counting as a new hobby. This is a relief considering I had convinced myself that she would never learn to count simply because she dislikes number. No more "numberphobia"....her dada kicked her into gear and left me stunned with my mouth dragging on the ground when I got home last weekend. Hallie and I were wandering around in the driveway and exploring leaves, bugs and other nearby nonsense. I asked my customary counting question about the pesky ants that she was fretting over. "How many ants are there, Hallie?" She confidently responded with "free, fo, six, nigh, ten." Wait a minute.....WHAT!?!?!?!?! Just to make sure it wasn't a fluke I asked her 5,000 more times. She obliged for about five of those times. Bless her little counting heart. She already knows how neurotic her momma is. ;) Needless to say, we've been counting fools this week. You may be wondering if I've taught her how to squeeze in the one, two, five, seven and eight....she's only interested in half of the first ten numbers and I'm okay with that for now. I love watching her look inquisitively at her fingers while moving them as she counts. One more thing here...she's convinced that she is three years old.
My goal has been met. Her favorite color has been solidified. I'll give you one guess. Nope, it's not sea foam green. Duh, PINK!!!! I realize this is shocking. ;) Ok, maybe I've been shoving the pretty pink down her throat since she was born and she seems to adore it just as much as I do. Everything is pink. Even if it's green or blue....it's PINK. Duh. And purple and orange....that's PINK too. ;) BUUUUUUUUUT.....she's a pro at handing me crayons as I ask for certain colors. I sat across from her at her coloring table and requested the necessary colors for Goofy's hat. I asked for a green and she handed me a green...and called it pink. I asked for a red and she handed me a red....and called it pink. You see the trend.
I've created a massage monster. She's old enough to realize just how valuable a nightly leg and arm rub down really is. I love watching as she melts into the couch. The moment I stop she hands me the lotion again and sleepily requests "more, momma, more." When she's ready to switch legs or arms she's not shy about letting me know it by kicking her leg up or shoving her arm in my face. Like I said, creating a monster.
She's quickly learning how to take responsibility for her actions and learning right from wrong. She is very reliable when it comes to telling me when the dogs have done wrong. She's proudly brought many chewed up plastic toys to me and said "momma, Meme did dat" while pointing to the once recognizable object. If I ask what it is she is usually able to tell me and always seems to have a know-it-all look on her cute face. Although the dogs get most of the blame, she is getting better about apologizing without being asked and saying things like "Hallie did dat" and "Hallie no no."
You might want to be sitting down for this: I've received word that my crazy girl is in fact a "big helper" and a "good girl" at daycare. Me = proud (and very surprised) momma!!! I do believe we are past the screaming in the morning when I drop her off at daycare phase. Thank. Goodness. She adores Paula, Jerry and Landon and often talks about them at home.
She is full of ridiculous statements that come out of nowhere. Way too many examples come to mind but some of the funnier comments I've heard lately are these little nuggets: "see you ten momma", "happy birthday momma" (it wasn't my birthday ;), "I dunno momma", "I pee pee my sheets."
You get everything we say. I mean you really, really get it. May I just say that this is crazy to me! I tend to say my thought out loud for you to hear and you've begun to say "ok, momma" when I'm done babbling as if you understood every word I said. And I really think you do. It hit me hard last night when your dad told you that he would be going out of town for a couple of days and you shoved out that pouty lip and started to cry.
She loves to "pin" in circles until she can't walk straight. I'm not the youngster I once was and only handle about five "pins" before I'm feeling nauseous. As a result I avoid this activity at all cost and feel shameful admitting that I do anything to distract her when she gets going on a spinning kick. Somersaults and head stands are very popular as well. I've been chomping at the bit to get you involved in gymnastics but it looks like we will have to wait another year to get you flipping and tumbling. For now you are content practicing your skills around the house.
And while I'm on the topic of spinning in circles I may as well throw in a tid bit about what I've been up to lately. Well, a lot. But I've thrown in some hardcore half-marathon training. It's been a trying challenge and has begun to push me to my limit mentally. As the mornings began to get darker it has been increasingly more difficult to get out of bed in the morning and get going. Long runs have proven to be very satisfying and leave me with a sense of accomplishment....except when those runs suck every last bit of life I have in me. Such was the run Jai and I had last weekend. Raceday is less than a month away and I'm more than ready to mark another half down in the books.
I think I'll finish off with food....seems very fitting for my food monster! She's been digging cheese sticks, raspberries, peanut butter crackers and bananas lately. And by digging I certainly mean begging for these foods constantly!! Can you say "growth spurt"?!?! My chubby chick is thinning out and her sweet little buddha belly is disappearing slowly. Save some chub on those cheeks for me girl!