The Little Things, Part II

The other night, I cut Bereket's late night peanut butter sandwich into little bite-sized pieces. When I handed it to her, she exclaimed, "No!!! Fork! Fork! Fork!" With great urgency she added, "Beep, Beep!" as she moved me out of the way on her race to the utensil drawer. I couldn't help but chuckle...but of course a peanut butter sandwich must be eaten with a fork! What was I thinking?!

We are in the middle of one of the coldest, grayest stretches of a Minnesota winter right now, and I find myself looking for any little bright spot to make me smile.  Thanks to my sweet girl, there's been a lot of them just this week!

I love how Bereket sings her own special version of the ABC song every afternoon on our way home from daycare. It has 6 D's and 10 X's. X is her very favorite letter and she always sings it with great gusto.

Like her letters, Bereket's words are also coming along and we are now having mini conversations! In fact, when Jason had the flu last week, Bereket gave me a full report on his illness while in the bathtub. It went like this:
"Dee-Dah sick." Yes, Daddy is sick. 
"Dee-Dah sleeping."  Yes, Daddy is sleeping a lot this weekend.
"Dee-Dah nose." Yes, Daddy has a runny nose.
"Dee-dah cough."  Yes, Daddy is coughing a lot.
"Dee-dah sit." Yes, Daddy is watching a lot of football to try to make himself feel better.
I must admit her little report made me wonder what little stories she was sharing with Jason about her time with mommy!

Recently, I was asked what 3 words best described B's personality. The first one that came to Jason's mind was mischievous. The other night she proved he was right on. When Bereket disappeared into her room firmly closing the door behind her, I knew something was up. (The last time she did that, Jason found her chewing gum in there).  This time, she had somehow hoisted Jason's heavy coin jar off our dresser and into her room. She looked at me with big eyes as I caught her carefully putting each coin into her own piggy bank. I should have made her put the money back in our room, but instead I went to grab the camera because she was so darn cute. She knew right away she was off the hook!

Lately we've been spending a bit more time in B's room.  Grandma LuAnn gave her a pink vanity set for Christmas and B. loves to play beauty salon. I am her top customer. "Sit, Sit!" she exclaims, patting the floor, and my makeover begins.  Often when Jason gets home at night, I am wearing crazy necklaces or a pink plastic headband.

But the fun of mommy's makeup bag is still hard to beat!

I love that even though Bereket is getting so big, she still loves to cuddle. Yesterday I skipped my afternoon treadmill workout to snuggle with her for a 2 hour nap. She is the BEST snuggler and It was the best decision I have made in a while.

I am so thankful for all the little bright spots Bereket is bringing to our winter routine. I wonder what next week will bring?!