A Sweet Rose in Bloom

Sophie at 4. Getting prettier and prettier each day :)

Cleaning?

Yesterday evening, Sophie stood up and said, "Mama, I want to clean." I was impressed. So my silly little girl was starting to learn the value of packing away. She then started tossing pillows and stuffed toys on to the bed while saying, "Look Mama, I'm cleaning. I'm cleaning!"

My elation quickly turned into horror. "No honey, you aren't cleaning! You're messing things up!" Our neat arrangement of pillows and stuffed toys (which Yaya and I worked so hard to maintain) was completely ruined.

I did not realize that there was an deliberate design to all this. Once she had dumped everything on the bed, she pushed me away and said "Go to the floor Mama!" I grudgingly got off the bed and sat on the floor to watch her. She proceeded to build an elaborate fortress made up of throw pillows, toy rabbits, dogs, and bears, and the big hotdog pillow from Papa. When she was finished, she declared, "I'm done, Mama! It's clean!" Tickled pink by her achievement, she lay down in the middle of her fortress, and closed her eyes as if to sleep.

In the dictionary of Funny Fairy Sophie, cleaning = fortress building. That's noted.

An Alternative to the Tutu

Yes, the silly little girl is now four years old.

She is quite a character and already has her own little quirks. One is that she insists on wearing a tutu day in and day out. This morning she woke up crying when she saw that I, her sneaky and devious mom, had changed her out of her purple leotard and pretty white skirt while she was sleeping. I had tossed this outfit into the laundry along with her 2 other tutus and didn't have any alternative to offer for her to wear. She collapsed on the floor, wailing brokenheartedly. I firmly told her that her tutus were in the wash and that she would have to wait for them to dry. Louder wailing. She then caught sight of her green fairy wings, abruptly stood up, and with a bright blooming smile on her tear-stained face, happily asked, "Can I wear my fairy wings?"

We obliged her. With shining eyes and a quick leap, off she happily flew. Out the door and to the park, to scatter her laughter and cheer.

(And charming quirkiness, no doubt.)