How Bailey sees me

This past week I was able to see myself through my daughter's eyes, and I'm not positive I like the picture ... or on second thought, maybe I do.

As we were riding in the car to the park, she sat in the back seat and said, "Momma, do NOT got that way. There are cars." I replied with a simple "ok." And Bailey's quick response was "NO, I said LISTEN to me. Do NOT go that way. Cars go that way." This conversation continued for the entire 5 minutes it took to get to the park.

My immediate thought was, "Wow, I'm bossy. She must think I just yell all the time" But the more I thought about it (and maybe this is simply a way for me to justify myself), the more I thought, "hey, at least she IS listening and she is well aware she isn't supposed to go where the cars are. So the 5 million and 11 times I've told her not to run into the street and to stay on the sidewalk were actually worth it. I think I'll pat myself on the back..."

Then again, maybe not.

The next day when I laid down with her for a nap (BTW--she has gone a full week without the doe-doe/binkie/pacifier, so I'm calling it a success. She didn't even ask for it the past 2 nights!) ... Anyway, when we laid down for a nap, she picked her head up, managed the most pitiful looking face I've ever seen without tear streaks, and said, "Momma, I need a drink. I can't wait. I CAN'T wait." And another mirror flashed up -- I must frequently tell her to wait a minute. Or at least that's something she's picked up on.

That one caught me off guard enough that I just burst into laughter. We laid there and laughed for a few minutes and then she fell asleep, so I wrote it off as another stall tactic she has learned at naptime. Then when she woke up and went straight for her water without even speaking to me, I felt a little bit bad. We now take the water in with us whenever it's time to lay down. See, I learn too!

We also had a couple days this week where she came up to me, wrapped her arms around me and squeezed as hard as she could, with a "love you" along with it occasionally. Unlike most times, these were impromptu hugs and words of affection. Usually, I have to ask for that sort of thing, and almost cried when she did it on her own.

All in all, an awesome week. We're both learning, and in between the whining spells, she has made me laugh out loud and made me feel like I'm doing something right.