These are some of my favorite things (May 2009)

I love ice in my water bottle. The way I say it is “ice in there” all in once phrase, always just like that. If there is not “ice in there” and I want some water, Momma and Daddy know that we need to get to the kitchen to fix it (and put ice in there, of course).

I love to run. I run with great enthusiasm, I bound kinda like Tigger, I am very light on my feet. I am often laughing and giggling when I run too. I have heard that Momma loves to gallop. Maybe someday we will gallop together. I love to push the plastic push Pooh toy and run too. It makes a “rurr” noise and the Pooh and pot of honey turn round and round as I push it. I can make it turn now too, a skill that was quite limiting when I first started.

I love to color! I have the “wonder color” markers by crayola, a wonderful invention indeed! Even though I do like to draw on the windows from time to time, they generally do not make much of a mess. When the caps are on the markers, I run over to Momma (we already discussed the running) and say “stuck, stuck” so she will pull the cap off. Once she does this, I run back to my pink plastic lap tray (that actually just sits on the floor since it is just the right size for me) and color.

My teachers say that I am a very big fan of coloring too. I don’t just color the front of the paper at school, but the back too. They tell Daddy and Momma how I love the daily art projects and am first in line to start. During art class at school, I often will not stop the art project for the other children. There are 10 other kids in my class but in my opinion, my happiness and artistic future is the only thing that matters.

I need to be the center of attention at school. Every day they send home a report and most mornings, Momma takes a few minutes to talk to my teacher, Miss Gina. Momma hears about how I push myself to the very center at “circle time” and how I am the one who gets into the lap of the teacher when it’s time to sit all together.

I am very knowledgeable about the routines at school and usually the first to move when the teacher says that the next activity is coming (especially if it’s art). Some of the other children dawdle around the room, but I am the first in line. I wonder if I inherited this. Am I also destined to work at P&G like Momma and Daddy?

I am very good at my bedtime and morning prayers. I say the prayer along with Momma and Daddy. I say the names of the people in my prayers now too. And I always know when “amen” comes. When I am on my changing table, I point to the prayers so we can say them (there is one for bedtime and one for morning and they are both framed for us to see).

I am a very good eater. I am one of the smallest kids in my class but I eat more than my fair share. My teachers know when I don’t feel well if I do not eat well during the day. For breakfast I eat at home and at school. I usually eat half of a cinnamon-raisin bagel and part of Momma’s egg whites, and sometimes a yogurt and raisins (it depends what Momma is eating that day). Then when I go to school I have a bowl of cereal. This depends on whether my classmates have finished eating or not. If they are finished, then I am not as interested. Throughout the day we get snacks and lunch. I usually eat all of my snacks and most of my lunch. I do not like salad. If this is on the menu for the day, it almost always has a checkmark by the “0%” box. I am not sure why they think this might be a good mean for someone who is just getting all of her teeth.

I don’t always eat very much dinner, which is a tougher subject for Daddy and Momma. I get a snack at school around 5 pm and then there are treats on the way out of school. When we get home, I run to my high chair and yell “eat, eat, eat.” Now that I am taller and stronger, I even start climbing the front of the chair. They make me do this for what seems like a very long time, then finally put me in my chair to eat. Mind you, I have just had a snack at school and usually a small treat on the way home (Momma has tried to cut down on the snack I pick up going out the door by giving me just part of it, which I go along with). I might not be hungry but it feels right to want to eat as soon as I get home. The balance is that I want up, but if dinner is not ready, I think start talking about the food I expect immediately. If I don’t get food, I continue to request it with a very loud voice (in case they can’t hear me). If I get food, I use the technique I learned from Daddy and chip-eating and shove as much food into my mouth at one time as possible. You can imagine my loud voice if they take too long to get me some food. Anyway, by the time they serve dinner and we say grace (I have not learned this prayer as well as my bedtime and morning prayers but am getting very good at saying “Amen” after this one too), I am just about ready to get down. You might call them crazy, but Momma and Daddy want to eat together as a family. Yes, Bella is usually in the kitchen sitting with us or on the chair looking out the window but close by. When I think I am done I pronounce “All done” and start standing up in my chair. Momma and Daddy often ask me first if I went poopy (not the conversation they used to have over dinner, but it’s a whole new world), and if I did not, then tell me that I need to sit there until they are finished. This does not work for me, so I use a louder voice and start squirming until I can get out of my chair. Even if I have the straps around me, I do my very best to get out of the chair. Sometimes they give me something to play with, start singing a song or ask me if I want to eat something else on the table. Sometimes these work and they buy another few minutes. Sometimes it does not work and I cry.