31 Favorite Things about Leelee - Day 27

You're not a scaredy cat.


There are things you're naturally afraid of, like missing out on fun and losing special things, but when it comes to horror or blood and guts, you're pretty fascinated with the stuff.

Since you were little I didn't spend a lot of time shielding you from the scary movies I watched, but I did make sure to watch your reaction. The murder chasing their victim didn't scare you, and I made sure to point out all the fake stuff and laugh at the really awful and cheesy movies, like Killer Klownz from Outer Space.

You and your dad have scary movie nights and its all a ton of fun. I love sharing this love of horror with you, as strange as it sounds. I grew up watching Freddy Krueger and Friday the 13th movies and a general love of being scared. When you finally realize its all fake and can't hurt you, its so much fun being scared!

You don't have nightmares, you're only slightly afraid of the dark and with your birthday being on the scariest night of the year, you were kind of born into it kiddo. I hope you keep enjoying being creeped out and it continues to be something we share for a long time.

 <3

31 Favorite Things about Leelee - Day 26

Milestones.

There aren't many left, kiddo, but today you began the first of 20 losses from your baby gums.

You were so proud. Your dad took you into the bathroom and pulled out the tweezers. He barely touched the tooth and you winced. I don't really think it hurt, but you sure wanted us to think it did. The tooth was hanging on by a thin thread of gum and just a tiny tug released it from its root in your mouth. Yes, it bled, but your bleedy smiley self was too proud to notice. A quick rinse and you were ready to get to work on some pics for the tooth fairy.

You'd been waiting SO long for this moment (you already have two teeth coming in behind this one), and its pretty cool to see you on your way to a big girl smile.

<3

31 Favorite Things about Leelee - Day 25

Watching you fight sleep is one of the sweetest and frustratingly funny things ever.

Often I turn on classical music to study while you drift of to sleep. It doesn't often work, but its cute to watch. So much eye rubs. So much fight.

<3

31 Favorite Things about Leelee - Day 24

You have great ideas!

Bummed to hear the pool at our apartment was closed for the winter, so you, my sweet, improvised:

I'm only a little bit jealous that I couldn't fit in there with you.

<3

31 Favorite Things about Leelee - Day 23

You're not all sunshine and rainbows, kid.


Its not glamorous being a mom, and sometimes, its really frustrating. Mostly because no Mom really knows what the hell she's doing (ssshhhh. Tell no one I told you this). Its messy. It stinks and its randomly sticky. And these Favorite posts kind of paint the picture of parenthood perfection around here, my sweet. Not so!

But, that's okay. When you come along, run around and destroy something, or knowingly misbehave, or don't listen to me, the driving force behind my frustration isn't really your action. I hardly care about whatever you destroyed. What frustrates me is the flash realization that I'm not doing my job. That I've not yet figured out a way to explain to you how to concentrate and listen to my words, or I've not taught you to control yourself, or do a better job putting your toys away.

So much joy goes into raising you, but a lot of gut checks too. What if my whole parental GPS is way off and I end up toooootally screwing you up? You'd be surprised how quickly Mama can spin out. But, lately I've been grounding myself better. Touching down to earth just long enough to gather myself together and realize you're still a kid. You will test the waters. You will constantly make mistakes and that's okay. You're supposed to. All I can do is point you in a better direction. What worked for you last week may not be what works for you tomorrow, but so long as I keep flicking you towards the light, I think you'll do alright kiddo.

Your mistakes feel like my mistakes, but that doesn't mean we both can't learn from correcting them.

<3

31 Favorite Things about Leelee - Day 22

Baby, you have a sweet heart.

You care about others. You show concern when you hear a baby cry in the store. You are emphatically sorry if you injure me on accident. You don't even have to be introduced to someone to show them how much you care about them.

Even more, through hours of waiting for me to get done with homework and the patience you're developing you still present your sweetness in the form of gifts so thoughtful, I can't even...

HE'S. SO. STINKING.

 CUTE.

You made me a bookworm.

"Mom! I made you something for your homework." you said, with this fuzzy little guy hidden behind your back as you slowly walked into my room. You pulled him out and I'm pretty sure I squealed. 

And its awesome, this display of thoughtfulness, because it feels permanent. Like, from now on in your life, you're going to have empathy and compassion and legitimate consideration for others, and its probably something you won't easily lose. Hooray for YOU learning one giant lesson I was hoping to pass on to you. Yay!

<3

31 Favorite Things about Leelee - Day 21

My GLOB, do the years fly by.

 I can't count the number of times people have told me they would, but I also don't know how else to slow time down. Here are some of the ways I've developed to stall the passage of time:

• I close my eyes when you hug me, so I actually feel them.
• I watch you when you're not looking. Creepy, right?
• I admire you, your face especially, when you sleep, looking for unfamiliar spots or dimples or shapes that give clues to you growing up and into your face.
• I listen to your voice and laugh. They're slowly changing and maturing, but I still love to hear them.

I can't think of anything more I can do to stop the hurried nature of time, but these will have to work for now. While I'm super curious as to what kind of woman you're becoming, I am in no hurry to meet her.

<3