Then...I went into my first Zumba class. Oh my, we are a lot alike-my girl and I. I noticed it was a really full class right away and didn't really want to go in but did because mixing dance with working out has GOT to make it more fun, right?! But, I went to the back corner. Didn't talk to a soul. Just observed (and tried not to look like a complete fool. let me tell you...all things that made me look/feel stupid in dancing, are in Zumba. Lots of hips and shaking). I enjoyed myself, other than looking stupid, and went back this week. But, I did see similarities with Addilyn and I that I don't know that I ever took time to see before. Now that I think about it, they are obvious. She's shy around new people and with many adults, is always shy at first. She's never been a kid to 'perform' on command, she keeps all her exciting new skills just between us until they are completely mastered and just part of everyday life. She's always loved to go to parks...she loves just watching kids.When she was littler, she'd just stand at the top of the slide watching everyone, rarely ever actually going down the slide. But, when she's completely comfortable-there's no stopping her. She's loud, fun, playful, and talkative.
Just as much as she loves running, playing, and being around people, she loves her quiet time with just her babydolls or crayons. Not usually when asked (when it's quiet rest time...she suddenly completely forgets how to quietly play by herself), but most days have a period of time when she just disappears into her own world. It's amazing to just sit back and watch her tell stories to her babies (you have to be sneaky though. She's completely embarrassed if you catch her talking to her 'tatend' things). In this particular picture...she was telling me she had one big sister (Abby) and 4 babies (the dog is a baby too) and then asked if her family could look like that. We'll see big girl...Momma and Daddy are really enjoying what we've got right now.
She's also starting to notice differences between families. She's starting asking why some kids don't have a mom or dad, "but it's supposeda be a mom and a dad." or "I have a nice Daddy." when noticing not all kids' Daddy's are quite as nice as hers... "it use-ly a Daddy and a Mommy?" "I 'ike it better 'dat I have a Mommy and a Daddy!" or "Why 'dey live with 'dey Nannie?" Oh parenting, you get a little more challenging every single day. We are working hard on explaining that lots of families look different than ours and God loves everyone without over explanation or condoning of different lifestyles that she's sure to ask about someday.
She's got SUCH a sweet, genuine heart. After we were at a friends house right after they moved in, she thanked God for every letter hanging on her wall, her 'measuring thing', her light, her mirror, her bed, on and on it went. She was noticing that her room had a lot more things than her friends did in it. It was made for her. She sees things in our home and asks who gave it to her (and is realizing pretty quickly that it probably wasn't from mom or dad) and then almost immediately says, "I need to tell them thank you for this next time I see them!" and almost always remembers to do so, even if it's days later. Now, we do have some days that I forget that she's like that since she's just as strong willed and she is sweet. She has a very clear line of black and white/right and wrong that sometimes needs to be tweaked a little bit.
She endlessly loves her brother. Sometimes, a little too much, knocking him over with hugs and kisses or pushing him a little too hard when she's excited.
She's got quite the fashion sense and many days chooses her own outfits, sometimes they match and make sense, other times-not so much. But we are both learning which days it matters that she has on things that match and which days it doesn't. She is pretty good at dressing appropriately for the weather-although the rain boots like to sneak out sometimes even though it hasn't rained for most of the summer. :)
Oh how we love this girl.
