For Wednesday

Since I was sick all day yesterday, I headed to bed early while Luke was still on the computer and didn't get around to posting. Looking at the pictures today, I have to laugh. So many choices! There's Clara eating (and sharing) her banana with her dolls who are sitting at their dollhouse table; stirring and sipping tea with a raised pinkie finger and a french twist in her hair; rocking with Baby Joy and Lucy the Moose while totally rocking a funky '80s headband hairdo of her own creation; relaxing on the couch, one knee bent, snuggling Baby Joy while reading "Jesus Loves Me" to her (still with the same hairdo); and last but not least, riding her rocking horse with Baby Joy in her lap while texting Daddy on Mama's phone ("I sending him message, Mommy."). Oh my, choices!

Since this is the only one she's actually smiling in, I'll share it here. The others you can see over at Stirrup to Stirrup.

To file away under, "Important Life Lessons Learned from a Two Year Old" - upon being admonished to stop crying and use words, Clara burst out with, "I need to cry!!!" It's true. Sometimes tears are all you have to give. (This was several days ago.) I have taken a different tack, am trying to be more understanding and helpful and have been acknowledging her feelings more when she melts down (quite often these days) - things I always meant to do all along but I suppose the sheer quantity of tears had gotten to me a bit.

Today, however, when she retorted, "I need to whine...." after being corrected for whining I looked her straight in the face and replied, "No. You do not need to whine. Sometimes we need to cry, but whining is never necessary." Another good lesson I should remind myself of on occasion.