Friday, October 1, 2010

Mommy moments



My little princessa. Isn't she just a doll? I was able to try a new hairstyle on her today... one I've been dreaming of for quite some time. It's a french braid wrapped completely around her head, topped with a wreath crown of flowers and ribbons. The icing on the cake? Her favorite sparkly purse. She never wants to leave home without it.

Today we went to a harvest party and got to dress up! If you know me well, you know I love to get dressed up, for, well, anything! I went as a rock star with 3 of our students and we were the rockin-est rockers you've ever seen! Poofy hair, big black boots, leggings, *shudder*, so 80's!

Today was a good day. Let me share with you some treasures.

When Sitora and I were playing this morning, she accidentally bumped into her stroller. She kindly responded to the stroller, "Sorry! Welcome." I laughed and said, "Sitora, why did you say sorry?" and she replied, "Stroller hurt. Say sorry." I had to giggle, it was too precious! She's learning empathy, maybe at the moment there's no distinction between people and inanimate objects needing empathy, but it's the thought that counts right?

Today at the harvest party the children sang songs and recited passages, so we all sat in plastic chairs trying to focus while the wind whipped sand into our eyes. It was simply darling! Every time a performance was finished, Sitora happily clapped her hands and shouted. When a prayer was said, she couldn't wait to yell, "AMEN!" at the top of her lungs. She sat so intently and tried doing the motions with the kids up front. It was then that I started getting a little emotional, realizing my baby girl is growing up. She is interacting with her world, eagerly joining in with others with joy and excitement. She is such a gem! This girl is gonna love going to school. I don't know how I'm going to wait until she's old enough.

Then tonight while we were at someone else's house, I was desperate to find some toys for her while us adults talked. I found some plastic cups and sat them down on the floor for her to stack and play with. I had to walk out of the room for a moment, and when I returned, she had stacked them all up nicely and placed them back in the cupboard. She was cleaning up all by herself and I didn't even have to ask her! What a precious mommy moment I had as my heart filled with joy. You see, it would probably be easier to pick up my child's toys all time (not to mention faster) but every day I insist she clean up while we sing the traditional "clean up" song together. It can take a long time, and she gets distracted. I often feel slightly frustrated but make myself do it knowing it will be worth it in the end. Every day. So when I walked in the room only to discover she'd chosen to clean up all on her own without my promptings, it really blessed my mommy heart.

Every night when we pray for our family and friends, I have to help remind Sitora of everyone's names. After I suggest a name, she giggles while repeating the names, "Ya! Daddy!" "Ya, Chase!" "Ya, Annah!" She gets really excited about it and it make my heart so happy!

We had our very first official tea party together last week.




Let's just say things didn't go as planned, but then again, should a true tea party really have an agenda? I think not. I asked Sitora how she was feeling. She didn't respond. I asked her how her day was going so far. She didn't answer. She just dipped her cookie into her water, then poured the water everywhere. But that's okay. I just want to foster this time of open communication early. I want her to feel safe with sharing her feelings at home. I want her to know her mommy will always be a listening ear, that I'm never too busy to talk. I hope and pray I can always keep this mindset.

2 comments:

  1. Man, how do you get her to be still so you can do her hair like that?? It is beautiful!! I love having mommy moments like that where you know you are raising a spectacular child!

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  2. Hey! Titus and I had a tea time yesterday too! It was SO fun! You're such a great mommy to Sitora, Casey! I love reading your updates!

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