My Little Girlie!

Lauren's new hair cut!

Lately, I have been noticiing that Lauren is starting to develop her own little personality.  Don't get me wrong, she's always had personality, but now she's starting to talk and act more mature and it's cracking all of us up!  I am here at work on my lunch break, and the thought of her made me smile.  Here are some of the funny things she is up to; hopefully they will make you smile, too!

• She has started wanting to do more "mom" things.  She wants to pretend she's driving our car, she has to have her own grocery cart at the store, and she pretends to talk on her princess cell phone.  We play what she calls "hon" (I call her "honey," so when she plays, she  calls all of the children "honey" or "hon" for short) which is where we role play that she is the mom, and I am "the hon."  We also play "hons," which is where we play with a family of little doll house statues.  She likes to pretend that she is the mom all of the time, and if I dare slip out of character, I am quickly reminded that she is the mom, and I am the hon.  The problem arises when I need to parent her on something and she says, "No, I'm the mom, you're the hon."  It's still cute, though.

• She is starting to get very bossy (I have no idea where she gets it from ;) ) with Ben.  If I tell him to do something, she will reiterate with, "Yeah, Ben!  Mommy said stop!!!"  Then she will taddle on him, "Mommy, he is not listening to you."  This, of course, infuriates Ben who yells, "Lauren, stop talking!!!"  If he uses poor manners, she corrects him.  If he eats all of his food, she will tell him how "good he ate."  It cracks me up! 

• Her new favorite saying is, "It's not a big deal!"  If I get mad and yell, I will hear, "Mommy, it's not a big deal" coming from wherever she is in the house.  When you look at her, she is shrugging her shoulders and putting her hands up in the air.  If you try to retort, she will shake her head and say, "No, it's not a big deal." 

• I got mad at her for spilling water all over the bathroom the other night, and I said, "No more water!"  After hearing that "it wasn't a big deal," she stomped her foot, squinched up her face in the mirror and said, "Mommy! I am not happy right now!" in this nasty little voice.  If she gets mad, she will tell you.  If I am mad, she will ask, "Are you not happy right now?"  

• She is very affectionate, very quick to say how much she loves us almost every day.  Last night at dinner, she said (out of the blue), "Do you know why I love you, Daddy?  'Cause you were nice to me yesterday ("yesterday" refers to any day that isn't today) ." She told me on the way to work this morning that she loves me because I love her.  She loves to give hugs and kisses, and loves to play "massive tickle fest" with Daddy & Ben.

• She looks so forward to our "Mommy/Lauren days" on Fridays.  Mark goes to work, Ben goes to school, and it's just us girls for the day.  Sometimes we clean, sometimes we go to the grocery, sometimes we watch TV and play hons all day, but no matter what, I always have fun!

• She is starting to do impressions of people on TV and people she knows.  It's hysterical!

• She sings along to the radio and loves pop music.  Her favorite song is Teenage Dream by Katie Perry.  She asked me at dinner the other night, "Mommy, what do you think about that song..." and started to sing it.  Of course, she doesn't understand all of the words, so she just makes up nonsense words in their place.  I love it!

99% of the time, Lauren is a joy to be around.  She is very easy to discipline at this point; all I have to do is raise my voice and she will usually stop whatever it is that she is doing.  Most of the time, just threatening to make her sit in time out is all that is required.  I figure I should relish these times now, 'cause I know that the teen years won't be so kind!

God had blessed me so much through my children; I love them both for exactly who they are.  I can't imagine my life without them!