Crazy Funny Girl

This little girl cracks me up.  She really keeps life interesting.  I either feel like giving her a bear hug or strangling her, and it varies from one minute to the next.  She is like a little loaded spring, full of energy.  On this day it was her idea to put on the goggles (which she did herself, as you can see).  The light was so beautiful and she was so cute that I ran and grabbed my camera, sure that I'd probably already missed the moment.

Here are some funny things she has said lately:

1)  In a hot car: "It's sweatin' hot in here!"
2)  Eye level with a watermelon in the store, her chin resting dreamily on her arms: "It feels like I'm in love."
3)  "Mom, can we buy that smell?"  (upon entering the grocery store, she meant for me to buy whatever was making that smell)

Even though she is going through a fairly severe separation anxiety stage and tries to sneak sugary goods from the pantry all day, I wouldn't trade her for anything.

 Preparing to take the plunge.

 We recently made a trip to Southern Utah-- it was gorgeous.  I think we got there right before the real summer heatwave.  I have more photos to share another day, here are just a few.

My husband told everyone to "pretend that you're hot and tired!"  After which Ava said, dumbfounded, "why would I want to pretend that?"  "I AM hot and tired!"  Now that I see this photo it is even more funny.

One more funny thing, just for good measure: the little boy, who is still nursing, exhaled a happy sigh afterward nursing one day and told me "that's a good drink!"  Lol. :)

Happy Monday!

P.S.  One thing I'm working on this month is patience.  Normally,  patience is not something I struggle with.  But I've had a hard time with it the last couple of months, especially as the strain of my anxious little girl has frayed my nerves and put extra pressure on me at most waking minutes of my day (not only does she panic over any type of physical separation, even as small as my going to the grocery store, but she wants me to be with her wherever she is in the house, including bathroom trips and small incidental times like that....sometimes she follows me around so closely that she bumps into me if I stop).  I know she'll grow out of it, I just need to be patient!  I'm trying to pause a little and take, if nothing else, a mental deep breath.  Update: 12/31/13: the separation anxiety phase didn't last much longer after I posted this, both of us going back to our more normal selves.