This is a post I meant to add a while ago...
There is a lot of growth happening around her in a lot of senses. I guess the most obvious one is my belly -- after five years of begging for a sibling, Eva will get her wish (if all goes well). This baby goy (girl/boy), as Eva calls her future sibling will be born in April, and couldn't have a more excited sibling. We sat around the table tonight making maps of how we can redo her room to accomodate a baby. She really wanted a bunk bed with a crib underneath, but after I convinced her that wouldn't work, she settled for a crib next to a bunk bed. When we told her almost a month ago I finally had a real visual image of what grinning from ear to ear means. She couldn't stop smiling and hugging and giggling. And my daddy's girl could not get enough of me. I was like a goddess bringing her the best gift ever! That only lasted so long, but she is still SO excited.
About a week after we had told her she came to sit on my lap as I was sitting at my desk. Mama, she said, is there anything gooder than being a big sister?
I don't know, I said. Can you think of anything?
No, she told me and gave me a big hug.
(This photo is a random one of her holding a rooster in Novato)
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Growth is also happening in leaps and bounds, manifested in the growing pile of notes being left around the house. Eva is loving writing things down, and has finally let herself just spell words the way they sound. They are not always joyful. Last night she ignored me on several occastions when it was time to get ready for bed. We are only reading two books tonight, I told her. You lost one book. No we are not! She yelled. Shortly after she came back with this note:
Dylan read it with a calm voice. No! She said, I wrote it with three exclamation points!!!
She also came home the other night with a frightening brainstorm. She was having Dylan drill her on some addition problems on the way home. 3+3, 4+4, etc. She then told him she had a secret only he and I could know about. She was going to write all the addition and subtraction problems on a piece of paper and then glue it on cardboard. Then, if anyone asked her a math problem she could just look and no one would know! She is dreaming up cheat sheets! In kindergarten! What is highschool going to look like? I predict miniskirts and algebra inked on her thigh. Scary.
One last anecdote. Eva and I were in her bed petting Bear. I love Bear so much, she said. I don't think I could love any cat more. Unless it were a kitten or a girl. And after a pause, or if it were a prettier cat. That's unconditional love for you...
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