Little Bit Nervous

Dear Sonia,

Thanks for visiting! Such a lovely visit full of lovely things.

You went on an Easter egg hunt (twice!). There was such happy joy on your face every time you saw another egg across the yard! And the stuff inside was fun too! The Easter Bunny did a great job with shiny bracelets, socks, little finger puppets! And Uncle John, of course, put coins inside! Nothing wrong with a little Easter money.

At breakfast one morning, Mommy asked you what you wanted to talk about and you said "talk about the rodeo." So we did. You told me about Mutton Busting. What is mutton busting? According to you - "kids ride sheep. Sheep jump." The kids wear helmets, you told me, "so no boo-boos". You also "rode horse" and remembered the horse's name - "Sara" and that it was brown. You also told me that "bulls went crazy." When asked what else you saw at the rodeo, you said "Camel." Mommy asked if you rode the camel and you said no. When asked Why not?, you answered with "scared." You did know that camels have humps but didn't know what was inside. I told you water. There was an Easter dinner dispute which resulted in Auntie Karen being wrong. Daddy checked the internet on his phone right at the table and found out camels' humps actually store fat, not water. (Camels use the fat as reserve when they can't find food. They are also able to lose up to 25 gallons of body water without ill effects. Going without water must be what led to people thinking water is in their humps, because Auntie Karen wasn't the only person at the table who thought that.) And so we learned something.

Back to the story. The next morning after this first Rodeo discussion, your Mommy was off somewhere and Nana and I were with you while you were eating breakfast. You said, completely unprompted, "Talk about rodeo." Okay, I said, and launched into the series of questions that your mom had the day before. When I asked you why you didn't ride the camel, you said "little bit nervous." IT WAS WICKED CUTE. WICKED! Nana and I practically peed our pants laughing it was so cute. Obviously, Mommy taught you this, but the fact that you could report it back ages later is just awesome.

You crab-walked with me and then you were jumping. Then you said "jumping sideways" and proceeded to jump side to side. Pretty impressive, there, chickie, considering you aren't even 2 yet. Aunt Fran gave you a purple tutu and it wasn't even out of the bag yet and you said "tutu!" And then you put it on and went prancing around. You walked Morton at the park and visited Olive at Auntie Patti and Uncle Peter's house. You even let Auntie Patti's brother Peter hold you and did very well with stranger-danger. Not so well other times - you howled all the way out to Cobbett's on Easter morning after cousin Mark poked his head in your window to say hello. You made cookies with Nana and dyed Easter eggs with Uncle Stephen and Auntie Kim. You ran in the yard and threw Morton his toy. You did your new fishing puzzle with me and knew all the names of the fish and animals. You refused to tell me what you were holding when you came down the first morning and Mommy put you in time out until you answered my question. Apparently this isn't the first time that's happened. Seems you aren't very stubborn though. You just have to overcome being "a little bit nervous" and then you're fine.

You just left here only 1 and a half days ago and already this morning you told me you had a dream where animals were singing to you. You told Mommy a cow, horse, sheep, pig and chicken (or some list like that) "singing together to Sonia!" That's a direct quote. Your Mommy and I have no idea whether you actually have these dreams or if you make it up completely when she asks what you dreamed about. She thinks you make it up. I have to say, that is so utterly brilliant. If you can actually make up dream stories on the spot when Mommy comes in to get you from bed, you might actually be a prodigy.

You will get a haircut soon after your birthday. Apparently, you complain sometimes because your hair is stuck in your armpit. HAHAHAHAHHA. I'm sorry, but that is so funny!

I won't see you again till August. That's a LONG TIME. About 5 months! But you'll see Nana and Papa in July and you are also going to France in July! That'll be pretty cool. A world traveller already.

I love you Sonia-ita!

Love,

Auntie K