No, it isn't

Lauren loves baths, but hates having her hair rinsed. I'm always trying to keep the water out of her eyes and as gentle as possible, and she just hates it. She gets really amped up and squirms around and only makes it worse. Bathtime is otherwise fun, but the hair rinsing isn't my favorite part.

Tonight, I told Lauren that I needed to rinse her hair. She said, "No, Mommy. That's not a good idea."

I thought that was putting it mildly, but articulately!

Take me out to the ballgame...

Today Lauren and I joined Jeremy in Burien, south of Seattle, to watch a softball tournament he was playing in. The first priority for Lauren was to get on her white and pink Cardinals jersey, pink shorts, pink Crocs, and pink Mariners hat. (I should mention that that hat was purchased for her when she was 3 months old and while it still fits, it doesn't fit well.) She found her pink bat and pink glove (sensing a trend?) and away we went!

As the team got ready for the team, Lauren was very proud to walk around and show off her outfit and gear. A couple of times she even showed us a couple of practice swings, which frankly looked pretty good. You just had to be out of her way, as her eye was on the imaginary ball. She had a bit of a difficult time when she realized she wasn't going to be able to play, but she enjoyed watching and cheering and picking dandelions, so it all worked out. The ice cream during the second game helped tremendously. It was one tired little girl that finally wound down and went to bed tonight!

It's all worth it

Lauren has been an absolute angel lately. An angel. That's not to say that she hasn't had a tantrum or drama moment here or there, but she's been so loving and sweet that those tense moments just melt away. She's very taken right now with giving the biggest hugs and saying, "I missed you!" even if she hasn't had the opportunity to miss you. I got several of those this evening even though we spent the entire day together!

She also gave Jeremy and I both a huge hug at the same time while saying, "I'm just so happy to be with my family!" Awww...

It makes me smile because I know that she must feel very loved to be able to say those things. And she is!

Cutie Pie Redux

Lauren has said a couple of cute/amazing things lately, and I wanted to share them:

- We were walking in downtown Edmonds, and she pointed up at a house and said, "That's the 'merican flag." I had no idea she knew that! Must have picked it up from Miss VJ.

-We went blueberry picking and had a blast. She got a little tired at the end and didn't want to walk back to the car, but only because she did a lot of great picking in the hot sun! She ate and ate and picked and picked... it was so much fun.

Anyway, I made a bunch of muffins that night, including regular-sized and mini. The next morning, I picked her up and showed them sitting on the counter. I asked her, "Do you want the mini muffins, or...?" and she interrupted, saying, "These are Minnie muffins. These are Mickey muffins. These are Donald muffins." I love seeing her sense of humor!

-Today, she put all her babies and stuffed animals in her bed and was singing to them. I said, "You're a good mommy!" She said, "No! YOU'RE a good mommy!" Awww...

-Finally, she's been really great at saying "I love you too" lately. It's sweet, especially since I think she's starting to understand what it means.