Adorable

A few weekends ago, T and his family were down for an event. My mother had asked prior to their visit if she could have his girls (ages 2 1/2 and 5) while they were at a hotel for their event. Then, she arranged with Princess and me to take Firefly (the 2 1/2yo) on Saturday so she could take Bug (the 5yo) skiing.

Princess then decided to ask her friend, L, to join her. So, Princess went to L's after school Friday, helped her pack a bag (Princess' was already packed & in my car), and I took them both to the MAX station, where my mother was waiting for them. They went back to mom's, and stayed overnight.

Mom & Bug left kinda early, so while I was working just a few blocks away, Princess & L got Firefly dressed & fed. I picked them up (with a borrowed carseat; thank you, Kim!) when I finished at work. Firefly's first sentence to me? "Hi, Auntie! Are we going to your house?"

In the car, she asked if the carseat used to be her sister's, and I said, "No, honey; I borrowed it from a lady who used to babysit M******* when she was your age." Firefly said, "Oh. That was nice of her. I like your car, Auntie." "Thank you, sweetie." I then asked if they were hungry, seeing as it was about 1230p. Firefly said, "I would like a *hanna burger* please. With cheese." I said, "You want a hamburger with cheese. Ok." Wendy's it was, since we no longer eat BK or McD.

At this point, I realized that we forgot to grab Firefly's bag, and although she uses the potty more often than not, I wanted to make sure we had extra pullups, just in case. We needed a couple other things, anyway, so off to Fred Meyer we went. She asked me to carry her, and as we were crossing the parking lot, she hugs my neck really tight and said, "I love you, Auntie D***." "I love you too, sweetheart!"

As I'm putting Firefly into the cart seat, she said, "Auntie D***, can I go on the horse when we're done shopping?" I said she could, but then we needed to get home. She asked why, and I told her, "Because we'll need to let the doggies out to go potty." She said, "Is Uncle D**** at work?" I said yes, so she said, "Ok. Let's shop!"

We ended up getting Princess a winter jacket for next season on serious discount, plus a few groceries, plus the special pullups Firefly uses. As promised, I let her ride on the horse, but only one time. She got a little pouty, and said she wanted to ride again. I reminded her we had to get home to let the doggies out, and she said, "Ok... thank you."

Back at my house, we spent the afternoon: dancing (as she's running in circles on my rug, she said, "I like your house!" & "I like running!"... she also turned up the volume on my tuner; I had the *Toddler Tunes* channel on), "helping" Princess with her science project, drawing me a picture, "helping" Princess clean her room (she told Princess, "This room is messy; clean it up!" lol), had a snack, and we went to the grade school around the corner to play. It was so cold, though, that we were only there for 20 minutes or so.

On our way back to my house, she told me her ears were cold. She had a knit cap on, so since I was carrying her, I said, "Turn your head" and blew warm air onto her ear. I then told her, "Other side" and blew warm air onto her other ear. She said, "Thank you, Auntie D***, that's much better."

At that point, it was time to go. I had gotten a text from mom that she & Bug were on their way back, so I needed to get Firefly back over there. We loaded everyone up, took L home, and drove back into Portland. Firefly said, "Auntie D***, I had a good time today. Thank you." "You're welcome, honey; I did too!"

Bug was in the bath when we got there, and Firefly decided she wanted one, too. Since Bug was done, she got out, and Firefly got in. We said goodbye to both of them and went out to the living room... Mom had planned to feed us, but although Princess had remembered to turn on the crockpot, she had not checked to make sure it was plugged in... so mom didn't have chili for us for dinner. No problem; she loaded me up with a large container of it (cold), so I took it home to heat up & eat.

We found out later than Firefly was upset at us because "they didn't give me goodbye hugs & kisses!" even though she was in the bathtub when we left. LOL. I love that kid.