Lately nothing gives me more joy than watching my little girl try to figure out the world and everything about it! While she already knows soooo much more than I did at age 5, lately she seems truly curious and eager to learn so much more. She asks some really interesting questions of me and pretty much anyone because she has her daddy's outgoing personality and lack of fear about looking stupid asking for answers (both of which I am so grateful for because I tend to remain in the dark afraid to ask for clarification if I am unclear on something). Of course at times this quest for knowledge can get exhausting as I cannot use a new word without defining it, and it can be embarrassing when she asks a stranger a personal question but since she is so cute and curious most of the time they don't mind.
Ok now that I have stated my thoughts on the matter, to truly understand why she amazes me (and cracks me up) here are some examples:
1.Yesterday, as many of you know, I became and aunt and Bella's only first cousin so far was born! As a result of her being adopted and so many ladies in our life being pregnant, we have had many conversations about babies growing in tummies, etc. But yesterday when I showed her a picture of her new cousin her first question was, "mommy how did Aunt Murtie get baby Leo out of her tummy?" I told her that a special person called a midwife helped Aunt Merenda get the baby out....knowing how she thinks I was careful not to say "push the baby out" because I really did not want the follow-up question of where she pushed him out! Lucky for me she took that explanation as enough info and moved on. Then this morning she came downstairs when she woke up with her PJs clearly stuffed with a lot of something...she walked up to me and said she was going to have some babies and I needed to be her "midwife" and help her get them out. So I pulled up her shirt slightly and pulled out three stuffed animals. She thanked me and immediately began "breast feeding her babies" because the picture I had shown her of her cousin minutes after his birth was one of him eating for the first time, though it was barely noticeable in the picture, but apparently she picked up on it!
2.The other day we got together with some friends at a park who have a son with special needs. The little boy, Davis, uses an electric wheelchair and has some speech difficulties and limited use of his hands and legs due to cerebral palsy. Although we have always tried to teach Bella to be very accepting, I was not sure if she would really play with a child who was so much more developmentally different than herself, but I had no reason to worry. Watching her interact with Davis made me so proud! Not only did she include him, but she sought help to make sure he could do what she was, such as asking his dad to help get him on the slide so they could slide together. She also asked him many questions about himself, just as she does every child she meets, and though she may not have understood what he was saying but she continued to talk to him. When she did not understand his answers she did not make him feel bad but simply asked if his mom could help her understand. One question she asked was why his hands were kind of balled up and turned in. His mother told her that that was the way God has made him. To that Bella replied "oh, ok." and then went on to talk about all the ways God had made our family members different including Phil's hearing loss and my heart problems/inability to have a baby in my tummy, and her being Spanish and adopted...all very matter of fact and proud of each of our differences.
I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea. I know some of you may say "so what?" but I just had to share because though there have been many times I have questioned my abilities as a mother. However watching Bella grow up into the curious, understanding, smart, and wonderful child she is make me so proud and know I am doing something right...but now I am so curious to see what else she will do as her understanding of the world grows as she enters Kindergarten in the Fall!
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