Pride

Pride comes in many forms. And it is quite common for parents to be proud of kids. In fact, on a daily basis they often give you multiple reasons to feel proud. When Ella cleans the playroom ALL BY HERSELF to surprise me, I feel proud. And Charlotte using a spoon to eat her yogurt ALL BY HERSELF I feel proud. Also, the fact that she can point to 10 body parts on command and she is just 16 months - yup, proud.

But in the last 24 hours I have felt overwhelming pride for my two girls in two separate moments. I love musicals. I love them. Loved them as a child. Watching Ella watch ANNIE with such joy, learning all the songs, trying the dances - I am in heaven. But nothing was as wonderful as my serenade in the car last night with my 3 year old singing "Tomorrow" in a clear, proud voice. She knew all the words! Even the "bet your bottom dollar." It was the cutest thing, and when we came home I had her do it for the video. It is just a short part of the song, but you'll get the idea....



Then this morning I did not hear Charlotte as early as usual. She has become a bit of an early riser (not like Ella was at this age, she is NOT up at 5 every day!!). But she went from sleeping until 7 and is now up between 6:15 and 6:30. I checked the video monitor and found her sitting in her crib reading her book. Seriously. She LOVES her book JAMBERRY and I let her take it to bed last night which she loved. I then had to wrestle it out from under her as she slept curled on top of it last night (did not seem very comfortable) and propped it on the side of her crib where she would see it this morning. So then she awoke and instead of fussing she sat in her crib and read!!! Oh, the pride....

Charlotte reading with Grandma