Toddlers are parrots; you REALLY have to watch what you say around them because they pick up on everything! Some of my favorites of Annibelle's are:
When I walked into the kitchen to find that she had thrown her oatmeal all over the floor I sighed and said, "Oh, Annibelle", to which she responded, "Don't worry, Mommy. It's OK. I'm sorry".
The other night while singing her to sleep, Annibelle was joining me in singing her favorite song, "Jesus Once Was a Little Child". I was singing it at a whisper so as not to wake the baby who was 5 feet away. Following my lead, Annibelle started singing along at a whisper, but as she did it sounded creepy and almost haunted, which made me laugh. As I tried to surpress my laughter Annibelle thought it was a sob and wrapped her arms around my neck and said, "Don't cry, Mommy. Don't cry! It's OK Mommy. Don't cry."
Just after getting her dressed I noticed that Annibelle had pulled off her socks and I could only find one. I asked her where her other sock was and to go find it to which she responded, "No problem!"
Peter works a LOT, and spends 4 hours a day commuting, so the majority of each week I live as a single mom and get burnt out pretty easily. The other day I heard Annibelle mimic me under her breath saying, "I'm going crazy!" LOL
And, as a loving big sister, when Callie cries, Annibelle can often be heard copying mommy by saying, "It's OK, Callie. I'm coming!" Following which she often runs to her side and shoves a pacifier into her baby sisters mouth.
They may exhaust me, her messes may overwhelm me, and her whining may get on my nerves, but when my girls smile, the sun shines brighter, and when my girls laugh, I can't help but laugh too, and when my girls snuggle up to or wrap their arms around me in a big hug, my heart melts. Being a mommy is super hard work, but it's worth it. <3
