Our little mama

I am amazed, truly amazed, at our little girl. Look at these pictures. The pink sparkly shirt is one that she would wear every day. She brings it to me on a daily basis and says, "this, this, this", until I put it on her. We got it as a hand-me-down to add to our dress up collection. Anything remotely princess like, she loves. And she loves her baby. She carries it around like a little mama or pushes it in her stroller. If someone tries to take her baby from her, she yells "Mine!!!!" at the top of her lungs and runs, not unlike a mama bear protecting her cubs. When she sees a real baby, she screams "Baby!!!!" until we go over and see it. She gently rubs it's head and strokes it's cheek.

I loved my dolls. I remember feeding them and thinking that I couldn't wait to have my own real babies. My mom had this pink nightgown that I loved to wear. I clearly recall twirling in it around and around the kitchen and then falling on my bottom with dizziness. I also remember trying so hard to keep up with my brothers because I wanted their approval. So I was a princess in my heart but a "tough" girl on the exterior. This is a confusing identity. One that I'm still trying to grapple with.

It's nice to have a little girl so much like me. She loves to dress up but will turn around and tackle her brother until he surrenders. How do you mother a little girl like this? It's hard to know how to nurture the very girly part of her and balance her need for approval from her brother and daddy. For some reason, it seems more complicated to mother a girl. It was much easier with dolls.