My Girlie

Our little Sarah. Wow. What a character.

I haven't been as diligent in posting about each of her unique moments as I was with her brother at this age (go figure), but that doesn't mean she hasn't had unique moments, trust me. She is "her own person," as my mom likes to say, and P and I are super excited (and also a tiny bit terrified) to see how her personality will develop through the coming years.

Right now, in addition to becoming quite the talker, Sarah is really working on her drama. A girl needs drama, after all. And this girl has no shortage...

Her facial expressions have been particularly entertaining lately. This one is a frequent sight lately:

It looks like a pout from the picture, but it's really just a funny mouth stretch that she employs at completely random moments; I call it the "Stephanie Tanner." I have no idea where she picked it up or why she does it so often, but it's hilarious to me to imagine what she might be thinking ("Uh-oh... somebody's gonna be in trouble...," or, "Gee, Mom, are you really going to wear that today?" or perhaps, "How rude!").

Evidently there are more facial expressions in the works. Her diaper-changing station parallels a huge mirror - which she usually employs in order to have short conversations with our identical twins while I'm changing her diaper (pointing a chubby finger at our reflections: "Saaay-aah! Maaaah-maaaah!"). However, the other day I caught her making silly faces at herself that I distinctly recognized as expressions that her brother often makes for her (always at a respectful distance of a few inches from her face). Can't wait for those to debut...

Sarah is also experimenting with new vocal expressions. For instance, her "no" is no longer just a strong, defiant syllable; now it is something much worse: a liltingly drawn out, "No-ooooo," accompanied by fluttering eyelashes, doe eyes, and a coy little giggle. And I'll be honest - this mom with boy-only experience has a hard time maintaining composure; she's such a girl!

She continues to love to sing, and "The B-I-B-L-E" is her current favorite - only, it's "B-I-B-I-B" to her (and don't you forget it!). Also, if you try to sing with her, she'll probably cut you off ("No, noo! Mommy! NO."). The other evening, I realized that she can sing the whole song by herself, including the all-important cheer at the end ("Bible!!!"), usually accompanied by clapping. Of course, I was so impressed that I whipped out the camera so I could share it with you, and here it is. (The clapping and happy expression are absent; perhaps she was weary of singing on demand, as this wasn't the first - or last - take.)

And let's not forget the dancing... Sarah loves to dance. She loves it when I hold her and bounce her around like we're ballroom dancing, and she loves to dance on her own. As soon as the music begins, she nods her head and swings her arms to the beat - or copies any of the smooth moves she sees her brother or mother making.

When she isn't dancing, she is still on the move, running after her brother, crawling over chairs and tables, going up and down the stairs, or just running in circles. She and I were meeting P for lunch at the park yesterday, and when we saw him from across the way, she squealed and started to "run" in his direction. Of course, a bystander would note that her run is basically just a super-bouncy walk by which she succeeds in increasing vertical but not horizontal distance. Nevertheless, she was supremely pleased with herself - enough to glance up at me and squeal, "FAST!" as she made her way to Daddy.

This week, Sarah and I are going on a big trip with Gram to see my sister in Florida. Luke left this morning for a week with P's parents, and he couldn't have been more excited (I was wise enough not to let him in on those plans until a few days ago, but he still spent the intervening moments badgering me about whether or not it was time to go to DD's house...). I don't know how Sarah will handle a week away from her big brother and dear daddy, but I suspect she'll be too busy having fun with the girls to notice.