THE LUCKIEST: Little Mommy

Melia is such a little mommy. Even before the baby was born, she was preparing herself for "motherhood." :) One day I was in her room putting clothes away and she started grabbing clothes out of the drawer and was saying, "In-a waundie. In-a waundie." Then she'd run out of the room with some clothes and come back and get more. It took me a minute to realize she was saying, "In the laundry." Once I figured that out I took back the clean clothes she was loading into the washer and told her she could load in her dirty clothes. I brought her hamper into the laundry room and she loved loading her dirty clothes into the washer. She can hardly reach to put the clothes in, but she manages. How cute is she?

A few days later she asked me to put Minnie in the highchair so she could feed her. She then proceeded to get some grapes and cheese for Minnie and "fed" them to her. :)

One of Melia's favorite things to do is to lay on my bed with me and "snuggle" and read books. The other day I found her doing the same thing with her baby. :)

She was so proud of herself snuggling and reading to her baby.

She loves to do homework like a big girl too. Whenever Spencer is over doing homework she asks for some of her own. :) That definitely reminds me of myself--when I was 4 I asked Santa for "homework" for Christmas. He gave me some homework books that I LOVED. I just wanted to be like my 4 older brothers and sisters.

As soon as we got home from the hospital, all Melia wanted to do was hold "Baby Evwa." She was sooo excited about it too. She just kept squealing and giggling, "Hold Baby Evwa!" Then she'd hold him and get right up in his face and say, "Hi Baby Evwa! Hi! Hi! Hi Baby Evwa! Hi! Hi!" :) IT WAS LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. She adores her little brother.

She especially likes to hold him on the boppy like Mommy.

She absolutely loves to give him kisses and smother him with love. Quite often I catch her laying directly on top of the poor little guy trying to smother him with kisses.

I'm lucky she loves her baby brother though. I've heard stories about older siblings hating and resenting the baby when it's born. And don't get me wrong, there is definite jealousy, but she NEVER takes it out on Evera. I honestly think that she quite possibly loves him more than anything else in the world. She NEVER wants to go anywhere unless we're with her--she used to LOVE going to nursery, but screams the whole time now. And yes, that is soooo frustrating, but the sweet part is that when she's crying through nursery, what she's crying is, "See Baby Evwa! See Baby Evwa!" She seriously loves him so much.

Sometimes she says she wants to feed or nurse Baby Evera, and she lifts up her shirt. (Lol.) She also likes to get my pump out and she'll lift up her shirt and put the pumps on her little belly and say she's feeding Baby Evera. She's quite the little character.

She also watches over him to make sure he's alright. We bought a little stool to stand up by the bassinet so that she doesn't have to climb on the bassinet to see him. She likes to talk to him when he cries and try to calm him down. "Sokay Baby Evwa! Sokay!" (Her version of "It's okay.")

How precious is she? For some reason I just love the sunset lighting on her face in this picture. She looks so angelic and sweet. And to be honest, most of the time she IS.

Since Baby Evera's arrival, her mothering instincts have only gotten stronger. She loves to put her dolls and stuffed animals in Evera's chairs and swings, and even his crib and bassinet. Here she is rocking "Scout" the dog in Evera's swing.

The other day Melia found this neck pillow we had out. Melia got so excited and squealed, "Mewia's boppy!" Then she lifted up her shirt and tried to feed Care Bear.

Not only does she take care of her "babies," but she does other important things that mommies do. Like work on her laptop computer. :) She found this old caboodle in the basement full of my old American Girl doll stuff. She dumped it out and brought it upstairs declaring to me that it was her "couder" (computer). Pretty imaginative I'd say! It really does kindof resemble a laptop if you really think about it. :) She even pretends to type on it. It's pretty stinkin' cute.

She's such a big girl, she even sleeps in a "big girl bed" just like Mommy! And she LOOOOVES it.

Whenever anyone comes over, the FIRST thing she has to do is show them her "big girl bed." Sometimes she'll do it on her own and other times I prompt her. I'll say, "Melia, do you want to show them what is in your room?!" And she get wide eyes, start giggling and squealing, and then starts running down the hall as fast as her little legs will go. She bounces as she runs and her hair swings from side to side behind her as she goes. It's so stinkin' cute. Then she throws herself down on her bed and squeals with delight, giggling all the time.

She is so proud of being a "big girl."

And she even loves to show Baby Evera her "big girl bed" and loves to have him lay down with her on her pillow.

This little mommy is so darn independent, she can be quite the little stinker sometimes. She loves to push chairs around the kitchen to climb to whatever she wants--including getting into the high up cupboard with medicine and prescriptions. This day in particular she happened to want the pumpkin cake that was on the counter. She climbed up, dug a hole in the plastic wrap covering, and started eating it by the handful.

She's a definite stinker.

She's such a funny girl and wants to be such a big girl and always wants Mommy to be proud of her. The other day she was playing in the DVDs and got them out and stuck them up on the TV and they stayed! She was SO proud of herself. I don't know why, but she was. :) After she did it, she ran and got the camera off the table, brought it to me, and said, "Mommy! Take a picture!" She was SO excited. So I humored her and took a picture. Then she wanted a picture with her in it. LOOK AT THAT FACE. She is so proud of herself. She is such a funny girl.

Just like any good mommy, she loves to read stories to the baby. A lot of the time when Evera is in the swing she'll go get a big pile of books and sit in front of the swing and "read" each one to him.

She also likes to push the stroller. She was so determined to push Baby Evera's stroller all by herself. (She is now starting the phase where she wants to do everything herself. She says, "Mia do it a-self.") I thought this was pretty darn cute though!

And, again, just like Mommy, she wears makeup! I was nursing Evera and she was being awfully quiet, sitting on the floor just out of sight. It turns out, she had gotten my makeup and was attempting to apply my mascara...at least she got it in the right vicinity I suppose. I told her it was all over her face and then I got the camera out to take a picture. She pulls this face when she knows something is weird or wrong...it cracks me up. She pulls up one side of her face and furrows her brow. This is only a mild example.

Then, because she knew it was all over her face, she did the mommy thing to do. She licked her finger and tried to wipe it off. Lol! It totally cracked me up and because I was laughing so hard, she started laughing too. I absolutely LOVE this picture.

She also likes to wear a purse and go to the "doctor's office." She put on my purse and announced to me, "Mia go to na doctor!" The part that made me laugh the most was that she was only wearing a diaper and her "Hazmat suit."

(My mom bought these 2 bibs at Ikea with long sleeves--they're the best. My mom has a red one at her house and gave me a blue one for my house. My mom was watching Melia one day and Melia was sitting in the high chair eating when my sister Kristy came in. She was making fun of the bib and started calling it a Hazmat suit. Ever since then Melia ALWAYS calls it her "hamat suit." She'll say, "Mia wear hamat suit!")

Bye bye little Mommy! There she goes out into the garage with the purse to get in the car!

Whenever Melia is not trying to be a little mommy, all she wants to do, is be a baby. She often refers to herself as "Baby Mewia." When Evera was first born she'd just cry when I'd hold or feed him and either cry that SHE wanted to hold "Baby Evwa" or that she wanted me to hold her. "Mommy howd Baby Mewia!" She has finally pretty much given up on that WHILE I am holding him, but when I'm not holding him she often comes to me throughout the day and says, "Mommy, howd you." And when I AM holding Evera, she says, "Mommy howd Baby Mewia AND Baby Evwa. Mommy howd Baby Mewia AND Baby Evwa."

Melia also gets jealous when I nurse baby Evera and she'll ask me to feed her, so sometimes I tell her she can pretend. She lays on the boppy facing me, just like Evera--but the funny part is that she doesn't turn towards my shirt and pretend she is sucking like baby Evera. Instead she reaches up and pretends to be picking food off my chest and eating it. It is so funny.

She especially LOVES for me to hold her on the boppy. And sometimes she just wants to lay on the boppy by herself--like Evera does. I can't believe how much she has grown from my little baby laying on the boppy.

Here I am holding "Baby Mewia AND Baby Evwa" on the boppy.

Baby Melia loves to sit in the bouncy chair.

And to lay on the bed just like babies do. (??)

(Really she just wants to do whatever Baby Evera does. This day Evera was laying on the bed while I gave Melia a bath. As soon as she got out, she INSISTED that "Mewia way down hi baby Evwa."--she always says "hi" instead of "by.")