and then she was three

Cammy’s birthday is coming this Monday. So many times I watch Cammy sleep, and wonder where all the time went. She only looks like my baby now when shes sleeping. Eyes closed, covers pulled up to her chin, lips puckered – soft snore, only then do I see the infant she was such a short time ago. 

I look back on her life and see the things I never want to forget. That her favorite treat is a rice crispy treat, and we have more fun making them, even though we do cheat and buy them sometimes. Her steadfast determination to be CAMMY HENNISON!!! Often debating with you “I not a princess, I CAMMY HENNISON!!” “I not a doodle head,  I CAMMY HENNISON!!” How much like me she really is, in how much she cares about people. As much as I want her to be her own person she takes so many good things for Jerry and I both. She loves water like him, and to read like him. Shes perfectly content to be alone. But she loves outside, writing on sidewaks, basketball, and blowing bubbles and playing catch.   

I love to see the flashes of independence that I know she gets from me. She squishes her brow together and sets her self when shes determined. Shes stubborn and testing her ground as a kid, and has moments of cry baby-like attitude. Something I am hoping to work out of her. but I don’t want to kill her sensitivity. I am walking into the realm of real parenting – where discipline and love try and co exist. how do you find the line between fear and respect, I don’t want her afraid of us, but I don’t want to be a push over either. She doesnt’ respond to spankings – shes more of a conversational discipilne receiver. She responds way more to having things taken from her – physically taken than she would ever if you hit her. She also tends to listen to the opposite parent when oneof us has lost our temper.  I’m thinking a timeout chair may be the way to go for us in the future. cause I don’t like the idea of threatening bed time as a punishment. We like bed time. TRUST, mommy loves bed time somedays. At any rate, she is walking into her indiviual self and I am gladly along for the ride.

Things I didn’t expect this early – she calls me “Mom”. I went from mommy to mom like over night. Jerry is still Daddy, but I am mom. Favorite part of my day with her, in the morning her dad is a morning person so he wakes her up and they go through the morning routine – brushing teeth morning potty, then she runs and jumps in bed with me and we talk about our dreams and if we slept well, and what kind of day we are gonna have. On the weekend she burrows between her daddy and I and we have the same conversation until daddys snoring makes her want to go watch michkey mouse club house rather than lay between us. I like sitting out side with her and trying to get he to say her ABC’s with chalk drawings of the letters on the ground.  Shes so long now, she doesn’t fold into my lap as easy as she did before, shes all legs and arms, feet and fingers. She hasn’t fallen asleep in my lap in ages it seems like, and even with a new kid coming, I miss my little Cammy even though I’ve got a really cool kid out of it all.

 happy birthdyay princess pumpkin