Some Things I Hope I Never Forget (But Some That I Already Miss)

Before Vivian moved into the bunkbed, when she woke up she would call from the little room (where she then slept in her crib converted into a toddler bed), "Is it the morning yet?" This kind of reminds me of how she used to say, "What I doing today?" before she started going to school. Or how every day was, I think, Monday when she read THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLER as in "On Monday he ate one apple. On Monday he ate two pears. On Monday he ate three strawberries..." She was a child who never so much as stood up in her crib. She would just call to us until we came to get her and we always found her still lying down. Unlike her sister who was catapulting herself over the side from an exceedingly early age, the idea of actually climbing out of her crib never ever ever occurred to Vivian. However, the other night she came to me in the middle of the night (after refusing to allow me to take her to pee) to tell me that she went to the bathroom all by herself. I then listened to the squeaky floorboards as she walked herself back to her room and got back into bed. Unlike her sister who never wanted anyone in her bed (and actually used to make us sit on the floor as we told her stories and sang songs), Vivian begs me to get into bed with her every night and never fails to ask me to "stay there the whole time". Unlike her sister, Vivian LOVES face painting. Vivian loves hairstyles where each side is different. For example, I believe she invented bunches with one ponytail and one braid. She also enjoys wearing her babylegs as leg warmers. She has an acute sense of style and is very particular about what she wears all the way down to her underwear. She loves to cuddle. Vivian likes to co-opt things that Stella has done and insists that they are hers. So like an awesome drawing or art project that Stella brings home, Vivian will unabashedly show it and say, "Look what I did?" or "I did that". Similarly, she has decided that she is actually the baby in pictures of me, David and Stella from when Stella was a baby. If I remind Stella that she has to practice piano, Vivian will tattle on herself as in, "I didn't practice gumpiano today." She then gets a big grin on her face if I say in a faux mean voice, "Vivian! Anna is going to be really mad at you! You need to practice piano RIGHT NOW!" Then she will line up all of Stella's music on the piano and play her little heart out.