Snapshots of Raine

While I fix up in the living room, Raine signs 'milk'. I tell her to wait, since Mommy is still cleaning. She crawls up the two steps into the bedroom, and as I follow her, attempts to climb up the bed. She looks back at me and signs milk again. I oblige. Some things are more important than chores.

***

We're in the guestroom. I put her down on the floor and hand her a book. I search through the shelves. When I turn back to her, she's sitting comfortably on the sofa bed, reading. As I look at her, amazed, she looks up at me, as if to say, "What, you never seen a kid reading before?"

***

Raine and The Hubby are lolling around in bed, on opposite sides. The Hubby reaches out with his hand. "Raine, come kiss Daddy," he says. She looks at him. "Come on, Raine. Please come kiss Daddy." With as little effort as possible, she rolls over a bit and kisses his hand. Who da bum now?

***

Raine loves going through my underwear drawer, ostensibly weeding out my ratty undies. One day, I find the drawer open and not much mess. Raine is playing nearby. "I see you threw out only one panty today," I tell her as I fold and put my poor does-not-meet-Raine's-standards underwear away. She looks at me, crawls back to the drawer, flings out the panty I just put back in plus one more. Then she crawls back to what she was doing.

***

It's getting hard to feed Raine in public, as loves acrobatic feeding. She's very good at it too. She can feed upside down; sitting and bent over double; on her tummy, coming up periodically to gasp for air; on her side, with legs and arms waving in the air. But the most adventurous so far are her yoga feeding poses--she can do the downward dog and feed with ease. I think she was a future in yoga.

***

Someone gave Raine a driving toy, which looks like an abbreviated van dashboard. I find her gleefully driving: turning the steering wheel like some maniac driver dead set on mowing down pedestrians, working the stick shift with her foot. I do not look forward to the day she offers to drive me around.