Brave Baby

E is such a little outdoors-girl, I love it! She may be afraid of dragons, and the cartoon bear on the blueberry hunt episode of Dora, but thankfully she is not afraid of creepy crawlies in the real world. She got my sister P's attention by pointing to something on the deck umbrella, and P had to act calm and fight the urge to pull E's hand away. "Oh! Did you find a buggy?" P asked her. E responded, "No, Aunt P. It's not a buggy. It's a spider." That's my girl.

That evening, cousin S was helping put E to bed, reading books and talking about the day. I told S that we had seen a snake at the duck pond, and she said to E, "Ooooh. Was that scary?" After I shot S a subtle look and shook my head, she added, "And cool?" "Yes," said E. "It was cool." Phew. Crisis avoided.

My only worrisome moment of our trip east was when E joined her cousin E3 in the backyard, jumping barefoot in the mud puddles left by the sprinkler. She did great until her hands got dirty...then she proclaimed, "I don't like dat mud. I need a towel. Clean it." Thankfully, she resumed puddle jumping with her hands clean, and without her pants...so she truly is a blend of her daddy and her mommy. Genetics...go figure.