"Enthusiastic" is a nicer word...

At the end of our library class this morning, Mabes yelled a loud "Oh, thank you!" to the teacher as she put a dog stamp on each of Mabes' hands. Miss Mary Jane smiled and responded, "And thank you for being such an enthusiastic dancer!" She enjoys the stories, but she just goes crazy when the music comes on.

Thank you, Miss Mary Jane, "enthusiastic" is a much more positive way to describe Em's energy. Honestly, the reason I haven't updated in days is because I've been in the "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all" mindset. I realize that angry rants are probably far more entertaining than my usual ramblings, but I haven't even felt up to that. Just worn out by Mabes' enthusiasm.

But some cute, non-frustrating stories: When we were at Costco last week, I grabbed a package of salami and Mabes' face lit up. "Sawami?!?!" Uh, yeah, kid...we just had some last week. You'd think it had been ages. She proceeded to belt out, "I wuv sawami, I wuv sawami, I wuv sawami..." to the tune of "Follow the Prophet" over and over. Sacrilegious, perhaps. But Ostlers revere cured pork products, and Mabes is one of us. The next morning, I was making waffles and singing the salami song (why not?) and Mabes interrupted me, and said, "No, mommy, I wuv bacon, I wuv bacon..." to the same tune.

Our apartment faces lots of trees, and lately those trees have been full of birds. I think Mabes loves the cardinals most, probably because they're easy to spot and the only bird I know the name of. On Sunday, we set out a plate of birdseed for them. Dave and I were talking about how knowing Mabes, she'd come back inside and stand by the window for the rest of the day waiting for the flocks of birds she surely had anticipated. We were wrong. She didn't even come back inside. Despite the fact that it was 52 degrees and she was wearing a sundress, flip flops, and a sweatshirt (hey, she insisted on the dress, but at least she was wearing a sweatshirt!), she stood right next to the plate, yelling, "Hello, birds! Birds! Come eat your food! We have your food, birds!" They didn't come. Two days later, I guess the human smell had finally worn off the birdseed (either that or one bird made the discovery and word travels fast) and we've had lots of different birds come through for food. Mabes loves it.

And a special birthday shout out to Joof, or Uncle Jeff. Mabes has been rehearsing all morning and will call you after her nap. (Hooray, she's napping today!) She got mad when I picked up my phone this morning to check voicemail and starting shouting, "No, mommy, I SING! I sing Happy Birthday to Uncle Jeff! I need the phone!" Apparently she thought I was going to steal her thunder.