My little girl is becoming her own person.  After 6 years of standing quietly, watching her brothers being, well ... boys, observing her world without much comment, my daughter has found her voice.  Oh, my, has she found her voice. 

She was born Carmen Vashti.  We love the name Vashti but we knew it would be a lifelong struggle since it is so uncommon.  No one bats an eye when they hear the name, Carmen.  It's easy to spell and say, though several people have told me they expected to see a dark-haired, brown-eyed little girl, not the blonde, blue-eyed wisp of a child my daughter is.  She has spent her entire life following her brother, Alec, everywhere.  She adores him to a fault.  And, like I said, until now she has been the quiet observer.  Not anymore.  Has anyone ever heard of the Chatty Cathy dolls from the 50's era?  My uncle nicknamed me after this doll, due to my, shall we say, non-stop talking.  My daughter now talks even more than I did (in my opinion).  And it's not just commenting on every single thing in view, she asks questions.  And questions.  AND QUESTIONS!

We went for a walk yesterday, up our hill.  We've been doing this for years.  I'm the one usually pointing out things of interest, i.e., birds, flowers, etc.  Now, she's the one doing all the commentary, non-stop.  I don't get a word in edgewise or otherwise!  Interspersed in this commentary, she asks questions, sometimes listening for an answer, sometimes losing interest halfway through my thorough answers (a weakness of mine, I take too long sometimes!)  My ears were tired when we got home.  At the dinner table, she sits across from her beloved Alec and they launch into conversation that completely excludes the rest of us.  We are working on this, though it's amusing at times, othertimes annoying.  At her grandparents' house, she used to be shy and sit with me, not really warming up to them.  Now, she is very enthusiastic about telling grandma all about ____________ (fill in the blank) and grandma sits wide-eyed, wondering where the off-switch is! 

My daughter is stubborn (like her parents) but very, very loving and very sharp.  She is not as easy to teach as my sons were.  This has been a challenge in teaching her to read.  She balks at the lessons but knows more than she lets on.  Go figure.  We have had to work hard on obedience lately, something I feel I've not been firm enough on.  So now I am paying for it.   Obedience is so very important - never let up!  But she is learning.  It's funny, when I tell her I "Love you with all my heart" (something my mother always says to me) Carmen will reply, "I love you with all my brain" or whatever other body part she decides to love me with at the moment.  I never looked at that phrase that way but then, I'm not my daughter.  Drawing is her #1 favorite thing to do and she does it well.  She's had a huge amount of practice.  We received a book order today (hooray!) and one of the books was on amber, you know, resin that has bugs in it from eons ago.  There are lots of photos in this book and she spent the day drawing pictures of bugs in amber.  Good pictures, too!  I stand in awe of her. 

I got two surprises today from my boys.  My nearly 12 yo son, Chad, decided it would be fun to learn how to load the dishwasher.  I nearly fainted but kept my cool and said, "O.k."  He did it not just once but twice!  Oh, YEAH!  And he's planning on how he'll stack things tomorrow.  Up until now, I have met with gnashing of teeth when I asked him to unload the dishwasher, usually 2-3 times a week (he alternates with his brother).  Let's hope this current phenomenon lasts a looong time! 

9 yo Alec snuggled up with me in a big chair this afternoon, after I had a short nap.  After a few minutes of silent cuddling, he looked sweetly into my face and said, "Mommy, I think you need a breath mint"  Sigh.  This from a child who, at age 4, declared he wanted to marry me.  I guess the wedding is off.  Life goes on.  So very fast.