Land o'Lessa

She’s TEN. I’m not sure how that happened. But yeah. She’s TEN.

Sigh!

(More here!)

Ten.
Double Digits.
“Pre-Teen”
OMFG mah baby is HOW OLD?
She’s TEN.

I’m not quite sure how I let such a travesty happen. Ten years ago today, my ‘surprise’ baby was born, long and lean even then, loud and proud and her very own person from the very start. Not a mini-me, despite her blue eyes, reddish-blond hair, but a mini-daddy in attitude and… well, everything else. While The Boy and Peppermist are like my little clones – much to their dismay when I catch them in things they didn’t realize I’d already thought of and tried 20 years ago – The Pup? She’s been different from day one.

She was all legs and arms, with a butt so tiny she had to wear preemie diapers for a month. She did not take to the breast, and after 4 weeks of trying, I gave up and put her on the bottle – which she took to like a champ, plumping up a little and getting bigger and stronger by the day. She actually crawled first, while her older siblings insisted on skipping that to go straight to walking. She refused to grow her top middle teeth first, getting the outer set a full month before those came in, making her my little fanged howler.

Oh yes. She didn’t cry – she HOWLED. Like a wolf. It was the most precious(ly annoying) thing EVER.

Despite the fact that her siblings potty trained early, she would NOT be trained until SHE was ready – leading me to finally in desperation tell her that the entire state of Alaska was out of diapers, so dammit, put on those Dora panties like a big girl! She never had an accident after that.

Once she learned to talk, she never stopped – it’s 24-7, even in her sleep. She is a constant bundle of energy, unable to sit still even when reading, or doing some other quiet activity. Until she stops moving for more than 30 seconds, then she falls fast asleep for 8 solid (not exactly quiet) hours at night, or a quick hour long cat nap, during the day.

She’s a smartass (gee, SHOCKER there huh?), she’s strong, she’s STILL long and lean, and she’s got a competitive streak that makes her daddy’s pale in comparison. She is determined, and has a strength of spirit that amazes me, even when it’s driving me completely insane. She smiles and sings and bounces and manipulates the hell outa poor folks who can’t see through her champion teary-eyed single tear down the cheek pity face. She makes friends easily, but holds grudges forever, she is the first to help out a smaller child, or even an older one, if they need her, and she’s never met a stranger – just friends she doesn’t know yet.

She’s amazing.
She’s my pup – and today?
She’s ten.

We’re still working on the fashion sense.

Oh – and to answer the title question? This morning, when I woke her up:
Me: Good MOOOOOORNING! Do you know what DAY IT IS?
Her: *grumblesnarlgroan*
Me: That’s RIGHT! Get UP!
Her: if you LOVED me, you’d let me SLEEP on my BIRTHDAY
Me: Oh well. GET UPPPPPPPPPP!
Her: *grumblesnarlgroangrowlcompain*

It’s official. She fits in here just fine.