Little Sister's Ten

10. Somehow ended up with the nickname "Moo." It started with an alliteration of her name, but eventually her name was dropped.
9 1/2. Once woke up crying "I don't want a donkey, Momma!!!"
9.  Fell in love with broccoli. She'd eat it like crazy. Her favorite stuffed "animal" was her broccoli. When she first learned to talk, she called it "bwatahtee". We were all sad when she learned to say it correctly.
8 1/2.  Was soooo serious outside of our house or off of the playground. She was a completely different kid when home. And a monkey on the playground.
8.  Had a herniated belly button that we called her "buzzer."  When she arrived, this thing was really big, but as she got older it got smaller.  This appeared to make her sad as one day she came up to me, lifted up her shirt, pushed on her belly button, and said: Mommy, my buzzer broken!
7.  Called me Daddy for about six weeks.
6.  Was Tiny's absolute best friend. Never have I seen two babies adore each other like these ones did.
5.  Partied in her bed at bedtime on a regular basis.  Eventually though, she rubbed her legs together about five minutes before she was going to fall asleep. It was a sure indicator that things were about to get really quiet.
4 1/2.  Liked to sit on the kitchen counter and watch me get dinner ready.  She did this from when she was 14 months old all the way to the end.
4.  Had two favorite books: The Pout Pout Fish and 10 Trick or Treaters. There were bits of each one that she could recite from memory. I loved her rendition of Pout Pout fish best, but could never get her to do it for a video camera.
3 1/2. Recently learned the phrase "long time ago." Which she pronounced "Yong time ago!!" She used this in the context of finding something that in her mind, she hadn't seen in a long time. It could have been a pair of pajamas or a jacket. She said it so frequently though that the older two started mocking her toward the end.
3.  Got some dark blue animal footies from a friend. She wore them every time Tiny wore HIS blue animal footies. And there was drama to be had if they were not clean.
2.  Spent more time in the baby carrier than the baby did. She figured early in the game that I was a sucker for carrying her around on my back.  I often cooked dinner and cleaned up the living room with her on my back.
1. Very early in her stay, learned the appropriate response to "Who loves you?" was "Mommy." But as she got older, she liked to trick me and name different people or animals in response. "Who loves you?" "CC...no Mommy do!" Last week, it sounded like this: "Who loves you?" "Mommy. Tooooo much."

You are so right, Moo. I do.