Cruisin'

Eileigh has taken to "cruising" along, around, and about the furniture. It's been exciting and a little bit of a relief as she can walk around somewhat on her own while she's standing. She's been fascinated with doors as of late and likes to swing them open and closed. She's also tried walking along said open doors but finds herself unbalanced and falling when they continue to swing open. I don't think she gets upset that she actually falls down- more that she's offended by the fact that she is no longer standing UP like she wants to be. My angel-like, easy going child whom I thought would grant me a beautiful replica of her father's apparently sunlit and virtually hassle-free childhood has instead seemed intent on fulfilling my mother's desperate threats throughout MY childhood, "I hope when you grow up you have a kid JUST LIKE YOU!!" It had been a decent enough threat then to make me stop whatever ill-mannered behavior I was committing, but apparently the whelming amount of my childhood crimes was too much to stay in the past and has seeped into the present and fertilized the will of my child. I am glimpsing the fulfillment of my mother's prophetic threats. When Eileigh was first born, my mom assured me (to my sense of foreboding disbelief) that Eileigh was a fighter, strong-willed, and that's why she chose to come early and did so well. I wanted Eileigh to be easy-going like her Daddy and that was easy to believe when I left the hospital with a less than 5 lb. baby that slept all the time. But I know now that we have been blessed with a happy, beautiful, spirited child.... A strong one, with a strong will. And that is okay, definitely! I know it will keep us on our knees in prayer for her like we might not otherwise do. I know God has granted to Mike and I the blessing of raising her and therefore He will give us the tools and the strength we need in curbing her will and not her spirit. And I know that some eager day I can cast out what may possibly be my favorite warning- "Be careful, you might have a kid just like you someday!!"