She Has Our Eyes

"You're sure you can't read any of the letters on this line?" asked the nurse who was performing a vision test on Little Girl.

We're all blind as bats in our family. I knew it was only a matter of time before Little Girl received the fated diagnosis. Our eye problems trace back for generations. But back to the exam.

Little Girl shook her head and answered, "No, I think they're in French."

The kid has inherited her great-grandfather's genes, too, I think -- she's a natural-born comedian.

My sister has been taking the brunt of Little Girl's funny remarks lately.

When Little Girl was doing her Valentines, one depicted an elephant with the comment, "I like you a ton." Little Girl didn't get it, so my sister explained that the elephant weighs a ton and he likes you a ton and that's the joke...

Little Girl responded, "Oh, I know -- I'll give this Valentine to you, Mommy, because you weigh a ton too!"

Another night my sister made cookies. She took two, her hubby took two, and Little Girl took two. They ate them. My sister then went to get another, and Little Girl seized the container and said, "Oh, no, no more cookies for YOU!" My sister doesn't have the willpower to stay on a diet. Little Girl just may provide that willpower for her... :)

Speaking of Little Girl, I'm taking her back to Little House land this summer and so I figured it was time she read more of the books, now that I'm in town to do it. We started Little House on the Prairie (we've already read Big Woods together before) one day last week. I was a little worried because she didn't want to read it. I kept urging and she kept saying no.

Finally, I took a chance, and just opened it and sat on the floor and started reading aloud. Sure enough, within ten seconds she'd wandered over and started listening. She listened throughout the first chapter. But the kicker was, when I closed the book after finishing the chapter, she cried out, "NO! Keep reading!" Whew, we still have our little fan-in-the-making.

I am loving reading these with her. How many times have I read Little House on the Prairie? I know exactly what happens. But somehow knowing that SHE doesn't know what happens adds a new level to the experience. Take "Crossing the Creek", for instance. I absolutely could not keep the tears from flowing down my cheeks. Sure, *I* knew Jack was fine -- but SHE didn't, and it was so heartbreaking reading that and knowing that SHE thought Jack had drowned.

I wonder how many books we can read before summer... maybe all of them. :) I don't want to rush it though. I want to savor every moment of her very first (of many, I hope) "Little House" reading.