Rose #3 is learning to talk a bit later than her sisters did. I am told this is common with the third child. Maybe since I KNOW that Rose #3 is my last baby I am taking the time to notice how her language develops. She definitely knows how to say Rose #2's real name, but she can't say Rose #1's name: as a new talker, Rose #1's name sounds like "Owie." So, Rose #3 calls Rose #1 by her nickname Bean. I can almost feel the way the "B" starts the word when Rose #3 makes it, and she ends with such a neat, clipped "n." I am glad that she can say "Bean." Rose #3 can put together three word sentences now - "One more time." One of my very favorite is "I do it. Me. I do it. Me." Again, again, again. She wants to brush her own teeth (permitted, but mommy does it again afterwards), close the sliding door of the minivan (absolutely not permitted), feed the fish (permitted with assistance).
Rose #2 is her very, very own little girl. She loves to help fold laundry and cook, although she does not like to do her own chores (go figure). She loves to stike a pose, flash a charming smile, flip her hair over her shoulders. She has very small little freckles around her eyes, which I think is very unusual for a child who is part Caucasian and part Asian. I don't care; she is beautiful and she is utterly herself. Oh, she is also a terror, at times. I don't remember too many tantrums this weekend, although I was gone this morning at work. But she is only recently cured of the Terrible Threes and the memories of tantrums are fresh.
Rose #1 is about to graduate from kindergarten (she goes to a year-round school). I can feel the start of the pull of her peers - she talks about things her friends do and want and have, and these are important. When we left the swimming pool this afternoon she said goodbye to a friend we knew from soccer - "Peace Out." (What!!??) Little flashes of meanness surface in Rose #1, as well - she is jealous and gets angry quickly. But she is completely a firstborn, and she reminds me a lot of me. Tonight I had to speak to her about being really quite mean to Rose #2, and her face crumpled and went all red. I can't stand it when the Roses are mean to each other - I read somewhere once, I would credit it if I could remember where, but that your siblings are one of the most important relationships you will ever have because they are people you know the longest. We are all we have - I try to remind my girls of this often. By the way, I was trying to think of a very dire consequence for being mean to her sister - being grounded from Monday Night Dinner was the only thing I could come up with! (Monday Night Dinner is our weekly dinner with my siblings/nieces/nephews and my parents at their house.) The prospect of being grounded from MND caused Rose #1 to shape up.
Sometimes it is important to stop and think about the small things that make my girls what they are, and that explain why (as if this could ever be explained) I love them so much.
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