A princess?

My daughter is half way between two and three. She's funny. Smart. And cuddly. But she's tougher than her brother, and much naughtier. So it always catches me off guard when her grandmother tells me she's a princess. In fact, last weekend, she said Cali's a city girl.

These conversations get me thinking about my daughter and who she might be in a few years. Last night was an interesting peek...

Daddy was in the living room watching some hunting show or maybe it was a car show...who knows but it was BORING. So the kids and I hung out in the master bedroom, watching something much more interesting like the Real Housewives or some fashion reality show. Caden quickly fell asleep. But Cali was soon into my things. Handbags. Hair ties. Brushes. Belts. Even a few slips and tank tops. This scavenger hunt quickly turned into a dress up mommy party.

She brushed my hair and styled it with something in her ring box/hair goo container. Then she slipped a few straps from a few different tank tops over one arm. She put eye shadow on using a contact solution container. And tied two or three belts around my neck and midsection. I'm sure I looked like a beauty queen. It was fun and girly. And she threw a massive fit when I told her it was time to clean up for bed.

She may be on the girly side. But her princess moments are less about being an actual princess and more about being two. There's no Disney characters or crowns lying around our house. Just two crazy kids with a ton of imagination and little tolerance for anyone messing with their stuff...even if it's not really their stuff.

They want to grow up way too fast, in every way possible.

Last week my son started a new pre-school. We recently moved and he had been away from a large group of kids for about six weeks. I had prepared myself for him to be nervous or shy or unwilling to go. But on the way there, our conversation was much different...and much more funny:

"Hey mom, when I get big like daddy, and when Cali gets big like you...she's going to have two babies in her tummy. And I'm going to be the daddy."

As disturbing as that statement is, I couldn't help but smile. My kids have been through a lot the last four months. They were forced into becoming best friends as each other was about the only stable component of their lives. I have been worrying about how this move would affect them. And I took a big sigh of relief when my son says things like he wants to be the daddy of his little sisters babies. It's much better than hearing he hates his baby sister and wants her to go back to where she came from.

In my mind, it was a sign that he loves her and wants to protect her. My son is a lover through and through, and I appreciate the love he has for his baby sister. And that, at some level, he feels protective of her and her unborn children, warms my heart.

Don't get me wrong, at some point we'll chat about babies and where they come from and who should have babies together...but for now, I'm just going to relish the fact that he loves his sister very much. If only I could bottle it up and show it to him when they hit high school!