Penny, where to begin?
Penny was my easiest baby by far. Content, peaceful, patient, undemanding. Ah...those were the days. She was exactly the baby I needed even before I knew what I needed.
(Somehow along the way she turned blond and now looks so unlike me, but we still share the same scrunchy-nosed smile.)
As a toddler, she's been pretty much what you'd expect a toddler to be like. Constantly into something, making messes, adorable, and learning at the speed of light!
(Standing in the water table. If there's water, there's Penny, and TROUBLE.)
Although at fifteen months she was my latest walker, she mastered the ability quickly and will now generally prefer walking over being held.
She is a girl after my own heart and loves shoes as much as I do. Will jokes that it took her fifteen months to learn to walk and two days to learn to walk in heels. One of her favorite pastimes is to sit by the shoe drawer and pull out pair, after pair, after pair, trying on each one.
She also LOVES babies and doggies and can spot them from a mile away whether alive or play toys. She thinks the sole purpose of the iPhone is to find pictures of babies on the web. The toy that keeps her attention the longest during Sacrament meeting is this tiny, two inch plastic baby and accompanying stroller. Who knew something so small could be so engaging?
Ah, Sacrament meeting (our church's main Sunday service)...this is where Penny really puts us through our paces. Keeping an almost 18 month old entertained while keeping the older two quiet is, um, difficult. It doesn't seem to matter how many activities I pack, she's through them in five minutes and ready to use her little legs to explore and her little voice to express. We've spent a lot of time in the church halls these last few months. Wow. I'm exhausted just thinking about it.
Will and I were recently asked to teach two different Primary classes (junior/children's Sunday school). The Primary leaders took pity on us and allowed us to take Penny to the nursery a month early. I think Penny's incessant wandering and trouble-making during the group portion of Primary influenced their decision. Both Penny and her parents have been quite happy with the arrangement. I don't know if it is because Penny is such an easy going child or because she got to go in a little early, but she has had the easiest transition to nursery of any of my children. No problems. I might be in for it now that I've acknowledged it!
...That's where my blog draft from around April ended, but there are a few other things I'd like to include about Penny. (Oh, and we still have had no major problems with Penny and nursery in our ward! Yay!)
Every morning when Penny wakes up, she has her diaper changed and enjoys bringing the diaper and wipes to you and throwing the soiled one in the garbage herself. She is also greeted each morning with an ecstatic, "Penny!" from her adoring siblings. I would have expected this to wear off by now, but at this rate she may wake up as a married woman with five children visiting home for Christmas to a joyful exclamation of her name by her siblings. She loves them just as much as they love her too. When one or the other sibling is absent, boy does she notice and will always ask, "Where's Tigi?" or "Where's Leo?"
(Penny always wants to be in the middle of all the fun.)
She also adores her Papa, my dad. She got used to seeing him so much as he helped up fix up our house, and somehow developed quite the attachment to him. She was his little shadow for quite a while. Whenever she sees power tools or photos of our unfinished house, she calls out, "Papa!" Now that work has moved down to the basement of our house, the muffled sound of hammering will often cause her to start looking for him. There is one particular area in our front room that creaks in that same muffled hammer way, and whenever I step on it Penny looks up and asks, "Papa?"
Although she loves her Papa and her Dado, she is a momma's girl. Sometimes the only thing that can distract her when I have to leave is playing with Legos. She loves them, particularly the little Lego Friends (the Lego girl minidolls and sets). She happily sings along with the Lego friends song from the website as her sister plays.
Speaking of singing, this little girl was born with a song in her heart. I've always considered my other children musically interested, but Penny has far surpassed them in her musical inclination. She hears singing at church or other places and can't help but join in, nevermind not knowing the words or tune. Play a beat and she can't help but groove.
Along with dancing, and singing, she also enjoys eating. For some time, "Num num," meant: "I want your food." These days she asks for food by name. Although for a while, all food was called, "pizza." Any liquid, however, is currently referred to as "water" something. We have "water," "water milk," "water juice," and her personal favorite, "water ice." Every sippy cup of "water-water" must contain ice. I'm not sure if she got that from her sister who loves to use the water and ice dispensers on the fridge, or if it is because our un-air-conditioned house is just too hot. No matter what she eats or drinks though, she struggles with portion control and will often cause herself to gag by eating too much at once.
She also LOVES the swings and the slide. Any opportunity to be outside and she is there.
Well, there you have it in a giant-sized nutshell...our little Penny girl. Life would not be complete without her.
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