Stuck in the Middle

Oh man, this kid is adding so much HUMOR to our life lately. She has LOVED and ADORED her baby sister from day one...but we are getting snatches of major jealousy lately. The following conversation will help to put it in perspective:

I'm laying on the floor in the living room, Sabrina is close by also sitting on the floor and Benson comes right up in my face and says,

Benson: Mom, I don't even know what to do! (how many times do I hear that sentence in a week, ugh!)

Jess: Me neither. Maybe we should trade lives. I could be you and you could be me and then you would always have something to do.

Benson: That doesn't sound like fun.

Sabrina: (quietly, not even sure she intended for us to hear her) I wish I could be Jillian.

So Sad! She is experiencing major Middle Child Syndrome. Grace gets to go to preschool 4 days a week and she feels SO LEFT OUT! Jillian is getting older and is way more high maintenance than she used to be. But it builds character, right? I promise she does get lots of attention, I just think right now no amount of attention would be enough for her.

So, about the HUMOR she is adding to our lives:

1. She is OBSESSED with hide and go seek. It started when we were in Utah this summer. She and Grace and maybe Benson were playing hide and seek with Grandpa Gary. She and Grandpa hid in a food storage closet in the basement of Mike's aunts house and Sabrina insisted that they lock the door, which I'm pretty sure is against the hide and seek rules, right? So of course Grace never did find them, we had to help her and even when we did find them she still didn't want to unlock the door. The next go round she hid in the storage closet alone and STILL dead-bolted the door. And couldn't figure out how to unlock it. Thank goodness Aunt Diane had a key. So that is where it started. Now she hides when Mike comes home from work every night. Sadly, some nights he doesn't realize very quickly that she's hiding, but she WILL NOT come out until he looks for her. Tonight she hid so well that we started to get worried. She mostly hides in the same place, a bin in her closet that is full of stuffed animals, but she usually only puts a blanket over her and is clearly visible. But tonight she pushed herself to the bottom of the tub and piled all the animals up on top of her. Mike checked the usual spot and she wasn't there and we started calling her name and then yelling her name and she just kept on hiding. It's funny now but we were getting a little worried.

2. Every day, at some point she will set up a "party" in her room. We still don't really understand why she is doing this and it drives me BANANAS because she never wants to put everything back in it's proper place but I also think it's hilarious. Her description of it will be much better than one I could give. *I'll have to add the video later, it is too cute.*

Pretty much it's about the same set-up every time, with only slight variations. The kid has a serious need to organize. I love that the fan is the laundry. Have I mentioned before that she LOVES to fold clothes (she calls it "packing"). Babies and laundry are her idea of a great party. Motherhood really will be her dream come true!

3. Sabrina is the grouchiest kid EVERY morning. It doesn't matter if we let her sleep in and wake up on her own or if we wake her up, she is a grump. With school starting again we were really feeling the pain of dealing with her grouchy self and trying to get out the door on time. We have tried many techniques but this has been the most effective:

She feeds Jillian yogurt every morning. And it kills two birds with one stone cause Jillian needs to be fed. It's a very symbiotic relationship (I learned that term from Benson).

4. Sabrina tries so hard to keep up with Benson and Grace but sometimes it's so hard because she is still younger and smaller than them. My favorite story to characterize this:

On Labor Day we went to the park close to our house because our ward was having a Barbecue. There is a nice play area at that park that is completely fenced in and during the barbecue it was FULL of kid's from the ward. All of the kid's were having a blast running around and playing with their friends. Mike was in there keeping track of them all and at one point Sabrina runs past him holding hands with a string of little girls, missing a flip-flop. He stops her and asks where her shoe is and she gets teary and says, "I can't stop running or I won't catch up. They won't wait for me." The poor kid, she felt like it was better to leave her flip-flop behind than for her to be left behind. There have been at least 2 Saturday mornings recently that she has slept in until after 9am and I think it's because she is trying so hard to keep up with the bigger kids but her poor little body can't quite keep up yet.

5. Her prayers. Adorable. Mike and I can't wait to hear what she'll pray for each night. She is not in any danger of being guilty of "vain repetitions." She is our only child who doesn't ask for help. She does frequently like to throw in "Bless everyone to do what their mommy tells them." Mike and I can't think of anything else she has said recently, we'll have to write it down for a few days because every night is so different.

Sabrina also loves to snuggle with her mama, loves to play with friends, is a huge snacker lately and barely eats anything at meal time (snack of choice is fruit snacks she has at least 2 packs a day), teases her older brother and sister and gets them into trouble ALL the time, has more pride than any 3 year old should - she very rarely apologizes and won't stay in her room for anything, tells me at least twice a week that she needs ANOTHER baby doll stroller and steals Jilly's walking toy doll stroller from her all the time. She is the most articulate 3 year old I've ever heard, although she does stutter a bit when she gets really excited. She loves to play with friends and really gets along well with other children, no matter their age. When we are in the car driving anywhere, I always remind everyone to be on their best behavior and then ask what that means. Sabrina will always answer, "no fighting, no fussing, no whining."

Sabrina, if you ever read this someday, you are such a blessing to this family! I know you feel a little left out and neglected now and perhaps you will continue to have those feelings from time to time, but we love you so much and love what you add to our family.