I am constantly in awe of what the kiddo can verbalize.  Her thinking and problem solving amaze me. 

Last week we were in Redding, and the kiddo spent a good amount of time with a friend of hers.  They had a great time swimming, playing at the park, pretending to be veterinarians, racing cars, etc.  On the last day as we were packing up our things, she announced, "I don't want to leave Redding."  Typical parent response:  "We have to go home.  Our house is there.  We live there.  Our dog is there."  Blah, blah, blah.  You get the idea of what we told her.  We thought that would be the end of that conversation.  I don't know why we thought that.  The kiddo always has a plan as to how to get what she wants.  So, matter-of-factly she tells us, "Well, we'll go home, pack up all our clothes, put the dog in the car, and we'll move to Redding.  We can bring all our stuff here."  Silence from us.  Then giggles.  She just tickles us with her "plans."  I don't ever want her to give up her plans.

Today her Auntie Bits took her to lunch for her birthday.  (It's "birthday week" as Bits puts it.  Both she and the kiddo have birthdays this week.)  When the server came to the table to take their orders, the kiddo ordered like a big girl, "So I hear you have spaghetti here.  Well, I don't want spaghetti.  I'd like ravioli instead, please."  Good for her for expressing what she wants.  That makes this mama proud!

 As the hubby and I were standing in the kitchen and once again talking about the kiddo's verbal prowess, he said, "Well, at least she learning what we set out to teach her - problem solving, expressing herself, speaking  up - and she sounds a lot like you!"  "Me?!"  "Uh, yeah, definitely you."  I'm pretty sure he meant that as a compliment.