All about Lauren

Oh Lauren, how can I describe you in words?

The thing that love most about Lauren is her eyes.  Her eyes are beautiful--- they're slightly more almond shaped than my other kids, and they are tilted upward at the ends.  So when she looks up at you, wide-eyed and curious, it just melts your heart.  She has long black lashes and a truly coquettish way of looking at you.  

Today I had a big bowl of peas sitting on the table.  She kept squealing and pointing at the peas, so I offered her the big bowl.  Her eyes grew to the size of quarters, and she looked at me as if she were saying, "Seriously!?  You're really going to let me do this??  I didn't think you'd actually let me put my hands in the big bowl of peas!"  And then she sat perfectly still with her hand poised above the peas, watching me, waiting for me to take it away again.  She sat there, not touching the peas, for a good two minutes.  I got tired of waiting, and I put the bowl back on the table.  Instantly she was screeching again at the injustice of it all--- so I offered her the bowl again.  She still would not touch the peas, she just sat there with her hand millimeters away from the peas, but not grabbing them.  

It made me laugh so hard :)  Usually Lauren is the "hoarder."  She grabs things as fast as she can--and she grabs AS MUCH as she can--- before you can take it away.  Even things that are not going to get taken away, like food.  You put peas on her tray and she's instantly trying to grab every single pea, and when her hands get too full and she can't pick up any more, she starts shoving them into her mouth as fast as she can, just to empty her hands to pick up more.  Then, when they're all safely in her fists or mouth, she sits and rocks back and forth like a little dance, smiling like she's won something.

Lauren also likes to eat with a fork and a plate.  Or a bowl and a spoon.  Kate will immediately throw any such non-edible nonsense off her tray as soon as she sees it, but Lauren will protest if you put her food directly on the tray instead of giving her a plate.  I personally think it's because she sees the rest of us eating with utensils and she just wants to be big.  She's actually pretty good at getting the food onto a spoon!  Kate will accept a spoon if you put the food on it for her; Lauren will shake the spoon until all the food is off, and then she'll try to fill the spoon herself.

When we give them their sippy cups, they immediately take a drink.  Then Lauren puts her cup down on her tray and Kate puts her cup down on Lauren's tray.  If you try to put the cup back on Kate's tray it is immediately relocated to the floor or returned to Lauren's tray.  Lauren doesn't seem to mind the extra cup on her tray because she's busy reaching over to eat all the food on Kate's tray.  :)

Lauren is a fighter, in the good sense of the word.  She's scrappy.  If you take a toy away from Lauren when she's in a good mood, you'll get a swift blow to the head or two hands scratching your face.  It's instantaneous.  If you take a toy away from Lauren when she's in a bad mood.....  I pity you.  :)  Just kidding.  Seriously though, her first instinct is to defend herself.  In a dire situation, she's a FIGHT girl, not a FLIGHT girl.  And it will be a very noisy fight.  

Notice her one-handed hold down.  She's keeping her sister at bay so that she can safely assume total control of the toilet paper.

Kate sneaks in her revenge sometimes too, though.

 Sometimes I wonder if this fight-drive comes from being the third child.  I know that #2 and #3 are twins, so it may not seem like birth order matters, but from my observations, it totally does.  Lauren acts like a 3rd child, in my opinion.  For some reason, she's always the one tagging along or trailing behind a little bit.  She doesn't seem to mind, and it may change as they get older, but she seems to spend a lot of time by herself while Kate trails after Nicholas.  And poor Lauren always seems to be the one getting picked on by Nicholas.  I don't think it's intentional, but it probably it much more fun to tease Lauren because she reacts so strongly.  Perhaps that's more of the issue--- when Lauren is getting teased, everyone knows about it because she's very vocal in her complaints, or she fights back which makes Nicholas complain.  Kate might very well get teased the same amount, but she doesn't realize she's being teased, so she doesn't complain.  Nicholas will tackle Kate and she just bounces back up looking for more.  Nicholas tackles Lauren and she is instantly yelling at him.

This makes it sound like Lauren is a pill.  She's not!  It's just that she's very emotionally tuned-in.  If she thinks that you're pushing her with malice, it gravely offends her.  If you push her in jest, she's fine.  She seems to read the emotion behind every action.  I've seen Nicholas roll around with her quite roughly, and she's totally fine, laughing and having a fun time.  But when he gets frustrated with her for messing something up, or getting in the way, or taking one of his cars (the sin of all sins in his mind), she can sense that he's upset, and she will start crying before he's even retaliated.

Lauren is the "solidaria"  (The term that Mando and his dad used to describe her).  She's the one that will cry when someone else cries.  It upsets her to see anyone else upset.  I think Lauren is Mando's "true daughter."  The one that would have been in his family no matter who he married :)  (I'm so glad he married me!).  She's got his eyes, his fighting nature, and his compassion for others.  She's a joy to be around, and I am so thankful she's part of our family.  

Stuck in the snow.  She got all the way out there and couldn't make it back.  

Eating the snow.  Only the dirty snow.  She had no interest in the clean snow I kept offering her as an alternative.  She only wanted the snow that was covered in dirt and sticks.

Making everyone laugh.