Pleasant Surprises

I love pleasant surprises and the giver of my pleasant surprise today was my daughter Riley.

We were on the go all day long today...lunch, haircuts, grocery store, thrift store and ended the day with a four hour cookout/party at my mother-in-law's house. She was so good all day. Little to no wining escaped her lips and she seemed so grown up to me all day. She went with the flow all day and I kept thanking her for her good behavior which made her little face glow with pride. Normally Riley questions everything endlessly but not today...like I said she just went with the flow and for her that is a very BIG deal. When we got to my mother in law's house one of her neighbors let her little girl come over and play dolls with Riley for a little while and she was such a gracious little hostess to her guest...she was so attentive (even offered the little girl a juice box), shared beautifully (which is quite rare for Riley without my intervention), did not make a scene when the Meg's mom came to get her and even hugged Meg and thanked her for coming without me asking her to. I was so proud that her manners came shining through several times!!!!

It truly does not take much at all to make me happy.

Of course, the other surprise of the unpleasant variety was Samuel...my little laid back guy. He was not happy all day today until getting to Grandma's. It is almost like they traded personalities for today...maybe they had a Freaky Friday moment that I didn't notice. I am very afraid that Sam is entering his terrible 2's a few months late and I am hoping that Riley has finally grown out of her's...it is only a couple of weeks until her 4th birthday it is about time!!! (She entered them around 15 months old so we have been stuck there for quite some time....I am more than ready to let them go in her case. Even her very dry, slightly weird pediatrician told me that she was bad sooner than most children...he didn't exactly say it that way but he was referring to her awareness of her dislike of going to the pediatrician and that she seemed more aware of her distaste sooner than most children.)

Anyway....Riley was great all day with NO meltdowns!!!!! She is turning into a little lady!