Lyra

Lyra loves to tease.  She loves it.  She lights up and squeals with uncontrollable delight when she threatens to eat the food, or 'airplane' I mock tell her not to eat.  Then she giggles and laughs when I cry out in dismay when she does, in fact, eat the helpless airplane skewered at the end of her fork.  Or I snatched a pirate hat from her head, declaring 'my pirate hat!' and she again started dancing with delight giggling and laughing, then sneaked up on me and snatched it off my head like she was getting away with the most clever, naughty of tricks. It is particularly adorable when taking into consideration that Lyra is the ideal of a well behaved child.   

 

She is incredibly anxious to serve.  I love that in her.  It is so beautiful to see it in a toddler, too.  She will ask for a treat but will not leave until she has secured one for herself and Parker.  Then she will track Parker down and follow him saying 'here pookah, here pookah, here pookah' until he takes it or says no thank you (if he simply says no, she gets upset.  He has to accept it or say no thank you.  go figure).  When I announce we are going in the car she puts her shoes, grabs Parker's shoes and chases him down to give them to him.  She will then go get mine, often a pair of  heels to go with my trendy T-shirt, and then Daddy's if he is home.   One night there were papers strewn across the floor and Lyra started to gather them up.  I asked her what she was doing and she said 'putting in na' trash, mommy.'  And she was.  She picked up every last stray piece of paper and put it in the garbage without my even mentioning that it was a mess.

Lyra is very smart, too.  She is exceptionally good at finding unsuspected solutions to her problems.  For example, the other day I told Parker that he needed to eat his cracker in his kitchen.  Parker stuffed the rest of the cracker in his mouth and the problem was solved.  Lyra, seeing this and who didn't want to finish her whole cracker yet, but wanted to play outside the kitchen, took the bite she wanted and held the rest of her sizable cracker in her lips and then began to run about.  Nope, can't just hold it with a different part, Lyra.  Clever, but the thing still crumbs from there.  

 

Lyra can find a friend anywhere.  We go to small playgrounds full of perfectly strange children, but in seconds some other sweet girl of equal or older age will be holding her hand and walking her around the playground.  Without fail.  Once she fell and gave a bit of a whimper before a little boy, not much older than herself, had come over to pat her and ask if she was ok.  The poor little kid was about to get in trouble because the mom only looked over and her little boy was standing over a tearing little girl.  I explained and the mother was very impressed with the little guy.  So was I.  But it amused me to see that, given there was no little girl to buddy up with Lyra, some sweet little boy was ready to do it.