what means the most to me

The glow of the Christmas tree at night has an extra special radiance to me....

for i will always remember holding my newborn baby girl in the wee hours

her sweet face illuminated by little white lights from the christmas tree. 

feeling so blessed & happy for her safe arrival. 

and a deep, deep love.

for Tomiko is our christmas baby after all. born on this special day. a very special girl. 

my little Tomi has grown into a big girl this year. 2 years old. And what a joy she is! 

She is a little chatterbox! and that has been so fun. she repeats everything I say and learns all kinds of fun things from hugh. 

she is so polite and asks me MANY times a day. 

"booger please." {meaning: wipe my boogers}

"thank you, mommy"

"i wa a treat please"

She is ALWAYS asking, "Where's Hughie?" From the minute she wakes up. She wants to play with her big brother! And for the most part they play well together {intermixed with sobs}

she has learned how to hit, push and give a good stiff forearm. :) self defense!

She is obsessed with her baby right now. She walks around with a baby, a bottle, and a blankie all day and tells Hugh & me "baby sleepin. baby wake up. you want hold baby? i hold baby. baby cold. i feed baby. baby cute. baby go night night."

I often hear her saying to Mae, " mae mae....you want this?" as she kindly offers a toy to her sister. 

she loves to play "injas" {ninjago legos} with hugh and is always good to hand him legos that are scattered on the floor. "here hughie." 

She loves her mommy. {do you blame her?} and is always saying, "i want mommy. i want mommy."

Even if I scold her - she is tenderhearted so she will cry when I get mad at her and say, "i want mommy."  {are you sure?}

she is a chower! whenever I make myself some food...I always make a little extra because i have learned that miss tomi lou will come over and say, "I my some." And then eat my whole breakfast! 

She never lets a dish go by untested.

She is a cuddler. {i pretty much teach all my kids to cuddle in the morning [7am or later]....so not a morning person.}

When I get her in the morning lately, she will often say. "I go mommy's bed." 

She loves to boogie. And always jumps off the couch when any song comes on during a TV show to let her moves loose. 

There are 2 ways into Tomi's heart. Read her a book or tempt her with a treat.

Most of all....she is sooooo sweet. Something in her voice. The way she says please. Her innocence. her kindness that comes so naturally. her instinctive mothering. her concern for others. the absence of jealousy. her sweet love for her mae & hugh. her small stature. the way she smiles so big back at you. 

LOVE her!