Abu El Banat

From the minute I found out I was pregnant, basically everyone we knew (especially Matt and I) thought we were having a girl. When we got confirmation of this, I was over-the-moon, but instantly mindful not to force my daughter to be girly if she didn’t want to be. If she wanted to be Sporty Spice, then I was sure-as-heck going to become an expert in sports! But, to my delight, she came out as girly as they come. We have bought her trucks and balls that she wants nothing to do with. She doesn't really like playing in dirt or mess at the park.  If her hands do get dirty, she immediately cries for us to wipe them off.  She loves her baby dolls, her tea set, and her purse. But lately, she has really taken things to an extreme.

And I’m not sure poor Matt knows exactly what to do with her. He recently likened himself to an old episode of West Wing where the President visited Egypt with his family and the tour guide constantly introduced him to everyone they met as "Abu El Banat." After that introduction, people would always buy the President a cup of tea. When asked, the guide told him it meant "father of daughters" and that the locals paid for the President's tea out of sympathy for the special difficulties faced by a man raising girls! (I’m sure my own dad wouldn’t have anything to say about that! ;)

Olivia got some sunglasses for Easter and has been obsessed with them! They go everywhere with us, although she usually puts them on upside down! She will also freak out if she can’t get them to stay on the top of her head.

On Sunday we went to HEB. Grocery shopping on Sunday is stressful enough, adding a precocious little baby in the mix certainly elevated things! For starters, it was an effort to even get out the door:

Once we were at HEB, she refused to let anyone but me push the cart. She would constantly hand me the phone (usually to “talk” to Mimi) and insist I talk (while also trying to maneuver the cart through the Sunday crowd at HEB!). But it wasn’t enough to simply pretend to talk to them, I had to do it for a sufficient amount of time and also laugh while having the conversation. If I didn’t talk long enough she would shake her head and refuse to take the phone back. If I didn’t laugh, she would chastise me in a very harsh tone – “No! Ha! Ha! Mama!!” and hand the phone back to me. I tried to tell her that Mimi wasn’t being funny, but it didn’t work!

Poor Matt just shook his head the entire time at HEB. Good thing she’s cute!