My Mirror

They say that children watch their parents, but no one said, that through your child you can watch yourself. Lately it has occurred to me that, when I am irritable so is Ella, that if I'm busy, she must be also, that her inability to relax may directly correlated to my own inability to relax, that when I read a book, she must also read my book, and if I'm cooking, she wants to be right there with me.  It reminds me of how careful I must be.  That I am her example for living.  The other day, after a shower, I was brushing my teeth, so I sat Ella in the sink.  A moment later, two little arms were reaching out for me.  What, I thought, does she want.  So I picked her up and she reached for my toothbrush.  Ahh, I said, mommy's little mirror strikes again.  I put her back, wrapped in her towel in the sink, and gave her daddy's toothbrush.  She sighed a sigh that I interpreted as contentment.  She was content to copy me. 

It was the biggest compliment in the world.  She was content, to copy me. 
She has turned my world upside down.  In the best of ways, she has filled my world with wonder, as I watch her grow and change.