Little Miss. Understandings

Nearly almost three years after Bean's birth, we finally let her stay up past her bedtime to experience the stars in the sky. She looked up with excitement, trying to count each one. I watched her expression as she stared in the sky, in awe that they actually exist unlike many things she sees and reads about in her books,. “Where's Noisy and Rocket Stars like in Dora?” Quickly I gave her a kiss, picked her up, then put her to bed.
She woke up at 4am this morning screaming “I have to tee-tee!” Within seconds she was in our room doing the potty dance, eyes wide open as if she had just seen a ghost. I rushed her into the bathroom and relief came over her. As we sat I had realized that it had been an entire week with no diapers. “Wow you are doing so well using the potty! What a great feat!” I said with a congratulatory tone. She looked confused. “We don't use our feet to potty silly, we use our butts”, she said shaking her head with disapproval. She continued to shake her head and walked herself back to her room.
2 and a half hours later I was trying to get ahead of schedule and had started preparing breakfast. The smell of cooked turkey bacon woke her up as she ran down the stairs yelling “I want to help!” “You can help me measure the ingredients”, I said. “ OK! I'll be right back” she said running off as if she had already missed too much. She came back holding my measuring tape and instantly held it up to the bag of sugar stretching it vertically. “It's 6 and a half. Is that enough?” After showing her how to use measuring cups, I could tell she was losing interest since she kept looking back at the Spongebob episode that was on the TV. “Go watch it for 5 minutes as I finish up here”, I said slightly relieved. Ladybug squealed as Bean ran around her in circles, then returning to her Mozart skills on her infant kick and play piano.
After a busy morning of sidewalk chalk, painting, and picking dead flowers out of our garden, we had worked up an appetite. I was craving sushi so we went to my favorite local joint. We were entertained as Bean tapped the chopsticks drumming on the table. The impatient waitress took my order then said, Edamame? Bean gasped thinking she had said Etta Mommy...”How did she know our names!?” The waitress looked irritated then quickly walked away.
After a rushed lunch, we headed back home. Bean ran inside leaving the front door wide open. I struggled with carrying Ladybug in while attempting to wrangle the dog in from running out to greet us. As I entered the house I saw Bean leaning against the sofa, legs crossed at the ankles, eating a piece of turkey bacon. “WHERE DID YOU GET THAT!? “I asked in shock.” I hid it under this pillow on the sofa” she said as she continued to nibble. “Give me that! That's disgusting!” As I scolded her I started to grab it out of her hand. In retaliation Bean pulled the bacon out of her mouth and stuck it in her eye. The agonizing scream made Ladybug cry with fright. “Why did you do that!? Oh my God!”. I quickly ran to the emergency kit, grabbed the eye wash, and started to flush her eye of any remaining debris. After 10 minutes of screaming and crying she finally calmed down. This was my opportunity to do some questioning again. “Etta, why did you do that?” I asked calmly hoping to get an answer. “Because Patrick did it! He was eating a Crabby Patty and Spongebob tried to take it away! And he put it in his eye!” This was my moment to explain the importance of taking care of her eyes. She shook her head with understanding then apologized for her actions.
We started to clean up the pieces of bacon from the floor and sofa when my husband walked in. “Helllllllooooooo?”, he said while fluctuating his voice to make the girl's laugh. ”Daddy!!! I'm so glad you're home! I stuck bacon in my eye and it hurt and mommy told me not to do it. AND Addie SCREAMED loud when I cried. But I won't do it again”, she said running away after finishing her thought. “OK, sounds like an interesting day. Why are you feeding her bacon this late in the day?”, he asked looking at me like a crazy person. I glared at him with “that” look. He took a beeline to the freezer, grabbed the pint of mint chocolate ice cream, planted himself on the sofa, and started eating. “What are you doing? You can't eat that before dinner and in front of them! You are setting a bad example. Why do you get mad at me for eating junk on occasion but you can do it? “, I said. “She was eating bacon in the afternoon! Besides, I'm a hypocrite”, he said with a slight giggle, stuffing his face with another spoonful. Etta ran up to him, placed her hand on his shoulder, looked sideways and said, “You're not a hippo. You're name is Brett.” “No baby, he's right. Sometimes he is a hippo”, I said with a smirk.