I think the best way to describe LO is as a "force of nature." She's extremely outgoing to the point of stopping complete strangers in public places to tell them about her bug collection. When we go out to eat, she ends up sitting with families nearby just chatting and having a grand time showing them her coloring books or whatever toys we've brought. On our last flight, she made friends with the girl sitting by the window. Cute, except the girl was 25. And yet, she had so much fun she wanted to take a picture with LO when we landed.
Force of Nature is officially 3.5 years old now. We reached a major milestone this week that I never saw coming. We were riding in the car and she was looking out the window pensively.
ME: What are you thinking about?
LO: I'm thinking I wish I had a nanny.
ME (remaining calm): What makes you say that?
LO: Nannies pick you up from school, they give you snacks...
ME: But Mommy does that.
LO: I wish I had one Mommy, one Daddy and one Nanny.
And there you have it. Sure, she's just responding to seeing her friends with their nannies. (Hell, I wish I had a nanny). But there's a part of me that's wondering if I'm TOO accessible. I will remind her of this one day when I'm back to work full-time and she misses all of the baking projects, museums, play dates, afternoon swims, infinite hugs, etc.