Personalities

My friend Amy's husband, Jeff, was writing about his one-year-old recently and he said something that really stuck with me. He said he had expected his little girl to be born and just be a blank slate that they could shape into whatever they wanted. He didn't realize that they come out already with a personality - with likes and dislikes, comfort levels and just general traits like being a girly girl vs. a tomboy or whatever. With my two girls (as with everyone, I guess), this is so true. I swore that I wouldn't have a girly girl. I didn't want her to carry purses or wear make-up too early or anything. Well, now we're lucky if we get out of the house with only one purse, one necklace, and one bracelet.





Surprisingly, though, Calli has her own personality of likes and dislikes. She is more of a mama's girl than Lana ever was often refusing to go to anyone else (except maybe Brent). She gets freaked out if "strangers" are there when she wakes up or if she's in a different place than she fell asleep. She prefers her space sometimes to anyone's cuddling - especially when she's overwhelmed, she'll sometimes want to just lay in her crib and stare at her bumpers or snuggle her lovey. Those times, she even cries when I pick her up because she just needs her alone time. She will rarely sleep without her lovey. Of course, she has picked the cheapo lovey I picked her up at Walmart before she was born because I remembered how much Lana loved hers. She refuses to accept the BEAUTIFUL lovey that her grandma got her with her name embroidered on it. It's way softer, pink with brown letters (you know me and pink and brown). But no. That one isn't her lovey and doesn't work. And she must be all snuggly warm. Even on a hot night, she'd rather have her blanket (again must be her blanket and not just a receiving blanket or substitute (though she will take any of the three we have - two from Grandma and one from me so at least I can wash them)...and then kicks it off as she sleeps.



Funniest of all, though, might be that she already prefers "Callista" or (even better) "Callista Anne" over "Calli," "Cal," "Calbit," or any other nickname I've come up with. "Calli Anne" is almost as good as "Callista" but not quite. No one ever believed me when I started saying this that a three-month-old would care what you call her (and I don't know that she does), but when you say "Calli" to her while you're talking, she just kinda looks at you. When you say "Callista" or "Callista Anne" she's all smiles and starts talking back. Maybe she just likes the sound of the word "Callista" but either way, I think she's going to insist on "Callista" when she gets older...or maybe she already does.