here's Camille

I would describe Camille as a somewhat volatile child. You know that nursery rhyme about the little girl who had a little curl? That is Camille exactly. The interesting thing is that she can flip from sweet to furious in a matter of seconds. She is known for screaming when she gets frustrated, so we hear that a lot. Even more interesting (and more rare) is that she can also flip back to sweet, although it happens much less. She will tell me, "I changed my mind, I'm going to be happy." and she does. It is very difficult to predict what will precipitate these changes, I don't even try. There are a few common ones, for example finding a treasured item moved from where she carefully placed it, being bossed around or mothered by Emma, or not being able to accomplish something she is trying to do like get her sunday dress on.

In reference to the above mentioned habit of stashing treasures, this is the same child who caused me some alarm one day when I found my wedding ring missing from beside the bathroom sink. I thought perhaps Justin had hidden it (which he sometimes does) to punish me for leaving it out, but I called him at work and he assured me he had seen it there when he left that morning. Later in the day--after checking the pockets of every pair of pants I own--I thought to ask the kids. "Girls, have you seen mommy's special wedding ring?" Emma said no, but Camille said yes. I said, where is it? "Oh, I'll show you, it's right here." She proceeded to take me upstairs and reach her little arm behind a dresser to get my ring. I about died, I couldn't tell if it was from relief that my diamond was not lost or the fact that I would never have found it on my own! When she was small and she fell, we would not go rescue her because the first person to reach her became the villian responsible for her trouble and she would smack them. We would look away and pretend we didn't notice, in which case she usually would scream but at least not take it out on someone else.

Cam is so very creative, one of her dominant traits. She is a self-entertaining child, and was an easy baby. She will go with a bucket of polly pockets to some corner of the house and amuse herself for hours. She has a great imagination for play, and loves to imitate movies. She also has a great sense of humor and it's so fun to watch movies with her and see where she will laugh out loud. Often it is when a cartoon character gets smashed or hit with something. She has been quoting the funny parts of movies to me since she could barely talk! She used to love Shrek a lot and now is into Cinderella III, and the Return of Jafar. She likes the part where Iago says, "you got a problem pinkie?" to a flamingo and then knocks it over. She told me today she had named her special pink blanket "pinkie."

This picture was taken during the big blizzard we had this last December. We took the kids out that day to play in the snow, and Camille wasn't a fan. Right after I forced her to pose for this pic I sent her inside where she happily sat on the couch and watched a movie.

She is also my most sensitive child, and the one it most breaks my heart to get mad at, because she does not cry often so when she does tear up you know she is sincerely hurt. When she has her feelings hurt she will go hide or try to hold it in, and you should see that little face! My favorite face of hers is when she is beaming with pride--when she has managed to accomplish something or receives praise, it is so much fun to see her soak it it!

Did you ever see a girl so loaded with personality?