Toast!?!

My daughter really loves toast.  Like, a lot.  In the morning, she is occasionally grouchy, as she tells us that she doesn't want to "go schoo,'" she doesn't want us to "go work," and she would rather sit and watch "monkey george," all day.  Some days, we just have to remind her that she is going to see her friends at daycare.  "Do you want to go see Ms. Debbie?  What about 'Kenzie?"  Sometimes, that's enough.  Sometimes, to coax her downstairs, we have to offer her breakfast.  "Emmy, would you like some toast?"

And no matter what mood she is in, cinnamon toast (cinnamon and raisin swirled bread, toasted with a light spread of butter) cheers her right up.  "Okay, daddy."

After one particularly rough morning, where she wrestled me as I got her dressed, then again while I put her hair in a ponytail, I was beseeching Tom to take over (he makes breakfast while I get Emmy dressed and ready), because Emmy was wailing at me about how she didn't want a ponytail, or shoes, or that shirt (Want pink, mama!)-- and he asked her if she wanted toast.

And just like that, the tears disappeared.  "Toast?" she asked, her interest peaked.  So, she took her seat at the table and Daddy handed her the toast, which she exclaimed over and started eating.  Then, she looked at Tom and said, "I happy, Daddy."

And Tom, in his ever-present wisdom, sighed.  "I wish there was something in this world I loved enough that it could turn my mornings around like that."

Me too, honey.  Me too.

It must be her age, but when Emmy loves something, she LOVES it.  There are certain activities that we really have to gear ourselves up for because Emmy loves them so much that she doesn't ever want to stop doing them.  And when she is forced to stop, there will be tears.  There will be SOBS.  (And for mom and dad?  There will be guilt.)

Here is the list of things that my daughter LOVES:

Winnie the Pooh (the movie is only 62 minutes long, and as soon as the credits roll, she bursts into tears until you start it over)
Elmo and "Grober" ("Another monster at the end of the book" interactive storybook on the iPad, which she has read over and over and over)
Painting (finger paints, tempera paints, watercolors, etc)
Riding horses/ponies
Toast
Chocolate milk
Watermelon, blueberries, tomatoes, strawberries (she can eat her weight in each of these foods)

In fact, she loves watermelon so much, that when we bring it home from the store (wrapped in plastic) she can't wait to get at it.  You can see in the photo above, she took two bites while it was in the shopping bag, before I could get it put away after the shopping trip.

I know this level of loving things won't last forever, but I wish it could.