Ess and Bun
Mykala and I were lucky enough to see another little sliver of Essie’s personality recently, and it started with a cookie. I was in the kitchen, Mykala was in the living room, and Ess was running back and forth between the two. I’d hand her cookie pieces: one for her and one for mama. She would then propel herself with a little bouncy toddler run into the living room where she and Mykala would eat their cookies. A few minutes later, Ess would reappear, requesting I fill her hands again. After a while, though, the routine was broken: Mykala watched Ess absentmindedly begin to eat some cookie, which caused Mykala to comment: “Oh, Ess, you ate my cookie piece.” It was merely a statement of what had transpired: no judgment or shaming could I detect in Mykala’s voice. But the effect (doubly unexpected given our toddler’s barely two years), was profound. Essie’s face immediately crumpled and her chewing slowed, when she realized that she could not un-chew what had been chewed. She could not, though her motions suggested she considered it, remove the cookie, dry it off, and put it into her mama’s unsuspecting hand. Realizing a decision gate had slammed behind her and lamenting Mykala’s loss, Ess began to cry, loudly. She cried and cried and cried until her eyes were bright red, holding Mykala as she did; a reaction totally disproportionate to what we had expected, yet only explainable by our daughter’s sadness at her mama’s loss. Small loss, big reaction.
Mykala made this dress for Ess, and it was the best choice during a hot hot fair outing earlier this month.
This was mine when I was little. Now, Ess fits in it! Her posture shows that she was trying to bop-a-dee in it (tough on a braid rug).
The sign in the background says “Happy Summer”.
This is duck baby, Essie’s doll that looks, to her, like a duck when it has a pacifier on. In this picture, they are napping.
Mykala’s aunt Sue asked what Ess likes, and based on that made her this blanket. It is a very nicely made blanket and there are many, many lady bugs on it.
The blanket from Sue has doors on it - behind each one are people Ess loves or animals she recognizes.
Whenever Ess wants to do something by herself, she says “baby own”, or a lot of times “NO baby-OWN!” Here, she was in good spirits, and wanted to baby own in the hammock.
Kourtni and Arlene have this portable hammock that is designed for backpacking — you can sling it up anywhere you find two trees. Ess loves it.
Ess calls the little cereal pieces in the orange snack container “bear cereal” since there’s a picture of a panda bear on the side of the box.
That looks like a misshapen egg in the background, but it’s actually a mini fake plastic piece of bread.
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