Mini-me

It's unsettling how Rachel veers wildly from cute toddler to adolescent to worshipful friend. A sampling:

On the way to daycare this morning:
Me: Rachel, can I hug you when we get to school?
Rachel: No.
Me: Can I kiss you?
Rachel: No.
Pause.
Rachel (slightly exasperated?): Just go to work, Mommy.

****

We both have our favorite set of Christmas lights (yes, some people here STILL have theirs on). Rachel really wanted to see her favorites (multicolored ones strug atop an enclosed porch a block away from our house) and I was really relieved that they were still on.
"Thank you, people!" Rachel said as we passed by on the way home tonight. "Thank you for keeping your lights on, people! I proud of you!"

***

I make a big fuss when Rachel pees or poops in the potty, since she does it so infrequently. But tonight she turned the tables on her old mom. We both went into the bathroom together but Rachel changed her mind about using the potty. So I went to the bathroom.
Rachel peered into the toilet.
"Yay!" she yelled. "Mommy peed in the potty!"

***

As I said in a previous post, Rachel has started to use the music we know from various songs to make up her versions of songs, and she urges me to do the same. It's amazing how your mind expands when you're trying to keep up with a toddler!
Tonight she started singing the last words of "You are my Sunshine," the ones that say, "Please don't take/ my sunshine /away."
She substituted, in this order:
"Please don't take/my welcome/away."
"Pease don't take/my water and milk/away."
"Please don't take/Moroccan stew/away" (That's what I ate tonight; Rachel had jarred sweet potatoes and a bit of couscous).
"Please don't take/Mommy's milk/away."
"Please don't take/Mommy/away."
"Please don't take/Rachel/away."
"Please don't take/my pencil/away."
"Please don't take/my knife/away."
"Please don't take/the placemat/away."
"Please don't take/my fork/away."
"Please don't take/my spoon/away."

She probably would have gone on all night but something diverted her. For which I was glad.