She's...unbelieveable sometimes

This morning Rachel was dressed in her new princess jammies (warm top and bottom in pink, with princesses) when she came to my bathroom door while I was drying my hair. She had her shoes on.

"Why are your shoes on, sweetie?" I asked.

"I want to get the paper all by myself," she answered.

I was so startled that I said, "Okay!" and then opened the front door for her. I watched as she walked very carefully down the steps of our driveway, retrieved the NY Times in its blue bag, and carried it carefully back up the stairs, balancing it like a tray in both hands.

"THANK YOU, sweetie!" I exclaimed. "You really helped Mommy out!'

But it was what she said next that really stunned me.

"I was looking out the window and I saw the newspaper," she said. "And I thought, 'how can I help so you don't have to do all the work?'"

***

As I was dropping Rachel off at school this morning, one of the teachers (not Rachel's regular one), commented on how big she's getting. Then she added, totally unbidden, "and she has a PHENOMENAL mind!"

I could only smile.

***

Amanda and Jenn arrived tonight just as I was putting Rachel to bed. We're celebrating Amanda's 40th with a home-cooked meal tomorrow night. I was telling Rachel how we have to celebrate Auntie Amanda's birthday because it happened on New Year's Day and she wasn't here for us to do so (she and Jenn were in England).

Then we began talking about Rachel's birthday. She has decided she wants Daddy to make steak, and for side dishes she wants cherries and apples. And I'm supposed to make her a chocolate cake with a picture of her on a pony on top. And the cake has to have chocolate chips and pieces of apple, cherries and oranges.

I told her I'd work on that.