Bless her heart

My sweet little Caylee has been sick this week. Thankfully it hasn't been bad. A fever for a few days and a need to rush to the bathroom after eating. But for the most part she's been her normal self. She has enjoyed the numerous movies we watched while curled on the couch together. And she loved to rub it in Baylee's face that Animal Planet was always a click away. 

The past three days it has been just Caylee and me during the day. Other than the movies and Animal Planet, we have enjoyed our time together, just the two of us. It has made me realize we need more time together. If there's one thing Brandon and I need to improve on it's alone time with each girl. I remember being pregnant and talking about this with Bran. We always said we would take turns going out with each girl. Not always treat them like a pair, you know? Well, sadly, we haven't been the best when it comes to individual time with each girl. I'm gonna work on that, though.

My sweet Caylee can also be a stinker. There, I said it. She can throw hissy fits with the best of them and I have a few on film to prove my point. When the girl's hungry, get her food. I've had one too many arguments with her only to have everything immediately resolved once she takes her first bites. And Caylee enjoys her alone time. When she is in desperate need of it, you better get out of her way because she's going to come unglued. I've often said she would have loved to have been an only child. 

But I saw something in Caylee this week. I saw this little light in her eyes when it was time to go pick up Baylee. I saw her constantly looking at the kitchen clock to see how many more hours until time to go. This girl, this would have loved to been an only child, was missing her sister. Caylee tends to take advantage of Baylee. Baylee is her crutch and her comfort. But Caylee also likes to dominate their play time and that leads to unnecessary fighting. I'm not trying to rag on Caylee because this little girl has a heart of gold. But when I had this conversation with her yesterday, I knew why she had been sick and why the doctor had given her an extra day to stay home. She needed to realize how lucky she was to have Baylee. 

Here's the conversation as we sat in the van waiting to pick up Baylee yesterday...

Caylee - "Mom, I have really missed Baylee this week".

Me - "I know you have. You have a great sister, don't you? She takes care of you and loves you so much".

Caylee - "I know".

Me - "Well, maybe this time apart has been good for you. Maybe now you can learn to appreciate Baylee. And maybe you can be a little nicer to her when you don't get your way". 

Caylee- "Yeah".

There was a short pause and then I heard the sweetest words come from Caylee's mouth.

"That just blessed my heart," she said.

I was floored. I didn't know what she was talking about. And for a moment, I thought she was being silly. But she wasn't. She was being genuine. She needed time away from Baylee to recognize how special having her really was. And the time away "blessed her heart". 

It blessed mine, too.