In Indiana...

A curly-haired little girl stole my heart last weekend.

At two, she is fiercely independent (as she should be).

She loves to cook, so we made carmel rolls and finger jello (pretty sure her mother won't let her make it again anytime soon.)

"No" is her favorite word.  "Mine" is a close second.    

She calls me Auntie Wewe.  Lori is tough to say.  I remember when her mother called me wo-we.  I love being Auntie Wewe.

We sat in the back of the car together and watched for stoplights.  We played in our very own kitchen band.  We took good care of her babies.   We hopped.  We ate cara-cara oranges together.

Obviously, she stole my heart...but she also stole her baby brother's blue elephant named Andy.  I had him carefully tucked in the bottom of my bag.  Andy stole my heart a few weeks earlier, so I brought him for the little boy whose arrival I am anticipating in a few more weeks.  His sister is taking very good care of him, though!

Did I mention she loves Qdoba and Dairy Queen too?  We even topped off our last day with ice-cream!

"No bye bye!  No bye bye!" she proclaimed at the airport.  I waved until I disappeared into the door as the tears ran down my face, and she watched me, refusing to wave, as if it would keep the inevitable at bay.

I wish I just lived down the road so "bye bye" would mean until the next time we share ice-cream in a day or two...