Mia? Mia!

Okay, here's my favorite moment of the day.

When Papa and I took Mia to the hospital this morning, Brianna woke up back at the house soon after and was greatly alarmed to not find her sister lying in the crib beside her. This, of course, had never happened before and so understandably Bri was disallusioned by the whole thing. And, Butde (my Mom) will tell you that the whole morning she seemed sad - pointing to pictures of Elise and saying "Mama! Mama!" and also citing Mia's name as she walked about the house.

Meanwhile...on our way home from the hospital, Mia fell asleep and, since she never makes the transition from car seat to crib very well AND because she desperately needed sleep, Papa offerred to just stay with Mia in the mini-van in our driveway while I went and spent time with Bri inside. As I came through the door, Bri bounded around the kitchen corner. She stopped looked at me, then BEHIND me, then back at me. And she said, "Mia?"

"No, sweetie," I replied. "Mia's not here yet."
"Mia?" she continued.
"No, not yet, honey."
"Mia?" she insisted.

As I began to object a third time, Brianna marched to the back door and began to chant her sister's name - over and over and over - in protest.

Oh man. Talk about melting a daddy's heart. Until just the day before, I had never heard her say her sister's name so clearly. These two girls are such good friends. They hug each other, they get the other's blanket when in meltdown, and they even have their own language. For example, blankie is "ahh gee gee"...Mia's name for Bri is "Ta Ta"...and they both call me "Maestro". It's strange, but our pediatrician says they'll grow out of it.