Didn't we pass that tree an hour ago?

This is my two-year-old. (2.5 to be precise.) She is a goober. As my cousin Paige says, "She comes by that naturally."

True story, my friends. True story.

Here's another thing you may or may not know about her. She has a BIG head. I don't just mean kind of big. I mean off the charts (literally off the charts the doctors use with "percentiles" and such), grew so much so fast at one point, they watched its growth for a month and threatened a scan to make sure she didn't have fluid around her brain kind of big. She comes by this naturally as well. We're a family full of big-noggins!

One consequence of her large head is that, well, sometimes her clothes don't really want to go over her head. Sometimes, even the ones WITH buttons or snaps at the neck won't go over her head. And you can just about FORGET trying a shirt without some sort of closure to make the opening get bigger while trying to cram a head through. It rarely happens. In fact, every Alabama cheerleading outfit she's had (read as BOTH, as she's only had two), we've had to kind of clip along the shoulder seams to make the head hole big enough, and even after doing that, I pretty much made her cry because it took me so long to pull her head through it. (No pain no gain, right?)

She used to get really upset anytime we had to REALLY pull to get a shirt on. To be honest, she still does sometimes. But I've tried to make a joke out of it. You know how when your kid falls down and you have that one moment where you can kind of laugh it off and they'll follow your lead instead of melting into a puddle of sadness? I have tried to do that with the whole cramming her head into too small head holes thing.

I'll say, "Shooo, you've got a BIG OL' NOGGIN, girl!!!" She thinks it's funny. It helps.

Even funnier? The time I crammed her head through a neck hole and she said, "Mommy, I got a big ol' noggin!"

Yep. Precious.

It's so cute, in fact, that last night, while at a visitation for a family funeral (where everyone knew/loved Tucker and welcomed the joyful, childish distraction she offered), I asked her, "Tucker, why is it so hard to put shirts on?"

"I got a BIG OL' NOGGIN!!!" *Said while patting her forehead*

Laughter. Preciousness. Mommy beaming at just how adorable her child is.

*Yes, I realize I'm ridiculous. I came to grips with it ages and ages ago.*

Then we get in the car to drive home.

"Mommy, why is it hard to put shirts on?"

"You tell me."

" 'Cause the shirts and I had a big ol' noggin' and 'cause girls not need shirts."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

.

.

.

"Mommy, why is it hard to put shirts on?"

"I don't know. Why?"

"'Cause I got a big ol' noggin and girls don't need shirts."

"Well, girls DO need shirts sometimes. They either wear shirts and pants or dresses."

*We had a discussion the day before about why Daddy didn't wear dresses like Tucker and Mommy, and instead wore shirt and pants. I'm sure that's where this part came from.*

"Oh. "

.

.

.

"Mommy, why is it hard to put shirts on?"

Didn't we pass this tree an hour ago? I SWEAR we're driving in circles here.

Love & Shipoopies,

Leslie