morphing

As we segway into adolescence -- I say "we" because Hello! I'm on this ride with my daughter for sure!-- I watch as her meltdowns morph into something a little different.
She is nervous about walking up to her classmates when we see them at the video store or grocery. This is something new. Her stuttering increases and she blurts out random and strange (untrue?) things to them as a greeting. i.e., "Hi, ______. How is your summer? I've been itchy a lot lately," as she scratches at her scalp and rubs her arms. They're going to think she has fleas or something! Oh dear.
She's never really liked being in the grocery store for long, but now her agitation quickly shifts to a manic state. She clomps around the store at high speeds, spouting off brand names read from labels and laughing hysterically.
More time is spent in her room with the door closed. Shutting her little brother out.
She has become more interested in hygiene. I still have to turn the shower on for her. She can now wash her hair and body! But I do the rinsing of the hair or there will be globs of shampoo left in it.
I mourn the little girl I used to have. And I marvel at this new blossoming creature. In a way, I get to keep them both. As she matures, her love of "baby" things seems to remain, and even has become more so as the part of her brain that does pretend play has grown and is being used more. I've never seen her so interested in her baby dolls as I have lately. She now has a stroller and a carseat and a highchair and she plays with them regularly.
She's reading four chapter books at once! She's into paranormal shows and reading up on trivia about the universe. She was so sad when she saw that the video store no longer carries the toddler cartoon that she used to watch repeatedly. And she's forgotten what it's title is ( also something new -- because the girl doesn't forget things like that!) so I can't look it up on Amazon. Maybe it will come to my tired old brain soon.
I adore my girl who drinks iced mochas from crazy straw cups, who knows everything there is to know about the 7 Super Girls on YouTube, and who believes with all her heart that mermaids, LochNess, and BigFoot exist. Even as she gets a little older, there is still so much Magic in Emma's world.