Peer Pressure

We are just returned from a lovely weekend of camping at Table Mountain in Wrightwood. There are many great things about this campsite (it's gorgeous, has great trails, is family friendly, the spaces are huge, etc. etc.), not the least of which is that it's only about 40 minutes from our house. Our last camping trip was at Lassen Volcanic National Park... 14 hours away. We did that when Mad was a wee baby of just over three months.

Camping with a three-month-old is pretty darned easy, especially if she's exclusively nursing. With a 16-month-old who's teething, not as easy. But Mad did a great job.

It rained all of Friday night and into Saturday morning. Most of that time, Mad was asleep, and Corey and his friend, Richard were in their own tent (gassing it up and laughing, from what I could tell), so no big deal. When she awoke, Mad found the tent was a fun novelty for quite a while.

Eventually we had to go out and play in the wetness. She liked it, except for when she'd topple over and get a wet pebble jammed in her hand (go figure). One especially fun game was to step down into a little gully, step up out of it and then back up until she was in it again. I just tried to make sure the larger rocks were clear of the area.

Our days were spent taking short carries. Any parent of a toddler knows what a "carry" is: that's when your kid says she wants to go for a walk, but three feet in she's standing in front of you with her arms up, saying, "Uhhhhhhhhp." And no, she doesn't want to do the uphills herself, thanks.

Yesterday while Tom and I were making breakfast, and the boys were off releasing the lizards they'd caught, Mad roamed our campsite. She drew the eye of a 21 month old little girl, Alana, who was walking by with her own mama.

Alana was a little intrigued by Madelyn herself, and more so by Mad's stuffed dog. Mad shared it with her twice. Eventually Alana's mom took it and handed it back to Mad. This did not make Alana happy. She's not a loud little girl, but one word was quite distinct:

"MINE."

Mad hasn't spent much time around her talking peers. All of her friends are her same age (no, really... Luke is four hours older and Samantha is five days younger), and the talking has been pretty limited.

So this is a little shout-out to Miss Alana from Orange County.

Thanks, baby, for teaching my daughter her first four letter word. Now everything is "MINE."