Humble with a side of Hummus

I sit downstairs eating lunch exceptionally late in the day, partially due to laziness and partially due to the fact that I forgot in the rush to get a deposit to the bank and get the grocery shopping done before the baby wanted her lunch. I remembered to feed her and marveled a little while I unpacked my shopping loot while watching her eat so easily and so comfortably with her hands. Now it's supposed to be my turn.

Her fingers were nimble at lunch and agile, taking what she wanted and putting it directly into her gnashing teeth with out so much as an injury at her lunch time. Now she's not afforded that option. I've made home made pita chips with cayenne pepper on them and dished myself out some doctored up store bought hummus and she's all over my lap.

I jokingly call her Helen Keller a lot because she reminds me of that old black and white movie where the little girl playing Helen Keller banged around the kitchen table trying to grab handfuls of food off of everyone's plate and get them into her own mouth.

But, I digress, so now I'm sitting in the livingroom, batting away sticky fingers and shooving small bites of hummus covered pita into her mouth as she laughs and taunts me ducking below my line of sight and popping back up with an "a boo" and another rabid hand seeking another yummy bite.

My lips are warm from the Cayenne and my tongue is pleasantly cool from the hummus and I look down at my long and lean child eatting foods I know some of her friends and cousins have never even heard of and I am slightly proud of myself. She is not detoured by the spice of it, or the warmth of the pita directly from the oven, she is not shy of the creamy hummus or the bright green chives.

She is honestly and openly willing to try something new and different. She is daring and bold. She is confident and kind. She is loud in her comfort zone and peaceful but shy when new people are around.

She knows she is loved. It is evident in the amount of trust she has in her own abilities and in our ability to protect her. She is not scared to fall because she knows that even if we do not catch her we will help to take it better. She is not scared to taste because she knows that we offer things that are safe to try and that will be interesting and new. She is not afriad to be herself because she knows that we will love her... she just knows.

And then as I poke another pita chip into her mouth and watch her eyes twinkle as she does a yummy food dance at my feet and flirts with Daddy on the couch and think... dang I did a good job.

Right as I think that she leans over and bites my thigh with her hummus covered mouth.

At least she's in alliance with God on that whole keeping me humble thing.