I hope She keeps it up another 20 years or so

Little One is, well, little.
She looks almost comical, walking around just as steady as can be on these itty bitty baby legs. To me She just looks like Herself, until I see Her next to another kid Her age or younger, and then I realize. Wow. Someone left Her in the dryer too long.
Not to worry though, Peanuts. Like a Chihuahua, She has a BIG personality to make up for it.
At first She can be reserved. Not because She is actually timid, but (like Her dad) studious and a bit cautious. She can be a bit sensitive, and when She's nervous She actually wrings Her little hands and kind of teeters a bit, side to side. But once She warms up She's all activity; playing, singing, laughing, ordering us all around. And don't let Her little wringing hand, pouty lip, big batting eyelashes fool you! She's got a little feisty streak in there. (I have Noooo idea where that came from).
For instance. The other day She was chasing the dogs around a field at the park. Suddenly. Two giddy boys, about 4 years old or so, spotted Her and screamed, "ooh! BA-BY!" They rushed Her- out of nowhere!- and began chattering in Her face, manhandling Her, pulling this way and that, trying to pick Her up, poking at Her sunglasses. Little One is not a fan of this type of behavior. She is civilized. She demands a proper introduction! She commenced the wringing of the hands. The protrusion of the lower lip. The sissy-girl whimper. She looked to me for backup. "Mama?"
Hmm. I assessed the situation. She clearly wanted a rescue. But, Peanuts, Little One is a girl in the world. This will not change. There will always be obnoxious boys thinking they can invade Her bubble. Push Her around. And though believe me I'd like to, I won't always be there to swoop Her up. So I smiled at Her so She knew I saw Her pouty lip. And then, I ignored Her. It might seem a bit harsh, Peanuts, sure. But really what I was trying to do was not abandon Her in Her time of need, but to let Her know that I felt confident in Her ability to be strong and do things for Herself. And here is what happened.
She realized I wasn't coming, and for moment, She froze. Stood there looking through Her big sunglasses at the goons yanking on Her arms. Then, She took a deep breath. And began chewing them out in the most indignant, get-up-off-me-you-fools, oh-no-you-didn't tone of voice you can imagine. I have no idea what She said. It sounded like, "AH da da da dee dee DOH! Di DA bo gi gee boh da DA!" and so forth. It was punctuated by a teeny fist flailing up and down in time to the stomping foot, and was effective enough to send one kid packing. The other didn't get the hint. So finally, Little One paused in Her tirade and seemed to say to Herself, "just forget this, man". She took both hands and sort of swept him aside, as with the toy stroller when it happens to be in Her way. And She stomped off to vent to the dogs, leaving this boy -at least 4 times Her size- flat on his booty in the grass. He looked a bit surprised. And he ran away to the slide.
Isn't it amazing how 9 times out of 10, kids work things out if left alone to do it? And how all of us, left to our own resources, find out what we're made of? Not that I condone physical violence. I didn't encourage or congratulate Her. But I didn't scold Her either. I just continued about our walk as if nothing had happened at all. But silently, I have to admit, I was thinking, "good for you Little One. You be strong." And even more silently (don't tell anyone, Peanuts, shhh) I might also have been laughing. Just a Little bit.