On top of being the biggest weasel in history, my little Icka is smart!  Just like Scout — but in a different way.  Scout has a memory like you wouldn’t believe.  He is constantly reminding me of things from years past (keep in mind that he is only four, and we are going back to when he was barely two), and I can’t believe that he remembers them.  He is a little scriptorian.  He knows everything I have ever taught him, and picks up things extremely easily.  He can figure things out, he excels in school, he can reason through things, his memorization skills are amazing, and he literally potty trained himself in a morning.
That being said….Icka is equally as smart.  But it is completely different.  She is quick and witty, and is always about two steps ahead of anyone.  She can manufacture situations to get the outcome she wants.  She can charm anyone — if she wants.  And she can make a very strong case for anything with her ridiculous vocabulary and facial expressions.
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I think extreme smarts can create the heroes or the villains of life.  I already know Scout is on his way to heroism.  Sadly though, at times (and too often) Icka seems to enjoy being a villain.  I guess my work is cut out for me as her mom.  (If I could write all of her antics she pulled at the mall a few days ago, this might be even more clear.  But it is literally too humiliating — especially the part where my classy mother stooped to chasing the taunting little girl around the Nordstrom shoe department.)  But, I saw a glimmer of light just yesterday.  We were all sitting at the table for dinner, and Bella said, “Boys and girls…..”.  Icka immediately corrected her improper use of boys plural and said, “No Bella, there is only one boy here….it is boy and girls!”  When everyone oohed and aahed over her smart observation, you could see a little smile creep up her lips.  And then it hit me.  If I have an all-out party every time she does something smart that is good, and she just gets inundated with positive reinforcement on being a “hero”, she might like being the hero.
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So everyone….raise your glasses….and let us toast to a lot of praise and excitement over the next 16 years….in hopes of creating one of the world’s greatest superheroes of all time!
Super Icka!!!