Late last night Ouest cried out in her sleep, “Me no like that! Me no like that!” I wanted to jump into her head and kill whoever was hurting her in her dream—but then I remembered she is two and was probably just talking to me about the mashed potatoes I’d made her try at dinner.

Ali is going to be gone most of the day tomorrow, so we thought it might be a good idea to tell Ouest so she could be prepared for eight hours without Mama. The words were barely out of Ali’s mouth before the giant crocodile tears appeared. “Me miss you Mama.” This little girl is definitely going through a mama phase right now.