Dr. Donut

 I often wonder what Derek was like as a kid.  Did he have the same spunk, wit, and sense of timing that Domba has?  I think probably so.  In fact, I look at a similar event in both of their lives as proof of how they are cut from the same stone.  When Derek was little, people called him Speedy Gonzalez (so non-PC, I know).  Instead of being offended, he made the name because he was fast and he was short, and he wasn't afraid of those personal attributes.  Domba is the same way: her name can sound like the word "donut", so instead of being embarrassed when people tell her how similar that word & her name are, she makes it her own.  A few months ago at her KidsTeam camp, she created the persona of Dr. Donut and has been thus ever since.  I see how the other kids look to her as their natural leader, and am reminded so strongly of my own dear husband.

 One thing's for sure: she keeps us laughing.  Derek brought her this little island god statue from Kauai, and this is what she did as soon as she saw it...  :)  (Click on it to see the expression on the statue's face.)

 Like the other girls, she takes good care of her (stupid) baby brother, and even when she doesn't want to, she makes sure he's safe and not going over the retaining wall (for the zillioneth time).

 She likes to be where the action is (okay, they all do), but is also flexible and often eager to just join in with whatever else is going on.

 Make no mistake, this is no random photo.  She posed like this on purpose.  Maybe it was the Superbaby in the background that drove her to it...

 We still call these two the twins though they can have their moments and aren't quite as close as they were as tots.  They are cute together and Shrimp looks up to Domba so much.  They are pretty good about walking to and from school together, and not fighting too much...  Domba has several friends, but only one best friend at school, with which she is content.  (She's not the major extrovert Shrimp is.)

 I know, I've posted this one before, but if you look to the top left corner, you'll see why it must be reposted...

 She and her good buddy created this cat at KidsTeam one day for another cat who has feline leukemia and can't be around other cats.  Note the lovely headband.  She never comes home w/o facial decorations of some sort.

 She loves to play outside w/her sisters & friends.  So much so that she got a tick Sunday night that we didn't discover until Monday night.  A piece of me died that night when I had to pull it, squirming, from her scalp.   Also, the tick died.  I think the tick got the better end of the deal.  Thankfully she couldn't see what I was doing, nor how the tick was wriggling around, or she probably would be drooling and starting at the wall vacant-eyed by now. 

She's been so blessed this year to have her best buddy in her morning & her afternoon classes, even sitting by her in one of them.  They are such good kids and we are so glad she has such a good friend.