self time out

Leila was down in her room, with the door closed, crying because she had hurt her finger. When I asked her why she was down in her room she said she had been naughty to Tio Scott. I asked if he knew, and she said he did, so I asked if he had sent her to her room. "No, I did," she said. So she came up and said "Sorry" and gave a hug. He wasn't sure what it was for, but realized it was a small scratch she had given him.
This seems like a momentous stage in self awareness. And yesterday she was wonderful with Ali- really taking care of him and being helpful, not trying to take things away from him. I tried to reinforce it by asking her if it felt nice to help him, and of course she said yes. (I've been reading parenting books.)
We went to Lauren and Danny's post wedding party at her parent's house. They seem so right for each other- lots of love going on between and among and with God.
Leila had a great time playing hostess. She'd meet people at the door and tell them to have some food and then have some cake. And then she started bringing us all plates of food with crackers, carrots and dip, and one blueberry speared on a toothpick. For a second after I told her we were leaving she protested, and then suddenly got into saying goodbye. On the way home we stopped at an open house (it's a neat neighborhood and closer to my job) and she thought that was really cool. There was no one there and no furniture, so we wandered around. All of us sacked out for the rest of the afternoon.
In the evening we went to Starbucks to meet some friends, and Leila wanted to go and say "hi" to some girls. (She wasn't picky, any girls would do.) I finally let her say "hi" to a group of girls and she had a lot of fun talking to them. When H and N take her to the coffee shop they use her to meet girls- I think H is trying to help N out.