Theresa, the Troll

Theresa is five.

She's a ball of energy, constantly dancing around, forever hamming it up, always singing and humming.

She dresses in ballgowns to pose and pirouette, then later crashes through the house and yard playing the Corporal in her big brothers' war games.

She wears tank tops and shorts when it's chilly and rainy, and turtlenecks and sweatpants in August.

She eats mayonnaise with a spoon, and cheers when I buy cottage cheese at the grocery store.

More than anything else, she wants a pet, preferably a real horse.

She's determined and resourceful, smart and silly and sweet.

She's also a Troll.

I guess to be fair I should also mention that her other nickname is Cookie, because she's a Tough one and a Smart one. She's a problem-solver who won't stop until she gets what she wants, and when she takes a tumble, most often she bounces up with a cheerful "I'm okay!"

She will deny vehemently that she is a troll. She, in fact, is a princess - or a queen (or a kitten), depending on the day. But she is legendary in our family for making troll faces, grunts and growls. Having her poker-straight hair hanging in her face at all times doesn't help the situation. She's been a RaggMopp from the beginning, though, so I really should be used to it by now.

We've been growing out her bangs for almost a year, but the problem is that Theresa's hair (or Theresa) doesn't grow very fast. I've probably cut 8 inches off of Brian's hair in the last 10 months, but Theresa's has only grown from eye-level down to lip-level.

Theresa will meticulously groom her hair on those days when she is a princess or a queen. but catch her in between, and you won't be able to tell if she's looking at you or not. On those in-between days, Theresa does not know the meaning of the words brush, comb, barrette, clip, spray or gel. I present Exhibit A. This is what we usually see when we look at Theresa:

Nota bene: Our camera has been temperamental lately; well, in fact it's been cranky since our 2007 beach trip, when sand got into the zoom lens mechanism. Sometimes it just won't even turn on, and that's what's been happening lately. Bottom line - none of those pictures are current. They're mostly from last winter, which means that her hair is really two inches longer now than it appears in these pictures.



This picture is only a few days old. You can plainly see what I'm talkin' about here.


Imagine my surprise when the Spring portraits were delivered, and I discovered that Theresa is actually a pretty little girl with a face! Who knew?

The professional portraits were worth every penny just to see this sweet face:She cleans up so nice. Simply lovely; she makes my breath catch in my throat. I can see the lovely woman she's going to become.




Even so, she still acted like a troll the day the pictures were taken.





1834