As if to cruelly mock my Valentine's Day sourness, Crabtot has taken to drawing pink hearts everywhere, fiendishly and with a violent passion. Pink is her new favorite color! And pink hearts are what she loves most of all in this world. Some of you may remember the orange series I did early in this blog, in which I discussed the color brainwashing I embarked upon to get my little daughter to choose orange as her favorite color instead of girly pink or purple. Well, people, the experiments failed. Pink is in. In a big way. She will only accept pink fake tattoos. She will only color with the pink marker. She will only wear pink underwear.

Crabtot has also renamed herself Dark Pink Heart. Sometimes she calls herself Dark Pink Flower or Dark Pink Strawberry but always there is the emphasis on "dark pink." She brings me magazine pages containing the shade of color that is her favorite. She presses a stubby forefinger into pink margins so I know exactly what tone of frosting will be acceptable for her next birthday cake. "This pink," she says. "Dark pink."

I'm not happy about this pink thing, but I take comfort in the "dark." At least we are talking fuchsia and not pastel pink!

I guess she's a chip off the old block. Both blocks. I can get quite a bit obsessed with exact shades. Often I lie in bed thinking of how, exactly, the most perfect blue of all time could be made. Would it have a bit more teal in it or a bit more Tiffany blue, a bit more The Life Aquatic shade of electric blue, or a bit more Versailles pistachio...or a bit more Jordan Almond blue? I can also spend quite a bit of time thinking about purple and why I dislike it so much. Yes, as you can see, I'm a woman who uses her time well. And then there is Crabhusband: an architect, he can talk color with the best of us. "Don't worry," he assures me when I bemoan the fact that eventually I will have to let Crabtot have a pink room, "Le Corbusier made his own shade of pink paint that's not bad." Apparently you can still get it mixed at paint stores. A pink that is stylish. Le Corbusier Pink. I hope that it's dark: I hope Crabtot will like it.

After her bedtime story every night, I say to Crabtot something my mother always said to me before lights out: "Sweet dreams of pink ice creams." Last night I said it as I always do: "Sweet dreams of pink ice creams." As I left the room Crabtot corrected me: "Dark pink ice creams." I mean, let's just be clear on that!

Anyone else have color issues with their tot?