You are all girl now. There's no more round little toddler tummy. On certain days, your lean, mean tummy looks six packish. Your legs have "prickly" hair (in your words) all over. You recently received a "hockey tooth" from a swing. We cut your long, thick hair to shoulder length to overcome daily arguments about getting your hair brushed. You love having your nails painted (each a different color).
Parenting victories this year include de-pacifiering, fully potty trained, reducing the obsession with milk (only 2 cups at bedtime), you have been sleeping through the night for a month now (!) and introducing a sibling without going to the crazy house (came close though). Your food habits are no better than last year though. You would much prefer dairy and breads to fruits and veggies and meats.
Speaking of a sibling. You love Eva (and are soooo excited for her to play with you) and she ADORES you. She wants to be near you and wants your acknowledgement all the time. It was a hard transition though. Who knows what begot what but we struggled with defiance (we thought 2 was bad...three was way harder) for months this year. But with lots of good counsel and reading and trial and error, we seem to have found a good place for our family. We all seem much happier and having so much more fun these days.
Your comprehension of the world continues to astound us. We have to watch what we say and how we say things. You can pick on the context of conversation and apply it to your own dialogue. You continue to love figuring out how things work. We spent much of August traveling around Michigan doing all sorts of things (zoo, festivals, air show, etc.) But your favorite visit, by far, was to the Ford Rouge car factory. You loved all the machines working to assemble the various parts of the F-150 truck. You loved the conveyors running over head. You asked really good questions about why things were they way they are. You ran from one section to the next out of shear excitement and curiosity of what would come next. We laughed with glee since it's something we love too. We came home and introduced you to the "How it's made" TV show and you watched for hours as they show how each thing comes together.
You and your Daddy bonded in a way that was very sweet this year. You two have always been close but with Eva's arrival and my nursing duty, I just wasn't available in the same way. I do get jealous because most of the time your response is "I want Daddy to do it". But I'm grateful that you have such a great male role model. I hope you end up with someone as special and amazing as your Dad.
At school, you have found your stride at Community Daycare. They love you and you love them. They tell us how well you play with everyone. Boys, girls, older kids, younger kids, everyone. It doesn't surprise us. You love people. You love talking to anyone and everyone. Our neighbor goes for a walk twice a day, you love watching for her and running to the door screaming "Hi, Alice!" sometimes (with or without all pieces of clothing). I think your warmth endears you to adults...you are refreshingly loving to all.
Don't get me wrong, you are all preschooler too. Not always the sweetest person. You can be a big handful when you are hungry or tired. You will not budge if you don't want to....for anyone or anything. Daddy and I have become much smarter about when and how to pick our battles. You can melt down with the best of them. Daddy and I recorded you saying " I don't want to" for at least 5 minutes through screams and tears recently. Yes, you are all child too.
My hopes for this upcoming year include, more bonding as a family unit (I want to get rid of Mommy/Eva and Daddy/Ellie divides), get us all to a place where we eat the same dinner (overcome the food controlling stuff), continue to build your relationship with Eva (siblings are some of our most important friends) and prepare you for beginner-garten next year (we've already decided that we're going to wait for kindergarten, deferring a year, since you're a bubble kid).
I love who you are becoming and am trying so hard to remember "the days might be long, but the years are so short".
All My Love, Mommy
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