Sometimes I Forget

In case you didn't notice from reading my previous blogs...this little lady and I have been known to butt heads lately. However after pondering about it for several days, I finally came upon a realization. Sometimes I forget she is only two years old.

She acts a lot older than she is....in a good way of course. She also helps a lot more than most two-year olds I'm guessing. So, as you can see, it's an easy mistake to make. Today I spent time observing just how good she really is and how much she wants to help so much. Of course she also desperately wants to gain her independence.

She knows a LOT of words (and yes we hear them all about fives times non-stop daily). Sometimes I'm a bad mom and just ask her to give her mouth a nap. For all those who know me you may know I'm unable to do two things at once when someone is talking to me. I just go into a comatose mode until one or both people stop talking at me. So, grocery shopping (or anything that involves thinking) on a daily basis is difficult to do when she is jabbering away. And she will repeat it non-stop until I acknowledge every single comment. She knows words that I've never taught her. One day we were taking a walk around the neighborhood and she pointed out dog poop. "Mommy dat is doggie poo poo" "Don't eat it Mommy" "Dat's goss" "Dat would be isgusting (disgusting)" I just started busting up laughing at her use of such big words. Or she'll say "Mommy, be careful Mommy okay?"

She helps me a LOT. She loves to be Mommy's helper and there is rarely ever a time where she isn't willing to help. She can single handedly get brother laughing or smiling even when he's in a cranky mood or not feeling well. She'll carry dirty clothes to the laundry room. She'll take Jonas' empty bottles to the sink after exclaiming "He eat it all gone Mommy?!" She'll pick up toys. She'll bring me binkies after Jonas spits them out a billion times. She'll "babysit" brother for me on the bed while I take a shower. She'll turn out all the lights when we are getting ready to leave the house. She'll help me fold clothes (and she does amazingly well at this). She'll help put the laundry in the dryer. She'll pick up Daddy's dirty socks and put them in the laundry room, etc etc.

She's also fighting to gain every single ounce of her independence which doesn't always bode well with a Mommy who likes to be in control. More often than not it results in tantrums and fits when it doesn't go well (usually from both of us). However, it does have it's perks. She'll happily climb into her carseat and buckle herself in. All I have to do is come by and tighten it and if I forget she quickly reminds me before I drive away. She likes to climb up to everything possible. Her bed, her kitchen chair, any/all playground equipment. And needless to say she is surprisingly brave at the playground. I'm amazed at some of the stuff she can climb up to. She loves to brush her teeth by herself which includes doing every single step up to/after the teeth brushing. She's also finally learning to go potty all by herself. It's Mommy that is having a hard time trusting her wiping skills. 99% of the time she'll come immediately after I call her. She loves to dress herself and can do almost everything but the shirts. I've made it a point to let her pick out her clothes lately so she can gain some more independence. Along with this I've had to mentally calm myself down if she picks out mismatched clothes. I repeat in my head "it doesn't matter, don't fight it, no one will care or notice" it can be challenging. She is also very good about putting her dishes in the sink. And very rarely does she dump all of the contents all over the counter as she reaches for it.

So, all in all, I've really noticed today how good she really does do. How much she really helps me. How smart she really is. (She knows all her letters and numbers to 10). I guess it's easy to assume she's much older than she is when it is all said and done. However, now I must master telling myself this when the tantrums do occur. I need to work on encouraging her independence even if it does cause a mess or take a lot longer to do. After all, she is only two years old.