Normal

For the past couple or three weeks Amelia has been a little more needy which is unusual. Normally you give her about 5 minutes of attention and she entertains herself for 30 minutes or more.

I began to think I was doing something wrong and last week I googled things like "3 years old behavior" and got all kinds of things that talked mostly about extreme behavior issues like shyness or constantly being active. She falls in the middle and so those weren't my concerns, although I read a little bit on the active stuff. Then there were sites that were aimed at parents who were concerned about developmental issues. Again, not my issue. Then I googled "ages and stages 3 years old" and got this from Iowa State University and it was like someone had written all about exactly what she's been doing. It turns out that she is at a point in her life where she wants more attention, loves hide and seek (NO KIDDING ... Picking her up from Nana's is at least three rounds of "Where's my baby girl?") and mimicking us.

Now that I understand that it's all normal, I've really enjoyed her. That may sound silly, but sometimes knowing something is normal allows us to accept it and then embrace it. It's certainly true for me. She has become so much more interactive and playing along with her has become so rewarding. It's really taken away the last vestiges of babyhood, though.

It's not all sweetness and light (as a friend of mine would say). I struggle with instructing her and how forceful I should be on things like "You must hold Mommy's hand in the parking lot." I tell her this all the time, but she still tries so hard to wriggle away. When will she understand and comply? Or will she never be compliant and always assert her own desires? I wouldn't label her as a willful child - although she has demonstrated some defiance. I think she's just an active girl who is exploring her boundaries.

Oh, and the toilet training is still so far from complete. I think I will just put panties on her and deal with accidents until she understands (except for sleeping and traveling). I mean, it's been a year (I think) since we introduced the toilet. Ugh.

We live near the state line and the welcome center was having an anniversary open house yesterday. We took Amelia and she was fascinated by the string trio (banjo, violin and guitar) on the porch playing bluegrass/folk music. They played Pop Goes the Weasel for her and she kept saying that the rest of the day. At one point, after a different song, she said, "Sounds like Dragon Tales!" She's so funny.

Thanks to her new favorite phrase (Pop Goes the Weasel), we sang various songs on the way home and I noticed that her "singing" is sounding a little like a tune now and less like recitation, so I was encouraged by that.

Gotta go grab the squash casserole out of the oven. Amelia had fun supervising me as I put it together!