Little Trekker

Evelyn and I are on better terms after naps all 'round. We're upstairs again by her choice....I was cleaning up the living room in preparation for tomorrow's weekly assault by the neighbor boys, and went to see what Evelyn was shredding in the library only to find that she wasn't in the library at all, but 1/3 of the way up the stairs! (Bad Mama, bad Mama.) So I cheered her on, and she trucked right up the whole way smooth as you please.

It's funny...I'm starting to think of her as a toddler, even though she's neither one nor walking. She's just changed so much and become so capable in the last couple of weeks...I can't quite explain it. We can play games with her, like rolling/tossing a ball back and forth. She can climb all over the couch. She can get into the kitchen cabinets. She can walk with her walker wagon and cruise along furniture without even seeming like she's trying. She just hasn't worked up the interest to try walking on her own!

Of course, this means that her preference is to be busybusybusy, and already we have struggles over her wanting to do things herself and explore everything and that just not being possible all the time. Today we had multiple meltdowns over her wanting my lunch, which she couldn't have chewed. She loves yogurt, also, but wants to feed it to herself and can't, wants more yogurt but won't give the spoon back, etc. I need some better baby dishes. I'd really like something like the Baby Björn dish and spoon set, but 1. I can't quite wrap my head around paying $20 for a plastic dish, and 2. I'd have to pay shipping on top of that, since I don't think anyone local carries them. But I do need to get the small one some more spoons. Her pretty silver ones from her aunt are AWOL and have been for weeks.

Basically, I need to work some more on her being able to do for herself, because she is an independent little soul. The misconception that attachment and dependence are the same thing is stubborn--I assure you, such is NOT the case. When she wants to do a thing, she will brook no interference...no matter how far beyond her her selected task may be. And, to be fair, once she decides she wants to do a thing, it's only a matter of time, even if it seems developmentally wildly beyond her. When she started trying to take the tiny (yes, like choking hazard tiny...mama gives her the best things) press-fit lid off the baby oil bottle and put it back on, I figured it was an exercise in frustration...a few days later, she could do it almost without trying. So the lesson is that if she wants the damn spoon, I need to give her the yogurt and a spoon she can handle and stand back (way back).

And she smiles and laughs more these days. Can't complain. ;-)