March 27, 2013
Dear Kate,
Sweet princess, the last couple weeks have been so good for you! You had a really hard time earlier this month. You threw some of the biggest temper tantrums I have ever seen every night for two weeks straight. It was EXHAUSTING. You barely ate a thing for dinner during that two weeks because you were so busy throwing yourself on the ground and screaming. Poor thing! We made some little changes: I decided to make more of an effort to pick you up earlier so we have time to settle in at home before we eat dinner; and I also bring along a snack for you to eat on the drive home (even though the drive home from your day care is the length of a block and only takes 30 seconds) – that quick snack seems to give you a little boost to make it to dinner without totally melting down. The changes seem to have worked and you’re back to your sweet, happy little self, even if you still don’t want to eat dinner. Every dinner option I present is invariably met with a sweet little “no”. We’ve come to an agreement that I can ask you twice and you’ll respond politely but if I press the issue three times you tend to scream “No!” and swat the proffered food all over the floor. Now that we’ve got that figured out we have much less mess to clean up after dinner, which is very nice. You’ve also convinced me that’s it’s really better to let you sit at the dining room table or the toddler table like a big girl when you eat. Seeing you try to crawl out of your high chair a few times was a very persuasive argument in favor of your preferred seating arrangement. The result is that now you tend to wander around while you eat but as long as you’re safe we’re ok. As far as you’re concerned though the best seat in the house for meals is daddy’s lap, and the most delicious food is definitely daddy’s. You are such a daddy’s girl.
This month was a HUGE month for your vocabulary. You say so many words and phrases now. My favorites of the many new additions are “I wanna run” and “read this”. You love to read piles of books and could spend hours on our laps hearing stories. You understand so many words and are really good at following instructions. You respond to stand up, sit down, legs up/down, throw your pacifier, gentle, etc. You’re such a pleaser. You’re always observing and you don’t miss a beat. You look up to your big brother so much and are so eager to do everything just like him. You LOVE to color and have picked up on the fact that we’re encouraging Nicky’s writing so you’ve gotten into the habit of clapping and cheering for yourself when you’re “writing”. You’re very interested in Nicky learning to use the potty and you love to follow him into the bathroom so you can see what’s going on. You’re so anxious to be able to help Nicky with his puzzles and are always handing him random pieces while he’s working, which drives him absolutely bonkers. Most of the time the two of you get along so well and I can’t tell you how sweet it sounds to hear the two of you giggling off in a corner of the house. So sweet.
Grandmommy and Granddougie came down to visit this month and thankfully you were a little less cautious with them this time. You gave lots of hugs and kisses and loved to giggle with granddougie. We got an extra perk because grandmommy was able to get you back in the bathtub again — the things you’ll do for other people that you would never do for mommy and daddy! Anyway, it was a win-win-win for the grandparents to spend some time with you and Nicky, for you and Nicky to spend some time with Grandmommy and Granddougie, and for mommy and daddy to get a chance to spend time by themselves!
Sweet girl, your smile has made the past couple of weeks so good. You’re such a sweet little thing!
Love, mommy