Sophia the Big Girl

It is funny to compare and contrast the growth and development of Sophia and Theo. With him, it feels like leaps and bounds every day/every week. Now, at over 3, her development still happens, but isn't quite as drastic on a daily basis.  It is often tough for me to remember that she is, in fact, still my little girl. I often need her to be a "big girl" to make things easier, but I treasure the moments she wants to curl up in my lap.

Give her a donut and glass of
 milk & we've got a successful
Conference Call

Lately it seems like she's realizing Theo is here to stay and that he gets the good "baby" treatment. Her demands to be picked up have increased ten-fold and her desire to be the only one in our arms "Put Theo Down!" is a common refrain can be taxing to say the least. Things she used to do in leaps and bounds - climbing in and out of her car seat, running up the stairs, etc. - seem unthinkable to even attempt, which makes everyone equally exasperated, (especially when one of us is exceptionally exhausted or running on fumes.)

Really, I'm not part Wildabeast!

After a recent highly frustrating night Dave (who is so good at taking a step back. Not always one of my best characteristics) reminded me that This Is Fun.

"Fun?" I replied, "How is this Fun? She's cranky, I'm cranky which, in turn makes you cranky. I'm not able to give Theo any attention that I feel like he deserves. But you think this is Fun?"

Everyone is having FUN!

"Yes," he responded, "It's fun, because she's little. She needs us. She needs us more than we give her credit for. And soon enough, she's not going to need us. She's not going to climb on our laps or beg for the same Mickey book again. It's not going to be forever - not the whiny needy part or the sweet, snuggly part. So take it and have Fun with it."

See - this is fun! 

So, after a few snarky "This if FUN" comments by me amidst some tense moments, I started to realize if I said it, I could start to believe it. And things did start to become more fun. Now, I'm not kidding anyone if I said it was always fun. I still get cranky when she dawdles when we're trying to get out the door (an especially big pain point) but we're getting there.

Every night that I put her to sleep, we have a song routine. We start with "Twinkle Twinkle" and then I sing her "Good Night Baby" which is a made-up song based on one of her playgroup songs "Hello Baby (or Goodbye Baby) depending on the need" with made up lyrics that rhyme. I've sung this to her many hundreds of times.

Last week, as I started to sing the first line, "Good Night Baby..." and out of nowhere, she interrupted me and said, "No, Mama. Sing 'Good Night BIG GIRL'". I almost burst into tears, but I did it. It was hard switching the lyrics on the fly, so when I messed up, she sung over me "Good night Big Girl." So now it's good night to my big girl Sophia - who really, is still so little.