GRETA

This girl has reached a new level of independence, which is in one way terribly exciting and in another way quite troublesome. Just as I am thinking of how to baby proof our house, I am also faced with the need to preschool proof our house! For example, one day I came downstairs and found that she had pushed a chair over to the counter to reach the maple syrup. She also got herself a bowl and a spoon, and -yep, you guessed it - she poured herself a bowl of maple syrup! She also ate toothpaste (thank goodness it was flouride free), and yesterday I found her disassembling the wooden slide so she could use the screws to "draw pictures" in the carpet! Yesterday I also found a half-empty bottle of scented oil in the bathroom. I knew that this had now been previously opened, so I asked her about it. She admitted that she "accidentally" poured it into the drawer in the bathroom. Sure enough, the things in the drawer were covered with scented oil. That one got my feathers ruffled, and I got very frustrated with her. I admit my frustration lingered on longer than it should have. At one point, she said in a very sweet voice, "Um, Mama? Could you please try to talk in a kind voice to me." I told her why I was frustrated (again) and she said, "Well, Mama, I just want you to know, because you told me this before, that even when you are grumpy, you still love me." That was enough to make me take a deep breath and let it go!

Greta has a fascinating mind, and I want to delight in her creativity and uniqueness. She is thoroughly loving the building materials she got for Christmas, and she is also enjoying her "new baby Quinn" more and more. She usually wants to hold him when he is fussing, so that is why this picture of him is so blurred!