Lately, whenever someone asks me how Avery is, my answer is "fiercely independent". I know that every grandma out there wishes that their son/daughter will have a child that acts just like their mom or dad did growing up. Well, I guess my mom got her wish. While I don't recall everything about my childhood, I do know that I was pretty proud of my independence and strong will throughout college. I would proudly tell people "I am an independent woman!"...shoot, I even worked it into my wedding vows.
Well, all of that independence has come back to bite me in the butt. Here are a a few examples of my daughter's payback to me:
She has a new found love for trying on all of the clothes in her closet, including coats, dresses, barrettes, bathing suits, summer cloths, and panties. She also changes her own "big girl panties" (pull-ups) a few times a day. Now, I wouldn't complain if she only changed her diaper when she was wet. The problem is that she changes her "panties" numerous times, only because she wants a different princess on the front. Apparently, Snow White is NOT ACCEPTABLE to pee on.
If I take too long to get her something to drink (like..I take 10 seconds instead of the expected 2 seconds), she will get a stool, push it to the kitchen sink and grab whatever cup she can find. She'll then take it to the fridge and fill it up with water, which results in a huge mess.
Speaking of stools. She LOVES our stools. We made a smart (but regrettable) decision to put felt on the bottom on our stools and chairs as to not scratch the hard wood floor. Well, it makes it a little too convenient for one little miss. Those stools are her favorite tool. She uses them to access anything and everything out of reach. Sink?...yes...Cupboards?...totally reachable....Snack Pantry...completely within reach.
Just today, Avery brought down the shirt (too small tank top) that she wore yesterday (that she picked herself). She wore it inside out yesterday, and it had little marks from her art project...lots of little marker marks, so it was pretty dirty. I had already told her that she couldn't wear it to bed last night, because it was dirty. I then told her again today that she couldn't wear it for the same reason. Well, about an hour ago, she brings down said shirt, marches right past me, and says "I wash this shirt". I immediately followed her, totally expecting to find her elbow deep in water in the sink. Instead I found that she had put the shirt in the washing machine..AND STARTED IT! We have a new front loader that involved 3 different steps to get started...and she did it correctly. The only thing she forgot was the soap.
On more than one occasion, I have walked into the bathroom to find pee in the little potty chair. This means that Avery has been peeing in the potty on her own...sometimes in the big potty and other times in her little potty. She pulls everything down, pees, (sometimes empties out the little potty bowl herself) wipes, and flushes. Now, this would be VERY good news if it happened everytime she had to go, and not just every once in a while.
On the last nice, warm day that we had, I took the kids outside to play. They ran ahead to the swingset next door. When I got to the set, I looked into the "clubhouse" part of the set, and couldn't see Avery. As I walked around, I saw her...she had climbed up and decided to come down the fireman's pole on her own! Now, this clubhouse is at least 6 feet off the ground, and Avery has to JUMP in order to grab the pole. Well...she did it, and slid down about halfway before I could get to her...it scared the bejeezus out of me! She looked right at me and said "see mama..I not hurt...I BIG."
Finally...one of my favorite recent stories happened when we were at my mom's house. As my mom loaded Avery into her carseat, she attempted to turn on her DVD player so Av could watch a movie on the long ride home. Well, for some reason, my mom couldn't figure out how to open the DVD player. I was attempting to explain it to her from the front seat, while Avery was also trying to instruct her as to what button to push. As I walked around the car to show my mom, Avery still attempted to point to the button my mom needed to push. Finally, Avery undid her own carseat, and said (in an exasperated tone), "I do it Franma" (accompanied by a sigh)....
See Mom...watch what you ask for...you just might get it!
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9 comments:
I was cracking up while reading these; they're priceless, and they sound just like her!
I lucked out the first time, but this second one is going to be just that way! Maybe you will get a break the second time around.
How did you work independance in to your wedding vows?
We wrote our own vows, so I said something along the lines of "supporting my independence while we're still a team"...or something like that.
These are priceless!! I think Sophia is going to be the same way. She is already trying to get things she knows she cannot have.
Yeah, Isabelle is already showing quite the independent and stubborn streak - at 14 weeks old!! She has certain requirements for when we're allowed to hold her: 1) when she's having a bottle; 2) if we prop her up on our shoulder and walk around the house so she can be nosy and look at things. If we dare try to hold her while in a sitting position (and there is no bottle in sight), she struggles and kicks until we put her on the floor, where she waves her limbs wildly as if to say "I'm free!!!!"
Great stories Michele!! She is hilarious! I love the washing machine story... too much!
She is SO much like you. Grandma says like me also. She is my granddaugher.
Love mom
I can attest to the "I hope you have a child just like you" curse. My mom gets great joy and actually teary eyed (from laughter) watching us interact with one another!
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