while I was getting ready for work I left the kids in the nursery to play together and overheard…
Meredith: are you tryna poop Liam?
Liam: (grunts)
Meredith: mommy! he is pooping!
Me: okay.
Meredith: I just told your mom Liam.
Liam:
another day getting ready, I was putting on my makeup while they played on the bed…
Meredith: we are playing a game, mommy.
Me: what game?
Meredith: we are playing hugs.
In the pool her floatie tube was tipping over and she was scared…
Meredith: help!! I’m gonna see Jesus!!
Meredith: I scared of Frozen.
Me: which part, the ice?
Meredith: yeah and Elsa’s powers.
Me: you need mommy or daddy to protect you?
Meredith: yeah. Liam scared of Frozen too.
Me: oh, does he need you to protect him?
Meredith: yeah, but I don’t know how to tecter peoples!
in the midst of a sobbing meltdown regarding dinner…
Meredith: (crying) I’m hungry mommy!!!
Me: well you can eat some of your dinner.
Meredith: (still crying) no I want my cupcake!!!
Me: no, the cupcake is a special treat, it’s not dinner.
Meredith: (suddenly serious) no, it’s a dinner cupcake.
On a 30-minute drive to meet a friend (I include this because it’s so typical of her chatter and some version of this convo happens daily)…
Meredith: Elsa shut Anna out.
Me: yup, she did.
Meredith: (scolding) no no Elsa! When she shuts her out she is mean.
Me: well she’s not doing it to be mean, she’s just afraid of what her powers will do.
Meredith: Mommy, Elsa has powers but Anna don’t (mumbles) powers.
Me: what? Anna doesn’t have powers?
Meredith: No mommy, Elsa has powers but Anna (mumbles – she is struggling to express her thought) powers.
Me: do you mean Anna doesn’t want powers?
Meredith: (exasperated) Mommy! Elsa has powers but Anna don’t know bout powers.
Me: oh, Anna doesn’t know about Elsa’s powers?
Meredith: yeah! Elsa goes in her room and shuts Anna out.
Me: yup, she did.
REPEAT CYCLE
after pooping, leaning almost all the way into the toilet…
Meredith: GO IN YOUR HOLE!!!
while on a walk, riding in the stroller…
Meredith: watch out mommy, be careful! There’s a car!
Me: that’s right, we have to watch out.
Meredith: yeah, you don’t wanna get hurt!
Me: you’re right.
(Pause)
Meredith: say thank you to me.
approaching a pretty big brick step, I held out my hand for her to take…
Meredith: no!!! Don’t hold my hand!!!
(immediately falls off the step and begins sobbing)
Meredith: my kneeeee!! I hurt my kneeee!! now I can’t walk!!! I wanna hold you now!!!
Me: (inspects her knee, sees that there is no broken skin, picks her up)
Meredith: (acting cool) I don’t like that step.
I feel like this is completely representative of her right now. She is either fiercely independent or utterly needy. And either way, it is dramatic.
going through a box of hand-me-down clothes she finds a tank top with elastic on the straps…
Meredith: oh I can nurse in this!!
(proceeds to “nurse” her doll)
random…
Meredith: when we go potty at school and we close the door and the teacher don’t come in we say, “Lookit my butt!!”
She says “got-for” instead of “forgot” and “strawbeedas” for “strawberries.” She is obsessed with puzzles and The Little Mermaid (which she just calls Ariel). She is hardly ever sick. She loves potty jokes, and David encourages it. She is very shy around new people and situations, but she warms up if you let her observe for a bit. She copies everything her older cousins do. She gets angry if she is too hungry. Most of the time she likes to potty by herself. She has a LOT of hair but hates having it washed. She is afraid of the dark and dark things. Her best friend at daycare switched schools and she spent the whole first day after not talking. She likes to sing but so far isn’t too great at it. She is always up for a walk and a trip to the park. She is intense but she is awesome.
And she always picks out her own clothes. The above outfit was a win in my book, but usually she looks more like this:
We pick our battles. :)
From Nora:
Oh, my word. You have a spirited kid on your hands. She reminds me a lot of D’s youngest, Belle. There is a lot of her in these conversations, both when she was M’s age and her current age (almost 6).
Love the boots with the fringe and the first outfit IS adorable.
From Kara:
I just love toddler logic. Isla is starting to act very similar to Meredith: Needs to do things on her own but when she can’t it’s the end of the world and she neeeeeds help.
And toddlers on the potty are hilarious. At the moment, I have to hold her hands while she goes #2. My husband claims that this is why women always seem to go to the bathroom in groups when they’re older. He may be right.
From Sarah @ Beauty School Dropout:
I love that you just let her pick out her clothes. I see so many moms of girls that feel like their daughters’ appearances are some kind of reflection on their own self worth, and it becomes an epic power struggle.
(Also, my 4.5yo still won’t pick out his own clothes, so I’m sort of jealous. I would totally let him dress crazy if he would dress himself!)
From Trish:
She is just a doll! And we’ve learned to pick our battles with clothing as well. Elle actually lets me pick out her outfit every day (the night before), but on the weekends it’s all her. And hilarious. I need to be better about jotting down some of the conversations. The one about Liam pooping or her falling in the toilet is too funny. Three is such a fun age. Trying. But fun.