Big Changes for Such a Little Girl

I've been absent from writing for awhile. No good excuse other than exhaustion, stress, and depression along with raising a toddler, a teenager, and a husband all at once. 🤦‍♀️ Now that it's summer vacation for me I can actually do somethings that I've been wanting to do. 

The first thing is potty training. My poor MIL has been trying since December when she was only 2 years and 3 months old. DH and I knew that she wasn't ready just yet and tried to explain this to my MIL. However, she kept pushing and now I have an uphill battle to potty train. I wish she would have waited until summer like I wanted to, but, alas, we must press forward. 

Same child is also going through some milestone markers at this time too. She is a few months shy of being 3. MIL and I would love for her to be in preschool during the school year at least 2 times a week. DH, not so much. I think his little princess is growing up too fast for him. After all, our son, Prince, (the 12 year old) is hitting some other milestones. I might discuss some of those struggles later. Right now, I want to focus on Princess.

Let's start with the best news to me. She loves books. She loves stories, she doesn't sit still long enough to read them yet (and she still doesn't recognize letters), but she loves books. Her favorite is the Brown Bear, Brown Bear series By Bill Martin, Jr. (Eric Carle did the illustrations). She listens to and sings the songs for the books constantly. She even has to go to bed with one of her books each night.

I've gotten her several Montessori toys to help her learn and she mastered all of them in less than a day. Didn't matter what type of puzzle, fine motor skills, gross motor skill, or any other skill they are working with, she mastered it as soon as I opened the boxes. She is definitely a kinesthetic learner, or someone who learns by doing, rules, directions, and examples be damned!

I also noticed that she may be dramatic, but that's because of my reactions to it. I have to admit, with everything I've had going on with the end of the school year, I have given in to her too much. That brings me to the next challenge with her this summer: Quite Time. I used to do this with my son when he was little. It built up his endurance for when we were at church so he could sit with me. It's her turn now.

The last major thing I want to work on with Princess is getting rid of the paci. She loves that thing and will use it if it's there. That means that it just doesn't need to be there anymore. My plan is to do the same thing with her's that I did with my son's. I snip the tip off. She tries to suck on it and just gives up and tosses them in the trash herself. I must be cautious of my timing with this. She is a spicy child so I know there will be tears and some yelling. I have to do this when my husband goes on vacation at the end of the month. That way he won't get upset about the lack of sleep and can take turns with me at calming her down.

While these may seem small for us, to a toddler, we are entering big territory. Pray for me. Lord knows I will need all the help I can get over the next 2 months.