Elle: A Teenage toddler

At two months shy of her third birthday (!), Elle is a complex little person. She's definitely figuring out who she is and where she stands in the world, and it's fascinating to watch her develop, learn and explore. Boundaries are questioned, buttons are pushed and emotions flow like a river, but I love watching how she picks up on things, makes connections and asserts herself.

Elle is never short on attitude (no idea where she gets it). But lately she's been dishing out the 'tude at times when it just cracks us up and showing her strong-willed, dynamic personality in new ways.

Some examples:

Tim was telling Elle about some construction work that is being done a few blocks from our house. They drive by it at least once a day, so he asked Elle "What do you think they're digging?" Elle replied with a bored "I don't know. Maybe we can talk about it later?"

Elle was trying to climb some rolls of wrapping paper in our bedroom. I kept asking her to stop and told her it wasn't safe. She kept telling me they were a ladder. Finally, Tim called from the other room: "Elle, what are you doing?" Elle responded with the highly accurate "Making Mommy mad."

We've also been served with an impatient and/or excited "What are we waiting for?" Like if I tell her we're going to have a special treat later that day, she replies with a breathless "What are we waiting for?"

Love this little monkey.

And to show that she's not only got teenage attitude but also some manipulation up her sleeve, she very innocently and casually suggested "Hey guys, let's have some more" a few weeks ago when we gave her a piece of chocolate after dinner. The careful and hopeful delivery had Tim and I busting up, and now she knows that she'll get a laugh out of us any time she says it :)

I also feel like we've got a mini-teenager on our hands in other ways. She is obsessed with hair bows. She is opinionated on what shoes she wears and makes observations on who or what her outfits match. She's obsessed with Taylor Swift's "Trouble" and Katy Perry's "E.T." (Side note: There is nothing cuter than hearing her sing along to these songs. There is nothing less cute than hearing her beg and whine to hear the songs.) She loves having her nails painted or seeing the nail polish on other people's fingers.

We've reached a cool age where Elle likes to act things out, from her bath toys to her stuffed animals to discussions she initiates with the cats. Last night, she played doctor for a while, saying "I have a diagnosis" and naming some of her princesses after various doctors (some real, like her pediatrician, others imaginary). Then she quietly said "I yuv you, yittle princess," and I melted.

She says "Yeah" like she's Little John - I have no idea where it comes from, but this is what it sounds like most times:

We love how she always says "ya," too: "I'm gonna take a picture of ya." "I'm gonna kiss ya." "I wanna hug ya." 

She knows when she's being good and cute and knows when she's misbehaved or disappointed us. She frequently asks "Are you happy?" when she knows that we're decidedly NOT happy with the way she's acting. I feel like we've had the "terrible twos" pretty easy until now, and for the last quarter of the year she's going to try real hard to "catch up" (this will likely turn in to an entire post on the banshee-like tantrums that she has recently started throwing).

But for as opinionated and stubborn as she is, she's also extremely sweet and adorable. She accidentally kicked me in the face the other night as I put her socks on, and she quickly said "I'm sorry, Mommy. Aren't you glad I didn't kick Wesyey?" She's protective of me and her little brother, "guarding" us from another kid at daycare by throwing her arms around my belly and saying defensively "My mommy! My Wesyey!"

I took her with me to my 32-week appointment - she'd been to the pediatrician the week before, and I wanted her to see me interacting with a doctor in a positive way and wanted her to be involved with Wesley's nearing arrival. My appointments aren't normally scheduled at a time that are convenient for her to go with me, but we lucked out on this one. I figured seeing the doctor and watching him check me and Wesley might help her understand a little bit about what's going on. She told me she was going to protect me (since I had to "protect" her during her appointment the week before), and she was great. She told everyone who came near her that she didn't need a check up and followed it with "I have a little brother named Wesyey."

When the doctor came in to listen to the heart beat and check my measurements, though, Elle got a bit argumentative and bossy. She had a photo album with family snapshots in it but when the doctor called it a photo album she insisted they were pictures and not photos ... then when he measured my stomach she said "Hey! I can't see!" and later tried to tell him her heart was in her stomach (let's hope she doesn't plan on becoming a doctor).

She also started calling Wesley "yittle fella" last night:. As soon as I started filming, she wanted to see the camera and was uber distracted, but you can still get a basic idea of how cute it was from the shaky clip :)

 
This age? It's exhausting, trying and bipolar. But it's also hilarious, fun and rewarding.