Last night Miss Kathryn had quite the adventure. At around 2:30am, I woke up to her screaming in her room. I went in to comfort her because I figured she had had a bad dream. She wanted me to lay in bed with her (her
toddler bed, which is the same size as a crib), so I did and sang her a song. I tucked her in and climbed back into my own bed. Then at 3:30 I woke up to sounds of happy playing coming from the monitor. Thinking she sounded a little too awake to not check on her, I found her playing with several toys, with the light on, WIDE AWAKE. She said something like, "Hi Mommy. I get up now?" to which I groggily replied something like, "Kathryn, what in the world are you doing?!?! It's the middle of the night!!" After putting her back in bed, turning the light back off, hearing protests that it was "too dark to see" (yes, my dear, that's the point...), I got back into my own bed, by this point a little wired myself. Just as I was falling asleep, I heard happy play noises again from the monitor, and too tired to care, I just turned the monitor off, figuring she'd fall asleep when she was tired enough. Then this morning at 6:00, I saw her light on under the door. Not knowing what I would find, I saw this: (see picture below)
Light on, Sleeping on her wooden trunk (with head and feet both hanging off), pants and diaper off (she told me later they were soggy so she had to take them off), toys out from the closet, and books on her bed. But at least she was covered up nicely with her bunny. I couldn't help but laugh and snap the picture. What a goof.
Daily life with Kathryn is wonderful and challenging both. She has officially entered the "why" stage, wanting to know "Why is grass green? Why do strawberries have seeds on the outside? Why do leaves turn colors in the Fall? Why do I have to obey mommy? Why does the cricket make a funny noise? Why are there weeds in the garden? Why is Daniel crying? Why do I have to stay in my bed?" etc. I am fascinated at how her little mind is wrapping around life concepts as she's trying to figure out the world around her. I'm finding that I have to think about things that I would have never given a second thought to, in order to find answers to some of her questions. And of course there are the times where my answer is "that's just the way it is."
As she's learning to do more things, she's very into doing things herself. Trying to get dressed, feeding herself, taking a shower by herself (sort of), feeding Daniel, pushing the stroller, opening the door for me, buckling her carseat strap, brushing her teeth...the list goes on. An interchange that happens several times a day:
K: I do it!
Mommy: Say, "May I do it?"
K: May I do it?
Most of the time I appreciate her interest in doing things herself, but she gets very frustrated when she can't quite do things on her own that she wants to. All part of growing up, I guess.
In the last few weeks, it's been wonderful for me to see a little friendship forming between Kathryn and Daniel, where Kathryn is suddenly much more interested in him. It melts my heart when I hear her saying in her sweet little voice, "It's okay, Daniel, don't cry Buddy." or "No, that's not a good toy for you- you might choke on that. Here's a good toy for you, Daniel Boy." She loves making him laugh, and he soaks up the attention from her.
Any time I am tempted to be weary in my mothering of a 2 1/2 year old, I remind myself of how quickly this stage will pass. And I'm sure there will come a day when I will really miss these days. So I'm trying to enjoy every moment I can, lingering in the snuggle times and play times together. How I love this girly!
