Miss Independent

The weather was warm enough this morning to ditch the heavy coats in favor of light sweatshirts.  Eva wanted to put hers on all by herself, with no help.  She surprises me every day in little ways that show what a big girl she’s getting to be.  She doesn’t want me to help her do anything that she can do by herself, like put on her socks.  At the mall, she climbed into the front of the stroller and buckled herself in, and tried to entertain Amanda when she started fussing.  She got up into the chair and ate Chinese food with a “big person” fork, and even tried chopsticks!   At home when I asked her to pick up her wooden toy tools and put them back in the toolbox, she picked the flat wooden pieces first, then the tools, then the toy screws, because otherwise they won’t all fit.  I wonder, did she do that because that’s how she sees me doing it, or because she’s just meticulous that way?  Only time will tell.

She’s really blossomed into her role as a big sister, too. As Eva walked alongside the stroller today, Amanda reached over the edge as far as she could and grabbed a handful of her hair.  Eva just gently pulled back and said, “No pull hair, Amanda!”, and kept walking.  She loves to come over and give Amanda hugs and kisses, show her toys and how to play with them.  Of course, I still hear “no, Amanda!”, and Eva taking a toy away when little sister isn’t doing it right (trying to teethe on it, no doubt), but for the most part, she’s pretty patient.  Maybe that’s Eva’s meticulous side coming out again – that there’s a “right” and “wrong” way to play with toys.  Oh, boy, I can see this how could get to be a challenge as she gets older.  Good thing she has a pretty laid back Daddy whom she adores, who can teach her that things don’t always need to be perfect.