This girl of mine

Ah, this little girl of mine. We are in a very tiresome transition period and it has been taking its toll on the entire family *sigh*. It appears that she is in the midst of dropping naps (what?) as well as teething (her 2 year molars). While I was expecting some bumps in the road from teething, I was NOT expecting her to give up naps all together. The boys were still taking daily naps until they were about 3.5 years old and I just assumed she would do the same. I should have known better as she has always had her own way, keeping me guessing the whole time. So why would this be any different?


The sleep troubles all started a month or so ago when she learned how to climb out of her crib. Seamingly over night, she went from taking naps and going to bed at night willingly and happily (and fairly easily!). Suddenly, she was protesting naps and getting her to sleep at night was taking hours and she was also waking at night. She no longer wanted to be in her room so we tried sticking her in with the brothers. That didn't work as she just kept them up and then I was dealing with three cranky children the next day. Finally, we just moved her mattress into our room and for a while, she once again happily went to sleep and slept the whole night through.

But we are now back to struggling to get her to sleep and night waking. And she is tired. The days haven't always been so fun as she has more accidents when she is tired and is grumpy and throws tantrums over just about everything.

I know it is just a phase and that we will get through this and it will soon be on to the next phase. It is just hard for me to be in this place where I really don't know how to help her. How can I get her to be okay with drifting to sleep? How can I make her feel safe and secure so that she doesn't struggle with bedtime?

Short of sleep issues right now, she is growing in to such a cute little girl. She is definitely my shadow, always helping me out with whatever it is I am doing. Cooking is one of her favorite activites and I try to allow her to do as much as she can, including cracking the eggs. She also loves to read books, sing, and play in the dirt!

I know this picture is blurry, but it is so cute I had to include it. This is her new smile she gives when I am taking pictures. She can be such a ham sometimes. Much like her brother Jacob, she loves to entertain us and it doesn't take much!

She adores her brothers and wants to do everything with them. This is a tricky age though. Sometime inclusive play is peaceful and other times, not so much! They try to include her when they can, but toddlers don't always follow the rules very well and that leads to some unhappy siblings. But she is so lucky to have three older brothers who adore her and look out for her and shower her with love all day long.

This girl of mine is growing up way to fast. Every now and then, I get small glimpses of a little girl and most of the time I smile. But I would be lying if I didn't say that a part of me is sad. Sad for these days that will never once come again. Sad for my "baby" growing up and getting all big on me.