22 Months

      

How do I describe in words a little girl who is at once gentle, loving, independent, confident, and willful when there is so much feeling tied up into the moments spent caring for her, playing with her, reading to her, and redirecting/ shaping her behavior. 

In one moment I am flabbergasted by her nonsensical persistence and then I turn around and hear her singing a goodnight song to a baby doll.  If my back is turned too long, she may be found playing in the garage or sitting in her wagon.

At 22 months, Geneva goes to the potty at least once a day (usually more), sings the entire first half of “Rock-a-bye Baby” and spontaneously uses phrases like, “Daddy, where are you?”

 

She loves her mommy and daddy and regularly talks about other family members.  She has fun at daycare and comes home talking about the other kids in her class.  She adores playing at the park and tolerates the long walks to get there.

She is willful and tests us at every turn, but complies about 90% of the time when we get down on her level and restate the expectation and/or explain to her what we want.  The other times, she responds to either counting down from 3 or after putting her into time out.  We rarely get to time out. (Ha- Can you tell that I work in special education?) 

She tells the dog, “Down Stella” and pushes her off the couch as if she has figured out her place in the pecking order of our little world.

She is perfect to us.