Here are the things I want to remember about this age: Micaela’s cheeky giggles, her over-excited-snorting giggles, her pretend snoring, the first time she said "I missed you, mummy" when I left her at the nursery, and when she said it again after I got out of the shower, and those random first-in-the-morning sentences, like “where did the penguin leave his food", and finally the endless games of jumping up-and-down ton the bed 30 minutes before bed every night.
My sweet princess has matured so much over the past months. Her new-found concepts of sharing and swapping are now making days at "Feeling Good" and play dates easier. And although my girl is still strong willed, she is no longer face-palming other kids and is better at sharing and waiting her turn.
This maturation has resulted in Micaela making some real friends. It’s amazing to watch how much joy she gets from her developing friendships. Before the kids would play mostly independently in the same room and every so often accidentally play together. Now, my sweetie is excited about seeing friends and days later will retell stories about the games they played together: catch, hide-and-seek, and dressing up.
Micaela’s make believe play has gotten so much more imaginative and involved. Her toy animals are often involved in complicated dramas such as taking over the pirate ship, playing hide-and-seek in the rocket ship, or just meeting-and-greeeting each other on the street.
Though my little one does not watch too much TV, she still has some favourite movies such as The Disney Princesses´ stories, Monster´s Inc. & University, and Ratatouille. Monster´s Inc. & University is definitely her first commercial obsession. She has a number of the books and will go through them on her own. She loves this movie but thankfully these movies have not usurped her love of the books.
Another development we have noticed is a real jump in her language ability. She can now narrate complex stories, speak in longer sentences, uses prepositions, and has such a large vocabulary that I couldn't tell you how many words she knows. She also recognizes most of the the letters in the alphabet and even has a dozen or so sight words that she knows. Micaela can count to twenty in Spanish and ten in English, but unless counting pieces of chocolate, usually omits three and four.
She also loves to sing. Her favorites are Baa Baa Black Sheep, Happy Birthday (including the hip hip hoorays), and If you are happy and you know it... (with actions).
Physically, my princess is getting more and more agile and steady. And she is JUMPING! That deserves to be in all caps because she is doing so much of it. Now that my girl has finally hit this milestone, she loves nothing more than to jump on our bed.
She also loves dancing. Most evenings, she makes me crank up the music, dictates which songs are played, and we both dance around for half an hour. Micaela tries to do the steps like her daddy does them, and at other times she and her daddy pace around the coffee table imitating different animals.
My little one thrives on asserting her own independence: whether it be using the step-stool to turn the tap on and washing her own hands and or simply completing a jigsaw puzzle by herself. This independence can be rather tricky as most of our requests are met with a resounding “no", at which points negations begin. Just getting her into the car after a trip to the park can often take as long as the time spent playing in the playground!
But despite her headstrong ways and determination to be self-reliant, she is still as affectionate as ever. She loves “big" cuddles, and she loves “little" cuddles, and she loves group hugs, and really really loves “sandwiches" hugs.
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