Probably one of the biggest changes we are seeing is her gradual transition from diapers to toilet. It looks like it is still going to take a while to get to the complete transition but I am kind of surprised how much she figured it out by herself. FB and I have been rather laid back about this whole topic. We talked to her about it and encouraged to use her potty but never really did a hard-core potty training... and all the sudden... she is using a potty on one day. We were like..., what just happened???
Also we are encouraging her to sleep in her own bed and stay in her room until sun comes up. It has been an interesting experience. There are few days that she slept through the night in her room (and it was really nice to get solid sleep through the night for us too)... and other nights it ended with a "Mama!! Mama!!" call in the middle of night and me ending up in her tiny bed. I can totally see that it's her way of solving the problem. "Well... I am awake and it's still dark. Mama told me to stay in my room until sun comes up... so I should call her instead of going into their bedroom".
With anything about her, we see all these things as a part of transition. So we try not to make a too big of deal when we step forward (or backward). Just a part of growing up process. This concept helped me get through the rough morning after long night...
Lastly... we noticed that these growth sprouts always seem to come with an extra big-girl attitude. Here is my hypothesis... when she gets through a challenging hurdle (like learning how to use a potty), her confidence level goes up so as her willingness to show her independence which results with more "no" when I ask her something. When she says, "I want to put my shoes on ALL BY MYSELF", she really means it and if I even attempt tiny bit to try to help her, it ends with a huge melt down.
I need to continue to remind myself... as she grows up (which is so awesome to witness), I need to give even more respect to her personal opinions and spaces.
There are so much to learn as parents... everyday.
