Late last week Olivia started complaining that her teeth were hurting. When I looked in her mouth--lo and behold--I found that there was not one but two loose teeth! I was certainly surprised considering that Max didn't lose a tooth until he was 7. But maybe I should have realized that she'd be on an accelerated tooth-loss schedule as she had 13 teeth by the time she turned 1 yr old, whereas Max was nearly 1yrs old by the time he even got his first tooth.
So now she's one tooth down (and the Tooth Fairy one dollar lighter), with the second tooth so wiggly that it's set to come out the next time it meets a hard apple. Losing teeth is like crossing the threshold in to Big Kid-ness, and she's thrilled about it.
Me too, actually. I've been thinking a lot lately about the person that she's becoming. She was quite possibly the most docile and happy baby that ever existed. She, and I'm not exaggerating here at all, was pretty content to just sit in her stroller for the first two years. She was never the kind of toddler that you couldn't take your eyes off for fear that they'd make their way into the laundry room and dump out all the detergent. I don't think that I really ever had to babyproof anything.
But then, she made up for lost time. I hate to admit it, but the next few years (really!) I was unsure about who she was and how to handle her. Oh, yikes, she was so emotional and so darn volatile. It seemed like her main form of communication alternated between screetching or crying inconsolably. I remember one specific occasion when whe was three and I was trying desperately to get her to stop another round of irrational crying and I finally asked her, "Why are you crying?" and she answered, sobbing, "I don't know!" It was a common exercise to carry her out, in full meldown phase, of Primary, or dinner, or a playdate, or just about any other event. Throughout these years I kept internally pleading, "Please, please, please let this be a phase and not her personality!", but I was not feeling so certain about the prospects.
So when her birthday just missed the cut-off for Kindergarten this year, I wasn't sorry at all thinking that it would be good for her to have another year, and hopefully we would be able to get more of a handle on all the drama.
Turns out that turning 5 must have been just the ticket. Over the last few months she's become a completely different person. The meltdowns have all but ceased, she is willing (and mostly happy) to do whatever I ask (and often on the first time!), she is cooperative and supportive, she is the most reliable candidate in the family to share or give up whatever she has in order to help Isabel or Max, and we have started calling her our family's peacemaker. Early in the school year when I questioned her preschool teachers about her emotional state in class, they looked at me like I was crazy and reported that she was nothing but delightful. She looks for ways to show responsibility, she is my very best helper, and she is Isabel's very best playmate--they have become quite the pals. Teaching her has become a joy as she's replaced most of her previous stubborness with a sweet eagerness.
Now I am worried about what Isabel and I are going to do without her at home during the day next year.
8 comments:
yes - the lovely five year old. it would be a great time to relax a little if it weren't for toddlers running around (and a new baby on the way for you!)
Oh how I love little Olivia. She is such a sweetie, and I'm praying that she's in the same class as Parker next year in school. And here's to hoping that Parker will mellow out a bit now that he's 5 too!
I am still waiting for Mabel to mellow out, but I'm afraid the melodrama *is* part of her personality (it's always been there since day one.) She's never had drama issues at church or school, though -- just with us at home. Actually it is a great trait for her to be so vivid and passionate, but it does take a lot of energy and strategy to figure out how to respond (and we have by no means figured it all out yet.)
Is that behavior not normal? I thought it was just a girl thing, since every one of mine were extremely whiney and emotional from 3-5. No kidding, I thought it was just an early surge of hormones (always used to say to my own little Jennette..."sometimes it really stinks to be a woman, doesn't it?")
Glad to hear things are looking up for Olivia (report back to me if Isabel skips this phase...and then I'll know that my girls are all just a bunch of preschool whiners!)
Kelsha! good to see you here. I'm not sure if I should be encouraged or discouraged by your telling me this is normal behavior. I'm getting very nervous about Isabel now...I'm not sure that I can take another 2 years of the crying. And next someone will tell me that it all comes back again when they're teens. Aaaaahhhhh!
It is always strange and scary to enter a new year and see what child you are going to have that year. It seems cyclcal. One off year one great year. That picture of Olive and Isabel is so sweet. I love when my kids get along.
Actually, Jennette, I was just about to tell you how much that sounds like adolescent Julia. The "I don't know why I'm crying!" part, anyway. Not every day, thankfully, but maybe four or five days a week since six months ago. In her case, I'm pretty sure it's hormonal, and I'm hoping it doesn't last another five years (though it's just what I deserve if it does).
You are such a great mom! I just read a book where the daughter was just like her mom, who was just like her mother, etc. The mom ALWAYS knew the right thing to do, because she was looking at her daughter as if it were herself. So your post is a refreshing burst of reality about what being a mom is really like. It is full of uncertainty and so rewarding to get something right! I love the photo of your girls together and the missing tooth one too.
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