Thursday, August 20, 2009

Miss Independent

It is very hard to believe but Gabrielle will be turning 3 in just over a month. What is even more difficult to believe is how much she has grown up in the past year. I never realized just how much children change between the ages of 2 and 3. Sometimes I look at Gabrielle and think "Who are you? Where did my baby and toddler go?"

With all this growing up Gabrielle has found a new independence. Her favorite thing to say it seems is "I can do it myself." I used to look forward to her being able to do more for herself but now I'm finding out with her independence comes often more work and patience on my part.

While at Bible School a couple of weeks ago Gabrielle learned how to wash her hands all by herself. She can turn the water on and off, pump out the soap, lather, rinse and somewhat dry her hands. She has become almost obsessive now about washing her hands. She probably has the cleanest hands of anyone I know. We also are now going through a bottle of soap in a matter of days and there is always a puddle of water on the floor and counter.

Another skill Gabrielle has picked up is turning the lights on and off - on and off, on and off, on, off, on, off....you get the picture.

Gabrielle has never been much of a climber. I've always been able to put things just barely out of her reach and not had to worry anymore about it. She has now discovered she can move her bathroom stool from room to room and all of sudden she has access to hundreds of once forbidden treasures. Our house is small, our closets are stuffed and I'm now running out of places to put things to keep out of her reach. Childproofing for a clever 3-year-old is much more challenging than childproofing for a new walker.

Now that Gabrielle is about to turn 3, she has turned into quite the fashionista. She apparently knows much better than I about what matches and what shoes go with what outfits. She is very firm with her opinions and I truly believe she would fight to the death when it comes to what she is going to wear. "No, no, no - that doesn't match." - another common phrase said. She even refused one Sunday to wear a new dress my mom had just bought her. Gabrielle had worn the dress the day after my mom bought it to my mom's church. It didn't matter to her that we were now home and going to our church where no one had yet to see the dress. She actually looked at me and said "I just wore that last week." Needless to say I could not convince her otherwise and she wore a different dress to church that morning. I didn't think I had to deal with clothing issues for at least another 8-10 years!

It is quite the honor - and at times very entertaining - to watch her personality come out and see the little person she is becoming. But with looking back at all the changes from this past year I can't help but start to worry about how much more she'll change and grow up in the upcoming year!

1 comment:

faith said...

I thought the same thing but know they have their minds made up at such a young age. I'm like, what happened to me being able to dress you up like I want. Lindsey even has her opinion on how her hair should be fixed!