Growing so fast!

The other day I caught Aloria crossing her legs at her desk...she saw me taking a picture here and started to uncross them, but it was sooo cute to see her imitate something she sees me do :-)

She is doing so much now... not only developementally, but even her personality continues to develope as she matures and begins to define who she is. I think a lot of that still depends on us, though, and so I feel a lot of responsibility in terms of her growth. Being two, she is really testing her boundaries and asserting herself wherever she can... I've made a lot of mistakes and anger, instead of patience, has exhibited itself much more then I would care to admit...but lately, I have been purposefully trying to point her down the right path, and show her by my own "controlled" actions the appropriate way to behave (so she learns to imitate my good behavior and not the bad). I know that if I continue to act childishly, she will continue to raise her voice instead of to speak in a "civilized" tone, to scream instead of control herself, to throw the object she is frustrated with instead of ask for help, and to pout instead of apologize. It does no good for me to correct her by saying, "don't yell at me!" if I am yelling the command! ...it confuses her; imagine that. I try to remember that it is not just I, who gets frustrated; so does she. It must be difficult to not know what you can and can't do...especially if one day you can, and the next day you can't do the same thing. So I have to remember to be consistent, as we both grow together...it is a lot of learning for the both of us, but my labor has not been in vain, and I find that whenever I control myself and act like the "adult parent," that I am," the outcome is always more fruitful...her personality flurishes and, though there are still challenges and confrontations, all that is pleasant and good about a two year old seems to shine through ;-)