A Post About Amelie

It's been a while since I've posted about Amelie, so here is a snapshot of Amelie at 2 1/2.

• Amelie is an interesting little girl.  She is very shy and serious around new people but definitely not at home.  Lately I've even noticed that she is becoming more assertive and talking to people she doesn't know very well.  She still has a very serious, tight lipped Amelie face whenever she's in a situation she's not very comfortable with.  
• She is about the most stubborn little girl I've ever met.  This can be a good thing as she does not let Liam boss her around (I only hope this is true in other social situations as well).  It can also be frustrating.  More than once when she was being naughty I have told her she can choose to stop or go to time out and she has looked at me and said "Do I get my blankies in time out?"  She seems to think time out it worth it, especially if the naughty behavior that warranted a time out was pestering her brother.
• Amelie loves to play pretend games with her brother, especially if they involve dressing up.  She loves to wear jewelry, hats, and dresses but she is equally likely to wield a sword and exclaim that she is "killing the bad guys". 

• Amelie loves to take care of her babies and her kitties.  She also loves to do art projects and read. 
• She does an amazingly good job of playing by herself, but her first choice is to play with Liam.  The other day she went upstairs to gather some toys and the preschool carpool came to pick up Liam while she was gone.  She sadly asked where Liam went and began to cry a little when I told her he left.  I said that I would play with her and she tearfully sniffled "I just want to play with Liam." 
• Amelie has been potty-trained since the end of January.  I didn't want to do it but she had a terrible eczema diaper rash that was only getting better when she didn't wear diapers.  For a while she would go diaper-less and tell us when she needed a diaper, but that got to be ridiculous and so we forced her into potty training.  She was very resistant to it and I think we went against every book by doing it when she didn't want to but we did it anyway and so far none of us seem worse off for it.  For 3 days is was miserable and then she got it and has done amazingly well.  Hurray for only 1 kid in diapers!
• We try to praise our kids' effort by saying "you worked so hard on that, you should be so proud".  It seems like a lot of modern parenting studies say this is better for kids.  Anyway, it must be sinking in because today Amelie and I were coloring and she said to me: "Mommy you worked so hard on that picture!"
• Amelie has been in a big girl bed since February.  She likes to get out of bed because she can and combine that with the fact that she is outgrowing her nap means she is often up playing until 9pm.  This leads to her falling asleep in bed looking like this:

 I can't believe she is 2 1/2 already!  I adore having a little girl.