Sweet Zara Wheatley is 23 months old . I cannot believe she is going to be 2 years old soon. Zara is so funny, she is very into her independence right now. She wants to do everything herself which she firmly declares as "SELF". As you can see in the above picture she had her first face plant on the concrete during our attempt at brunch last Sunday. I think she was trying to do a somersault off a concrete step but we will never know because Papa turned his back for a second and that is when the screams started (and did not stop for quite some time). I think we may have a little dare devil on our hands who just might continue to try to do things "SELF" which may end in more band aids. We will have to just do our best to keep our eyes on her and hope she learned from this week long injury, Besides her "SELF" phase Zara is mostly a joy to be around. She is talking in full sentences and expressing how she feels about the world around her which I find as a mama to be fascinating. I love to hear about what she thinks and how she puts ideas together in her head. She is currently not quite understanding that she can not do everything that she wants to so that is cause for a number of temper tantrums but hopefully the screams will taper off sooner than later.
Zara loves to sing and make up songs anytime, anyhow, anywhere. She also likes to scream at the top of her voice just for fun:) She loves to climb up on just about anything and has mastered all kinds of new challenges at the park. She is enjoying a new understanding of the change of seasons and likes to pick out her own clothes (and most days ends up wearing PJ's under some other form of clothing due to not wanting to take them off:).
Zara loves to play in the sand which makes me so excited to take her to the beach in a few weeks. I wonder if we will ever leave the beach because she may just want to play in the sand all day long. She also has strong feelings on how her hair is fixed. As you can see in the picture above Zara took out her bun and strong opposed mama putting it back in:) Last night before bed she asked me to put her hair up in pig tails to show Mr. Garrett. her music teacher, the next day:)
This is sweet Zara around bed time last night. Getting her dressed and ready for bed has been one of our greatest challenges these days. She wants to play, draw, paint, talk, read books, eat, drink, and be merry and knows that going to bed puts and end to all that. So even though I put a great effort into falling asleep she often times does not go down until she is completely out of juice which is around 9:30 or 10. Zara has never really been a great sleeper, she still sleeps with us and nurses at night on demand. but I think that as she gets older and a little more energized and wild that she will have to give into her exhaustion eventually. At least that is what I hope for. This evening we are going to Zara's first pumpkin patch and I am so excited for her to pick out her first pumpkin and really join in on fall festivities.
On a mother's note, even though Zara has been a bit challenging lately and has tested my patience I feel so happy and full of love for the little being that she is becoming. I feel like all I want to do is support who she is becoming, do my best to teach her emotional intelligence, help her understand that her wants and my wants will need to co-exist, and show her feelings, wants and needs respect. Being an educator to so many young people I have to say that I believe in Positive Behavior Support (PBS) whole heartedly and I really feel that if I can implement this into my parenting style that even though challenging moments will present themselves in the long run it will pay off.
On a personal note I am coming to terms with the fact that I cannot be the "perfect" woman/mother. I cannot cook gourmet meals, clean, do all the laundry, do all the dishes, have a perfect body, have a clean home, work almost full time and still be a present, loving, compassionate and fun mom. I cannot do it all so I am having to let go of that. I read a blog the other day about this illusion of being the perfect woman and how so many of those idealisms have carried over from the 1950's. Being a working mother I have to take care of my child, myself and my relationship before making sure everything else is done. I keep up fairly well but I do have to say that I go 100 mph all day long and into the evening. I rarely have time to do things for me but I do sneak in a yoga class at least once a week and do my best to read a chapter in a book maybe once a week, sometimes more. I feel balanced emotionally and physically but I have to keep my head above water long enough to find that balance. Motherhood is no joke ladies!
