A Veronica Update

In a month and a half, Veronica will 3 and in so many ways seems nowhere near 3 to me! I honestly think of her as on the young end of 2! Ah my baby!

The little peanut has been growing though! Those who see her regularly, have been commenting recently on how she has really stretched out lately. But for people who don't see her often or meet her for the first time comment on how little she is:) Despite her latest growth spurt, she does seem to me just like a teeny tiny ballerina:) She's got the same little legs and arms like her sister, but she has the tiniest little buddah belly:) One day a week ago she said, "Mommy Daddy, look at me" and we turned back to see her pushing her gut out similar to how someone does when they're really full after eating or if they're pretending they are pregnant:)

Veronica talks a lot and I can understand her 75% of the time:) Her go to phrase as of late is, "Oh my gosh guys, oh my gosh". The tone and sound of her voice contains a cute factor that seems to make everything she says adorable and funny and entertaining. She tries to talk like the big girls, but in little two year old voice. When she is being sympathetic to someone or if she is excited or proud of them (or herself) her voice takes on this quieter, high pitched tone. This happens for instance if her big sissy has an owie or if she accomplishes something on her own like putting her clothes on, buckling her seat, etc...When she is being bossy or demanding in her communication it takes on this lower, huskier tone...it cracks me up.
The thing Veronica seems to communicate with the most though is her eyes and her facial expressions! I swear if I had no conscience I could go to Hollywood and make a million bucks off that kiddo. What she does, what she says with her eyes is something...it is remarkable!!! She is one expressive little girl, be it happy or MAD MAD MAD!

Veronica seems to love organization and repitition in play as of the last couple of months. She loves to read books so much...the same books over and over. She will sit in her room for almost an hour and read books on her own...she has them memorized since she has read them OVER and OVER and OVER:)
She than loves to line her books up on the floor in her room.
Veronica also loves playing with her wipes, be it taking a wipe and laying one on top of each book that she has lined up on her floor or cleaning her babies with wipes.
When playing with things like Doras or Barbies or Polly Pockets, her method of play seems to be placing them all next to one another in a line:)
Line 'em up! She loves it!

Veronica also seems to be carrying on the family tradition of song, dance, and drama! Living in this house is like living in a never ending Broadway Musical at times:) There is nothing Veronica loves than putting on a dance outfit and performing for us.

Veronica still seems to have a bit more of a cautious side. Or truthfully, it just takes her a bit longer to warm up to things. For example dogs - no problem with them if they are in cages at the pet store...LOVES THEM! But otherwise, she tends to go into a high pitched scream if they come near here. But give her 30 minutes to get used to being around them, get to know them, and than she is good to go!
In our bigger pool at the house, even though she could stand in it, it took her a good week of being held and having Momma's help to swim before she was ready to stand and play on her own in it.
At the Mall of America, she is TERRIFIED of the headed characters, like Dora or the Backyardigans...I am talking TERRIFIED, to the point of a blood curdling scream if she just sees one. But say we are at the MOA two days in a row, at the start of day two she'll say things like, "No Dora here, Dora stay at her house, I don't want to see that Dora", but by the end of day two she is interested and wants to go up and see them. It just takes her a little bit longer to get comfortable with things:)

Veronica has gotten more comfortable on playground equipment and wants to climb up all the different kinds of ladder and try the monkey bars and swing on bars and slide down poles.

Veronica continues to have a real baby side to her, which I attribute equally to her own temperment/demeanor and than to being the second born/baby of the family. She wants to be held (A LOT), she cries still (A LOT), she sucks on her two fingers still and seems to want to snuggle far more than Isabella did at this age.

And Veronica still has quite the temper...a rather large temper I must say. And she is one of the sassiest most blatantly defiant little girls I have ever encountered. She is fiesty, stubborn, and persistent. We have epic battles weekly over clothes, buckling her carseat, putting toothpaste on her toothbrush, and on and on and on. I do find that when I have her one on one, these battles are far less frequent.
We try to balance between deciding which battles are really worth fighting and trying to make this very strong-willed little girl understand that she is not in charge. I'm not sure we're getting a passing grade on it, but we're trying:) But truth be told, I think we spend most days feeling like she is totally out of control. We are dealing with a super duper cute little love her and she seems to have most people wrapped around her little finger. People are much quicker to excuse her behavior than they ever were of Isabella at this age, it's fascinating to me to watch. She can bat her eyelashes or talk in a cute little voice and she's gotten them to forget all about her mischevious actions.
I'm really interested to see how things play out in the next 3 years or so. To see if the temper is something that diminishes with age or if it is a characteristic that we will continually have to work on. Either way it doesn't matter:) I think she is one of the funniest little loves I've ever met and I love spending my days with her!

So my baby is almost 3...sigh...I'm in total denial:) Veronica is just...well she's my little baby...so much younger than her 3 years to me. Oh how I love that little girl. Last weekend she hurt her finger at the park, ripped some skin off of it. I decided the injury was worthy of her napping in Momma's bed with Momma. She had ripped the skin off one of the fingers that she normally sucks on and I watched fascinated by this beautiful being as she kept attempting to put her go to fingers in her mouth, but would stop knowing the one was hurt. Than she just swiftly fell of to sleep and I got to watch her nap for nearly 2 hours, holding that hand close to her face like a little security blanket. She is magnificently beautiful when she is sleeping. Her little cheeks her all filled out, her brown hair, little strands framing her face, her full little lips parted in anticipation of her fingers...it took my breath away. And to think I get to be her mother...Forever...God is so good!