Abby and Hair

If I could only use one word to describe Abigail, it would be- INDEPENDENT. This girl figures out more things on her own, than most kids her age, or even her older sibling for that matter. She really was a sweet and easy baby and because she loved to sleep and suck her thumb (okay so maybe she still loves both still,) but once she hit those toddler years, I wasn't so sure about parenting anymore. In part, because her older sister is a rule-follower and people-pleaser, so when Abby came along with a lot of spunk and opinions, especially after being so mellow for the first year of life, I wasn't sure what to think. I remember having long battles of calmly trying to get her to stand against a wall for time out and at about 15 months, just turning and laughing at me for it, but after several 45 minute battles, something finally set in, I think. But maybe not so much for her. I realized that I was punishing a determined girl who really wasn't trying to get into trouble, she just thought she was old enough to do just about everything on her own. That included using two stools to climb up onto the counter, to reach up to the top shelf in the kitchen cupboard to get out the gummi-vitamins and eat well over 1/4 of the bottle. Because really, who needs to ask mom?! Anyhow, once I discovered this, and started explaining more that there were still some things mom had to do, things improved. Well, mostly improved. I still RARELY get to help her choose an outfit or fix her hair, but as Mom I have to choose my battles. Anyhow after that LOOOOONG explanation, the following pictures will now make more sense. Abby LOVES to fix her own hair and is surprisingly pretty good at it. On this day, she put her hair into piggy's, had a pretty good part and even added barrettes on her own. She figured out how to put rubber bands in her hair when she was about 2 1/2 and even started showing her older sister how. So, all that to say, I am often impressed with INDEPENDENT talents.