Mine!
pamelamyers | October 18, 2011
Sam has definitely entered that phase of toddler-hood where she has learned the word Mine! She is very good at assigning ownership to all kinds of objects, sometimes correctly and sometimes very randomly. For instance, she will peruse the refrigerator and decide the brown mustard is mommy’s and the yellow mustard is daddy’s (even though daddy hates mustard of any kind). But most of the time she is correct. She knows who things belong to, she just doesn’t always agree with the ownership status! She yells mine! when you try to take things away from her that she can’t have and also when you take something of hers away that she can’t have at just that moment (like her bracelets at naptime, for example). It is so funny watching her learn things like ownership. Such a simple concept, one we never think about that much, but it is an accomplishment that she has reasoned it out.
What else has Sam been up to lately? Well, she has been talking more and more every day. She repeats everything you say to her and she is starting to try to compose sentences. Her word order is making a lot of sense, and she is using so many new variations of words, like sitting, not just sit, all the time now. She is trying very hard to get her point across. She gets frustrated when she talks to you and you can’t figure out what she says (which is not that often). I have read that is a good sign, the frustration, because it is important that toddlers want to convey their thoughts. Usually I figure out exactly what she means but sometimes it is really hard. When I finally do “get it” and I ask her “is that what you are trying to say to Mommy?” I get such a long, drawn-out, “yeeessss!” like she is saying, duh, Mommy, of course that is what I was saying, I don’t know what your problem is!
Sam is getting to be such a big girl. I still tell her she is my baby, but she is really not anymore, not by a long shot. But it’s so hard letting go. She is my first, and my last, and my best little girl. Letting go of her babyhood has been really difficult. I know this is the only time in my life I will get to enjoy the miracle that watching my child grow up is, and I try to remember to savor every single second. To not let myself be one of those moms who are scanning their email at the playground, who ignore the excited calls for Mommy because their little one found a leaf that just has to be seen. I want to enjoy, and remember, every second of her growing up. I don’t want to miss anything because these memories have to last a lifetime. And I want Sam’s memories, the ones that will last HER lifetime, to be joyful, and full of love, and full of moments that she will never forget.