My Kid Says the Darndest Things, and A Little L Update

On examining a crusty nose booger in front of the mirror: "It looks like a pakora!"

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After pooping on the potty, Little L exclaims very excitedly, "I know I had enough fruits and veggies!"

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During our potty training adventures, she had moments when she didn't really want to use the potty.
"I don't want to use the potty! I don't want to be a big girl! I just want to be a little girl."

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Me: (to Hubbs) She's using her stool as a foot rest!
Little L: (to Hubbs) And she's using her chair as a bum rest!"

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On calling her a snow princess, Little L balks: "I don't want to be a princess! I just want to be a monkey!"

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Little L (to Hubbs): I wanna do something cool with Daddy.
Hubbs: Is sleeping on the bed cool?
Little L: No! It's uncool!

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Me: Oatmeal is good for your tummy!
Little L: Oatmeal is good for my stomach! You said tummy but you meant stomach.

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Me: It's time to brush your teeth!
Little L: (in a whining tone) I need nye-nye! (Then she catches herself whining, stops, and restates solemnly and quietly) I'm *preferring* to have nye-nye.

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"I don't know how to do it because I'm just a little girl."

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As we cuddle in a big family hug on our bed, this conversation occurs:
Little L: What do we look like?
Hubbs: A Little L sandwich with Mommy and Daddy bread!
Little L: What am I?
Hubbs: You're the Little L meat!

 (Little L pretends to take a piece of Daddy bread off his shoulder, nibbles it, then pretends to take a piece of Mommy bread to nibble, and then turns to me and away from Hubbs)

Little L: No, I don't want a sandwich! I'm just gearing up for nye-nye!

Seriously, though, my kid's speech is really taking off. She's quite a clever girl, and fairly articulate, and sometimes her vocabulary and general language development astounds me. She regularly uses words like actually, and tries to mimic our intonation and use of different character voices when she "reads" (recites from memory) her books. Lately, she has even developed a bit of a mock Brit accent because she watches a few British cartoons (namely, Timbuctoo). And did I mention that Little L has learned how to negotiate and stall? Her skills tend to kick into high gear around the dinner hour, although we've also seen them at work when she wants nye-nye or is trying to postpone something that we have scheduled to do.

I suspect these recent explosions in ability are related to her blossoming imagination. She has a way of combining stories that she knows, and retelling them with goofy details to make us laugh. Little L is slowly getting better at playing independently, mostly because she is creating and recreating stories in her head that my presence and play would interrupt. Her best narrative time seems to be when she first wakes up in the morning. I'm guessing that she is trying to describe her dreams, because the stories can get fairly elaborate (for a near-3-year-old) and sounds sufficiently nonsensical to be the stuff of slumber.

Today, our nanny told me that she felt that Little L has some amazing self-control and an unusual ability to delay gratification. I think she is referring to the fact that Little L, when only permitted one dessert-type "treat" in a day, will choose to wait until supper time to enjoy it (rather than have it early in the day and then try to argue for another dessert later on). I'm not sure if this is developmentally on track or not, but I do like that my girl can wait.

In size news, my girl is now proudly wearing 4T (and sometimes even girls' extra-small clothes). She would probably still be 3T were it not for her height. Given that I'm a paltry 5'2.5" in height, I'm a little perplexed by her long legs and torso; I am guessing that maybe there is some hidden height on both Hubbs' and my sides of the family?

Now that potty training is a done deal, the next hurdle is weaning and transitioning from our bed to her own. I don't anticipate that this will be an easy process, nor am I particularly looking forward to it. However, Hubbs and I both feel like 3 years is a good run where her beloved nye-nye is concerned, and I am quite ready to reclaim my breasts as my own. I haven't ready anything or learned how to approach this yet, so if you have tips, please feel free to pass them along!!

And that, in a nutshell, is my soon-to-be-three year old. Where has the time gone!?!