Full Frontal, and Other Developments and Little L-isms

Got your attention, didn't I? But I'm not talking about nudity here (sorry to disappoint); I'm talking about where to sit when you're in a vehicle.

Up until just a few weeks ago, Hubbs had been our family chauffeur and Little L and I were permanent residents of the back seat. On rare occasion, I would sneak up to the front to keep my man company, but never on long distances and usually, only if Little L was in a particularly great mood. These were infrequent instances, indeed; I'm pretty sure I could count the number of times I've sat in the front seat in the past three years on one hand. Instead, I was relegated to back seat status, held captive by my desire to keep my kid entertained during long rides. When she was really little, I sang songs and read stories and held up toys and offered snacks. When she got a little older, I provided her with board book after board book during our drives. Once she was finally old enough to start using the iPad, I was her tech-support and snack attendant. We found driving with a screaming child to be a stressful (and potentially dangerous) experience, so we opted to mitigate this with my back seat presence. A worthy trade, in my mind.

However, I had gotten so used to sitting in the back over the years that it never even occurred to me to sit up front sometimes. Sort of like how Stockholm victims don't try to escape after a while.

Then everything changed. Little L's car seat turned forward-facing (much to my chagrin).

And as we loaded Little L into her Foonf one day, she made an unexpected, unprompted request. She said, "I want Mommy to sit in the front." Shocked, we asked her if she was sure, and why she wanted me to move, to which she replied, "I don't want Daddy to be alone." After triple-checking with Little L, I calmly climbed into the front passenger seat, my actions belying the giddiness I was feeling inwardly. I was finally going to be able to sit with Hubbs! In the front! To me, this was a total victory of sorts. If you've not been a prisoner in the back seat for the past three years, I don't expect you to understand. It's okay. Anyway, the ride was completely uneventful and Little L was fine. No crying, no whining, no complaints or crazy requests requiring us to pull over on the side of the road.

Was this too good to be true? Had she grown up enough to be able to sit independently in the back?

The next time we had to take the car, she made the request again. And since that day, I haven't sat in the back even once. We still check with her on occasion to make sure that she is okay on her own back there, but honestly, I don't really care. I'm never going back (pun intended).

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Babies don't keep, and neither do toddlers. My full-blown threenager preschooler's behaviour is equal parts awesome and awful. I won't dwell on the awful, but suffice to say, last Wednesday was not a great day. And for every two or three awesome days, there is one really, really crappy one.

But the awesome stuff just blows my mind. Like when she asks for some alone time, and plays unsupervised and uninterrupted for 30 minutes. Or when she yanks down her pants and goes potty before I even ask her if she needs to. Or when she helps me make Nespressos in the morning and gets this big smile on her face from accomplishing something that she knows will bless Hubbs and I. Or when she invents a story that is probably an amalgamation of five other stories that she has heard, modified and revised to incorporate her own little quirks. Or when she cracks a joke because she knows it will make her parents giggle.

So while I am hoping that the 4's are easier than the 3's, I am enjoying every moment of this new phase in her development. Here are some of her most recent words:

"In three weeks, I'm going to Moody Mountain in my sleep."

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Her summation of the Easter story that we were convinced she didn't actually hear (due to misbehaving in Sunday School):
"First Jesus was alive, and then He was dead, and then He was alive again! The bunnies were soooo happy because Jesus was ALIVE!"

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After Hubbs tried to convince Little L it was time to go home for dinner, she yelled:
"Wanna go on the slide! Wanna give my dinner to the birds!!"

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Mid-tantrum: "I want to be sad for 20 minutes!"

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While on a daddy-daughter date, she says to him, "I want to go to a different coffee place. The one with the coffee machine." (As it turns out, she wanted to come home and make me a coffee. <3)

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"Miss Sara thought it was an impressive idea."

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"My nostrils look kind of funny. They kinda look like hearts. I have to go get a wrench to fix them!"

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After I tell Little L that her daddy is coming to give her a hug:
LL: Oh no! I'm worried Daddy is going to be stinky.
Me: Why?
LL: Because he is gonna make a really, really stinky poop!