Sing songy

Miss E is growing in leaps and bounds...especially in her language.  She talks constantly and generally keeps us laughing.  Of course, she still has extremely strong opinions and since she can verbalize more, she is frequently barking out orders...

Don't sing mommy.

I want to listen to punzel (aka Tangled songs...for like the millionth time)...don't sing mommy (torture).

Mommy, stop that (if I'm doing anything she doesn't approve of).

I don't like this song/food/etc.  I want Beauty Beast/yogurt/etc.

I want to go to mall.  I want to go to Momo's house.

Not to mention her many preferences during meal times.  I see why people feed their kids the exact.same.thing.  If she see that we or Mason get anything differently, of course she wants it.  Meal times are a bit of a fiasco at our house these days.  Mason's screaming for food, and the boy shovels it in.  Oh my.  We may have to increase our food budget.  All the while, E is yelling things she wants and does not want, while Mason is then trying to feed Truman.  I'm sure we look comical, but it doesn't always feel comical when we have to jump up and down from the table 20 million times to get something from the kitchen, put T in his cage, pick water cups off the the floor...you get the point.

 However, with all her strong preferences and opinions, I have really enjoyed this age.  Don't get me wrong, the girl knows how to push my buttons, but she can be unbelievably sweet and so fun to be around.

One of my favorite things she does recently is sing...all the time.  I have longed for this stage.  Nothing sweeter than hearing a little child sing Jesus Loves Me.  She was a late bloomer in the whole singing department.  It kind of made me wonder if she would actually ever sing.  Then it started and it has been glorious.

She will stick to the same song for a while, then randomly will start singing something completely different (sometimes I'm not even sure where she learned it).  She doesn't like us to sing along with her. Anther strong preference.  I also try not to act too excited about it, because usually that makes her want to stop.  But I listen in total delight.

 I hope she keeps it up.  It so warms my heart.  I also want to be more intentional about what songs we sing together.  A friend posted on her blog that she was trying to teach her kiddo one hymn a month.  At the time I read it, that seemed like such a far off goal.  I'm not sure E would be able to yet, but the day may be coming.

 Random picture: this girl is not a fan of coats, or of shoes, but she sure does love the snow.  And that makes boots and jackets more tolerable.