To say that Lily's been in a difficult stage lately would be an understatement. I'm not sure what's going on with her, but she's been whiny and clingy and tantrummy. I had hope that it would all disappear when she turned four, but that happened two weeks ago, and things have gotten worse, not better.
I am trying a new approach to the clingyness - I'm smothering her with love and affection. Everytime she asks to be picked up, I pick her up. Every time she asks to sit in my lap, I let her. She's obviously feeling neglected in some way, even though I feel I give her lots and lots of love and attention. So I'm going overboard in the hopes that it will reassure her and she'll settle back down. It seemed to be working yesterday. I was sitting at the computer, trying to respond to an e-mail from my boss when Lily asked to sit in my lap. I took a deep breath and picked her up. She sat in my lap for about a minute before hopping down and wandering off to find Ella. If I hadn't picked her up, or had told her to wait a few minutes, I would have had to listen to five minutes of whining. It was a good lesson for me, in addition to helping Lily.
Despite the behavioral issues, Lily is still just a sweet, funny little girl. She cracks me up on a regular basis, even when she isn't meaning to. She just has this way about her that makes me laugh.
I took Lily to the doctor on Monday for her four-year check-up, and she made me and the doctor laugh. Unlike Ella, Lily loves her pediatrician and cooperates during the exam. She didn't even cry when nurse Cindy gave her three shots. When the doctor had finished his exam, and we were waiting for the nurse to come with the shots, Lily turned to me with a very serious look and said, "Mama, when we come to the doctor he always listens to my heart. Today he didn't. You need to tell him." I thought for a few minutes and realized she was correct. Lily was adamant that I go get the doctor to listen to her heart - we weren't leaving until he did. So I went out and told the nurse, who told the doctor. He said it was the first time he's ever had a patient correct him AND demand that he come back in and fix things.
Today we went to "ballelet," which is the highlight of Lily's week. Each day, the first thing she asks is whether it's a ballelet day. Dance is the first thing I've found that Lily truly enjoys: She cried during swim lessons; she cried during gymnastics. But during dance she smiles and laughs the whole time. It's wonderful to see.
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