Margo à la Maude

We're hours away from Margo's second birthday, but I'm still about 400 pages short of finishing the unauthorized biography of her life. There's a lot to say. Having Maude around makes us realize where we were two years ago with Margo, and all the steps along the way that has brought us to this little girl before us.

But the past had been covered. Let's write about the present.

And the foreseeable future.

And... The Terrible Twos.

If I understand what is going on when the uglier side of being two comes about, a child is testing limits. (I don't want to brag, but I know people who know people who have read a book on child psychology, so I think I know what I'm talking about.) Yeah, I think that it's safe to say that we're going through that now. The unfortunate thing is that MarMon has always had an independent streak about her, so now, things are compounding.

And the other elements here is that patience is not my greatest virtue.

And listening hasn't quite cracked into Margo's top ten strengths either.

There have been tantrums, usually surrounding leaving places that interest her, i.e., the park, the video store with its resident dog and walls of treats. And attempts are time outs (we're making headway with having her understand what that means). Calm Mama had to remind me to pick my battles. Better to focus on throwing things in Maude's general direction than a refusal to wear a bib.

You know, rereading what I've written so far, I'm not sure why I chose to focus on the Terrible Twos. I guess our disagreements are very passionate and emotional times, so the crying rings in my ears for hours after she goes to bed. But truth be told, Margo is a fantastic kid. Her independence will serve her incredibly well in the future, her once serious demeanour has been replaced by laughing and cuddliness... in doses. And I think that she's showing signs of being a great big sister that have exceeded all of our expectations (see photo of Margo helping me bathe Maude).

And in warming her up for her birthday, the smile that she gets when she realizes that "Happy Birthday" has her name in it and that we're singing the song to her is priceless.

And to top everything off, like, I mean, beyond even my wildest dreams, the maraschino cherry on top of the whipped cream, Margo can do The Robot.

She's a good kid. Bonne fête, ma fille.

- Michel

Labels: developments, video

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 09, 2008 at 11:48 p.m.. You can skip to the end and leave a response.