Adelaide and (mostly) practical life

Adelaide has not been herself lately, probably (and hopefully, because other option is that just a new phase has started, and so far we have had quite a smooth sailing) because of her sickness.. Even though it's not too bad (we'll see a doctor tomorrow), she is still not feeling so well.. Going to sleep has been quite bad again (she refuses and wants who knows what..), she has been a lot more frustrated and angry during the day - throwing her dolls and things, especially if something is not working out for her, we often want to help, but can't even figure out, what exactly is the problem.. She has been doing some things she never has done before - for example, she was playing really nicely with her transferring work - putting the small peas into the jar, for a very long time, then I heard that they spilled a bit, she came to me and I said - let's go pick them up - she always has done that, we even started, but then she suddenly took three handfuls and threw them all over the floor. Similarly with water and food.. She would just suddenly dump on the floor, which is really weird. I know some toddlers do this a lot.. But Adelaide so far has not, it would happen on accident, but she hasn't really done stuff like that on purpose.

It really has been a test for our patience and parenting skills.. To remind myself to remain calm and collected, and not get angry (which I do.. I'm tired and worried, and not in the best mood myself), not to raise voice, but just calmly clean up (ask her to join, but she doesn't). It's hard, especially as it's such a sudden change and we don't know the reason. Or, who knows, maybe she's just being a toddler and is testing.. either just the life and physics, or us - the parents. Who knows.. (One theory, of course, would be that it's finally some reaction to getting a sibling.. Well, don't know, she doesn't act out when Jasmiina is getting attention.) Either way, remaining calm and still staying strong to our boundaries (e.g. not throwing water on the ground) is the answer, with an addition of extra cuddles.

But she is quite calm and playing very independently for the rest of the day. Apart from constantly playing with her dolls, she is enjoying some practical life related work. I wrote about some tasks that I set up for her in the kitchen (they are for the times when she is there, but not helping me out). At first she wasn't overly into them, but lately she does take them once in a while. Especially since the self made playdough set is there (bottom right corner, with a rolling pin and a wooden board and plastic knife. We haven't found a better option of a knife for her yet). Then it's the little peas, transferring either with a spoon or just by hand.

Then a bowl with water and some corks, and a strainer. (Bottom left corner.) And then there's just some sensory bottles - filled with different things, that have been there since she was a baby - and just some containers to practice open and close, she actually quite likes those.

We have another set of containers at her shelf area, and she likes those too, still. These are all with lids to screw, and she actually hasn't mastered that skill yet, she just closes them somehow (haha, just like her mommy, ask Mr. Husband :D ).

For the last couple of days she has been really interested in opening and closing press buttons, that she had on some of her clothes. Then she noticed that this baby doll also has those, and was opening them. She can open, but not close yet.

Practical life is the main focus for her now, and we have some plans accordingly - we want to change the kitchen area once again - to make it even better and more accessible for her (I will show it once it's ready). But she can already access some of her things. For example, she always has a little bowl of little rye-cereal balls (or kama balls, and she calls them always kamapallid in Estonian) available to her. She has started liking them a lot again, so the bowl gets empty, and she can refill it herself. Before there was a container she couldn't open, but I switched it to one that she can. And yes, truly, she is so happy of being able to do it herself.