Naughty, Naughty.

Ava has been exceptionally naughty lately.

Oh I remember the time, not so long ago, where I would
be so eager to get her around people and show off
what an amazing little person she is.

Please don't think for a second that I don't still find her amazing.
She really is. I couldn't be more proud to call her my daughter.

Except for sometimes.

Awhile back I started noticing that my friends kids would lie to me.
They would tell me that Ava kicked them or hit them.

IMPOSSIBLE!!

Not my kid.

She is the picture of perfection.
She is kind and loving and honest.

These incidents began to increase.
The horrifying realization came over me that maybe
those kids aren't lying? Maybe Ava really does kick & hit??
Really?

This didn't seem right.

One day I was at Out of This World, a play place in Hillsboro, where you just let your child run wild through an industrial building filled with blow up slides, things to climb and cars to race. I noticed a very small child crying & being comforted by her parents. I had a bad feeling so I went over & asked "Did THAT child (motioning to Ava) have anything to do with why your daughter is crying right now?" They tried to downplay the whole thing, making excuses for Ava, but they ended up admitting that she had pushed this little one year old girl down.

Since then there have been several occasions where
she has taken out her aggression on her little playmates.
I have made a huge production over the fact that no one
will want to be her friend anymore if she hits or kicks them.
That hasn't seemed to deter her.

And it's not just kicking & hitting.

It's the lying too.

She constantly tells me "I think some other kid did that."
Even if there are no "other kids" for miles.

And it's not just the lying.

It's complete disregard for anything we want her to do. You tell her one thing and she does exactly the opposite. You would think reverse psychology would come in really handy right about now but she is crazy smart so she KNOWS what we REALLY want.

What happened to that little girl that just wanted to
please her parents??

I miss her.

The other day I went into Ava's room and found a pile of fluff on the floor that she had clearly pulled out of her pillow pet. We had a big talk about how to treat our toys and how inappropriate it is to ruin them. I told her she won't have a pillow pet anymore if she treats it that way.

Yesterday while John was changing the sheets he pulled her bed out from the wall to collect all the things she very naughtily put down there (even though she knows she is not supposed to do that either) and what did he find?? A GIANT pile of pillow pet fluff. I could tell she had done it since we discussed this because now her toy was looking pretty empty.

She is also controlling, bossy and manipulative. She wants to control everything and everyone. This may someday come in handy as an adult but for now it is what all these behaviors are:

Annoying.

I know that much of this is due to the competitive nature of being a big sister, tossed off her pedestal, cast aside to the fabulous awesomeness of an engaging, cute, cuddly Norah that gets everyone's attention without even trying.

I know this is hard on Ava, she used to be the star of every show. She used to talk to everyone and blow their socks off with how engaging she was.

Now they go strait to Norah, oohing and ahhing over her, when they finally get around to noticing Ava it is to ask her how she likes being a big sister.

I'm sure the loss of undivided attention from all her fans is rough on her but worse yet, she lost her mommy. I used to give her all my attention too. Those days are over. Norah is very high maintenance, just as babies are supposed to be.

I have decided to make an effort to spend more time with Ava this week. Really soak up the awesomeness of who she is now, and I promise she IS still awesome.

She tells me she loves me 600 times a day. She asks the best questions, she is fun to play with and fun to just watch play on her own. She is sensitive, caring, helpful & hilarious.

The other day I went to run some errands and left Norah home with John, Ava asks "Why isn't Norah coming with us?" I explained that she needed a nap & that sometimes it is just more fun for it to be just the two of us. The next day we needed to run more errands, this time without the luxury of being able to leave Norah home with daddy. Ava says "Mommy why are we taking Norah with us?? You said it is more fun when it's just Ava!!!"

Love her.

I know a lot of these naughty behaviors are perfectly normal for 3 1/2, especially with the addition of a sibling to stir the pot. I just truly hope we can get Ava back on track to being the sweetest little girl in the world, just like she used to be.

Otherwise I might have to give in to the fact that she is growing up and PLEASE don't make me do that!

So with all that being said, want to have a play date???

I can't promise anything on how Ava will behave
but I can say we are working on it.... : )