I Want

Julianne's latest word trick is saying, "I want_______." It comes out sort of fast and slurred like, "Iuuuunt" Lelo (for Leo), baby, bunnies, cookies, ice, etc. Cara told me that this stage is most likely about Julianne discovering that she has some control over her world and what we do. Therefore saying "I want" about 100 times a day is just her trying to exert some control over her little world and her surroundings. I find myself saying, "Settle down - you don't have to have something every single second of every single day." I am struggling a bit with how often to give in to her demands. I want her to know I am in control, but I also want her to feel independent from me so she can grow and learn to make her own choices, etc. Speaking of independence, on Friday of this past week I walked Julianne into her classroom and we were the first ones there (unusual for us) and so I was visiting with her teachers. About 3 mintues later Julianne came at me from behind at a decent clip with a fairly forceful push and yelled, "GO!" I took this to mean she really enjoys having her own special place to go without mom and dad. I do admit it hurt my feelings a bit. So off I went only to return to find her not at all ready to be reunited with me. She threw an absolute fit because she did not want to leave school and she actually laid down in the hall way on her back and would not get up. I pretended to leave without her which only made her more upset. When I finally wrestled her off the ground we made up and went the Chick-Fil-A where she proceeded to sing "Happy Day" to some kid who was having a birthday party there. The rest of the day she sang, "Happy Day...to you."