What is Lyla like at almost three? How can I capture the essence of her right now? I can look at photos in a year or two or ten but I'm not sure I'll remember what she is really like right now.
She's feisty and dramatic and demanding. She's learning that saying "Please can you, would you mind" makes us more likely to give into her demands. She's ecstatically happy one moment and in a flood of tears the next. She is unafraid of most things, spending ten minutes gently getting a spider to crawl into her hand so she can bring him to show me. Grabbing handfuls of the blackberries that grow at the edge of the little wood in our garden and cramming them in her mouth until purple juice drips down her chin. She'll eat just about anything, especially if you give it to her a couple of times but she would be perfectly happy to survive on milk and fruit. She's in love with a cartoon pig and a whiney French-Canadian pre-schooler. While she's surviving on that milk and fruit, she'd like you to read to her please, constantly. She can play for ages with her little plastic animals and "zoo" (see above) making up stories and adventures. She's incredibly loving and sweet, whispering "I love you" in your ear and giving you a big wet kiss on the cheek. I think we'll keep her.
