A Mind of Her Own

It seems from the moment she was born, Anna was expressing her opinion and demanding to get her own way. She tells me frequently, "I do it" and if I don't let her do it herself a tantrum ensues. Compared to her, James is my easy going child. With the exception of his recent desire to wear nothing but pajamas, James has never cared what I dressed him. Anna started had an opinion of what she wanted to wear at a young age (before she was one) and is only getting more demanding.

Today, for example, when I was dressing Anna for church, I gave her the option of three dresses: a blue one, a yellow one, and a red one. She chose the blue one. After I buttoned it up she grabbed the yellow one (the one I thought she would chose since yellow is her favorite color) and started to put it one over the blue dress. I asked her if she wanted to take the blue dress off and wear the yellow. She said, "No!" I tried to take the yellow one off. She scream, so I buttoned up the yellow dress. She looked in the mirror and declared herself "Pretty." Who am I to gainsay a determined one and half year old who thinks wearing two dresses at the same time to be perfectly acceptable? Besides only a toddler can get away with wearing two dresses to church and still be considered cute, or as Anna frequently told me today, "I pretty."