Love and Frustration

I love so much about Ellie right now. Her tiny shoes next to Daddy's huge ones on the shoe rack. The way she says, "Back!" while holding up her index finger and walking away from me, signaling "I'll be right back," but it's a lie and we both know it. She's just escaping the hairbrush. The way she is so attentive to her dolls, feeding them and rocking them, covering them with blankets and talking to them, diapering them and patting their backs.

But I'm afraid that I don't love everything that Ellie is into these days. For instance:

• When she drinks from the dog's water bowl
  
• When she plays in the dog's water bowl and puts stuff in there
  
• When she spills the dog's water on the floor, then sits in the puddle, usually just before we need to leave the house
  
• When she tells me that she doesn't need to potty, then goes in her diaper (or worse, if we're going diaperless)
  
• When she grabs onto the toilet seat
  
• When she puts things in the toilet while sitting on it (yesterday: her sock, today: her ponytail elastic)
  
• When she throws dishes away in the kitchen trash
  
• When she climbs into the tub and sits down, right after I've taken a shower (again, usually just as we're about to leave the house)
  
• When she knocks all of the books off her bookcase, just to make a mess
  
• When she pulls the floor lamps over and breaks them

Good times, good times with a toddler.

Also, typical times with a toddler. Times I treasure, even if it takes a few minutes (or hours) of reflection to remember to do so.