Growing up

Ayla is finally gentle and calm enough to hold Mariska on her own (for brief periods!). She is very happy about this! Ayla is calming down in many ways these days. It's been very interesting to watch this happen. We can have longer conversations now and explore ideas in more depth. As we left my parents' place from our Easter visit, Ayla happily waved goodbye to them and then turned to me and said, "When are nana and poppa going to die?" That was really not what I would have thought would be going through her mind right then! We had an interesting conversation about death.

I then decided it was time to talk a bit about "strangers" and how to react in situations with both strangers and non-strangers that could be dangerous for the kids. Sebastian really does not like having these talks. He takes it all in but does not like to say much. Ayla found this to be a very interesting topic and was full of questions and was eager to offer up different scenarios. I felt good about the talk when we were done. I felt like she understood what I was saying and that I managed to help her to that understanding without scaring her. I felt even better a few days later she came rushing in from playing on the sidewalk. She said that a man was watching her from his van. I asked her if that made her feel uncomfortable. She said yes and I reinforced that she had handled the situation just right by coming inside. (The man was a neighbour who lives on a nearby street. He was at the stop sign waiting for the road to be clear. I watch her from the window when she's out :) ).

Ayla has such an outgoing and friendly personality. It is such a joy to watch her interact with people but it is also a relief to see that she is starting to become a bit more discriminating.