How old is she?!

 

Its so hard to believe she turns 4 in less than a week! Here's a picture Nate took of Delaney flying a kite. She looks and sounds so much older so often and then she turns into "Looper the cat" and meows and paws at me and I remember she's really just a little thing. She can still curl up into the tiniest imaginable ball on my lap.
Here's our exchange from a few nights ago when she was frustrated with a decision I made concerning her...
Delaney: It just makes me want to fire you!
Me: What does that mean?
Delaney: I don't know.
A little bit later, after being told to pick up in her room, she asked for help. I reminded her that I had been fired.
I've heard her "fire" Jackson before also. He's so earnest; he always replies, "But Delaney, I don't have a job."
And then, Nate just reminded me of an exchange he had with Delaney the morning following a major battle of the wills between two of the most strong-willed people I know....(myself excluded, because I'm not strong-willed...at all...seriously...believe me or else!)
Nate: Delaney, I don't like it when we argue. It made me feel bad last night that we argued.
Delaney: I don't like it either, Daddy. (and then in the sweetest possible voice you've ever heard) Maybe you should just let me do what I want to do.

Uhhhhh.....

She continues to be in that place of wanting independence but also wanting to not be independent. I guess all of us live in that place from time to time in our lives, or for some of us, all the time. She can be so, so sweet, and so, so sour. I just have to keep remembering that's she's still pretty young, no matter how articulate she is.