All by myself

We have officially entered the "I do it myself" stage of life, from walking all over the place while refusing to hold our hands to maneuvering the fork herself while eating dinner. It has begun. Our formerly well-mannered and cooperative little monkey is fast becoming more and more prone to mini-tantrums and SCREAMING when she is unhappy with a situation (oh, such as being scooped up right before she runs out into the street or having her hands pulled out of the toilet bowl she's been playing in).

I know Lucy's just expressing her frustration at not being able to communicate her wants and needs as clearly as she'd like, but our parental fount of patience has been severely tested as of late. And of course, she vacillates between this limit-testing behavior and being just as sweet as pie -- sharing her food with you, curling up in your lap to read a story, patting you gently on the back when you hug her (seriously, some days I feel like I have whiplash). I guess it's God's way of keeping you from killing your child during this crazy toddler stage! She is growing and changing so quickly -- we're just trying to keep our heads above water.

P.S. I completely understand that a lengthy video clip of a toddler feeding herself is not the height of excitement for most, but... please keep in mind that our parents and siblings live far away from us. They miss out on a lot of the day-to-day minutiae and think this kind of stuff is just fascinating! :)