Look what I can do!

Daphne can now climb into a regular chair all by herself.
Miss Messy still has to eat in the high chair though.

Daphne recently took it a step farther and climbed on the table.

It's not good enough to wear any old
baseball hat. Daphne has to wear Tyler's hat.

Daphne is quickly becoming more and more of a big girl. A few of her recent developments:

• Just like Tyler: Daphne essentially thinks she is a 4-year old just like Tyler. She thinks she can pretty much do everything Tyler can do although she has a long way to go. This often frustrates Tyler because she gets into all his toys.
• Sibling Squabbling: And since Daphne gets into Tyler's toys, clothes, blankets, etc. this has led to a lot of sibling arguments. I didn't think it would start this early! I mostly hear complaints from Tyler since he can talk but Daphne will squeal for my attention too if she wants help dealing with Tyler.
• Rough and Tumble: Daphne is no damsel in distress! She can play with the boys and big kids. I have seen her pushing Tyler. While I am glad she is no pushover I also don't want her to be a bully.
• Climbing: Daphne is climbing on even more stuff as you can see by the kitchen table photo. She is a pro at climbing onto the couch now and so she runs back and forth on our sectional just like she has seen Tyler do a million times. We should have nipped that habit in the bud when Tyler was smaller.
• Doors: Daphne is currently fascinated by doors. She has gotten the hang of closing them but she hasn't figured out how to turn the door knob to open them. Conversely, she can sometimes open sliding pocket doors, but hasn't figured out how to close them.
• Trash Cans: Daphne has figured out how to open the lid to our kitchen trash can and we have seen her putting paper towels and napkins in there. She also likes to try to put stuff in public trash cans all by herself. We have to stop her because sometimes she tries to get rid of non-trash.
• Mine!: On Friday Daphne started saying "mine" and she has squealed "mine" continuously since then.
• Talking: Daphne seems on the cusp of talking more. She has started using "mama" and "dada" in context more often. She says "muh" for milk. Generally Daphne seems to be trying to use language. She still communicates pretty well with pointing and head nods. She finally nods yes after months of shaking her head side-to-side for no.
• Miss Messy: Unlike her brother, Daphne makes a giant mess when she eats. Don't get me wrong, Tyler has made his share of food messes but they were mostly related to learning how to use utensils and get food in her mouth. Daphne approaches eating like art. The other day she essentially finger painted ketchup on her tray and yesterday she treated her yogurt like lotion. She rubbed the yogurt all over both hands and then all over her arms up to her elbows. Daphne also loves to throw food on the floor and we're trying to break her of that habit.
• Organized/Cleaner: Daphne counter-balances her messy eating with a love for organizing and putting things away. It's nice when they inherit some of our good traits too!