Zoo and Tute

Amaree loves animals. Her first words were concerning animals, and she gets excited when she sees animals on TV. Because of her love, it was only obvious that we had to go to the zoo. I would show her animal books and she would stare at the animals she knew for hours, but the exotic animals seemed to mystify her. I was looking forward to this day for a very long time.

Andrew and Amaree look at some monkeys.

When we got to the zoo, Amaree didn’t quite know what to think. However, it wasn’t long before she was screaming to be let out of her stroller so she could get a closer look at all the animals. If Andrew or I fell a little behind, she would gesture frantically for us catch up. She would point to the monkeys high in the trees and stare in awe at the elephants. She loved the exhibits where she would run across the hallway. Back and forth over and over as she tried to see everything. She really enjoyed herself.

Look at me, Mommy!

Drama Is Brewing.

A few days later, I was getting Amaree dressed for the day. I had picked out an outfit with a cute appliquéd bunny. When I tried to get her dressed, she threw a fit. From what I could gather, she didn’t want me to put it on because then she couldn’t see the bunny and pet it. I put it on anyway and she rolled around on the floor for ten minutes crying and moaning.

The next Sunday, I tried to get her dressed, but she was very unhappy about it. Finally, Andrew was able to get her dressed in a cute little dress. She came into the bathroom where I was finishing my hair and she pointed to her dress and said, “Tute?” I thought she was pointing to the flowers and I said something about the flowers and she got frustrated, rolled her eyes, pointed at the dress again and asked, “Tute?” I finally got it. “Yes, sweetie, that dress is very cute!” She smiled and wondered off to play.

What is that smell?

A few days later she got upset with me because she thought the outfit I had chosen was not “tute”. She rolled on the floor and cried for at least ten minutes and didn’t eat breakfast because she was so upset about it. Sometimes she will ask if the outfit we have chosen is cute. Andrew can usually pick out clothes that she likes better than I can but if she doesn’t think it is “tute” then she is very upset with us. Oh, the joys of little girls…

"Is my hair tute?"

One exciting development is she is beginning to notice when she has to use the bathroom and likes to sit on her potty chair. She hasn’t really figured it out yet, but the fact that she is showing interest in encouraging.

If we have to live with her being tute, then we have it made. She is still one of the most well behaved children we know. She is so much fun and is such a wonderful helper. She makes our lives wonderful!