Abby is just hilarious these days - our clown extraordinaire! Although, her emotional swings are so dramatic that it's exhausting to try and keep up sometimes.

At 3 years old, she is shaping her personality and taking responsibility for her actions. The days have been challenging for both parents and child as she tests boundaries and tries different approaches to situations to see what the consequences are.

She reacts to everything over-dramatically. Like last week when her sister had to start taking medication for her ear infections. Abby saw us with the liquid and she exclaimed, "No!! Is she dying?!" Everything is extreme.

We have been working on her reaction to food being offered to her to taste. She had been putting her nose up in the air and shouting, "Yuck! That's gross! Ewww...." and going on and on until the offerer loses their appetite.

We explained to her that just because she may not like something doesn't mean that it doesn't taste great to someone else. It's rude to proclaim something disgusting, especially if you haven't tried it. You can decline nicely if you don't want to try it.

Well, it's working. Although she has been great about trying most things, when she declines, she says, "No thank you. I know it's probably very tasty, but I don't want any. Thank you, though." Nice, Abby!

She is starting to resolve issues with friends using words and her sometimes warped sense of logic, but it's a huge step forward compared to the emotional breakdowns to which she usually resorted. I think she is starting to notice that other people respond better when she is cool and collected herself.

It's pretty neat to see her observing what results from her actions. You can almost see her banking the information in her head and making mental notes of, "Ahhh, so next time if I approach this situation from THAT angle, I should get them to bend at my will. Mwahahaha!"