On Friday night, it was a bit brutal putting Kaia to sleep. After reading half a dozen books, she still refused to go to bed. One and a half hours later, she still refused to sleep and just wanted to sit up and read, read, read. After a while, I just took all her books away, turned off the light, and laid there. She proceeded to “take a break” while sitting with her stuffed animals on her toddler bed (where she NEVER sleeps), and she started talking to each of them, one by one. There’s Winnie the Pooh, Marilyn the pink birthday bear, Henry the rabbit, and a kangaroo (still nameless). This is how the conversation goes, with her playing both herself and each of the stuffies:

Kaia: Pooh! Pooh! Time to sleep!

Kaia (as Pooh): No! No, I don’t wanna!

Kaia: You have to sleep! Lie down! Lie down right now!

Kaia (as Pooh): No, no, no! I take a break!

Kaia: Marilyn, time to sleep!

Kaia (as Marilyn): No, I don’t like it!

Kaia: Lie down right now! (pushes Marilyn down into a lying position)

Kaia: Henry! You wanna read?

Kaia (as Henry): No, no, no! I don’t wanna!

It was extremely adorable to watch and listen to this role play. I found it hilarious that she was bossing each of them around, probably like how she hears Chris and me boss her around, and she still wanted them to “take a break.” It’s hard being a toddler: you rarely have choices, and someone’s always forcing you to do stuff on their schedule, not yours. But it’s all a part of growing up. One day, she will be able to make her own decisions… and that will be its own level of craziness to me.