Opal at 35 Months

Opal has such a personality, and it is a shame that the pandemic isn't allowing others to appreciate her in all her glory.  She is still quite shy around others, and I feel like a liar when I tell people she actually talks non-stop when she is not being shy.  

She loves playing with her big sisters, and is so happy when they include her.  

Usually, Opal's older sisters spoil her and let Opal boss them around.  This worries me, and I never knew that the hardest part of parenting the youngest of a passel of kids would be keeping the older kids from negatively influencing her.  But, there are plenty of good ways that they influence her too, so I hope it balances things out in the end.

Lately Opal has been upset about her lack of hair.  She wants to look like a girl she tells us, and she wants to do her hair like her sisters.  Here she is below, sporting a tiny pony tail.

Opal loves working next to me on her play laptop, and she also loves to bring me play food treats that she made in her play kitchen to tide me over as I work.  What a sweetie pie!

Opal gets to watch her shows on the laptop when her sisters are watching something that she finds boring, like the show Liv and Maddie, which Opal refers to as "chicken patty."  She will say, "I hate chicken patty!" if the girls are watching it and demands to watch something else.  I'm not sure how parents with multiple kids did screen time before families had multiple screens to work with.  I do remember lots of pouting while my brothers kicked me off of watching My Little Pony so they could watch more masculine shows.  Here Opal is below, snacking on some baby carrots while she watches Elmo, wearing her blue light blocking glasses.  I'd say she's winning at life here.

Opal is very open to trying new foods, and has no hesitation taking at least a bite of something.  If she likes it, she happily asks for more.  If she doesn't like it, she tells us, "I'll probably like it when I'm older." Yes, Opal, I have no doubt that you will!  She seems to have sophisticated taste, as she loves putting garlic and basil pesto on her cheese pizza or sandwiches to add more flavor.  She says, "where's the green stuff?" if we forget to add it on for her.  I wonder if her excitement with flavors has anything to do with the nine months I was pregnant with her and so sick I could only eat twelve different foods.  She's just so excited to try everything, and if my theory is correct, I really can't blame her!  I do remember my other kids being more adventurous eaters, and then somewhere around three that disappearing for several years.  Time will tell with Opal, as she will be turing three very soon!