A Step Back

So, you know how a couple weeks ago I mentioned how big my little girl is getting?

Um, I might have spoken too soon.

Don't misunderstand me, she is still acting more mature and is better able to express her emotions.  I am still very proud of her.

It's some of her behaviors that I'm not really understanding.

Like, how she chews on or puts toys in her mouth.  We have not been concerned with Hope putting little things in her mouth for a long time, but within the past several months she has been putting everything in her mouth.  Littlest Pet Shops, bouncy balls, pieces of construction paper, the television remote, I find them all in her mouth.  (I don't have to tell you how crazy that makes me, right?)



And, how she colors on non-paper items.  Today I found pen scribbled onto the back of her coat.  Okay, so maybe that is a sign she can not be trusted with a pen (my fault), but she is also known to color on her hands, arms, and even face with markers.  We're taking a break from anything but crayons right now.

Also, how she makes messes that she knows are not okay.  The other day I went into the bathroom and she had pulled all the toilet paper off the roll and was tearing it up into little pieces.  Just today, she purposely smeared frosting all over her face and then onto the kitchen chair.

These are not typical of her as a three-year-old so I do not understand where all this is coming from as a four-year-old.

I only hope that we are suffering a minor regression before progressing back into the wonderfulness that is four.

It will get better.  It has to get better.  Right?