Sensitive

I don't know why it's taken me this long to realize how sensitive and shy Lucy is. She's not shy at all around me, so when she clams up around others I'm always taken back.
But lately, she focuses much of her attention on three emotions... happy, sad, and mad. If I ask her to give back Todd's toy, she gets so upset, runs to her bed, dramatically flops onto her bed and yells out "Lucy's so sad! Lucy's crying!" ...She knows how to break my heart.
A couple of days ago, it took me at least a half an hour to convince Lucy that I wasn't mad at her. She woke up that morning and all she could say over and over again was "Mommy mad... Mommy very very mad!" She has even talked in her sleep saying/crying "Mommy mad!" What?! Is that all she sees me as... mad? When we get upset at her, it cuts her to the core. And apparently if she is having nightmares about it, she is really affected by it. I think I need to be a little more careful with how I react to her sometimes.

But I do take a little advantage of her current focus on emotions. Like when she won't stay in her bed when it's 9:30 at night. I tell her that if she gets out of bed then "I'll get very, very mad"... but if she stays in bed, "I'm so happy!"
Most of the time, it works like a charm.
My favorite is when she wakes up in the morning or from a nap, runs out of her room with a big smile, gives me a big hug and says, "Mommy happy!"

"Yes, Mommy is happy! Because now I get to be with you!"