three years
Chicken, last week you turned 3 years old. How did that happen? It's been a pretty good year. Mommy is finally getting the hang of parenting two children so things are less stressful around here.
What are you like? Well, you can do pretty much most things physically. Walk, run, climb stairs, climb up the "rock wall" of the playground equipment, climb onto all sorts of things, walk backwards, march, dance, jump, stand on one leg. You don't yet ride the tricycle, pump your legs while swinging, or have a good grasp on kicking balls.
You continue to grow taller. We don't have your annual doctor's appointment until next week and I'll update things then. (Update: Weight=32 lb 11.2 oz or 70th%, Height= 38" or 65th%.) Your hair is perfectly highlighted blonde (natural, of course). It still curls up at the end. You had your second haircut recently but it's still super long. It gets all ratty and tangled underneath but we've figured out how to (mostly) painlessly handle that. You like braids sometimes, ponytails, pigtails, hair clips. Still have wonderful eye lashes. You have pretty teeth and got that last one this year. You wear size 8 shoes.
Speaking of, you love shoes. But not just any shoes. You enjoy dressing up in high heels. You like your flip flops so much that it was a battle to get you out of them once the weather turned cooler. Your favorite pair of shoes are purple dress shoes. You also have some sparkly silver ones you like. I can't get you into any that I like, even though you said you'd wear them when we bought them. You also love jewelry, and you now have some beads to make your own. And you still wear dresses EVERY DAY. You just started to fit into the smallest dresses I have from when I was a little girl (that my dad's mother made for me). It makes me super happy to see you in them. You still love pink and purple. Definitely a girly girl.
You love your brother. And are mostly a Mommy's girl. You love reading, water, the iPad, more reading, going to the park, playing with dolls, your play kitchen. You mostly enjoy school. Over the summer you graduated from your old class to Pre-K 3. There was a ceremony and everything. You have gotten into princesses big time. You love watching all the movies over and over. And listening to the stories in my car. And reading about them. And watching the movies. And watching the movies some more. I think your favorite songs are probably the ones from "Beauty and the Beast" and "Little Mermaid." You saw your first movie just within the last month--"Frozen." You did great and made it almost the entire way before needing to potty. With your birthday money, you made your very first purchase--an Elsa dress-up dress. I also took you to see The Nutcracker this year. Did great there, too. I was so excited to be doing something like that with you!
You are an ok eater. You love snacks and sometimes just want to eat those. Favorites are probably gummies, yogurt raisins, cheese, and fruit.
You were done potty training about a third of the way into this year. You eventually moved into underpants at night, too (during the second half of the year). You can successfully wake up, go potty, and put yourself back to bed. It's awesome.
Your sleeping still varies. We have excellent periods and then not-so-good ones. It seems like you usually go to bed without crying but sometimes try to prolong bedtime. Lately, you have been staying in bed all night and even waking up at a reasonable hour. Knock on wood. We shoot for an 8:30 bedtime but it's usually between then and 9. You get up somewhere around 7:15. We moved you to a big girl bed within the last month (a twin bed). You handled it well. This also meant your room got a little mini makeover. I've enjoyed that part but it is bittersweet to see you getting so big.
You are super chatty. You hold full-on conversations. I was reading something the other day that said "your three-year-old may be making 4-word sentences." Um, yeeeaaaah. Four. I can't remember the last time you just said four words in a row. You're so smart. You know your ABCs and can count to who knows what. You get going and then insert "eleventeen" and suddenly you're at 20.
To celebrate your birthday proper, we continued the tradition of going to your grandparents' house for dinner, cake, and presents. You were much happier this year compared to last. Then we had your big party the next day. You wanted a pink party. Just pink. No noun to follow. It was relatively low-key and I think we all had a good time. You kids played well together without a ton of supervision. It was nice.
Overall, you're pretty awesome. You have a ton of empathy. You see how I treat your brother and you treat other people like that when they're hurt or sad. You're mostly well behaved. You did run away from me in Goodwill the other day and we had to have a come to Jesus meetin'. That was the first time you had done that. You do still pitch fits sometimes and sometimes fight with your brother. You're not perfect but I think you're pretty close considering you're three. Crazy. Happy belated birthday, Chicken. Looking forward to the next year.
What are you like? Well, you can do pretty much most things physically. Walk, run, climb stairs, climb up the "rock wall" of the playground equipment, climb onto all sorts of things, walk backwards, march, dance, jump, stand on one leg. You don't yet ride the tricycle, pump your legs while swinging, or have a good grasp on kicking balls.
You continue to grow taller. We don't have your annual doctor's appointment until next week and I'll update things then. (Update: Weight=32 lb 11.2 oz or 70th%, Height= 38" or 65th%.) Your hair is perfectly highlighted blonde (natural, of course). It still curls up at the end. You had your second haircut recently but it's still super long. It gets all ratty and tangled underneath but we've figured out how to (mostly) painlessly handle that. You like braids sometimes, ponytails, pigtails, hair clips. Still have wonderful eye lashes. You have pretty teeth and got that last one this year. You wear size 8 shoes.
Speaking of, you love shoes. But not just any shoes. You enjoy dressing up in high heels. You like your flip flops so much that it was a battle to get you out of them once the weather turned cooler. Your favorite pair of shoes are purple dress shoes. You also have some sparkly silver ones you like. I can't get you into any that I like, even though you said you'd wear them when we bought them. You also love jewelry, and you now have some beads to make your own. And you still wear dresses EVERY DAY. You just started to fit into the smallest dresses I have from when I was a little girl (that my dad's mother made for me). It makes me super happy to see you in them. You still love pink and purple. Definitely a girly girl.
You love your brother. And are mostly a Mommy's girl. You love reading, water, the iPad, more reading, going to the park, playing with dolls, your play kitchen. You mostly enjoy school. Over the summer you graduated from your old class to Pre-K 3. There was a ceremony and everything. You have gotten into princesses big time. You love watching all the movies over and over. And listening to the stories in my car. And reading about them. And watching the movies. And watching the movies some more. I think your favorite songs are probably the ones from "Beauty and the Beast" and "Little Mermaid." You saw your first movie just within the last month--"Frozen." You did great and made it almost the entire way before needing to potty. With your birthday money, you made your very first purchase--an Elsa dress-up dress. I also took you to see The Nutcracker this year. Did great there, too. I was so excited to be doing something like that with you!
You were done potty training about a third of the way into this year. You eventually moved into underpants at night, too (during the second half of the year). You can successfully wake up, go potty, and put yourself back to bed. It's awesome.
Your sleeping still varies. We have excellent periods and then not-so-good ones. It seems like you usually go to bed without crying but sometimes try to prolong bedtime. Lately, you have been staying in bed all night and even waking up at a reasonable hour. Knock on wood. We shoot for an 8:30 bedtime but it's usually between then and 9. You get up somewhere around 7:15. We moved you to a big girl bed within the last month (a twin bed). You handled it well. This also meant your room got a little mini makeover. I've enjoyed that part but it is bittersweet to see you getting so big.
You are super chatty. You hold full-on conversations. I was reading something the other day that said "your three-year-old may be making 4-word sentences." Um, yeeeaaaah. Four. I can't remember the last time you just said four words in a row. You're so smart. You know your ABCs and can count to who knows what. You get going and then insert "eleventeen" and suddenly you're at 20.
Overall, you're pretty awesome. You have a ton of empathy. You see how I treat your brother and you treat other people like that when they're hurt or sad. You're mostly well behaved. You did run away from me in Goodwill the other day and we had to have a come to Jesus meetin'. That was the first time you had done that. You do still pitch fits sometimes and sometimes fight with your brother. You're not perfect but I think you're pretty close considering you're three. Crazy. Happy belated birthday, Chicken. Looking forward to the next year.
Comments
Did you make that cake? Fabulous and incredible and lots of other adjectives that don't even begin to relate how impressed I am. :)