I had a number of people tell me that the 'threes' where worse than the 'twos'....and I would have to agree! I have now experienced a full on temper tantrum and we are definitely having POWER struggles! But...there are some fun parts too.
I'll start with her fashion...ever since the wedding and her debut as a flower girl she demands to wear a 'pretty dress' every day. She loves to wear dresses and has become a little more 'girly'. She is slowly getting into jewelry and will ask to wear her necklaces and bracelets to school. She has definitely developed a 'taste' and it seems the more frilly the dress the better. She wants to pick out her clothes every night before bed and loves to hang the 'pretty dress' on her bed. She refused to put a dress on for Nathan one morning because it was 'frumpy' and she told him 'she doesn't wear frumpy clothes'. I haven't even attempted to put a pair of jeans on her since this fall...she quickly started refusing to wear her jeggings I bought her before winter ever even rolled around. She has enjoyed having her nails and toes painted but hasn't requested a mani/pedi lately. She received My Little Pony and Dory sticker earrings in her Easter basket and has enjoyed wearing them the last couple of days to school. She hasn't tried to control her shoes or coat choices too much quite yet. I can feel my days of deciding what she wears are becoming fewer and fewer.
Her diet also remains a struggle. She does enjoy various fruits and veggies but I can't get her out of her comfort zone for her entree choices. If you ask her what she wants to eat...her answer every. time. is 'cottage cheese and chips'. She would eat that three times a day every day! I tell her that sounds yucky and she gets mad at me. 'That's not yucky, mommy!'...I say...'yes, it is!'.....'No, it's not mom!' She will also eat cheese pizza and thankfully chicken nuggets/fingers. She will also eat shaved ham....but she survives mainly on diary products and fruits and veggies. I really can't even get her to eat most processed foods...she refuses to touch cereal, gold fish crackers, or fruit snacks. She did eat a little more Easter candy this year...and it appears she likes chocolate. She loves pancakes and so Nathan makes her pancakes every morning for breakfast...but she won't put any butter or syrup on them...she eats them dry. She drinks milk like it's going out of style and between her and Rowan I'm thinking we are going to have to buy a cow. She also wants to watch 'her phone' at every meal....which is kind of a catch 22. It's nice because it keeps her in her seat and she will actually eat while she's watching it...but I know she isn't necessarily building great table habits while she's getting in more screen time. She would eat all day long if I let her....she's a grazer. I've not sooner cleaned up the kitchen because she's declared she's done with lunch and she's walking in demanding more cottage cheese and chips! bleck!!!
Her running has improved slightly. We still get reports from school that they have problems with her during circle time and they've had a few activities where she's refused to sit still or stay with her group. Her first dance recital is coming up soon and I'm worried she's going to run around and fall off the stage! Having Rowan around has helped a little....she's usually so into him if we go anywhere that she doesn't stray too far. But honestly, I really try and avoid taking her in public very often.
Potty training has been a big fail so far. I tried training her LAST spring and the weekend we chose she woke up with Roseola...so we kinda had to scrap the idea. I've tried multiple times since and she's refused. She will go through all the motions but she refuses to actually go potty in the toilet. I had multiple people tell me to just lay off and that she has to decide when she wants to go, etc. But I'm sooooooo tired of changing her diapers! So we tried again over spring break...plus, I feel like she was getting too comfortable in her pull ups. She has done well...with no accidents in her underwear, but she holds it all day long! She has held it until like 7 pm at night! Her bladder has to be about ready to burst! She's had a few accidents and gets very upset but it hasn't prompted her to want to use the potty yet. She has a box of My Little Pony figures she earns every time she uses the potty...she's earned two so far...and then she stopped. She even tells me that she has to go potty on the potty to get another one out of the box....but still no progress. I called the doctor and they officially labeled her a 'resister'....Lord, help me!
She is still quite enamored with Rowan. He's walking now and so she pulls him down all the time and still tries to lay on him, etc. She gets him into a choke hold sometimes and he still tolerates it all very well. She loves to wake him up in the morning and always wants to 'see him' aka maul him. She is definitely his enabler and thinks it's hilarious when he plays in the toilet. She opens doors for him and baby gates, which has 'helped' him tumble down the stairs at least once. She still won't let him touch anything of 'hers' and will promptly take any toy away from him. She loves to repeat names I call him...she tells me that he's a 'silly boy' and a 'sweet boy' and she still calls him 'baby and baby boy' all the time. She loves it that he's in the car when I pick her up from school. She's helpful with him sometimes as she will pick up his sippy cup when he drops it on the floor.
Her vocabulary of course has exploded and she repeats a lot of what I say. She loves to call me 'mama' and she has this weird pattern currently where she ends every phrase/sentence she says with mama. 'I'm just watching my show mama' or 'baby is walking, mama'. She has a good memory...it's been three months now since Wrigley died and she asked me the other day where his food bowls were...and told me he would need them when he got back. Of course, it brought tears to my eyes. They must have been talking about pets at school or something because out of the blue she told me that she had a puppy and I asked her what it's name was and she said 'Giggly'. She's been singing a lot more as well. She has really taken a liking to movies and so we watch almost every Disney movie available and then some. She belts out most of the songs in Frozen and Moana. She has even taken to acting out the songs. The other night she randomly broke out singing 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' in the car. She knows all the words to 'Jesus Loves Me' as well. If I ask her to do something for me and she's actually in agreement with me she'll say 'oh sure mama'. Somewhere along the way she's dropped calling Nathan 'baba' and he's now officially Daddy. She's not afraid to show her emotions and sometimes out of the blue will say 'i love you too mama'. She will state something is cute or pretty...'baby is so cute mama!' And of course if she's having a rough morning...'i not wearing that!' Most of the time she's very polite and uses please and thank you without being prompted.
Nathan has created a monster. She pretty much only wants him to read to her at night...which most of the time he loves. But the nights where he would like to have a little extra time to himself and tries to pawn her off on me...well, those nights don't go so well for him. ha! She asks him every night 'daddy read to me'. They have their little ritual. She's loving the 'I Spy' books right now 'Pete the Cat'. Her bedtimes have gotten better/easier but I still have her gated into her room. We can now close the door however....which is a big improvement from before.
The threes have been a challenge and it's hard to believe this year is almost half over! Her 4th birthday will soon be right around the corner! I'm hoping the potty training gods will soon look favorably on us!!
