Hello, Spring

Oh, spring.  How I've missed you!!  I've missed your fresh air, your blue skies, your sunny warmth.  I've missed playing outside without a coat.  I've missed short sleeves and sandals and, yes, even sunscreen. I've missed playgrounds and zoos and sidewalk chalk and family walks.  I've missed the long naps my kids take after spending hours playing outside.  I've missed the way I feel energized and motivated and happier when you are here.  You took your sweet time coming around this year, but I'm glad you're here now.  Welcome back!!

My Little Man



He's not yet walking on his own, but he's climbing, cruising, talking, imitating, and understanding so much.  And now he's also officially done nursing.  My little man is growing up so fast...

 

...and it makes me happy and sad at the same time.

Lunchtime Reality

Today at lunch:

Briggs was crying and throwing food off his tray because he didn't want the leftovers I heated up for him.  If I tried to feed him, he'd just spit it back out.  He ended up only eating fruit and crackers for lunch.

Adelie was being so squirrely that she fell off her chair.  Of course, this resulted in plenty of tears.  She also, somehow, ended up with peach juice in her hair.

Staley was hemming and hawing and procrastinating and negotiating about eating her peas, placing 2 peas on her fork for each bite...and taking at least 2-3 minutes to complete a bite.  I finally told her she needed to take bigger bites of peas, helping her scoop about 8-10 peas onto her fork.  She promptly put them in her mouth, gagged several times, and then threw them back up onto the table.

At least we only have to eat 3 meals a day.

Revelation of the Day

I think 3 year olds have to be so darn cute...

to balance the fact that they can be so darn frustrating.

She Says...

The other day, I was having Adelie dictate a few of her thank you notes for birthday gifts she received.  This was her first attempt:

"Thank you for all my things.  I love them.  Maybe for my next birthday, you can get me a mermaid toy."

 

#thinkingahead

#3yearoldhonesty

#alwaysmakingmelaugh

 

Three Years Old

Adelie is three, and I love this age.  She is so sweet and so cute and says the funniest things.  Sure, she can be uber-frustrating when she doesn't listen or can't keep her hands to herself or cries over ridiculous things, but even taking all the bad with the good, I just really love this age she is right now.

 

Adelie remains tall and skinny.  She weighs about 27 lbs.  She is wearing her 2T and 3T clothes and size 7 shoes.  Her 2T pants are generally too short, but her 3T pants are generally too big in the waist.  Luckily, given the choice, she prefers to wear dresses with leggings, so we don't have to worry too much about pants.  Adelie sleeps for 11-12 hours at night, and usually still takes a nap during the day for about 1.5-2.5 hours.  (Right now, however, she's spent the past 45 minutes just talking and singing in her bed instead of napping.)  Although she wasn't technically old enough for any of these before her birthday, Adelie joins Staley at story hour, kids choir, and Shining Stars.

 

Likes:  Adelie is a very happy, easy girl.  Favorite toys and play activities are Barbies (especially the Barbie mermaids), figurines (especially her mermaid figurines), and coloring/doing crafts.  Generally whatever Staley is playing or wants to do is what Adelie wants to do.  She loves to be a helper, often helping me with cooking and cleaning.  She is always very active and loves to go to the park, run around outside, ride her bike, and play on our playset.  Adelie is very social and sure of herself.  She plays well with some of her little friends her own age, but has no qualms about jumping right in with her older sister, her older cousins, and Staley's friends.  Her most favorite current TV show is 'Blaze and the Monster Machines' (a cartoon with talking monster trucks), but she also likes Sofia, Paw Patrol, and Dora and Friends.  Adelie enjoys reading books, often choosing to read Ariel stories, but she likes lots of different books.  Adelie is generally a good eater, but favorite foods include chicken nuggets, pancakes, macaroni and cheese, fruits, and anything sweet.  Adelie love, love, loves her big sister and her little brother.

Dislikes:  Adelie does not like being told to use the potty.  She does not like losing privileges.  She cries often over little things--falling down, getting in trouble, going potty, not being able to keep up with Staley,...but generally gets over it quickly.

 

Skills:  Adelie is very active and very coordinated.  She runs quickly, climbs efficiently, can ride her bike with training wheels, climb up playground equipment, and jump off things that she probably shouldn't.  She can do somersaults, swing on big girl swings, and throw and catch a ball.  Adelie is doing well with coloring in the lines, putting together puzzles (still needing help with big-girl, 24 and 48 piece puzzles), and doing simple crafts like stringing beads, gluing things, and snipping with scissors.  Adelie is very independent.  She can get undressed, put on pants/shoes/socks, take herself to the restroom, wash her hands, blow her nose, use silverware, and brush her hair all by herself.  She is starting to wash herself in the tub and brush her teeth, but still needs assistance to do this thoroughly.  Adelie loves to help around the house with things like cooking and cleaning. She is very funny, doing and saying silly things that make us laugh.  And if she does something that makes someone laugh, she will then do it over and over and over again. Adelie knows all her colors and shapes, can sing her ABCs, counts to 14 perfectly and to 20 with a few missing numbers, sings lots of songs, and has some of her books memorized.  She is very sweet and complimentary, loves to give hugs, is great at sharing, and is very thoughtful.  She truly brings so much joy to our lives!

My goofy girl

 

My big 3 year old

Question of the Day

Yesterday afternoon, after a 4th day of Adelie not napping, she was WILD.  Adelie was bouncing off the walls, climbing, hanging, wrestling, knocking things over...  In an attempt to harness her energy, I was trying to play catch with Adelie.  However, she was still having a hard time calming down, so I would just throw the ball across the basement.  Adelie would run and get it, race back to me, and then we'd do it again.  She had a great time running, laughing, and giggling, doing this over and over and over again for about 15 minutes straight.

So should I be pleased that I found a more healthy way for Adelie to use up some of her energy...

or should I feel guilty that I was playing fetch with my daughter?