three years old

In June this girl turned three. (I blog slowly nowadays.) After her baby sister's photo shoot that week, L was too tired to cooperate. We ended up doing L's ten days later -- same park, and same photographer friend who did {these}. I am so glad that Anne and the camera captured some of L's beauty. 

She smiles / has fun / loves life, but would not smile even once during the 60+ minutes that Anne took pictures of her, even though she does know her. Afterward when I told L that I was sad she hadn't smiled, she said, "I will smile for you, Mommy" -- meaning when I'm behind the camera. Maybe she hadn't had enough sleep the night before and was feeling tired, but she also refuses to "perform" in front of other people when I or anyone else (i.e. the pediatrician) asks her to. 

At this age she usually cries or makes a frustrated "uhh uhh" whine when something is wrong, and won't say any words about what the problem is. She hates getting her hair wet in the bath no matter how we do it, and her crying about that always hurts my ears. She may talk less when she's not at home, but trust me, she's very talkative. She often deserves the nickname "Freakout." It's kind of interesting that some children scream for fun. She really is a good and polite kid, though; her nursery leaders and babysitters tell us she is. She always remembers to say thank you.

Anyway . . . she has changed so much -- from a toddler to a kid -- in the 14 months that we have lived in our current home. She seems a lot older than she was when I wrote {this}. The gap between her age and Shboogoo's seems smaller. She loves being a big kid, able to do things without help. But I love that she still comes to me for cuddles and wants to hold my hand in the parking lot.

L passed her three-year well check with flying colors. She was 8th percentile for weight (she has been 1st percentile, so that's gone up a little) and 9th percentile for height. C's six-month appointment was the same day, and it was sweet that after L's shots she started to cry again just because C cried out during hers. She is a good big sister. Just now, as I was typing with C  on my lap, L came and gently touched C's cheek and looked into her eyes as she quietly sang "wa-ah-ah."

Some L Sayings (you could call some of them Funnies), in order starting with mid-November 2011, show how she's speaking more like a grownup.


One day she gave me a cup and wanted juice in it. She told me, "In there, in the fridge. Have niny fridge, too. Daddy bought." She wanted me to know where the juice was and that we had a tiny fridge also. (However, Daddy didn't buy it, it had been my grandma's.)

She had Daddy's older iPhone in the new iPhone box, and said something like this: "Bad guys. not. get. phone keep fafe [safe] . . . Bad guys. not. get daddy’s phone. out this box. It my box for my phone.. . . It Daddy’s phone."

Did someone have a tiny hole in their shorts? "Niny hole in yois hoits [your shorts]?"

At bedtime she asked, "I dress up little minute? I put on priiiiiidy dress, be princess!"

L: I have more soy milk? 

Mommy: Have another bite of your peanut butter bread. 

L: Soy milk not candy.

(Meaning, "it’s not bad for me like candy is, so I can have more." Smart thinking!)

 

About The Emperor’s New Groove: [When] we watchin’ this funny show, him say “no touchy. No touchy.”

L: I brush my hair with this baby brush? 

Mommy: Yeah. 

L: Otay. Waint you [thank you].

Can you believe she scowled like that?

Mommy, at 8 a.m.: Do you want some oatmeal?

Yeah. Let I see if it’s morning time. [Runs to the patio door.] It is!

Layin' on Mommy.

Singing about getting something in the right order: I dog it in right oh-duh! I dog it in right oh-duh! 

After I drank almond milk from her cereal bowl: I didn’t know you can drink milk even a spoon is in.

Forcing the smile didn't work. Neither did getting out fruit snacks and showing her that whenever another kid smiled, he/she got a fruit snack.

Mommy: We need to get a little stool so you can get on and off the potty. And learn to wipe yourself. 

L: You can teach me to do anything. 

Mommy: I can? 

L: Yeah. And Daddy can.

Look at me. I can do amazing things. (She was holding her praying bear upside down with just her thumb through the loop of the tag.)  

I a good -- big girl, S! Do you know that?

On her birthday, she slept in. When she came in my room around 8:45 a.m. I said, "Happy Birthday, L!" She said so adorably, "But I still two and a half." I asked her, "Do you want me to tell you when it's the time that you were born?" She answered, "Yeah." Love her!

Edited to add: 

During her third year:

• She started to like drawing scribbles ("fribbles') on paper. 
• She potty trained (started just before age two and was good at it, with an adult's help, by two years and four months, then had more accidents for a little bit after baby sister was born). She is always dry in the morning, but we have some Pull-ups just for her to wear when she sleeps at one of the grandparents' houses, just in case. She has peed in her undies, maybe once a month?, if she is busy playing and doesn't tell anyone soon enough that she needs to go. She just starts to cry as she wets herself. Poor girl. Enough about that, though.
• She learned how to count to 10; sometimes to 18 or so, but she usually leaves out at least one of the numbers. 
• She can identify colors, shapes, and letters.
• She sings the whole alphabet song with other people. When she sings it by herself she starts with the middle of the tune and says "abcdefg" over and over again.
• She learned how to give a real kiss (at 24 months she couldn't do the smack).

L loves:

• the colors red, pink, and green
• running around, with or without her sister
• our little board book Maisy's Favorite Clothes, and other books
• her Mickey (my Steamboat Willie stuffed animal her daddy gave me when I was 17)
• jumping onto the couch from the coffee table
• watching a kid show on Netflix when she first wakes up; she is almost always the first child awake
• choosing what clothes she will wear
• "tacking" (snacking) on anything
• "helping" mom or dad cook or -- if we make it seem fun -- do chores, and "helping" dad play video games