We’ve always heard the 3’s are worse than the 2’s….it’s true.  You have been super whiney and fussy lately.  Not about anything in particular just about things in general.  It’s particularly bad when you are tired.  You’ve also taken to a pretty early wake-up time recently – 6:15 to 6:30am, which I am sure is not helping.  

You are doing great with your glasses!  You wear them almost all of the time.  Understandably you get sick of them sometimes but for the most part you are good about keeping them on!  It helps that you look absolutely precious in them.  

You still adore your baby brother and have a knack for making him laugh.  We put him in the shopping cart for the first time last week.  It was at Sam’s where they have the double wide carts so you were able to sit next to him…you both loved every minute of it!  You love to do silly things to make him laugh like throw yourself on the floor or make funny sounds.  When you get him going he actually belly laughs…not just a baby giggle…it’s a full on crack up session!

It’s hard to believe how fast you are growing.  You are so mature and when compared to other children of your age the comments are usually the same – “she’s so well spoken”, “she’s so smart”, “she’s so grown up”!

You are on the fast track to being bi-lingual.  You already know how to count to 10 in Spanish and your dad took it upon himself to teach you all of the colors as well.  You not only took to it, you seemed to really enjoy it.  So, we are moving on to other things like animals and foods.  Fun, fun!

Grandma Karen and Grandpa Bruce came to visit us over the Labor Day weekend!  We did lots of fun things with them but the one we all enjoyed the most was our visit to Sea Life Aquarium in Grapevine Mills Mall.  What a fun first experience for us all!  Probably made more fun by the fact that we went on a weekday to avoid the crowd.  We got to see all kinds of fish, turtles, starfish, seahorses, and other sea animals.  You had a great time and Brady was mesmerized by all the sights, sounds, and colors.

The weekend also marked another first – this one not so happy.  You had your first screaming fit in a restaurant.  You were jumping around the booth, not sitting on your bottom, grabbing at things across the table, and just being ornery.   When I attempted to pull you out of the booth so you and I could go have a little off-site chat you began screaming at the top of your lungs.  It was loud…and embarrassing!  I was thankful you calmed down enough to let me get you out of the booth and in to the lobby area so we could chat.

After reminding you that you would be more successful at getting the things you want if you would just use your words and talk to mommy and daddy, as opposed to screaming and yelling, we both agreed that your behavior had not been acceptable.  We went back to the table where you proceeded to apologize to grandma, grandpa, and daddy and then we all enjoyed a nice dinner.

Unfortunately, the very same thing happened the following night while we were out to dinner at a different restaurant.  This time, we went outside and had another little chat about acceptable behavior (and the fact that screaming is not included in that definition), came back in and apologized to everyone at the table, and then enjoyed the rest of our dinner.  Oh the joys of parenting an almost always very well behaved 3 year old!  🙂

Oh and we have decided you have bionic hearing – you don’t miss a thing!  Not one!   And we know this because anytime we say anything you are questioning it.  Mommy and daddy’s conversations are about to become a lot more boring.

Well, you left the security of Ms. Kelsea’s class and started in your new room this week.  You are officially in Ms. Nadia’s Pre-K class.  That’s right, the pre-cursor to kindergarten!  Where has the time gone?!  

Fortunately, many of your friends from Ms. Kelsea’s class moved up to your new room, too – so you still get to play with Addison, Olivia, and Lauren every day!

Though you were anxious at the thought of leaving your comfort zone at first, you’ve done rather well with the transition!  In preparation, Ms. Kelsea would take you to your new room to visit & you told her you were most excited about the baby dolls.  Not surprisingly, you are often found playing in that corner of the room – baby dolls, kitchen supplies, doll house, etc.  It’s fair to say your first week in your new room has been a success!   

We went to your cousin, Carys’, 4^th birthday party last Saturday – it was at a trampoline park in Southlake.  It ended up being girls day out as daddy stayed home with Brady so he could nap.  

Given your cautious nature, I was preparing myself for a day full of hesitancy and lots of observation.  Much to my (pleasant) surprise you were as eager as ever to get onto the trampolines!  You even jumped into the foam pit – a 3 foot drop off into a pit full of foam blocks!  After you chickened out the first time on that one I was certain you would not make it back.  But you surprised me again when you wanted to get in line a second time and followed through!  

I have to admit, I was a bit hesitant myself (not sure where you get it from 🙂 ), but I ended up having a great time jumping on the trampolines with you.  I am pretty sure you did too since you’ve told me a few times since then that you had fun with me at the trampolines.  You made me feel like a kid again!

This evening you and I went for a walk and tricycle ride.  The clouds rolled fast and just as we got to the front porch it started to rain.  The temperature was about 90 degrees and there was no thunder or lighting.  Not missing a fun opportunity daddy took your tricycle inside and you and I played in the rain for about 15 minutes.  Running, twirling, and splashing in the puddles.  We were soaked to the bone and you had a BLAST!  I truly cherish moments like this with you.

Love,
Daddy

As of today, we have new nicknames for you and Brady, courtesy of….you!  For some reason you decided to start calling Brady Doodle.  Once that started to take with all of us you then decided you wanted to be Noodle.  So, in addition to Monkey and Hailey Bear, you will also be known as Doodle.  And in addition to Bubby, Brady will now be known as Doodle!  We love it!

You finished up your 10 days of swim lessons and did GREAT!  Many nights you were hesitant to even get in the water, but once you overcame that initial fear and made it into the water, you would do awesome….and even had fun!  We went to IHOP for dinner a couple of nights before swim lessons and your favorite food was frashbrowns…aka, hashbrowns!  HA!

We celebrated Lauren’s 3rd birthday at her swim party today.  We all had a fantastic time and it was obvious you were much more comfortable in the water than you were before your swim lessons…you even jumped off the diving board unprompted!

You have recently started expressing an interest in being “the leader”.  For example, when we are going up the stairs you will say, “Mommy, I am the leader – you follow me”!  There are also multiple other times in different circumstances when you announce yourself to be the leader or the one going first.  You are also very quick to give out instructions. For example, “you open the door” or “you sit by me”.  For the life of me I can not figure out where you get these traits from?!  🙂

We had a family fun day at Six Flags this week.  You had been one time previously for my work party and very hesitantly rode a few of the kiddie rides.  This time you were all about it!  We started in the kiddie section with the swings and airplanes then moved on to the semi trucks and tea cups.  You enjoyed the tea cups so much we decided to give the big ones a try.  Much to our amazement – you LOVED it and could not go fast enough!  We went back to the kiddie section and rode the balloons – once with mommy and once with daddy.  Then you asked if you could ride the roller coaster!  I could not believe it – even though it’s in the kiddie section, it was still a pretty good sized coaster.  So you and I loaded up and rode the coaster.  Though you looked pretty terrified the whole time, you wanted to ride it again!  So you and daddy took a turn.  It was an amazing day with many firsts and your dad and I had a blast!