An Update

She...........

*has the most crooked bangs ever. Poor baby got a mama hair-cut. After I took this picture and looked at those awful crooked bangs, I got the scissors out and did more chopping. Now they are short but straighter!

*is trying to say so many things, but her verbal abilities aren't quite up to par with the stuff she is trying to say. So many things right now come out as, "dada," but in context and with her emphasis on different syllables depending on what word she is trying to say, I know she is either saying "Daddy," "peekaboo," "thank you," or "Hattie." She has said "Aaaddy" a few times for Hattie but usually still sticks with "dada." "Mama" only has one meaning because I'm special (and usually the food source!) :).

*is still not walking. I'm not worried. In some ways, she's such a daredevil, but in other ways, she's sooo cautious. Or maybe it's just that she wants to be carried everywhere ;). She's a smart one! I predict she might be taking steps by Christmas.

*plays so well by herself. It's often that I find her playing in a corner of the playroom with a toy or two. And she stays that way for a long time, like 30 minutes sometimes. After having a firstborn who still has problems with entertaining herself (probably because she is my firstborn), I am in awe and so grateful for this ability!

*knows what the word, "NO!" means but rarely chooses to abide by it. She's a stinker!

*has figured out how to put her finger up her nose and make "nasally noises." It's her new favorite pastime.

*is at such a fun, fun age! She is soaking everything up. It's almost as if I can see the wheels in her little head turning. I love it!

She..........

*is terrified of the dark right now - A new fear for her. As of last week, she needs a nightlight and her door cracked for bedtime.

*was taking her nap so well and is now only taking it about 3 times a week. If no nap, she has an hour and a half of quiet time in her room in bed. I'll take it!

*is loving her dance class. I got to watch her a few weeks ago (parents get to sit in and watch once a month), and she did so well and just shined the whole hour.

*listens to everything we say, especially when we're not talking to her but to each other. We have to be waaaaay careful!

*is not sucking her thumb anymore!!!!!! I get no credit for this. Two weeks ago we were at the library, and this old (scary - even to me!) librarian came up to Hattie while she was sucking her thumb and told her if she doesn't stop doing that, her face is going to start looking funny because her teeth will start sticking out of her mouth. It made a HUGE impression (and scared the livin' daylights out of her), and ever since, she and her thumb are not friends! This might be the culprit of rare naps these days, I'm thinking, but I am grateful this habit is over (hopefully!) before baby teeth fall out and permanent ones come in.

*challenges me a lot these days. She talks back often and has become more willful. I fuss at her a lot. I spend a lot of time correcting and redirecting. Sometimes I think having a 3 year old is more exhausting than a newborn, but then, at the end of the day, I get in bed and don't have to get back out until about 6:30 a.m. the next day, and I think, "Nah! Newborns are way harder!" :) It is definitely mentally exhausting right now, though.
One thing I've started doing with her is reading a Psalm every day at lunchtime. While she's munching on her lunch (keeps her quiet!), I read a psalm. They are short enough and chalked full of things that I need to hear in the middle of the day, and after I'm done reading, we talk about it in a way she can understand, so I hope she's getting something out of it, too. Makes for a calm moment anyways, one that we both look forward to!

*is so friendly and so polite to other children. I get to see her interact with kids her age often, and most of the time, she makes me so proud with how gentle and nurturing she is, even at 3!

*is at such a fun age right now, too! She has a sense of humor. She laughs when she's supposed to while I read her a book or when she watches a cartoon. And she's got such a great imagination and wants to help with everything! She still thinks that Daddy and Mommy hung the moon and know it all. I'll enjoy that while it lasts!

That's all I got for now! Happy October!!!!! Now begins my favorite time of year! For the next three months, my house will be decorated for some upcoming holiday: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas!!! I always feel like the house looks so empty and glum in January. Now we just need our first real cold front of the season!