I mentioned before that the "terrible twos" were not so terrible for us. However, the 3's have REALLY given us a run for our money! And we did get a little head start on them when Kyler came and Kendall amped up her "spirit" even though she was a few months shy of being 3. Although the first half of age 3 has had some major meltdowns, screaming fits, sass beyond belief, and battles of the wills, we are now starting to see more and more glimpses of the sweet, patient, helpful, polite, and obedient little girl we used to know, back when she was 2. I hear that the 4's are golden. Now, I don't want to rush the precious moments that are happening right now, but the thought of outgrowing a few of these behaviors is dreamy. Don't get me wrong, we are NO WHERE NEAR "back to normal" (nor do we believe that Kendall will achieve perfection by age 4---or ever!), so we've got our parental work cut out for us! But we are equipped with parenting books and blogs, marble jars and sticker charts, and are trying to find the strength to be consistent and patient and loving! You guys, parenting is not easy; she BIT her friend (so sorry Finley!). Beyond all the boundary pushing she is such a fun (and funny) little girl and all her three-year-old-ness is more than bearable. Here is our Kendall at 3 and a half years old:
She LOVES to dance and sing!
Taking dance this year at Creative Movement has been the most entertaining and magical thing we've done! She looks forward to it all week. She adores Miss Jill and we love watching how she responds to another adult giving her direction.
She LOVES her little brother! Mostly she is very sweet and helpful with Kyler. Sometimes her version of helpful looks different than ours and we worry about his safety. Luckily he is mobile and can escape.
She is creative and crafty! I LOVE spending quality time with her making art. She loves stamping, drippy glue and scissors (ugh!).
Her creativity has come to life in endless stories and imaginative play. She strings together phrases she hears, with her little life experiences, and the fantasy she reads in books and sees in movies. Kendall mostly lives in a state of pretend. It's hilarious and magical.
She likes going out to eat and ordering her own drink and food (and staring at other people in the restaurant and loudly asking us awkward questions about them).
She now has the attention span to watch a full length movie and we've been enjoying Tangled and Cinderella on repeat all fall/winter. Then she reenacts them with us or with her babies. I'm often given the roll of evil witch (but I'm trying to not take it personally). We decided to take her to her first theater movie this January to see Frozen. Not surprising, she is completely obsessed. Our life these days is a perpetual Frozen concert.
She has her own style. Getting dressed can be a big point of tension with Kendall. But when she decides to do it all on her own we never squash her creative flare.
She has found a new love of games. This Christmas she received 3 new games and we play one of them almost every night. Sometimes it's really fun, sometimes it's a lesson in patience (for us mostly), and sometimes it's a time to practice social skills.
She loves her kitties. In fact, it's not uncommon for me to hear "Aslan's not playing with me, Mom!" I think she forgets that he's just a cat.
She LOVES her babies. I'm scared of the night she pukes all over them. She changes their diapers, burps them, and kisses their boo boos. Sometimes they are even naughty and we hear her scolding them. Obviously she co sleeps.
She still loves to read. ALL. THE. TIME. She reads to her babies often. We have to set limits to how many books she can have with her at bedtime otherwise she'll easily stay up to read until 11pm!!! She "reads" with great voice inflection and uses "all the right" fairytale words and totally got her 5 year old cousin to believe she was really reading. And as far as Kendall is concerned, that is real reading.
She is getting brave and trying new things (including going to the nursery at church--knock on wood!)
Our big milestone at 3.5 was selling the first and only home she's ever known. Her concept of old house/new house is pretty interesting. When we can't find something she'll tell us we left it at the old house. And all fall as we showed the house she'd check on random items "do you think we'll take _________ to the new house?'
A few other Kendall tidbits:
"Guess what?" is the phrase we hear most often, along with "I'm the boss of you," and "You're my faborite." She still makes a /b/ sound for the letter V and the /d/ sound for TH. She is wearing 3T clothes (pants are sometimes still big on her). She weighs about 27lbs and is 37 inches tall. Her favorite show is Sofia the First. Her favorite food is still bagels, but turkey lunch meat, bananas, and raspberries are often at the top of her menu. She has the worst sweet tooth and begs for snacks and treats constantly. We usually make her earn them with good behavior (is that bribery? gotta rein that in!). She wears PJS more days than I'd like, but when she picks out her clothes she tends to pick out dresses and skirts with tights. She can write the letter K and recognizes her own name, and can count all the way to 20 (can you tell she has teachers for parents?). She draws the sweetest little stick people with arms and legs that come out of their heads. I want to frame them all.
Kendall, you always keep us thinking and are helping us refine our problem solving skills. We adore you. You make our world better and we want to kiss and hug you all day long. We can't wait to see what adventures lie ahead for you.
Love, Mommy and Daddy
Turns out this 3 year old thing is normal: A friend linked this blog post to facebook tonight. Sounds about right to us!
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