Three quarters of the way…to THREE!

You are slowly but surely leaving some of your temperamental twos (and ones…ha!) in the rearview mirror. You can still pull a rage blackout now and then, but thankfully we’re seeing a consistently overall calmer, happier little lady! Your language has exploded the past several weeks in particular, and three or four word sentences have become full-on monologues of Thoughts with Greer.

Between the holidays and the changing seasons, you experienced a lot of milestones this quarter. For the last Halloween before you have an opinion, you went as Cher from Clueless. The outfit was already hanging in your closet and the lightbulb went off – we added some butterfly clips, a purse with some “As If” stickers and of course, your favorite part, a cell phone. You LOVED trick or treating, the weather cooperated, and you stayed out much later than I anticipated you’d last.

You LOVE preschool and you’ve become quite the teacher quizzing us on shapes and colors and letters but also telling us the answer and then saying “good job” before we can get a word in 🙂 As your language has developed, we get to hear more and more details about your day; what you played with, names of friends, new songs, and the daily snacks that most often you “no like”. You’re surviving on little but yogurt these days but in the spirit of “one or the other”, I’ll take the picky eater/amazing sleeper — we have to wake you after 2.5 hours of naps each day, and you sleep most nights from about 8:30 to 7-8 in the morning. You continue to be easy to put down – most nights asking to be left alone, lights off, and door closed behind us.

You’ve seen snow before but of course couldn’t remember it. We haven’t had much since, but this first one was significant coupled with warm enough temps to play in it. You LOVED every minute.

You continue to adore your brother and the holidays brought a couple breaks for you both to have a little more time together. He enjoyed teaching you all about the elves, visiting with Santa, and how to decorate a gingerbread house.

We gifted each of you an experience as part of Christmas this year, and yours was Disney on Ice. You were CAPTIVATED the entire time, singing, clapping, and in general being in awe that two of your favorite movies, Frozen and Encanto, were playing out right in front of you. Worth every penny!

You caught on to more of Christmas this year of course, in particular you loved the Elves and their antics. But it all centered around The Grinch for you — a movie that was watched approximately 67,000 times between November and January.

With your brother at your side, you visited Santa for the second year in a row – this time without the meltdown. There was some last minute hesitation, but you pushed through when you spotted the candy cane reward.

You are obsessed with “snuggo” sessions and will curl up in a heartbeat with anyone available.

You are certain that like your brother, you, too, are eight and expect to be treated as such. I tried to lean into this when you wanted to hold your own Christmas Eve service candle. (!)

You have discovered a flare for Frozen and all dress-up is “an Anna Dress!”. You are deep into the world of mimicking be it with your peg people, your little critters, or your Maileg mice. We often hear you chatting through routines of your day and acting them out with the figures. A popular topic is to echo our more disciplinary conversation — lots of commanding everyone to go potty, wash their hands, and telling them “no more time to play, it’s time to go night night.” All these new interests made shopping for you this Christmas VERY easy. 🙂

One thing forever burned in my brain at this particular age is your obsession with the book We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, and eventually the movie as well. You role play the story indoors, outdoors, and in a sensory bin we set up. The “swishy swashy” grass is your favorite part, whether you’re stomping through a field outdoors, or running your hands through our potted plants inside!

You’re always. singing. You’re quickly mastering your first scooter. You live for sparkle. You’re shy around new people, but you have the best manners. You have a love affair going on with every lollipop on the planet. And your favorite activity with anyone other that mom is to “go find mom”. 🤪

Time seems to be speeding up but as we get daily glimpses of the three year old headed our way oh-so-soon we can’t wait to know her, too.