Three Point Five

 

I’m not sure how these things happen but Hannah is 3 and a half.  I feel like we just celebrated her third birthday and now she’s well on her way to four.  Four?  FOUR?  I’m going to pretend it isn’t coming and relish in 3.5 for now.  So far, 3.5 has been good to us.  Hannah still has so much enthusiasm for life that we often find ourselves asking her to lower her voice as she tells stories because she is just so excited she can hardly contain herself.  In an attempt to avoid a headache by the end of her story, we ask her to lower her voice…which lasts for about 3.5 seconds and then she the excitement takes over. 

At 3.5 Hannah has started preschool, began a new dance class, loves to play dress up, loves her baby dolls, and is really into picking out her own clothes.  Yes, she did go out in public dressed in the above outfit.  Not too long ago, I would have made her change clothes.  But now?  I just don’t care.  She’s happy, she’s healthy, she’s a big girl getting herself dressed.  I’m going to celebrate the milestones with her rather than criticizing every outfit that doesn’t match.  Of course, I provide direction as to what kind of clothing she needs based on the weather but if she wants to wear those pink slippers every single day until they fall apart, so be it.  She thinks she looks amazing in that headband and I’m not about to tell her that she looks like she belongs in a 1980’s workout video (although I will think it and chuckle every time I look at her).  

At 3.5 we are also seeing the temper tantrums slowly start to subside.  Slowly is the key word.  I know we will be working on obedience and respect until she is grown and out of our house (and probably even after that) but it seems that instead of discussing these things 50 times a day, we only discuss them 20 times a day.  Now we begin the fun stage of outside influences from the children at school.  We had the talk about how we don’t say “butt” in our house, we call it our bottom.  She then got very confused about butt/but and thought she couldn’t say but when I really only told her she couldn’t say butt.  Confused yet? This parenting thing- it’s always something. 

Hannah is loving and thriving in both school and dance.  She wakes up every morning and says, “Did I wake up this morning and it is my first day of school?”  She doesn’t believe me that every day is not the first day of school.  If you were to ask her today if she went to school, she would say yes, and that it was her first day of school.  As long as she loves it, I’m happy!  After her first day (the real first day) she threw a little fit when it was time to leave.  In the car I was talking with her about her behavior and how if she acted like that then she wouldn’t get to go to school.  She looked at me and said, “Mom, sometimes kids don’t like to leave school.” 

First day of preschool. She walked right in and got to work.

 

Hannah gets a monthly puzzle book in the mail and as soon as it comes she asks for a pencil and gets started.  She has an amazing ability to do all things puzzle related.  She really impresses me with what she figures out on her own.  The magazine is meant for kids that are older and she seems to have no problem doing most of the book by herself.  Maybe she will be good at math. 

Hannah was so excited that Callan got to come over “without his family.”  After about an hour of these two fighting like brother and sister, I loaded them up and headed to Jimmy Cone.  They are already talking about what kind of ice cream they are going to get when I take them next time because in their minds, I told them I would take them again the next day.  Ha!

She constantly keeps us laughing with the things she says.  She fills our home with smiles and I can’t believe she’s 3.5.  Slow down, time, s.l.o.w. d.o.w.n.