elsie - three years

Seeing as it has been nearly two months since Elsie turned three, I figured it was about time to do a little update on my spunky little girl. And we finally have a break in the party throwing so I have a few moments to spare!  I'm tossing in some photos from her actual birthday, since we never really did a '3 year photo shoot.'  Whoops.

I can't find the sheet, but I'm pretty sure when we went to the doctor in February, Elsie was somewhere in the 31 pound range, and maybe around 38 inches?  Really I don't have a clue.  I know that she had dropped in the percentiles, but she still seems a lot bigger than most of her friends.  She wears 3T clothes, though she can pull off some 4Ts as well.  She still tries to squeeze into some size 7 shoes, just because she likes them, but really she is an 8, occasionally a 9.  But her favorite shoes are all of my high heels, and I swear she can walk in them better than I can.

Her curls are still very much there.  We can't go anywhere without at least one person commenting on her hair.  When we were at Easter brunch a minimum of five people stopped to tell her how beautiful her hair is.  A man has told Christopher she is the most beautiful child he has ever seen.  It's ridiculous.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore her curls.  So very much.  I hope she keeps them forever.  But goodness, it is crazy how much attention they attract! 

Elsie goes to bed around 8pm, and is usually up for the day between 6:30 and 7am.  Naps don't happen anymore, but she still has 2 hours of quiet time in her room every day (unless we've got things to do, places to be).  Occasionally she'll crawl in her bed and fall asleep, but those nights she usually doesn't fall asleep until 10pm, so we just try to avoid naps.  During quiet time she looks at books, plays with toys, colors, does lots and lots of pretending (she is so good at it when she is by herself!) and regularly jumps off her bed over and over again.  Her room is always an absolute disaster when she comes out.  And it usually smells terrible...

The last time I did an Elsie update she was still in diapers.  Thankfully she has been mostly potty trained since about October.  It went much smoother than I was anticipating, and we really only had maybe three potty accidents?  But we still use diapers at nap time and bed time because E will not poop on the potty.  And she'll wait until quiet time and just poop in her underwear.  No thanks.  Without miralax she quickly gets constipated so pooping is just a touchy issue with her.  I'm just not fighting it right now.  But hopefully we can say goodbye to diapers for her in the very near future.  It's gross.  I'm over it.

Miss Elsie still loves food.  All different kinds of food.  There are some things that she prefers not to eat, but she'll try almost anything.  She likes pulled barbecue chicken, quesadillas, cheeseburgers, mac n cheese, avocados, peanut butter and jelly, asparagus, fried rice, plus a bunch of other things.  And of course sweets.  Girlfriend loves sugar as much as I do.  Sorry Elsie.  She also really loves to help in the kitchen.  I need to be better about finding tasks for her to do in there, because she gets so much joy out of helping and being a part of dinner prep.

Elsie can recognize all the letters of the alphabet, numbers 1-20, knows lots of shapes and colors, and is starting to write her letters and numbers as well.  She moved from scribbling to drawing actual things a while back, but watching her figure out how to write letters has been really fun.  It is just one of those developments that makes them seem so much more grown up.

Elsie's little personality is so funny.  She can be the absolute sweetest, and is very aware of other peoples' emotions.  But watch your back, if you cross her oh my word, the little devil child comes out.  And she does NOT take well to punishment and time out.  She'll hit me, pinch me, scratch me, you name it, if I try to remove her from something naughty she was doing.  Or she'll just laugh in my face.  Or both.  She is a beast.  And then snaps right back to being her sweet little self.  Oy.  She is amazing one on one, but her and Ryann have a knack for bringing out the worst in each other.

In the gross motor skills department Elsie appears to be turning into a little beast.  She has an impressive amount of muscle and control, and is slowly learning how to use it.  I haven't come across a piece of furniture that she can't climb.  She constantly is getting things from high shelves and I don't have a clue how she got there.  She LOVES dance class, she is so disappointed that she isn't in the recital this year.  And she is doing pretty darn good at gymnastics.  Skill wise she is ready to move on to the next class, but maturity wise she just isn't there.  Close though!

Some of Elsie's absolute favorite things include kitties (still! kitty everything!), playing dress up, putting on make-up, the colors red and pink, coloring, playing with her sisters' toys, terrorizing Ryann, but also idolizing Ryann, making Thea smile, bubble baths and being as ornery as can be.  She dislikes getting in trouble, being startled, bugs, loud noises, when Thea touches anything that she thinks was at one point in time hers, or if someone leaves our house without giving her a hug and a kiss.  Seriously.  You better hug that child if you're going somewhere.  She'll cry relentlessly if you don't.

Elsie girl, I love you so much.  Your giggle is infectious.  You manage to brighten my day even with your most mischievous grin.  And every time you turn to me and say, "Mama, I like you," I melt a little bit more.  I like you too.  A lot.