3-Year Milestones

Height: 38" (60th percentile)
Weight: 32.5 pounds (50th percentile)
Sleep Routine: At nighttime Reese generally sleeps from 8-7, although the past couple weeks have been 8-8. Over the past 6 months she has been testing the bedtime limits with stall tactics (one more trip to the potty, one more drink of water, one more tissue, need some lotion, etc.) and in the last month we've made progress with this behavior by simplifying the bedtime routine. As she's grown, the stories have become longer, bath time has become more elaborate, and night-time cuddles got longer by recapping stories of the day with her increased vocabulary. This drawn out 45-60 minute bed time routine seemed to lead to 'escapes' into the hallway to spy on Mom and Dad.

The Fix: Now, the last time she goes potty is before bath (which works because the kid's got a bladder like a camel and can hold it for 12+ hours on most nights), no more water cup before bed, only 1-2 stories, and no more night time snuggles reminiscing about the day. We're back to 30 minutes at bedtime, which based on a discipline book that we've read is good because if it's more than that, you're trying too hard. The result is that the night time games have been eliminated. It also helps that Baby Nash now goes to bed around 7, and she's much happier going to bed AFTER he does.

We recently learned that Reese hasn't taken a nap at school in 3 weeks so we were somewhat worried that she may be ready to drop the afternoon nap. But so far, since she's able to stay up longer we now let her stay up until Nash goes down for his post-lunch nap which she seems to be OK with. So now, she goes down for a nap anywhere from 12:30 to 2 and has been sleeping for 1.5-2+ hours. So, so far, she's still napping and Mom and Dad are happy.

Favorite/Funny Phrases:

• Yes, you may! - Reese has excellent manners. If you ask her if you can help her do something, she responds, "Yes, you may." Or, "Yes. Thank you for asking."
  
• It's not at the table yet - When we are preparing Reese's meals in the kitchen, we will say, "Reese, your breakfast/lunch/dinner is ready." Reese will be playing in the living room and she'll look over at the empty table and say, "It's not on the table yet." So, before telling Reese that her meals are ready, they had better be on the table.
  

Favorite/Sweet Moments:

• Halloween Treats - Reese hasn't been exposed to much candy so she's still very innocent and sweet in the 'sweets' department. She was thrilled to have her pot of snacks, but more so that she could line up her stuffed animals and place a treat next to all of them. I (Mom) swiped at least half of the treats while she was in bed the first night - which mostly worked as she only noticed (or cared) that her sucker stash had been depleted...I quickly put a few back as not to blow my cover. She was left with about a dozen pieces and was very patient the next few days and waited until dinner-time when I said she could have a special treat. Not only did she wait until dinner, but she neatly placed one piece on each of our napkins and happily shared her treasures with us. I imagine candy-greed will kick-in by next year, so we'll savor the sweetness this year.
• Breastfeeding her Dolls - Prior to Nash's birth, we had read some New Big Sister type stories to help prepare Reese for what to expect. The books usually mentioned something about how Mommy would probably be spending a great deal of time nursing the baby, as that's how babies got milk to eat. Well, after Nash was born, she became fascinated with the breastfeeding process. One day Mom looked over at Reese and there she was on the chair with her shirt up breastfeeding her baby doll just like Momma and Nash. (See picture at the bottom of this post.)
• Saturday Market - This summer we started going to the Saturday farmer's market in Eagle. They had a water fountain at the center of the market. After shopping, Reese would have the best time running through the fountain. We also started going to the Griddle restaurant for brunch. Reese devours a giant banana pancake.
  
• Morning Snuggles with Baby Nash - Reese loves Baby Nash. When he's waking up in the morning, Momma will set him on the bed to stretch. Reese will hop into bed, pull up the covers and nuzzle noses and cuddle with Nash.
• Newfound Confidence at the Park - Reese has always been fairly shy (though we hate to use the word shy) and until about a month ago still needed to have us with her when meeting new friends at our park. But a couple weeks ago that suddenly changed. Perhaps because Mom has become increasingly boring at the park while caring for Baby Nash? She saw some "girlie girls" and I suggested that she take her two soccer balls and see if they wanted to play. She took off, shared the soccer balls, and has been approaching new kids and introducing herself ever since. Even on days when the kids are too big to really want to play with her, she still tries. Tough for me to watch as I just want to shake the bigger kids, 'cause how could they possibly NOT want to play with my beautiful child?! One of my favorite moments was the day she watched older kids play hide-and-seek. They totally didn't include her - but she watched them, ran around screaming (as if someone was chasing her, which they were not), and closed her eyes and counted to 20 (as if someone was hiding from her, which they were not). The innocence of her side-by-side play was hilarious and sweet.
  

With the Good, Comes Some Bad, and Ugly -

Being the parent of a three year old has been far more challenging than we ever imagined. Several friends have shared that they too struggled with terrible three's more than terrible two's and other friends have assured me that, "it's just the age." We can only hope so but are not holding our breath as another friend confessed, "I'd love to tell you it gets better, but three is just when it [the mis-behavior] starts."

So although we'd like to say that our Miss Reese is always sweet as evidenced by her blog, it's only fair that we remember some of the current challenges. Both to keep it real, and remind us of the challenges three years from now when Mr. Nash is testing our limits.

Un-Favorite Moments:

• Runaway Toddler - Reese has recently started to run from us on occasion in public. This week I took Reese & Nash to the Discovery Center only to have her disappear in the maze of rooms - not long after a nice stranger (yes, stranger) walked her back to find an embarrassed mother. More important than a little embarrassment though, is just how dangerous this can be especially around cars/streets. Kiddo is on a very short leash these days...
• Nag! - The days when we tell her "no", "don't do that", "be careful", "be gentle", etc. more than anything else. Exhausting... nuf said.
• Tough Girl - In the past couple months Reese's play has become increasingly rough. Jumping, throwing, batting, etc. Not so bad at the park or the gym, but agitating in a small house with an infant.
• Clingy - We keep thinking this will diminish as she gets older, but for now she still needs lots on one-on-one attention when playing. Frustrating now, but we try to remind ourselves to get over it because it won't be long and she won't want to play with us.
  

But sometimes even the annoying moments can have a silver lining that helps us remember just how sweet she is and that being 3 can be tough. Yesterday on our way to the park she insisted on bringing Baby (we don't normally take her dolls to the park) and I gave in. When we got to the park there were several little girls playing (ages 3 to 7) and of course they were interested in Baby. When asked if they could hold Baby, Reese happily, and proudly, said yes and shared with them. But it didn't take long and a couple of the older girls started to run with Baby which immediately upset Reese and ultimately resulted in meltdown after meltdown for the remainder of the time at the park. We got home and later that evening I explained to her why maybe it would be a good idea to leave Baby at home next time.

Mom: "Maybe next time we'll leave Baby at home so that the other girls don't get sad that they don't have their babies at the park."
Reese: [long pause, and starting to tear up] "Maybe Monkey and Baby Kitty could watch her next time."
Mom: "Is that why you wanted to bring her, because you were worried she wouldn't be taken care of?"
Reese: [sadly] "Yeah, because I love her."

Because I love her. I couldn't agree more.