My 3-Year Old Lilly

Lilly continues to be a little firecracker. She is a happy, curious, intelligent 3-year old. I'm probably underestimating when I say she asks at least 100 questions everyday ranging from "Where do we live?" on any map we see (globe while shopping, map on the back of a semi-truck or our atlas at home that she 'plays' with) to "Why don't people have camels instead of dogs?" She's a daddy's girl and a lot of the 100 questions she asks in a day are something similar to "When is daddy coming home". I'm thankful to report that MOST of her separation anxiety has lifted and the odd breakdown she has at my departure or daddy's are mostly for attention and don't last long. Unfortunately, she takes after her parents and most of the foods she loves are bad for you, totally illustrating the nature vs. nurture debate, because Addy is the opposite and they've always been fed the same things! Ask her what she wants for a meal and it typically involves french fries, pancakes, syrup (she calls dip), cookies, chips or anything with peanut butter or nutella. The only vegetable she eats without too many complaints is carrots which is ironic because I used to eat BAGS of them when pregnant. Her temper has calmed slightly over the last 3 months or so, but when she's mad, she still gets red-faced and shakes a bit. We are working on using words and not getting violent, but when it comes to Addy, she usually hits or pushes first. A quick time out leads to a remorseful little girl and she's quick with apologies and hugs.

During our parent-teacher conference, her teacher gave us glowing comments about Lilly. No major concerns, she's very social and frequently dominates 'circle time' but no one who knows Jeremy and I are surprised by this. She LOVES to learn--colors, shapes, numbers, letters. Last week a conversation with Grandma was teaching her the difference between an octagon and a hexagon. She loves to read and could sit for hours to listen to books. Her teacher expressed some concern about her writing and we think this may be some confusion between left-handedness and right-handedness. She shows preference with her left, but all her role-models are right-handed (and all the other kids in the class are), so most of her real attempts at writing are done with her right hand. We've been trying to work on this, but she gets frustrated easily and ends up drawing abstractly and not holding the writing instrument in any correct way. She'll figure this out and I'm sure when she does, there won't be any stopping her.

Speaking of stopping her, she has A LOT to say and never stops. She talks to herself when no one else is listening. I'll be in a separate room and hear her laugh at herself, then say "Oh, Lilly, you are sooooooooooo silly!" She's a girly-girl and loves wearing skirts and dresses, she's usually my ego boost in the morning, frequently telling me that I look beautiful when dressed for work. She loves playing with her friends at the gym, talking on the phone to anyone who will talk to her or singing Christmas carols at the top of her lungs (will tape for a later post). She's a riot and we are so thankful that she's ALL ours!