Odds and ends

Every night after work/school, Lily immediately gets to work on some sort of party that she having with her dolls/stuffed animals. She goes straight to her kitchen, lets me know what's on the menu for the night, and then gets busy setting the table and whipping up very eclectic meals. I have to admit that so rarely does something work out exactly how you intended. We bought a play kitchen many moons ago with the hope that Lily would keep busy pretending to cook while I cooked dinner. Amazingly enough, it worked! By far, the kitchen set is one of the very best purchases we ever made.

Lily is very thoughtful to all her dolls and stuffed animals. Tonight, she spoon-fed her little dog (which she renamed Irie for the night). Think she knows some pampered pooches?

Overall, Lily is doing well right now. She seems to equally enjoy time spent at school and time spent at home or out with us. I have to admit that it is a pretty good balance for both of us.

In general, three-years-old is such a funny age. Lily can be the sweetest, kindest, most loving child ever and then change into a defiant, stubborn, whiny ball of mess within seconds. Worrying about your child's behavior is something that I don't think will ever go away. Carl and I are constantly evaluating our behaviors/reactions to see if we could handle situations better. Many times we find that we could have, but we keep talking things out and trying different strategies and hope that we are being strong guides without being unreasonable. When dealing with a three-year-old, it is particularly hard because it is important to let them know when they are behaving in an unacceptable way while still keeping in mind that they are three and hence the saying, "she's acting like a three-year-old". Lily has come a long way in talking things out though. The best gauge I think is listening to her express her emotions when she's feeling angry, sad, frustrated, etc. She certainly feels comfortable telling Carl and I that we are "not being polite" or that we are "not making good choices". I feel encouraged by this and glad that she understands that emotions run both ways, and it is okay to express dissatisfaction with your parents. I know that someone is going to refer back to that sentence in about ten years when defiance really sets in. Still, I'd rather Lily express what she feels to us rather than have it show up in other ways.

Academically, she is actively working on beginning sounds and trying to figure out what letter each word begins with. She can identify all the letters but can only reliably write a few of them. Everything else seems pretty on-par. I do think that between gym class and dance class, her coordination is improving a lot. Computer class has also helped a lot with her skills in controlling the mouse and understanding how to navigate around the computer. This was an area that she previously had zero experience, so it has been really good for her, especially once I asked her teachers to move the mouse from the right side to the left for her. I know that many experts say that you can't definitively tell handedness until 5 years old, but as a parent, I can tell you that I knew from the time she was a baby, and it still holds true, that she is absolutely a left-handed girl. It is amazing the things that you have to remember to make her life a little easier because of it (like the mouse issue).

The other class Lily is obviously enjoying is music class. She doesn't always sing songs from school, but she is almost always singing a song while we are at home or out. She LOVES an audience as well. The other day I witnessed her stand in the center of a circle of children playing duck, duck, goose and sing and dance for them. It doesn't seem to matter to her whether or not anyone actually watches, but you can tell that she thinks she's the cat's meow.

The funniest thing I've found about being a parent (in my vast experience of 3 years, 2 months) is that while you treasure the time with your child, you are often trying to wedge out bits of time to have with your spouse or by yourself, and inevitably the thing that you do with this time is talk about your child, look at photos/videos of her, or blog about her. We truly just can't get enough of 'em. I'm not so sure that she will appreciate the almost daily reports of her development later on, but I know that I will.