Letters to Reese- THREE YEARS OLD!

Reese,

You turned THREE years old on July 18th, 2014. THREE YEARS OLD! How in the world did that happen?! The difference from 2 to 3 years old is insane.  You've gone from a round faced little toddler, to a full on long, lanky kid with no more baby pudge.  Your hair is so long now, and as beautiful as ever, and your eyes are the most gorgeous blue green that I've ever seen.  You're vocabulary is off the charts, and the things you say crack your dad and I up each and every day.  You have a strong love for all things princess and pink, you love your sister so much, and are still a Daddy's girl.  You've become much more independent, and even go to Nanny's house to sleep over ever now and then.  You love your time on Plum Island.  

In your 3rd year you became a ballerina, and had your first dance recital.  Your favorite thing is still to be outside, and you love to run! You are learning how to ride your Cinderella bike with training wheels, and are finally tall enough to push the pedel on your Power Wheels.  

You still cry at drop off at school, and hate when we leave if we go someplace without you (you know, like once every 2 months when Daddy and I get out for a date), God forbid ;-) .  You still cannot go to the playcare at the gym, we tried, and you cried the whole time, so one of the workers came to get me out of spin class after 15 minutes.  I'm hoping this is something that you will just grow out of.  You cannot be around other kids crying, that completely sets you off, you'll block your ears, and then start crying yourself.  You are sensitive. ;-)

You are starting a new school for Preschool this September, and we are so excited for you! This school is in our town, and comes highly recommended! Their curriculum is literacy based, which I love.  The only downfall is the location.  It's across town for us, and it's on a busy corner with a circle driveway which can get tricky for pick up/drop off.

We still have many playdates with friends, and we hang out a lot with our neighbors.  Your friends that you see most are still Emma, Stella, Luke & Isla, Gavin & Charlotte, and Cecelia & Bradley.  

Accomplishments:

- Potty trained at exactly 2.5 years old (started on January 18th). You couldn't have been easier to train. We spent a whole weekend in the house, and  you did incredible! We went straight to underwear, and just put you on the potty every 15 minutes or so the first day.  By day 2, you told us when you had to go.  You never had any pee accidents.  About a week later, we ditched the diaper for naps and bed. You are one of the only kids I know that are in underwear at night.  You never have accidents.  Pooping with harder for you to grasp-- you were trained about 1 month after with poop.

- First dentist appointment on 3/14 (you screamed and cried the entire time...not fun). Good news was that you had no cavities. :-) We took you to a pediatric dentist first, and I think hearing other kids crying freaked you out. Next time we see the dentist, we will take you to our family dentist.

- After your dentist app we decided to ditch your binky 3/14, you cried for almost 3 hours the first night which was torture, but we held strong and the second night was much better, same with the third night. By night 4, you didn't even cry.  You still sometimes will grab Adeline's binky for a minute to be fresh,  Such a hard habit to break for you! I think if we let you have it any longer, you'd probably be an adult with a binky at night. ;-) Just kidding.

- First dance recital 5/14. You did AMAZING! We were so worried that you wouldn't go on stage (since you wouldn't during dress rehearsal), but did, and stole the show!

- Big girl (twin) bed 6/14. After our trip to Storyland, where you slept on an air mattress on the floor, we decided to bite the bullet, and make the switch.  I was so worried that you'd not sleep, or stay in bed, that we left your crib set up for the first few days.  Again, you totally surpassed our expectations, and did phenomenal.  We still do have a safety cover on your door knob so you can't escape your room, but overall you are pretty good with staying in there.  Ironically enough, Adeline must have felt the need to take the spotlight off of you, and decided to take her very first steps just moments after we set up your big girl bed. Ha!

Reese's 3 Year Stats: 

Weight: 34lbs, 75%

Height: 39" which is 90th%

Clothing: Some 3's, but mostly 4T. You are so tall! 

Favorite Toys:  You love your babies, and all of their accessories, clothes, etc. You also love to do puzzles, and paint, color, anything arts and crafts-like. You are still obsessed with the movie Frozen, so you dress up like Queen Elsa all of the time.  You have so many different costumes, and are always in one of them with high heels, and a crown on.  You do love your iPad.

Favorite Past Time: 

You love the beach, you love to swim.

You love to play with friends, and boss your sister around.

You love sleeping at Nanny's house.

You love going to Orange Leaf and getting 'pink" frozen yogurt (raspberry) with rainbow sprinkles.
You love to help me cook, and love when I give you "jobs" to do.  You are a huge help!
You love to dance!

Favorite Foods: 

You love waffles, pancakes, any type of berry (blueberry, strawberry, raspberry, etc.) pizza. pasta, toast with tons of butter, sunbetter and jelly sandwiches, yogurt, and cheese.  You would live off of those things if I let you. Your favorite snacks are pretzels, applesauce pouches, goldfish/ cheddar bunnies, and cold ravioli. (Just so you know: about 95% of these things were from your 2 year letter-- you haven't changed much in the food department in a year!).

Favorite Movie:  Frozen.  You do love Cinderella and Aladdin too.

Favorite TV Shows: Sofia the First, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, and Doc McStuffins.

Favorite Color:  Pink

Bedtime/Nap time: You are still napping around 12:30/1pm and sleep for 2ish hours, but are not consistent. Sometimes you flat out refuse to sleep, and sometimes when you do fall asleep, you are a bear when you wake up.  I think naps will be over with soon, but you've been great until now.  I would say anytime after 3 is a great success!   Bedtime is around 7:30, and you've been waking up early! 6am since you've potty trained (no pull up or anything at night!) and transitioned to a big girl bed.

Happy 3 years, sweet girl! I love you to the moon and back!!

Love,

Mommy

xoxox