There is nothing more amazing in life than watching your children grow, mature and learn through the years. It seems like just yesterday she started taking those wobbly first steps towards her Daddy so she could eat the cottage cheese he was trying to feed her. And now, here she is a beautiful, spunky, imaginative 3-year-old.

I will never ever forget the tiny weight I felt in my arms on the day of her birth has her birth grandma placed her in my arms. I literally could have sat there and held her and stared at her for 24 hours straight.

So, what’s new with this big 3-year-old girl?

She went through those couple of weeks of testing her boundaries and being a complete pill and then…she came out on the other side with a vivid imagination! Often times rough patches indicate growth and development and something definitely changed in this girl during those two weeks.

She NON-STOP talks and plays with her imaginary “Disney Character” friends! It started one morning when I got her up and she told me the “Disney Characters” were in her bed. Each slat of her crib was a character and from that day on, the Disney Characters go and do EVERYTHING with her. One day at lunch one of them was siting in the chair next to her and I was scolded when I sat on him! I told Little Bug he had moved to another chair and then Daddy was scolded when he sat on him in the other chair. So, that Disney Character eventually moved to the floor so no one else would sit on him. Little Bug was happy with that.

She talks to the “Disney Characters” constantly! She has even, on her own choosing, gone outside to play with them by herself and then one day at my parents’ house she went upstairs by herself to “play with the Disney Characters”. I am LOVING this new stage of imaginative play. It is so cute to hear her talking to her imaginary friends.

Little Bug has started to get into games. She likes to play Candy Land, Elefun and Hi Ho Cherry O. I have a lot of educational games that I bought on sale long before she could play them and we’ve started playing those too. Her attention span with games is still somewhat short at this age, but I expect that will increase this year.

Little Bug continues to be Miss Social Butterfly. She doesn’t meet a stranger and will go up to anyone and start talking to them. When we are at the park, ANY child who enters, is an instant friend to her. No matter their age. She joins in with the “big kids” as if she is their age. I think she actually prefers to play with kids older than her, although she enjoys her Sunday School friends as well.

Her favorite things include: the Disney Character friends (of course), her Minnie Mouse, people, getting out of the house and going places, playing with her friends, making new friends, learning time and reading books.

Little Bug loves to wear dresses. Most mornings she requests to wear a dress. Her favorite is a little pink dress with flowers. She wears is all the time!

Little Bug participated in her first little dance class this spring. She seemed to really enjoy it. She pretty much stayed on task during class and would watch and do what her teachers were doing. She looked absolutely adorable in her little pink tu-tu!

Little Bug loves to read Bible stories. Every night as we go the rocking chair and as she drinks her milk, she says, “Don’t forget to read the Bible!” She is always full of questions and wants to look at the pictures over and over again.

Little Bug loves her baby sister. Their relationship is really starting to take off. Little Bug can get her sister belly laughing in a matter of seconds. They light up when they first see each other in the morning. Little Bug enjoys getting a basket of toys and bringing them to Sweet Pea so they can play.

Little Bug is most certainly left-handed! She has preferred that hand for a while now, but now that is drawing and writing, she always puts the crayon/marker in her left hand. We have a leftie for sure.

We are loving our 20-30 minutes of daily structured learning time. Little Bug knows we usually do this after her room time and she will often ask, “What are we doing today, Mommy?” I love seeing her having fun while learning. She is a sharp little girl and I am going to have to keep learning interesting for her. She is able to do way more than I thought she was capable or ready to do. We have enrolled her for preschool in the fall. She needs some “outside of the house” activity to do weekly and preschool is it! I know she is going to have a blast at school two days a week.

Little Bug had those 2ish weeks when I wondered how in the world we were going to make it through age 3, but then, after she tested her boundaries and we were very consistent with her and made our expectations for her behavior very clear, she has been our sweet, obedient (for the most part) Little Bug since then. I am sure she will go through another time of testing her boundaries but as long as Little Bug is getting the appropriate amount of sleep, she is such a pleasant little girl to be around.

After those two crazy weeks of testing boundaries constantly it seemed Little Bug matured somewhat in the area of making messes and not being able to be left for literally two minutes without getting into something. I used to have to put her in the pack n play just to take 3 minutes to go lay Sweet Pea down for a nap, but I have started letting her stay in the living room and she has done well with that. She will play or look at books. It is nice to finally feel like I don’t have to watch her every single second – although she does still require constant supervision. I also started making her clean up her room after room time instead of her cleaning about 20% and me cleaning 80%. I feel that has made all the difference in the world in her making messes everywhere she goes. Now she knows she will have to clean it up so I guess she figures she just might as well not make the mess to begin with!

Yes, Little Bug is 3-years-old and still in her crib. And, I have changed my original plan of moving her to a bed at her 3rd birthday. I KNOW my girl and I KNOW the battles we would have, and I am just not ready to go there. She still fits comfortably in her crib and she still needs those boundaries. I know I will know when she is developmentally ready to not have the boundaries of crib rails and she is just not there…yet.

Her schedule hasn’t really changed much since age 2. She wakes up around 8am, but doesn’t get out of bed until 8:15ish. She has breakfast and then room time from 9:45-10:45. After that we do learning time and then she gets to watch a 20-30 minute show. Her favorites are Word World, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Dr Suess. On Saturdays we sometimes let her watch some of Charlotte’s Web. After TV, she eats lunch, plays outside and then naptime is from 2-4/4:30pm. Her bedtime is 8:30/8:45pm. We are going to have to adjust her schedule slightly in the fall when she starts preschool because she will need to be at preschool by 8:30am.

Little Bug continues to be a very good eater. We continue to limit her intake of sugar. She loves to chew watermelon gum and calls that a “treat”. She loves milk and still has “milk time” when she wakes up, after room time, after nap and before bed. It’s our time to snuggle and I am going to have “milk time” with her as long as she wants because I know a day will come when she won’t run to the fridge and get her milk cup and come running to the rocking chair for “milk time”.

This precious girl changed my life in more ways than I ever imagined. I am forever grateful God chose me to be her mother. It is one of my greatest privileges here on earth.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Little Bug!!

- Elaine