Janie Elizabeth is THREE!
{Leslie Eure Photography}
It's amazing how you can watch your children grow, every single day, right in front of your eyes, yet not see them grow at all. They just change ever so slightly in each moment that it sweeps right by without you realizing it... until finally it hits you - they are GROWN. Or, at least more grown than you remembered. It's sad but glorious all at the same time.
Writing these reflective posts about the girls' milestones is helpful for me to see the growth that they've made over time. Especially since the girls are so close together, the memories tend to blend together. I love having it documented, if not for anyone but myself, so that I can look back and see the growth over time.
Janie as a three year old is so much different from Nora as a three year old. Nora was cautious and {generally} quiet, loved learning, and was a creature of habit. Janie is fearless and unpredictable. She has the most incredible voice projection and seems to not have a care in the world about learning anything that she doesn't deem necessary {ie. the letters in her name}.
To kick off the documentation in true second child form, I can honestly tell you I have no idea how much she weighs or how tall she is. In fact, I can't even remember who took her to her well check appointment. It's safe to say it wasn't me or I would probably remember... but I can't even guarantee that! Here's what I do know: there are no concerns about her growth, she can ride the cheap carnival rides at festivals and such {so she is at least 36 inches tall}, and she wears clothing true to size {so she is most like average for her height & weight}. How's that for official stats!
Janie is, for sure, a spitfire. Although we have not received any official "notes" from her school about poor behavior, we have had a few conversations with her teachers about behavioral... challenges. She really isn't bad... she is just motivated a whole lot differently from her big sister. At home we have struggled with finding a consequence that continues to work. We only have to implement consequences every now and then, but it seems like the same one never works twice.
One night I was determined to get her to eat a bite of chicken before she went to play after dinner. Although we have a pretty strict and consistent dinner routine, I don't typically force my children to eat what they claim they do not want. They know that they just don't get anything additional to what is on their plates. But this particular evening, Janie had eaten close to nothing. Also, she likes chicken just fine. She just apparently didn't feel like eating chicken at this given moment. So on this evening, Janie was told she had to eat one bite of chicken before she went to play. She was told repeatedly that she could play after she ate one bite of chicken. We sat there for thirty minutes. Nora got to play {she finished her whole plate, brussels sprouts and all} while we sat there. I thought for sure she would cave and I. Was. Wrong. She didn't get to play, though she also didn't seem to mind.
Another time, the girls had a bit of an altercation which landed Nora in a time out and Janie owed an apology for kickstarting the whole thing into action. Janie informed us that, well, she didn't really want to apologize yet; that she would do it later. And in the most matter-of-fact, calm & sweet way, as if it had been an option to apologize now, or later, or not at all! Needless to say, it comes across a little shocking at times. But, like I said... she is unpredictable!
We also cannot forget the time she fell asleep in the hallway because
she wouldn't stay in bed! Yes, that's a dress over her pajamas.
And yes, she is still sucking on that thumb...
All that said, though, she is a sweet little girl. She is very affectionate. She smiles all the time and has a very contagious personality filled with joy. She is always so happy to see mommy after a day at school. She gives the greatest hugs and will tell you she loves you every day. Although she can be stubborn and sassy at times, she has a splendid way of erasing my frustrations with her sweet & caring ways.
You just cannot stay mad at that face!
Sweet, cuddly girl!
Continuing with the trend of crazy hair in the family... Janie's does not disappoint!
She is quite opinionated about how she likes to wear it, but it typically has to go up to avoid looking
like this at the end of the day...
Janie started the official Pre-School class around her birthday! I felt a little guilty for not taking pictures, but it was at mid-year, so it seemed a little different. Since then, I've noticed that Janie is beginning to recognize some of the letters in her name. She can spell her name out loud but doesn't always know what an "A" is all by itself. We've noticed that she can remember and tell you stories that she's read from books so incredibly well, but she just hasn't had an interest in learning letters until really just recently, where Nora started a lot earlier wanting to learn the names of letters. Janie is able to count to about 20 now and does well in her class at school.
Also, after about five or so months of making small attempts, Janie has mostly grasped the idea of using the potty! She had more trouble at first, but over time it has gotten increasingly better. She started going through naps with no pull-up on and then about a month or so ago she asked if she could wear her undies all night. It was a risky move, but she did well with it! We have not put a pull-up on in quite some time. She has had some accidents, but we are pretty happy with how she has done overall with her potty training in the most recent months.
Janie's favorite things to do are to play dress up with her sister {or by herself} and read books. She still loves to wear skirts or dresses everywhere she goes, including to bed. She loves the twirl factor and is very ready to begin her own dance lessons next year, or possibly this summer if we can find something for her. We will make an attempt to do her very first swim lesson this spring. Let's all cross our fingers that that goes according to plan!
Things Janie loves at 3:
dressing up
twirly dresses
kitty cats
puppy dogs
Ford
doughnuts
piggy tails
Sofia
show and tell
dancing
eggs
Chick-Fil-A sauce
ketchup
twirling
reading books
Cinderella
bread
fruit
Things Janie does not love at 3:
sleeping
most vegetables
fireworks & loud noises
pickles
We are most certain that Janie will continue to keep us on her toes as she grows and grows. We are looking forward to it, sweet girl!
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