3 Years

"They grow up so fast."

I've been repeating this like a mantra, and I am sure that other parents understand the sentiment. Every moment is so fleeting. I just want to preserve every moment (well, most) in perfect clarity in my head.

Piper is healthy, smart, usually kind and often happy and well mannered. I suppose I couldn't ask for more. She can type her name on the computer keyboard. Her vocabulary, comprehension and ability to carry on a conversation grows daily. She's been completely potty trained for months and months now. She'll be starting Montessori school this fall, and the teacher echoed our thoughts: "She's so ready."

We struggle with the normal 3 year old difficulties. Sometimes we have attitude problems, or melt downs over the tiniest things - more frequently of course when we're tired. Some times the melt down comes after we're told "no" and she tells us that we've hurt her feelings. Food is also sometimes difficult. For a long time she was brave about foods, and would eat nearly anything placed in front of her, now she's only interested in french fries, chips, macaroni & cheese, the occasional hot dog, peanut butter & honey, and green beans. That's right, green beans. She'll eat a plate full of them.

She is very musically inclined. She sings songs that she's heard or learned, and occasionally makes up her own. She loves playing with musical instruments.

She loves youtube surfing on our iPhones, which generally is okay. She stays on Diego or Pocoyo or similar. There are lots of Dora/Diego video game reviews on youtube, and for some reason she loves these. She's also taken to watching commercials on youtube, which is odd.

She loves the old cartoon movie Peter Pan, which I have found that I despise - its an awful story. Female characters in the movie exist only to fawn on Peter and fight with each other for his affections.

My little girl is growing right up! Its so exciting and so terrifying.