Last week Natalia turned three. Wow. We've made it three years. In the past we've joked that twin boys were just a warm up for Natalia, but the truth is, twin boys were just a warm up for Natalia. The girl is exhausting. But cute. Very cute. And so we keep her around.
We had two major milestones over the weekend. The first was that I woke up on Saturday morning on my own (no kid noise!) and in daylight. Yes! Daylight! It must've been at least 6:45. I have no idea when Natalia (or Mike) last let me sleep that long. Perhaps Natalia's separation anxiety is starting to lessen. Maybe??? The other milestone was later that morning when I was out shopping with Natalia. I realized, shockingly, the two of us were having fun. It wasn't just a battle! Ree was with my parents, and the boys were at a birthday party (that Natalia was quite sad to miss), so I treated her to a trip to Dunkin' Donuts. We actually sat there and had a nice conversation and enjoyed our sugary goodness. After that, we headed to the library where she taught me the proper way to use the self-checkout. (Jeff must have the patience of a saint considering, based on her expertise with the system, during their weekly trips he must let her drag a step stool to the wheelchair accessible computer, scan each item, and then run all the DVDs through the device to unlock them. She most certainly did NOT need me to help her with the check out process.) Then we went to the grocery store where Natalia reminded me that shopping with her is normally rather challenging. She couldn't let me off that easily!
Natalia does seem to be mellowing. Over the fall, her favorite phrase became, "Oh, that's cool!" and she adapted a slightly more laid back personality to go with it, although she is still occasionally beating up school aged boys on playgrounds.
She also continues to be the child who does all the "typical" things kids do that other kids in the family decided not to do. Lately that involves pretending to read books (she favors chapter books, "Like Jewel"), pretending to write (she spends a lot of time taking orders at her pretend restaurant), and carrying a baby doll with her at all times. (Also, as the spoiled, youngest child she gets to drag a baby doll around with her, even in public. Ree's stuffed animals were not allowed to leave the house. The boys were allowed to leave but had to stay in the car. Natalia's, of course, go everywhere.)
Natalia is still refusing to potty train. She won't do it. At all. We did have to laugh about it on her birthday. Weeks ago we bought a bag of M&Ms to use as bribes when she uses the potty. The package is still sitting, unopened, on the bathroom counter. For her birthday, Ree gave Natalia a bag of M&Ms. Natalia excitedly ran and put this new bag of M&Ms on top of the other unopened bag in the bathroom. At least she knows where to keep her candy. A couple of weeks ago I asked Natalia when she was going to start using the potty. Her response was, "When I big." So I asked her when she would be bigger. She then patiently explained, "I grow bigger every day."
Some pics from Natalia's birthday:
The requisite trip to Chuck E. Cheese. She wore her party dress and spent a lot of time on the rides. We tried to leave to eat dinner somewhere else. Nope. She needed to eat pizza and watch the band.
How many kids does it take to open a package of princess statues?
Her favorite present was Ree's old easel. Ree and I had spent two hours scrubbing it the weekend before. I was worried about all the existing stains and drawings, and I used big wall stickers to cover up what I couldn't remove. I shouldn't have worried. It is now covered in stains and drawings again.
Natalia wanted chocolate cupcakes with pink sprinkles and princess stuff. Easy enough.
Overall, we had lots of fun on Natalia's birthday. And I think we'll keep Natalia around for another year.
