Three Years

We have a three year old! Clarita is a sassy little thing who always keeps us on our toes. She can be the sweetest little girl, giving me hugs and snuggles one minute and turn into a screaming monster the next. We are working on learning to use words to talk about why she is upset rather than screaming and throwing a tantrum. It's frustrating for me because Clara can speak so well that I forget how little she is and that just because she talks like a four year old doesn't mean that she is capable of the same reasoning as one.

Three year check-up: check!

For the most part, Clarita is super happy and loves life. She loves to sing and dance and often makes up her own songs. The Snugglepuff also loves anything craft related, especially cutting and gluing. Aba brought her a box of paper scraps and Clarita cuts away and is getting quite good at using scissors. She also loves to read and often "reads" to herself. She has a bunch of books memorized and it looks like she is actually reading. Clara really loves the books with pictures of objects because she thinks that she can actually read them (aka say what the object is). It's hilarious to listen to her "read" these because she uses a mixture of English and Spanish words and you never know which words will be in which language.

Bounce houses are her favorite!

Clarita continues to be a great big sister and really loves Emmett. She always wants to see him first thing in the morning and loves to play with him and get "fuzzes" from his hair. She does sometimes get upset if he plays with certain toys and yanks them from his hands. She is getting better at giving him toys to play with and trading if he has a toy that she wants. When Emmett gets fussy, Clara can often be heard saying, "shh shh you're ok Baby Emmett" and rocking his car seat. It usually works too! She also likes to take care of her babies (dolls and stuffed animals) which includes putting them to bed, nursing them, rocking them, and carrying them in her carrier. She is a great little mama!

During the past few months Clara has created some imaginary friends. At first she would just reference her "kids" but she now has two kids, a boy and a girl, Bapa and Bluesha. Clara can be heard discipling her kids, comforting them, teaching them, and often times doing anything I do with her and Emmett. She knows that they are not real and makes sure to tell us that they are just pretend. She has a great imagination and loves to pretend that she is cooking, eating, going places, etc. Clarita is never bored!

She had to try on Dada's wetsuit!

Ladybug Girl eating ice cream on the floor

The Wiggle loves playing outside and going to the park. She hops all over the place and likes to run and ride her bike. She is super active and seems to have an endless supply of energy. I never thought that a kid could make me tired until I met Clara. Just watching her makes me tired. She also never stops talking...EVER. Luckily she seems to have skipped the why stage, but her new favorite thing is to repeat everything I say. This started when I taught her the song "Down by the Bay" and told her to repeat the lines after me. Although this can be quite annoying, I figure it is good for her because she repeats what I say in Spanish which will hopefully help her learn to speak in Spanish more. She understands everything I say, but generally only says some words (rarely a complete sentence) in Spanish.

Haircut

The best part about the haircut: the car ride after!

We gradually transitioned Clarita off her chuponcito, limiting the places she could have it one by one. We gave her a month's notice for each transition with lots of reminders and she handled it really well. She would remind us on the day of the new chuponcito restriction that she couldn't have it in the stroller, at nap time, etc. She did request to take a nap in her room instead of the library when we first took it away at naptime. It seemed like she was doing this because she knew there were chuponcitos in her bed, but she wouldn't actually ask for one. We just took it away all together and she has, so far, been able to sleep at night with no problems so we're hoping it will be a smooth transition. She was very sweet and decided that the chuponcito fairy would give her chuponcitos to Emmett since she didn't need them anymore.

This is how I occupy them while I get ready for work

Overall Clarita is a fun loving, smart, silly, and definitely sassy little girl. She is so much fun and makes our days crazy but so much fun!

Stats

Weight: 25 pounds

Height: 36 inches 

Wearing

She's still super tiny. She moved to 3T because she got too tall for 2T, but 3T is huge on her since she is so skinny. 2T shorts and shirts still fit her. She wears a size 7 shoe.

Likes

Mama and Dada and Baby Emmett, Signing Time, playing outside and going to the park, playing with her kitchen, helping us cook, reading, riding her bike, playing with her cousins, playing with the cats, singing, dancing, running around naked, taking baths, "lollipop" videos, play doh, anything craft related, bubbles, bounce houses, playing with her friends.

Dislikes

Not getting her way immediately, being told no, waiting

Sleeping

Since we got rid of chuponcito at nap time naps have been hit or miss. She generally goes down between 1:00 or 2:00 and sometimes sleeps for 3 hours and sometimes lays and sings for two hours and doesn't sleep at all. She goes to bed between 8:30 and 9:00 and generally gets up between 7:00 and 7:30. She sleeps in a twin bed with a million animals and a bottle of water. She likes to wrap her legs in a little blanket if she isn't wearing footie pajamas.

Nicknames

Clarita, Snugglepuff, Snuggles, Wiggle, Munchkin, Birthday Twin, Loquita, Pipsqueak, Wigs, Loqs, Puff, Caca (thanks Bayleaf) 

Talking

Clarita still talks up a storm and seems to have a good understanding of grammar. She seems to understand the rules and uses them (even when they are incorrect). It is evident that she translates from Spanish to English a lot and says funny things like "Is it for eat" since that is how it is said in Spanish. This makes things she says even funnier! I was out of town for a few days for week recently and I Face Timed with Clara and was so impressed with her ability to have a full on conversation with me. She told me all about her day, showed me things (like Baby Emmett and her new library books) and talked about our upcoming trip to Monterey. It really made me realize how grown up she has become!

Eating

Some days she eats everything, some days she refuses to eat anything except cereal and oatmeal. She still dislikes most meats (except bacon, sausage, and hot dogs) and loves salad and junk food. She gets lollipops occasionally and loves them. She hasn't had any other candy and still thinks it is for "big ninos." 

Favorite Colors

Pink and red. She has lately decided that some colors are for girls and some are for boys.

Best Friends

This alternates between Bailey, Teegee, and Emmett (and sometimes all three!).

Exciting Events

March 5, 2016: Runs her first race

January 17, 2016: First time throwing up in a car (or really throwing up), first time eating McDonald's

December 15, 2015: First recital

November 7, 2015: Takes all of her clothes off by herself

October 24, 2015: First time using "outside potty" (it was a disaster)

October 21, 2015: Stops using a sleep sack (she did not want to)

October 20, 2015: First time using a plane potty

October 17, 2015: First time wetting the bed (luckily it happened at los tios!)

October 10, 2015: First lollipop

September 27, 2015: Watches her first eclipse (she loved it and requested to see one every day after)

September 25, 2015: First time using a port o potty

Pictures