It’s October 30th…and do you know what that means?? Claire turns THREE IN ONE MONTH!!
Click to enlarge: 35-months old, and she’s already a blogger!
Claire said, “Momma! Take a picture of me typing my blog!” I asked her what she was writing about, and she said, “You!” And then she started laughing maniacally. If that doesn’t sum up what it’s like to be Almost Three, I don’t know what does! 
It seems like just a few months ago I was writing about her turning Almost Two. It really is amazing how fast the time flies!
You know what? Two hasn’t really been that terrible. Yes, we’ve had our challenges, but we’ve had more fun than not, more laughter than tears, and more crazy runnings-around than temper tantrums.
In fact, the hardest thing about dealing with Two is not laughing when you’re supposed to have a dead-serious straight face. Who knew disciplining a child would be so comical!?
And laughing hysterically at someone in distress is not only rude, but doesn’t quite bring the proper solemnity to the situation.
She teaches me something new every day, and I love that.
So Three is almost here…and I think I’ve seen her peeking her ornery little head out from behind a corner every now and then.
And from these tiny glimpses of Three, I can tell I have my work cut out for me. I’m going to be doing a lot of deep breathing, giving myself good wrinkles, and counting. Or maybe I’ll do the alphabet. You know? I’ve always wanted to be able to rattle off the alphabet backwards…maybe I’ll practice that. I should be really good at it by the time Four gets here.
We have one month left before we officially enter Year Three. I have a feeling that this year will be a delicate balance of continuing to encourage the independence she already has and managing the stubbornness that is so deeply ingrained. In fact, the line between those two is so blurry that I sometimes forget which is which.
And, yes…yes…if we’re being completely honest, she totally takes after me. I’m very independent and stubborn. (Not to mention bossy and a know-it-all…) But, I also enjoy being creative and I love solving problems, so hopefully our strengths and weaknesses can play off of each other.
I have a feeling that Year Three will be just as much fun as Year Two.
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Three was my very favorite year — not that I haven’t loved the fun and adventure of every year so far, but three was special. She developed more complex thinking; asked the most amazing questions; astonished me every day with the things she came up with. There was more independence; the whole “baby” thing was definitely over. And she became very aware of her identity as a female. This was a huge thing. She stopped wanting to play with her best friend who was a boy, because he was a boy and only wanted to play dumb boy games. She fell passionately in love with Barbie (beware)and pink. She started to learn some reading and number concepts. In short, 3 was a real transitional year from baby to “big girl”. Enjoy.
XUP, thanks for the comment! In addition to the orneriness, I’ve started to see some of what you mention in your comment too! I know it sounds cliche, but I can’t wait to see what this year brings!
I love that she is writing her own Blog! I am sure three will bring about many more precious moments…
Good luck on the next “wiggling” year.