ada charlotte {3.5 years}

accurate depiction of you right now -- always in a dress-up!

Dear Ada,

You're so big. It's crazy! Sometimes I look over at you and . . . you're just TALL! How did my baby grow so much??

It's been a big 6 months . . . You got a little sister! And you love her so much 😊 You really welcomed her into our family, and I've loved seeing you love and take care of her. However, I'd be lying if I said it was an easy transition! You used to get so much one-on-one time with mama, and now you have to share your whole world with Holly. This has resulted in a lot of wildness from you, and I haven't dealt with it very well. I'm learning more and more that I'm not very patient, but I hope I can learn to be more patient, and I hope you can forgive all the times when I'm not. I love you like crazy, my big girl, but I'm far from perfect. Thanks for continuing to love me even when I lose my cool. I'm glad you'll always be my girl 💗


Stats

• 31.0 pounds (31%) and 3' 1.5" (37.5 inches) (26%) -- Looks like you're finally pretty consistently hanging around 30% for both height and weight.
• You fit 3T-4T stuff, and anytime I buy you something new lately, I choose 4T. However, you still insist on wearing smaller stuff, so I have to hide it away when you're not looking in order to get it out of your closet. You still hold onto an 18-MONTH jacket because we never got you a new one (tried, but you refused to try anything on last fall). You don't wear clothes too often because you're always putting on dress-ups. However, when you DO wear clothes, you're more willing to wear pants and a shirt again (for a while there, it was dresses only).
• Apparently you got 4 new molars in the last 7 months! And I have no idea when, because you never once complained about mouth or teeth pain. People like to blame teething for everything, but at least with you, it's never been an issue (and honestly, I suspect it's because you're sleep trained).

Milestones

• You became a big sister :) and you're a great one! There was definitely some attention-seeking behavior during the first few months, but that has gone down somewhat. And you just love Holly -- it's really sweet :)
• We just moved you to a big-girl bed! It was time for Holly to start sleeping in the crib, so we finally had to make the move. We did lots of prep work beforehand, and you were SO excited the whole week leading up to the change and even during bedtime routine. But once we got to the last 2-3 things in the routine, you kept saying the bed was too big and you wanted to sleep in your little bed 😂 You said that for a week or so, but now you seem to be good. On night one, you got out of your bed and started walking around your room. I ignored it for a little bit, but once you turned the light on and started to open your closet doors (where your barbie stuff is), I talked to you on the monitor and told you to turn the light off and get back in bed. You immediately did so, and you haven't gotten out of your bed without permission ever since! You have a clock that turns on a purple light at 7am, and we told you that you can get out of bed and stay in your room at that time, but you still won't get out of bed even when your purple light turns on!

Favorite Things/Obsessions
(I asked, and these were your answers)

• Color: pink
• TV show: Daniel Tiger (You also like Little Baby Bum and Spirit)
• Food: Hamburgers (I would say it's actually French fries)
• Movie: Cinderella (I would say you prefer shows to movies)
• Thing to do: Play outside -- red light, green light; Simon says; and freeze dance. (But you also love playing dress-ups, barbies, and babies. You and your barbies are always princesses. You've entered the land of pretend play, and I love it. It's cute to hear all the things you come up with!)

• You still like dancing and singing, but maybe not quite as much as you used to.
• You love your little sister so much, and you always want to play with her and give her kisses and snuggles.

Funny Things You Say

• "Mucher" instead of "more"
• One time in the car, you said, "Mom, you need to buckle up because you can't be dying!"
• "Bathloom" 
• "Prince Charmy"
• After potty training you, we would often talk to you about "listening to your body." One day, when I asked you if you needed to go potty, you said, "When my body talks, then I will go potty."
• You still say "got for" instead of "forgot."
• You still use "last night" to mean pretty much anything in the past, and sometimes you attach another modifier that makes no sense: "Grandma came over last night today"
• I like to say "Psssst! I love you!" and you like to reply, "Psssst! I love you back!" :)
• We've been working on making kind requests: address the person + can you/will you + please. We still have to remind you to do it frequently, but when we say, "Make it a kind request!" You immediately know what to say.
• One day, when I had been breastfeeding, you came over to me and cupped my breast in your hand and said, "I like your nipple, mom :)" in the sweetest voice. It was so funny!
• While watching Frozen 2, the scene when Elsa is running on the water, you said, "What is she doing? Jesus needs to help her." 😂

Random Tidbits

• When we have a family meal, you often say, "Should we all take a drink of water?" You like it when we all drink at the same time for some reason 😂
• For a while before and after Holly was born, you liked acting like a baby. You would do this funny thing, though, where you'd want to "talk like a baby" but also communicate with words, so you just use a baby voice with real words. Not my favorite thing haha.
• When you were still in your crib, you were taking your pajamas off almost every night for a long while. And it was weird because it was in the colder months!
• You have these small plastic reptiles, and you often pretend they're food. You call them "curds" because of the "little miss muffet" nursery rhyme ("eating her curds and whey")
• We read a chapter book together recently! I liked it a lot more than picture books. It was fun to read with you and see your comprehension and retention from day to day. 
• You're napping less and less these days, but still at least a few times per week. On days you nap, you go to bed at 7:30pm. On days you don't, you go to bed between 6:30&7pm. I'm not entirely sure when you wake up anymore, but lately it's usually close to 7. Then you stay in your room until we get you between 7:30&8am. 

Love always,

Mama