holly b {4 years}

Dear Holly,

What a year it's been. When you turned 3, you were THE SWEETEST child, and this year has been a little bit of a wild ride 😅 You're starting to get back to your sweeter roots, but you still have a mean streak! You like getting your way, and you are not afraid to voice your disapproval when you DON'T get your way. There is just no reasoning with you in so many situations 😅🤣

You are silly. You love to ride your scooter. You love to sing, but usually not all the right words 😊 You love to dance at your class. You love to color and cut at home. You love to tell other people when THEY are not following the rules, nevermind the times that you don't follow them. You're still a mama's girl, and you prefer to be near me, even if I'm working on something else. You always want to come with me to the grocery store and to help me in the kitchen. You don't *dislike* books, but you're not crazy about them like Ada has been. You've learned how to write your name, but those are about the only letters you know. You're not a fan of cleaning up, and you get out of most cleanup because Ada just picks up your slack.

You're my girl forever, and I'm so grateful for that ❤️

Love, Mama

Stats

• 34.4 lbs (46%), 39.0" (35%)
• Size 6 diapers for sleep
• 3T-4T clothing
• 20 teeth. Once again, I have no idea when her last two teeth (bottom molars) came in.

Milestones

• Dropped her nap around 3y5m.
• Moved to a big bed (shared room/shared bed with Ada) at 3y6m.
• She's still sucking her thumb because I'm just not ready for THAT transition.

Favorite things/Obsessions

It's harder to see your favorite things/obsessions because Ada is always here taking control, but from what I can tell --

• Color: Pink
• Animal: Sheep
• TV show: Cocomelon
• Food: She said "broccoli" (even when I offered chocolate as an option!!), but she is 100% lying or delusional! She hardly touches broccoli 🤣 What she really likes are PB&J sandwiches bananas, and TREATS.
• Movie: She doesn't know. She doesn't get to watch movies on repeat because Ada prefers shows. She said Snow White after a little more prodding.
• Book: She doesn't know. We read more library books these days, which means she doesn't get a chance to hear the same book on repeat for very long.
• Thing to do: Go to the jump place (trampoline park).
• What she wants to be when she grows up: She immediately responded "clown" 🤣🤣🤣🤣 This is news to me! But hey, Ada wanted to be a trapeze artist at 4 years old . . . maybe they'll start their own circus!
• She loves going to her dance class; I love watching her hands-on-hips chassé. 
• She's obsessed with Peter; she's very often smothering him with love and attention 🤣

Funny/Cute Things She's Said in the Last Year

• She was talking about how trains were scary, going on and on, and then she paused and stared at me for a second before saying, "you have a big head, mom." It was so unexpected and hilarious.
• "Thank you, door!" to an automatic door.
• "I'm gonna be a sister like Ada!" . . . because apparently she wasn't truly a sister until she was an older sister.
• "everyguys"
• used to say "toe-y" every single time.
• called Pete "buddy dude" a lot in the beginning.
• "It will crack my head open!" -- I was putting her hair in pigtails. 
• "He's rude-ing me!" <-- whenever Pete had a grumpyish face and looked in her direction
• "Don't go in Mom's room! It's very for-mom."
• "ace cream"
• "Decemder"
• She currently uses the word "scrumbled" to mean something like "wrapped up." "Mom will you scrumble me up in the blanket?"
• H: When were you born?
  Me: May 14
  H: But who was your mom?
  Me: Grandma.
  H: WHAT?! 🤯
• For a while, she would say "uh huh" after regular sentences. Stuff like, "I'm going to wash my hands now, uh huh" -- Like she was reaffirming whatever she had just said.

Random Tidbits

• Right after she turned 3, we were at the store and I was buying a gift card for Ada's teacher. Holly wanted to hold the gift card so I finally let her. She then proceeded to drop it into the coupon slot AFTER I had already added money to it, so we had to get help getting the card back and we were in a hurry and I wasn't very happy about it. Later that day, she randomly said, "Sorry mom . . . about the card." And she's still pretty good about apologizing when she makes a mistake.
• For the longest time, she would snuggle with me after her nap, for like 20 solid minutes! She's not nearly that much of a snuggler anymore.
• Sometime around 3y1m, I fell asleep while we were cuddling, and after a while, she scooted her sleep sack up to me and kissed my forehead and then left the room. She was taking such sweet care of me!
• She's such an artist. She was already coloring in the lines and drawing circles and triangles right after turning 3, and now she draws full people all the time. It's so fun to see her gain new skills.
• One time she told me to suck my thumb, so I pretended to. Then she told me, "No! You need to use your finger!" She wanted me to rub my nose with my finger while I sucked my thumb -- just like she does.
• She became a WILD PERSON about sleep for a while at the beginning of the year. So many stall tactics. SO MANY THINGS in her crib with her. She would climb out of her crib and grab things to bring back into her crib. Things got REALLY out of hand the day she dragged a giant moses basket into her bed with her. We eventually had to make a rule that she could only have her sleep sack and one other item. Luckily, this behavior is long gone. She is now happy to sleep with just her sleep sack.
• Anytime we seem like we're accusing her of anything, she immediately says "nothing!" --> "Did you draw on this wall?" "Nothing!" 🤣
• She also admits to things that no one is asking her about: "There's nothing behind this door!" when she's hidden something and we aren't even asking her where it is; "I didn't draw on this wall," when her pencil marks are clearly there.
• She can mostly buckle herself in the car, but we often forget to open her door to finish it off. If we all get in the car before she's completely buckled, she ALWAYS says, "I'm not buckled!" and asks to be buckled.
• When she says a prayer, she mostly just describes whatever is happening or has happened in the day. It's funny and cute, and reminds me that prayers are meant to be that way -- conversational. 
• She gave up naps forever ago, but occasionally she still falls asleep in the car or on the couch in the afternoon. One day she came and sat in my lap while I was working on my computer. After a few minutes I thought she was trying to bug me by leaning over one way and then in the opposite way. Came to find she had fallen asleep sitting up in my arms 🤣
• She's just so goofy. Always making faces and trying to tell silly jokes and laughing like a cartoon character 🤣
• She would rather be wearing pajamas, always. 
• She's finally starting to consistently do her table tasks! She started doing them on her own like a year ago, and then stopped and refused for ages. 
• When she gets mad, she says "I'll never" statements -- I'll never play with you again! I'll never give you hugs and kisses again! And if you ever tell her no, she'll definitely call you a "meanie poopy butt" or "meanie mommy"
• She's been a bit of a handful this last year, but either she's getting a bit easier, or I'm getting a bit better at navigating her chaos.
• We don't say "stupid" at our house (we don't want it used about another person, and we also don't want it overused -- we encourage more precise word choice 🤣), but I've tried to explain how there are some instances where it's okay to say it. She doesn't get it yet. She still gasps and says, "he/she said the "S" word!" allllll the time. 
• She can be pretty polite -- usually using "please," "thank you," and "I'm sorry" when appropriate. We've been working on not interrupting people when they're speaking, and she's finally getting better at that, too (we're using the "touch my arm" trick from Bluey).
• Eating: She often says she doesn't like something when she simply hasn't tried it. Drives us crazy. She's hesitant to try new foods and will often eat only the fruit or grains from any given meal. She does love peanut butter sandwiches and plain or cheesy pasta.   
• Sleep: In bed from 7:15pm-7am; falls asleep within 15 minutes, often wakes in the 6am hour but occasionally sleeps past 7. Roomsharing with Ada has made it tricky to know exactly how much sleep she needs because I'm not always sure who woke up first and who woke the other one up. No nap, but "quiet time" is basically 1-3pm. She does quiet time with Ada, unless they decide to break apart for some alone time.