Grace - 3 Years Old

Out little beauty on her 3rd birthday.

I have been needing to write this post for over a week now but have been avoiding it because I'm afraid I'll forget something.  But I guess it's better to forget something than not write anything at all.  So I'm going to summarize what Grace is up to these days by categories....

Sleeping: Grace is still doing great at night.  She sleeps from 7pm - 6:30 or 7 in the morning.  We usually just leave her in bed until 7 in the morning and then get her up.  Her naps can be hit or miss and have been since around Christmastime.  She might have a week that she only takes 3 or 4 naps and just plays in her bed on the other days.  Then she'll go through a long stretch of weeks where she will take naps almost everyday.  Either way she still needs that time in her bed resting.  If she sleeps it is for a good 2 hours and if she doesn't sleep she often times just lays quietly.

Eating: Our not picky eater has shown more signs of pickiness lately.  However, I am not complaining.  She will still eat almost everything we give to her (sometimes with coercing).  She asks for vegetables if she doesn't have them!  Her favorite foods are cheese, fruit, peas and any kind of sweet she is allowed.  She used to eat a banana everyday until recently and just gave them up. So I started making peanut butter and banana sandwiches and she loves those.  I'm not sure why I never did that before.  Because 1) she's getting fruit and 2) we're avoiding eating jelly which has no nutritional value.

Potty Training:  A couple of months ago I posted about the starting potty training.  Fortunately, Grace took really well to it and has been doing great.  In the midst of it and at the beginning it felt really draining and I think is one of the hardest things we've done as parents.  Now Grace pees and poops in the potty 99.9% of the time.  I say 99.9% because she's had a couple of random accidents in the last month.  She also is dry in the morning a lot of the time.  I'm still not quite ready to put underwear on her at night but if her pull-up is dry we are just reusing it for a few nights so it's still cheap.

Play: Grace's favorite things to play with are her dollhouse, play kitchen, and Duplo blocks.  She also loves playing pretend.  She brings her best friends Dora and Boots with her wherever she goes.  She also just walks around the house making up stories.  It's a lot of fun to watch her going into imagination land.  Sometimes its frustrating because she wants me to join in and I have no idea what is going on inside of her head and can't quite play right.

Discipline: Grace is 3.  She is learning that she has a will of her own and wants to push boundaries.  We are working very hard at trying to teach her the importance of listening to and obeying us and other authorities.  That is a daunting task and we're not doing as good as we could be but there's grace and no parent is perfect.  This devotion has encouraged me as a parent when seeking obedience from Grace.  I realize it is not selfish but for her own good.  I also love this quotation from a Bible study I'm doing (the Bible study is not related to parenting but this chunk was relevant)

"Little Bonnie came home from Sunday school after learning the verse, "Let you light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).  She asked her mom what it meant.  Her mother replied, "It means that when you are good and kind and obedient, you are letting Christ's light shine upon all who see you."

We want to teach Grace that being good (and this takes on many forms) is for Christ's glory. It's biblical.

God: One thing that has been cool over the last several months is working on Grace's memory verses from church with her.  She gets one verse a month and picks up on them quickly.  It's so cool to see her absorbing God's Word!

That's all for now!  I love our little 3-year old and she is a huge blessing to us.

Next post coming soon: Grace's 3rd birthday party!