Almost three weeks ago when we were in California, Tabby crossed over into 3.5 territory. Since then she has been vociferously been 3.5, telling EVERYONE, proudly, “I’m fwee and a haff!!”
A few cute little speech mannerisms linger, but more and more are gone. Grammar and vocab wise, there is not much she doesn’t seem to know and she pulls out words and phrases practically every day that leave Matt and I scratching our heads wondering where she gets this stuff. While at IKEA in CA, she informed Matt, when he wanted to move on that she had not yet “experienced” all the kitchens and that she needed to “learn about these mattresses.” ?!?!? Also when expressing her wish to meet Tinkerbell at Disneyland she told Kelly, “She’s a famous faerie.”
Her behavior is mostly very nice, but she has days where our patience is severely tested. She suddenly loses any memory of manners or even reasoning and we have to take away books and put her in time out. But on most days she is polite and helpful. She likes to help out with chores around the house, particularly setting the table. She loves to select the perfect cloth napkin for every member of the family “except Ben because he’s just a baby and he throws them” and put around silverware. She is getting quite adept at folding small towels and washcloths as well.
In addition to her household chores skills, she’s making great strides with her artwork. I can really recognize what she’s drawing now be it people or houses and it’s awesome to see how happy she can be for such a long time with just some paper and crayons. She’s also getting more and more of her letters down.
We’ve been impressed as well by her new physical skills. She is getting very good at kicking a ball around as she runs and climbing everywhere and riding her bicycle, though the small hills in our neighborhood freak her out. Her biggest liability is her somewhat timid nature. But of course I love the timid nature when it comes to crossing streets.
Miss Tabby is truly a delight to have in our family and I feel so lucky each and every day to be the recipient of her hugs and kisses and get to hear all of her cheery chatter.
I felt that 3.5 was one of the most challenging (but also the most FUN!) ages. She is a million times more self sufficient at 4.5 but a lot of those cute baby-mannerisms are gone, boooo.
Oh my miss Tabby is so big. Love reading how big they get.