3 and a Half

Miss Julia is three and a half.  There's so much change between three and three and a half that it truly does seem to warrant it's own post.

She wants to go to school so badly.  Ever since the boys started back she wants to go with them in the worst way.  We meet her teacher tomorrow.  I hope and pray that this is a wonderful year of friendship building.  She loves little girls.  Any other little girls.  She loves older girls, especially, and follows them around and puts her little hand on her hip and pretends she is so mature just like she thinks they are.

Its horrifying and endearing all at once.  Sweet Julia you be three, okay?  For the rest of the six months you are three, be three.  No need to grow up too fast, time will take care of that for you.  And I will continue to try and shelter you from things I think are too grown up for you.  And for now, my love, that includes my make-up.  Which I know you covet.  Some day.  Some day sooner than I want.

I have told her ... sweetie mommy puts on make-up so I can look more like Julia.  Because if there was a cream to make my face look like hers I'd use it every day.  I love her face.  If she feels only half as beautiful as I know she is she will always hold her head high.

She is loves Pinkalicious.  And I've been sick so there's been A LOT of binge watching Pinkalicious on PBS in our house.  There are worse shows,  but it's still kinda sickly sweet.

But it's better than my little pony.  So we accept.

She loves playing armies with her brothers.  Now she gets her own army guys and her own bases.  She has graduated into a new level of play with them.  It's good to see.  They aren't always nice.  And she cries.  And I have to separate.  How does one play Army, Stacy?  Well you set up your little figurines which can include army guys, lego people, dolls, etc. around structures like Little People Barns, Castles, houses, batman caves, moms bathroom, the kitchen pantry, laundry room, and you call them bases.  And then you're siblings have to go find where your base is hidden!  And that's the game.  So it's like hide and seek with a huge clean up ratio.  It is not my favorite.  But it is theres.  The toys are all over my house and under my feet but they are being creative (lots of ingenious things used as bases to hide them from sibs).  So we accept.

She is sweet to hang out with, now that she is kind of more human like and less tantrum prone.  And fun to go out to lunch with or shop.  She is different than the boys.  Today she wanted pajamas.  And she picked out an outfit and said "Lets buy this one."  We did not buy it.  I don't think the boys have shown a driven interest in their clothes ever.  I have to pick stuff and ask.

She starts dance soon.  She loves the outfit.  But as mentioned she likes pretty clothes.  She likes the color pink today.  Sometimes it's blue.  Sometimes it's purple.  Today it's pink.  I like embracing the phases they are in.  So we sing a lot of pinkalicious and we read a lot of books about unicorns.  Which she also loves.  She is so girly sometimes.  But then other times she yells charge! and leads the boys into the pillow fight battles with Dad.  She loves her family.  She is still kind of shy of strangers and hasn't made many friends her age.  She only knows a handful of kids her age and she only knows two of their names.  But she has her built in playmates, so where's the need?  David seems to be this way too.  When I asked him to learn the names of the kids in his class at school he said ... dead pan ... "why?"

She loves playing dress up and we have to rotate through all the dresses she owns.  She wears all the dress up clothes.  She loves setting up elaborate meals for her stuffed toys and dolls.  The cabbage patch doll sits up the best and is therefore her favorite because she sits in her chair nicely.

Ariel is beloved but Elsa is still supreme.  My sweet winter birthday girl who was born in a snow storm that dropped four inches on Dallas loves Ms Elsa.  It seems fitting.

She is growing so fast and she's still my baby but at this same age the boys were so capable and grown to me.  She'll be 4 before I'm ready.

David's birthday is next week.  Time marches on.