Good Golly Me, Molly at 3!

If you don’t know how old Molly is, just hang out in her vicinity for five minutes and she is likely to seek you out and inform you, “I’m feree (three)!” And most times, the next words out of her mouth are, “I have a big girl bed!”
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Apparently when you are three, the big girl bed is the center of your universe. We recently met some neighbors down the street. They have twin girls. I asked one of the girls how old she was and she replied, “I’m three. I have a big girl bed!” Gee, that sounds familiar.
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Molly loves her bed and the new found freedom that comes with it. She can look out the window, reach her water cup and tissues on her nightstand, and turn her bedside lamp on and off all by herself…even when we are not in the room. She totally digs that.
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She actually has a lot more freedom than she realizes as she is able to climb into and out of her bed on her own; however, she still thinks that she needs to call me to get her out. I intend to keep her in the dark about the reality of that for as long as possible.
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Big girl bed aside, Molly has grown in so many ways over the past year. Physically speaking, she is 37 inches tall and weighs 27 ½ pounds. That puts the in the 50th percentile for height and 20th percentile for weight…a string bean. Yes, buying pants or any other garment that is fitted at the waist a real challenge. Molly fit perfectly into a size 2, but 9 and 12 month pants still fit her in the waist (but definitely not in length). Thank goodness for elastic waist and adjustable waist pants!
Since the terrible twos ended about six months ago, Molly no longer feels the need to micromanage every single detail of her life and the lives of those around her. This is good because she only needs one micro manager in her life and that would be me! Since she has grown up a little, she seems to have accepted the fact that she doesn’t get call the shots on every aspect of her life.
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Don’t worry, she is still fiercely independent and is so pleased that she can do things for herself. She is extremely proud of the fact that she now attends classes and activities all by herself, without Mom in the room. She is giddy with excitement before each class begins…she is such a grown up girl. I shed a little tear before each class begins…she is such a grown up girl.
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Ever since the transition to the big girl bed/ big girl chair at the dinner table, Molly has recognized that her status has changed. She loves being a big girl, but is hesitant to give up her baby status. She flip-flops between total autonomy and crawling around on the floor saying, “Mommy, I’m a baby.” I try to reassure her that she will always be my baby, no matter how old she gets.
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At two, Molly was adept at two-word phrases. I couldn’t wait for her to develop more sophisticated speech, so that we could have more meaningful interactions. You know that phrase be careful what you wish for…?
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Well Molly talks so much now that there are days that I would like to shout, “WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP FOR TWO MINUTES PLEASE?” Of course, I have never said this to her, but in all honesty, it crosses my mind at least once a day. It seems that whatever thought pops into Molly’s head comes pouring out of her mouth. And new thoughts pop into her head pretty much every waking minute of the day. My favorite is when she repeats the same question over and over despite the fact that I have answered it 10 times already.
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I have channeled some of her enthusiasm to speak in some positive ways. Molly knows her complete name (including 2 middle names)and can spell her first and last name. She also knows her phone number and address. She has a little speech that she recites:

• My name is Molly Michelle HaiYan XXX.
• M-O-L-L-Y X-X-X.
• My phone number is XXX-XXXX.
• My address is __________.

Of course the X’s are just there to protect our privacy. She knows that her last name is not XXX.

Molly also knows her alphabet and can name all of the letters upon request. She can count and can name her numbers, as well. She also is fluent in French, Mandarin, and Latin and can solve quadratic equations. Okay, okay. The part about the foreign languages and algebra is fabricated, but we do think she is a smart little girl. We sit in awe as she takes information from several different facets of her life, combines them, and then applies them to a completely new situation. How do kids learn to do that? Amazing.

Molly has grown is so many ways, but has remained consistent in others:

• She is still a daredevil, willing to take on any physical challenge. She is master of the playground and the high flyer at Little Gym. I am still on my aspirin regimen to stave off possible heart attacks.


• She still sucks her index and middle finger, especially when she is tired. Not sure that will ever go away. Doesn’t bother us. It is the way that she has soothed herself since her days in the orphanage so if she needs it, more power to her.


• She still loves dramatic play, especially with her dolls, pretend food, and homemade cardboard kitchen set (which was loving constructed by her mother so that we could avoid big plastic things from consuming our house). She has also added a doctor’s outfit to the dress up box and that is a favorite as well.


• She still sleeps 10+ hours each night and naps for 3 hours each afternoon. Yes, I do know how lucky I am. I live in fear of the day that this sleep schedule changes.
  
  And finally here is a list of Molly’s favorites at 3:
• Favorite Fruits: Mandarin oranges, bananas, melons.
• Favorite Vegetables: Broccoli and cauliflower.
• Favorite Foods: Cheese or anything made with cheese, dumplings, noodles, rice, rotisserie chicken, smoothies.
• Favorite Dessert: Suckers, ice cream, and chocolate. She rarely gets treats, honest. But apparently, you don’t need to eat chocolate very many times before you discover that it is as close to Heaven-on-Earth as you are ever going to get.
• Favorite Music: Anything by Laurie Berkner….a lot more entertaining and far less annoying than the Wiggles.
• Favorite Books: I Love You Like Crazy Cakes, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut, There’s a Wocket in My Pocket , Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?, Mommy Mine, Peek: A Thai Hide and Seek, Good Night Gorilla. There are many, many others. We could fill a library.


• Favorite Shoes: Pink Crocs.
• Favorite Toy: Baby, her baby doll.
• Favorite Item of Clothing: The girl shirt. A long sleeve tee shirt with an appliqué of a little girl with pig tails.
• Favorite Places to Hang Out: Outside--park, backyard deck, zoo, playground.


• Favorite activity: Playing with friends and riding her tricycle (a girl after my own heart).
• Favorite saying: “Silly Daddy, don’t go to the mall, go to work!”
  Don’t ask me how this got started, but she says this phrase multiple times each day. She can even vary it to fit her needs: “Silly Daddy, don’t go to the mall, come play with me.” Silly Daddy, don’t go to the mall, take me to the park.” Hey, I’m just glad she’s not saying, “Silly Mommy, don’t go to the mall.” What? No mall? That would be a tragedy.

I could go on and on describing Molly at 3. My little girl is growing up fast and there are so many behaviors, habits and personality traits that have been abandoned and replaced with new ones. I want to capture as much as I can in print so that I don’t forget. I hate that I can’t remember every little detail of her life. The older I get, the more I forget and so I write. I hope that you are still with me, but I wouldn’t blame you if you skipped the text and went straight for the pictures. I promise that I will try my hardest to be more succinct in future posts.

Have fun being three, my big girl. And remember, you’ll always be my baby!