Kaelia - 3 Years Old

It is amazing how much Kaelia has grown in to her own little personality during this last year.  She is incredibly funny at times, sweet at others, and angry and sad in between.  To show off her sweet side, she loves to give hugs and kisses and will frequently say "I love you."  This is countered by her angry side where she crosses her arms and says things like, "You're naughty!" or "I'm not playing with you" when she's mad.  This usually happens when someone doesn't share.  When Kaelia gets sad, she usually does a very slow motion sad face until she is in tears with her head buried in her arms.  This typically occurs when she is told no or if she loses a game.  Kaelia can be rather literal and matter-of-fact as well.  Here are a few conversations we have had in the last few months:

Taelyn: It's morning time because the sun's out.
Kaelia: No the sun is in.  The sun is not out, so it is in.

Kaelia: Mommy, you make me laugh.
Me: Kaelia, you make me laugh all the time.
Kaelia: No I don't.  You're not laughing right now.

Kaelia is also full of wisdom from her 3 years of age.  She often tells us profound statements. In fact, there are times where I actually repeat what she says because it just makes sense during certain times in life.  One time, for example, Kaelia wasn't really talking and was acting pretty lethargic while we were all trying to play in the playroom.  Justin and I kept asking her what was wrong that day and why was she acting like that.  Finally, once everyone left the room except for me, she came over to me and whispered, “Mom, I’m just not feeling well today, and I want to be sad.”  It was so well-said and so understandable that I told her she had a great reason to be sad.  A week later, I also got sick and found myself saying the exact same thing.

One of the most dominant parts of Kaelia's personality this year has been her imagination.  She loves to play make believe with her sister as well as on her own.  When playing this Taelyn, they often act out the latest movie that they watched or will play some type of mother-baby scenario.  They take turns being the mother or the baby, and the baby will also cry while the mother will call her "honey" and try to get her to stop. Tangled is one of their favorite movies to re-enact because they are a mother and daughter in this situation too.  The mother will brush Rapunzel's hair while she asks if she can go outside.  Then the mother tells her that it is a very dangerous place and she must never leave the castle.  Again, they take turns in these roles, and they are adorable.  However, the biggest part of Kaelia's imaginary world has been the addition of her two imaginary friends, Jack Frost and Blue.  These two friends are from two different movies, but they have entered in to Kaelia's world, and she plays with them every day.  Jack Frost is often quite silly while Blue is mischevious.  Just this past week, Kaelia ran up to us and then fell to the ground.  When she got up, she said, "Whoa!  Jack Frost just hit me with a snowball!"  We managed to get her to re-enact that one on camera too.

Jack Frost hit Kaelia with a Snowball

To give a little example of Blue's personality, Kaelia was painting one of her arts and crafts when all of a sudden, she started to destroy the pattern that was painting.  Then she started screaming, "NO, Blue, stop!  Mom, Blue just ruined my picture!"  What we love most about Kaelia's interaction with her imaginary friends, though, is the voices that she makes up to go along with them.  Here is an example of a typical conversation with Jack Frost:

Kaelia: Oh hello, Blue.  You can't come in yet because the party is not ready.
Blue (Kaelia's deep voice): Ok, Kaelia.
Kaelia: Come in Blue.  The party's ready and Jack Frost is here!

Kaelia's Chalk Self-Portrait

Other things like Kaelia likes to do is play "dollies" (Barbies) - especially Cinderella and Rapunzel.  She also likes to play on playgrounds.  Her favorite playground equipment is the swings; she would swing all day if she could.

Aside from her imagination, Kaelia has also advanced with her academic learning.  She can count up to 20, knows her letters, and has been working on writing the alphabet.  She has also loves arts and crafts - especially coloring and painting with watercolor paint.  And she has been practicing cutting paper to use on her arts and crafts projects.

Kaelia is now 28.8 lbs. and 37.5 inches tall.  That puts her in the 29th and 50th percentiles respectively.  She is also fully potty trained except at night where she is usually dry but wears a pull-up just in case.

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