Very Nearly Three

P1060869 by Nicky P

Our Little Princess will be three years old on Saturday and I am gobsmacked by the prospect. As emphatically as Autumn has arrived, Leila has transformed from a 2 year old kind of kid to the 3 year old kind. Without even realising it, and not because of the proximity of her birthday, I’ve gone from describing her as a 2 year old to saying she’s 3 when asked, because she seems 3. It’s happened overnight or, at least, while I wasn’t looking.

Her play, in particular, has leapt ahead. After months of having a ‘home’ corner set up in her room and not really using it, she’s started bringing me food and cups of tea from her ‘kichen’. Earlier this morning she was diligently bringing Indi different (plastic) foods to sample, telling her each time to “jus’ wait there, I’m going to my kichen to get you sumping to eat”. Indi obliged by sitting still and giving each item a perfunctory sniff as it was presented.

Any two toys will be engaged in involved discussions about all sorts of things and she is finally able to take part in some of Finn’s imaginative games. The kids have had a lovely time recently transforming his room into their own ‘Finn and Leila’ corner and creating a hiding hole behind the couch. It’s lovely to watch and listen to the discussions that go on.

She’s far more interested in emulating the things we do around the house than Finn ever was. I don’t know if this is a boy vs. girl thing or a Finn vs. Leila one, but she is far more interested in vacuuming, sweeping, wiping and washing than he has or is and is always looking for ways to do what I do. It’s terribly cute, but we don’t have much in the way of household type toys (apart from tea sets and a toy oven), so there’s a birthday present tip, if anyone is looking for one.

Leila is a far more physically oriented kid than Finn, too. She is loves running, jumping and climbing at every opportunity. She’s finally mastered climbing up and down Finn’s bed (although she still needs some encouragement getting down) and is very pleased! She wants to ride bikes and scooters that she’s not big enough for yet, in contrast to Finn who is only vaguely interested in these things.

She is also possesses a much stronger will and need to express her preferences than Finn did at the same age. Apart from her devotion to her ‘babies’, she is not a particularly girly girl and is horrified by the prospect of wearing a dress or skirt (a bit of a let down for me after 6 years of dressing a boy – I long for the pretty). Her clothing choices are limited to a few favoured tshirts and some shorts and getting her to wear anything else takes a combination of negotiation and threats. Most of the time she would rather run around in just a nappy or nothing at all – a habit I’ll be discouraging as the weather gets colder.

She has thus far resisted any effort I’ve made at toilet training. While Leila loves underpants and really enjoys wearing them, she’s is not so fond of sitting on the toilet and often refuses to do it, which makes things rather messy. I could persevere and push her through it, but I really don’t want to make a big drama of it, so we will stick with nappies and disposable ‘pullups’ for now. I’m pretty confident she won’t end up going to school in nappies.

Miss Leila is a great flirt and is very fond of smiling at strangers in shopping centres. This yields compliments about how cute and sweet she is. I almost always respond by saying she’s actually horrible in a joking way. I half mean it, though, behind that smiling, curly headed exterior is a far more complex and interesting person. She can be all giggles and smiles one minute and a tantrum throwing horror the next. Life is never dull with our Little Princess and it’s a journey I’m very glad we took.