Soccer Dad

Three years

At 1:15 AM she turned 157 weeks old.

11 months ago, I posted the benchmarks for when she would no longer be a baby and would officially be a little girl.

1) The most obvious, I suppose, is toilet training. I don't think she's that far from that. She is very good about letting us know when she's 'gusting, ' and I suspect that she may even know when she has to go.

2) She talks very well. But when will she reach the stage that a conversation consists of more than a single exchange?

3) When the majority of her sentences no longer start with 'I want...'

4) When she goes a whole day without crying.

5) When she starts walking with a more even gait and not looking like she's bouncing with every step.

Here are a few more:
6) When she walks up and down stairs instead of sliding down and climbing up.
7) When we can trust her to sleep in a bed.
8) When she starts dressing herself.

It's amazing but she's pretty much passed all of these benchmarks.

Over the weekend my wife got her trained.and set up a bed. She seems quite proud of herself and looks adorable in her little toddler bed. Fortunately, last night she only chose to test her freedom once.

She does carry on conversations of more than one sentence and can express herself. But also means that she can be persuaded if necessary. A few weeks ago she was scared by thunder so her brother told her that it was a big truck. It worked. (This morning she greeted me with "two girls sleep in two beds")

Well, she still is rather demanding. But we can gently remind her "How do you ask ..." and she'll append "please" to the beginning of her demand.

Well she does cry, though it's not necessarily her first reflex when something doesn't go her way. (This morning she did cry when my wife tried to get her to wear a different dress from the one she wanted.)

Her gait is now more even, she ooesn't bounce while walking. Not even while running that much either.

And now she does sleep in a bed and has been dressing herself for months.

I guess we no longer have a baby, but a little girl.

Yesterday, after my wife put up the toddler bad and took down the crib we talked to my mother-in-law and with our daughter in Israel. Both times she brought the phone to the room and asked "Do you like my bed?" It occurred to me, that for a three year old, a phone is also a camera!

More updates to come.

Previous related entries: 35 months, 34 months, 33 months, 32 months, 31 months, 30 months, 29 months,
28 months,
27 months,
26 months,
25 months,
Two years,
23 months,
22 months,
21 months,
20 months,
19 months,
18 months,
17 months,
16 months,
15 months,
14 months,
13 months,
One year,
11 months,
10 months,
9 months,
eight months,
seven months,
six months,
five months,
four months,
three months,
two months,
One month.