So, Cass is 3. Mostly 3 is pretty fun. This child has diction and a vocabulary that outshines many adults I've met. She is full of questions, observations and ideas. She likes to know what's going to happen next, as in, what the schedule for the day is. I love that, because I am exactly the same. I feel more at peace when things are planned and have a reasonable chance of working out as such. I'm not good with "whatever happens" or "we'll see how it goes." In fact, I have a physical reaction to that kind of sentiment. She also prefers going out to being at home, and doing stuff with people as opposed to alone. These clues into her personality type are so fun to discover. There is a certain satisfaction in noticing that your offspring bear your traits. Even if they are some of the more annoying ones like being controlling. I see her attempting to manage a situation and I smile and think "Awww, you'll be working on figuring out how to stop doing that for your entire life."
Terrible two is made up. Someone invented that to lull us all into a sense of false security so they could watch from behind the bushes when year 3 comes flying in and hits the proverbial fan. Thoroughly Challenging Three is where it's at. My sweet, snuggly, happy-to-be-here toddler has morphed into a big kid who knows exactly what she wants, when she wants it (and don't even think about asking her to "wait just one second.") Impatient! Easily angered! Mean at times! I am beginning to see why people let their kids rule the roost. It really IS easier to let them have their way. Honestly, if you keep this child happy, she is sweet as a peach. But cross her...better gird your loins, or, if you're not up for that level of conflict, run for cover.
The great thing about a two-parent family is that you can work together as a team to employ the formal discipline method of "paper-rock-scissors" or "not it" or "but I did it last time! You suck."
This child, can go from adorable, grateful and joyful to a full fledged physical and emotional rage in about .25 seconds. Sometimes this is hilarious (at home on a Saturday morning.) And sometimes it is quite embarrassing (at 6:30pm in a nice restaurant.)
I would say that this unpleasantry takes up about 1% of our lives. So I won't say anymore about that side of our little pumpkin. But it's worth mentioning. And I must immortalize it somewhere so I can remind her of it when she's 17 and she wants something or when I've retired to some Jimmy Buffet themed community in Florida and she has her own 3-year old.
Another thing about Cassidy worth mentioning is that she is really pretty. I find this to be more amusing than anything else. There are people who secretly hope and pray for a particularly beautiful child. These kinds of people are those who have spent most of their life getting by on their looks, and I guess they figure if their kiddo isn't blessed with beauty, they won't make it. See, Kevin and I are just normal looking people who value personality, sense of humor, talent, concern for the common good and whether you make a worthy Trivial Pursuit opponent, when we choose the people we want to spend time with. So the whole notion of having a pretty little girl was never really on my list of hopes and dreams. I hoped she'd be well out of "Sloth from Goonies" range, but beyond that, meh.
So I've got this little cutie on my hands. I wonder if it will last as she gets older. Because I always figured my kids would either be athletic, nerdy or artsy, I have no idea what I would do with a kid who has what it takes to model or a real shot at being the prom queen. I'm secretly hoping for an especially bad and long awkward stage. I don't know how to teach you to gracefully and humbly be the most beautiful girl in the room! But I can definitely get you through pimples, boys who don't like you back and having a clothing size that is roughly twice the number of your friends'. The stuff character is built on!
Cass says a lot of very funny things. I am seriously toying with the idea of a short-chapter book focused around her questions, comments and misunderstood words. An example:
CONVERSATIONS WITH CASS (the topic of bikinis is being discussed at length with Cass quietly listening.) CASS: My mommy and daddy and I have bikinis in our garden. (a lull of confusion, someone says "your DAD has a bikini??" Then...) GREGG: "oh, I think you mean zucchini."
In terms of milestones, she is now in a big girl bed, has been potty trained for about a year and uses the actual toilet. She started preschool a few months ago and has a good friend she plays with each day named Vivian. Cass had a Hello Kitty themed birthday party at our house when she turned 3. She is getting great at swimming which makes me so proud. She isn't scared at all, goes under water of her own volition and prefers to not wear swimmies, though she cannot yet actually swim well enough to stay above water. Some of her favorite things are to dance, draw, watch Yo Gabba Gabba, help me in the garden, go to the playground, play Legos with her daddy, go to Grammy and Pappy's or Babcia's, play games on Grammy's iPad, go to swim classes and gymnastics and spend time with her cousin, Morgan.
It's been a pretty fun summer. We had a great beach vacation with the family and spent a lot of time outside. We are ready for the fall weather and fall clothes - I find it funny when she pulls out some sweater or jacket that she wants to wear and I have to tell her they aren't summer clothes. I also look longingly at long sleeves, scarves and knee high boots once August rolls around.
Our house is on the market but hasn't gotten much activity. Trying to explain over a 6 month period to a 3 year old that we are selling our house and moving, but we have no idea when, is tedious. So, we're pretty much in a holding pattern until someone wants to buy this place. But then, it's go time!
Mostly, though, we are incredible grateful that we have a place to live, jobs we like and a healthy, happy kid who makes us laugh every day.
