Brynna, age 3

Summing up your child is not an easy task. Thinking about summing up all three is obviously a daunting task for me which explains my lack of posts. I have been sitting on these posts for months. Started but not finished. I guess a couple months later is better than never. So without further a do…

I always wondered what people meant by terrible two’s and trying three’s. My other two kids although not perfect were not what I would call a “handful”. However I think I’m learning a little bit of what they meant. Brynna is now three! So was her second year of life deserving of the title terrible on mom/dad? Maybe. She certainly was a handful at times and needed more discipline than what we were used to giving. She was opinionated. Knowing what she wanted and having the language skills to demand it were hard. We couldn’t just redirect her. But all these things considered it wasn’t a terrible year 2 with her. But we are less than two months into year 3 and I definitely think trying 3’s is very accurate. In that short time we’ve seen a huge change in her. She is asserting her control in every situation possible. EVERY situation she can. We are learning the true meaning of picking your battles but also have seen huge improvements already in that short amount of time due to consistency in our “discipline”. You give an inch and she’ll take it and 5 more so you better choose wisely when it’s worth it.

Update at 3 years 3.5 months…I can say consistency and follow through are truly every parents best friend. Brynna is still no picnic but she definitely is manageable by using those two things. Case in point: We were working on Brynna using her words with strangers (strangers include family and friends too). We go to the doctor for an annual check-up. She refuses to tell the nurse thank you for the sticker when we are leaving. I keep the sticker and she does not get it. Sevea then has a check-up a couple days later. I give the nurse the sticker and she says thank you to receive the sticker. In similar situations she has readily used her manners. I won this battle for the most part but we still battle on lots of things.

Negotiation has become a new parenting technique for me. I still get what I want but just not by simply asking. New for me but we’re finding she is a totally different breed than the other two so we cannot approach things the same way at all. Although she makes us want to pull our hair out sometimes, Brynna is also so sweet and loving. We’ve given her the nickname sour patch kid because she is very sour but oh so sweet as well. I can discipline her one minute and the very next she is giving me the biggest hugs. She is always wanting to be held and to be near me. She is very independent yet wants help at times not because she can’t do it just because she wants me there. She is my little side kick and I am remembering to soak it all in because I know this won’t last forever. I do have to let her grow up and do things without me there.

Sending her to preschool will surely force me into that. We plan to send her to preschool next year for two days a week. Then she’ll do another year likely three days a week before going to Kindergarten when she is 6 just like Cohen. I’m sure she’ll learn a lot in school but the separation from me is a huge incentive. It’s going to be hard on us both. It will be interesting to see how she’ll change in a school environment because this girl already knows so much. She likes to color and loves to create rainbows. She is interested in writing and reading. She knows she’s smart and uses it against us. But she does have two older siblings that she watches and learns so much from.

She seems to be growing at the same pace as those older siblings as well. She weighed 30 lbs (40%) and was 35.25 inches (10%) at her 3 year appointment. I guess this is one area she isn’t going to surprise us. I’ll take it though. I am sure this little girl will be full of many more surprises in the comings months and years. I’m gonna hold on tight and enjoy the ride with this one.