A few things that I would love to remember about McCanless as a 3-year-old…there are probably many that somtimes I’d like to forget… nonetheless, I’ll post both.
McCanless is a very strong willed child. (I know,I know so many people have strong willed children, but I have actually had several people suggest that I buy Dobson’s book, The Stong Willed Child.) Some of the people that made the suggestion knew us, some didn’t, just happend to see us out and about. She isn’t disrespectful, just very determined right now.
She minds me (as much as any 3-year-old minds), but Daddy doesn’t know how to handle her AT ALL!! She knows exactly how to get to daddy! She has him right around her little finger!
At this age she seems to be the leader in most of her play circles. She never does anything that she doesn’t want to do, no matter who is doing it. Most of the time, I see her leading the pack.
She is still obsessed with the color pink and any princess. She loves to play dress up, and now will keep her voice in a high pitched almost squeal talk. If you call her by name, she insists that her name is Princess Ariel, Princess Ann Elise, etc..or whoever she is at the moment.
She loves to dance, and paint and continues to love books and music.
She can sing every word to every song in the movie, Annie. As she sings, she will usually act out whatever is happening. She is pretty good with the notes, too.
She loves to talk to her dolls, and play teacher. She will line up her dolls and ask if they, “want to read the book in my left hand, or read the book that my right hand is pointing to?” which is obviously something her teacher does.
She is extreme in every form of the word. When she is happy, she is extrememly happy, when she is mad…extremely mad. Hungry…extremely hungry.
She can turn on and off like a light switch. One minute she can be the sweetest, most mild-tempered, most quiet (believe it or not…although rare) loving child, then up out of my lap, loud, running around laughing with no regard to “rules”…just so carefree.
When she wants something, it is now. When she is tired, she is a nightmare!
She definitely has her Mimi and Daddy in her. She is a night owl. Her ideal schedule would be to sleep to 9, take her time waking up, eat breakfast around 10, late lunch, nap around 3:30, sleep for 2 1/2 hours, then bed around 10:30. Trust me, I have fought this hard. I never would have thought that people actually had this kind of internal clock until I met Mel. I always thought he was just lazy!! I had to give birth to his clone to realize that they were born this way. They both are so alert and alive after 9 PM, which is when my clock turns off!
I know the real world is going to be hard, so I’ve tried to adjust her internal clock a bit, but when I wake her when she is not ready, all hell breaks loose. She takes forever to “wake up.” I never understood why Mel wouldn’t just jump up with me in the morning ready to go at 7 am??!! Now I know!
She has a great personality. She is fun to watch, and fun to be around. She loves people and loves being around people at all times!
She loves music and has her own little CD collection. In the car, she will flip through her CD case and find exactly what she wants. Then she will sing at the top of her lungs, but gets angry at me if I try to sing along with her.
She has great facial expressions. I think one day she will work in drama. I swear, she is the most dramatic 3-year-old. Even her teacher tells me that!
She loves school, except for the being there at 9 am part!
I’m not sure how she will accept the new baby. Somtimes she speaks of her sister doing this or that, but I’m not really sure she is talking about the baby. I think she is pretending or just “talking.” She told her teacher that she had a baby in her belly and had to go to the hospital to get it out. I really don’t know where she heard that!! Mel swore that they didn’t have the conversation and I know I haven’t told her that!
My little McCanless is so much fun, I couldn’t imagine her any other way! I love it all: the good, the bad and the ugly…and the all of the wonderful in between!
