Our sweet Tracey Ann is three years old today and I am almost at a loss for words to think about it... almost.
My little Tracey...
Well, to start, she is not our little Tracey anymore. She INSISTS that she is a big girl. She wants to do everything by herself, and she doesn't like to ask for help... but she resists less when we ask if we can help her do it herself. That she will usually allow us to do.
It is that philosophy "Help me do it myself" which is why she is doing so well in her Montessori school. She understands the work cycle, culture, expectations, and routine of her classroom. She has several friends that she consistency plays with and works with at school, and talks about when she comes home. She has now been attending this school for one full year, and she is about to move into an older classroom and we are hoping and praying that she continues to do as well with the higher level of learning.
This adorable little girl is turning into such a talker, which I absolutely love (almost all the time). She can carry on a conversation with familiar people with minimal prompting, and, when she's so inclined, she can retell events of her day with incredibly detail. She still tends to be shy around new people, or in large settings, but a lot depends on her mood.
It has been fun to watch her come out of her shell at church these past few months. She now attends Sunday School in a class with older children, and she has started doing much better. She also can be seen running around with the big kids after church, which warms my heart to see her coming out of her shell with friends and older peers.
She thrives in routine, and Hubby and I have had to learn this winter that we really enable her to be her happiest, most cooperative little self when we keep to the same expectations and the same routine.
Tracey is most certainly a Daddy's girl, and she loves getting to go on Big Girl outings, adventures, and errands with Daddy. He also is a little more lenient than Mama when it comes to rules.
Tracey is doing really well with potty-training and has very few accidents. She still wears a diaper for nap, and a diaper at night, but uses the bathroom very independently throughout the day.
Tracey loves playing with Howard and Caroline, and get so excited to see them every morning when they wake up. She often pretends to be their Mama, and tells me that I'm the Daddy and then she takes care of her two babies -- Howard and Caroline. She loves to help give them baths, and she is really good about making sure they have a toy to play with (so they're less likely to take whatever she is playing with). Lately, she has taken it upon herself to tell me what Howard and Caroline like, "Howard likes this Mommy."
She and Howard usually laugh at the same things -- currently, spitting in the bathtub. The two of them just crack each other up by sipping water and then spitting it out. She and Caroline usually cuddle. She will say that Caroline is her baby, and then Caroline will lay her head in Tracey's lap, and Tracey will hug her head, which makes me nervous because it looks an awful lot like a headlock... but they both seem to love it.
Tracey loves to be active, she likes music, she likes to count (she can usually make it to ten accurately and then her numbers up to twenty get a little jumbled), she's a pretty picky eater these days, she likes to color, and play with playdough, and play catch with her siblings. She likes to be outside, and play with Lexie and Lloyd, and she loves to help cook in the kitchen any way possible.
She says a prayer that Papa taught her before meals and sometimes will say it by herself. She loves to read and have books read to her. She is quick to apologize when she bumps into someone or knocks something over, "I'm sorry, Mama. It was accident." She's also just begun saying that she promises things. "I be careful, Mama. I promise."
She is so much fun and such a sweet person and just an absolute joy to raise and watch develop each and every day.
