To be 3...

Wow...I'd already say that the age of 3 is definitely harder than 2 so far! Jazz has only been 3 for a few weeks...and yet something in her clicked...she discovered her own will! We have had more fights, more disciplining, more explanations of how life works, more convincing her that she is not at the center of the universe, and more tears from both of us in the last couple of weeks than we have had YET! The closest we've come to this is right after Austin was born...but I had alot of understanding from my end as to why she was acting out. This, my friends, is just her testing her boundaries and growing up! BUT...she is learning...and I am enduring...so we are good.

On the flip side, her imagination is really taking flight and I so enjoy playing in that world with her. Each day before naptime and bedtime, she has said to me, "Do you want to be Ariel or Eric?" Ariel - being her light up Barbie Ariel with a tail - and Eric - being Austin's Iron Man. ;) We also have Aurora, Snow White, and Cinderella (Barbie-style) that play with us. We play back and forth and she talks in a high voice as Ariel while I talk in a low voice as Eric. Then, we almost always play duck-duck-goose with the other Barbie princesses. It totally cracks me up. (of course Ariel & Eric are the only ones allowed to be called, "Goose!")

Last night she did not get to take Eric (aka Iron Man) to bed with her. Ariel told Cinderella that Eric wasn't there...so Cinderella (me) asked her why not. Ariel replied, "Eric isn't here tonight because Cha-Cha (aka Jasmine) had a bad attitude so he had to go away...but he'll hopefully be back tomorrow." Oh my gosh...it was all I could do to keep from laughing! Where did she get that?? We never said "bad attitude". She definitely understands! :)

Such trials and such joys! :) That's the life of a mom...