Three AND a Half

"Three-and-a-half" is now how Reese announces her age to anyone who will listen. Six months have made such a difference in Reese's skills and level of independence that by five I'm sure she will be able to operate heavy machinery more safely than I can.

Here's a run down on what our big girl has been up to:

* Tantrums are on the decrease and rational thought and conversation are increase. Good news, right? Generally. Until you learn that you're already dealing with a negotiator that may have a future in the courtroom. Don't leave any loop holes in a conversation with Reese, she'll find them instantly and drag you into a semantic conversation that will have you pulling your hair out in moments. We've had to institute a "There will be no more conversation now," phrase or else I would find myself screaming "Because I said so!" a hundred times a day.

* Reese got another hair cut. I think it had been almost a year since her last "real" trim and her mane was loooonng. (We don't count the bang trims daddy did on the back porch so we could still see her eyes.) I wouldn't have minded the long hair except that Reese REFUSED to wear it up...ever. She inherited fine straight hair from both of her parents and after twenty minutes of dancing/running/tricycling etc it was a constant rats nest. Cutting her hair to shoulder length seemed like a good compromise, and she left the salon with lollipop in hand and a smile on her face. Twenty minutes after we got home, though, I found Reese with her head down on the table. When I asked her what was wrong she said, "Well, mommy....I'm just really.....I'm frustrated that I got my hair cut. Now I don't have long princess hair anymore!" And she proceeded to pout for another half an hour. I had to spend about fifteen minutes discussing the premise that there were all kinds of princesses and some had short hair too. Which brings us to....

* Princesses. I do remember a time in my life when pink was my favorite color, but an obsession with princesses?! This is not my comfort zone. For the record, she has seen two Disney movies with princesses. Could that have opened the door to this princess overload? Who knows. How does this princess obsession play into our every day lives? 1. Reese will only wear dresses. Unless every dress she owns is dirty, she's in a dress. 2. We must talk about princesses ad nausem. What kind of food do they like? (Spinach, broccoli, and healthy foods of course! I've gotta find a way to twist this to my advantage, right?) Do princesses need vitamins? Do princesses take naps? I tried to explain the idea that REAL princesses exist, but this only seemed to confuse her. "Well of course, they're real, Mommy!" Urrgh.... This too shall pass. I guess it could be worse....I'm not having to keep pokemons straight.

* The list of things Reese can do independently is growing quickly: writing her name, zipping her zippers, turning the TV on and off, and swinging at the playground are just a few that come to mind. She's also very excited about learning how to read and loves to echo read stories at bedtime.

*Need directions in Austin? Call Reese. One afternoon we were headed home from a trip to Target and Reese announced that she knew how to get home. I decided to play along and asked her for directions while we were at a stop light. She proceeded to correctly list off the next three turns I needed to take. "You go straight after this stop light, but at the next one you turn left. Then when you get near that thing that looks like a stop sign but it's not (a yield sign) you go right. Then when you see our neighborhood you turn right." Did I mention she's known left from right for about three or four months? It was a moment when I wished another adult had been in the car. No one was going to believe me. I chalked it up as a fluke and decided to ask her directions to another location a few days later. She described the route again. "Wow, Reese you know a lot about roads!" I told her, more than a little surprised. "Of course I do! I know all about Mopac, and Parmer, and flyovers, and...." Having never directly taught her the names of any roads what could I say? Guess she's not too young to start learning our address.