all about Ivy

Ivy's "thing" right now is definitely princesses.  She loves to dress-up and play princesses.  She knows all the different princesses and their stories and memorized a whole bunch of princess books-for a while right around her birthday she could quote a whole book without missing a word.

Ivy loves going to "class" (nursery) and has become attached to a few of her teachers, some of whom have been released but she still loves them and calls them her teachers when she sees them.

We are still chugging along with the potty training thing.  She is doing really well, and I would venture to say that we are about done.  One thing I have learned from training three others is to just take it easy and relax.  At least that's what works for me.  We have a couple of kinks to work out but she is wearing underwear almost primarily, even for errands, so that's progress.

She still loves to watch Sofia the First every morning.  She has watched the episodes so many times that she has several of them memorized and during the course of a day will play Sofia in just the way that they play out in the episodes.

Our sleep schedule changed a bit when we got rid of both her crib and her binkies.  She no longer takes a scheduled nap although she will occasionally give in to her exhaustion and fall asleep on the couch.  If we drive anywhere in the afternoon she will almost always fall asleep and often stay asleep even when we get home.  It was a bit of a rough transition the first month or so but she has adjusted to less sleep and does okay most days.

She was super easy to put to bed when she was in her crib-that requires a little more work now.  She likes me to lay by her and we listen to three princess songs and then I put all the big princesses in bed with her and get her some water and she is usually good after that.  Most days she is tired enough that, if I can get her settled enough that I can leave, she falls asleep quickly.

I think that 3-year-olds are harder than 2-year-olds so I was gearing up for the tantrums and stubbornness that come with this age.  I think overall it's been fine, but she is definitely a fiercely independent little girl and some tantrums and frustrations come with the territory.  She has been introduced to time out a few times and dislikes it very much but she is also easy to talk to and reason with after she's been in time out and we snuggle and give hugs and kisses and all is okay.

The only meal I really have a hard time with for her is breakfast.  She has never been a huge lover of breakfast foods.  She doesn't do great with either pancakes or waffles although she does like german pancakes or crepes.  She won't eat muffins.  She will eat a bowl of cereal or some toast and I can sometimes get her to eat a scrambled egg, but only if I put ketchup on it.  She loves fruit though so I can always fill her up with canned applesauce, peaches, or pears or yogurt or fresh berries, if we have any.  Her favorite lunch is ramen noodles.  She will also eat pb & j, chicken nuggets, mac and cheese or hot dogs.  Dinner is a guessing game.  I don't think she is necessarily picky, she is just 3 and sometimes she eats and sometimes she doesn't.  If I can be strict and limit her snacking then she usually eats but sometimes she gets what she wants when I'm trying to do piano and shuttling older kids all over the valley.

Ivy has sass and attitude.  If she doesn't get her way, she runs off to cry in her room.  She has a great pouty face and I think it's so cute when she puts her hands on her hips and stomps her foot.  A couple of weeks ago I was holding her down and trying to get her clothes off for a bath and she yelled out, "You will not get away with this!"

She is getting great at riding her trike and we try to go out on nice days to go on a little ride.

She has to help me check-out anytime we go to Walmart.  If I don't let her, it would be a major meltdown so that's something she does every time we go there.

Ivy loves to pack a bag with her everywhere she goes.

She doesn't do this as much any more but for a lot of months she would call Brynn her "sister mom" and Stockton her "brother dad."  Molly didn't get called anything different.  She would refer to them as that to anyone who would listen and it was so, so funny.  Especially when she would talk to strangers about her sister mom and brother dad...I'm sure they thought it was equally funny but it sure made our family sound a little different!

More recently, Ivy has loved taking baths at random times of the day.  She just loves playing in the water. It's not unusual for me to run a bath for her in the middle of the afternoon and let her play in their for about 30 minutes.

Ivy loves to wear nightgowns (and dress-ups) and on days that we stay home, it's very likely for her to either stay in her nightgown all day or to pick a dress-up early on in the morning and wear it all day long.

Ivy's birthday interview...her first one! Some questions I had to ask her more than once at different times so she didn't say the same thing over and over.

Favorite color: pink

Favorite movie: Cinderella

Favorite breakfast: peanut butter and jelly toast

Favorite dinner: salad

Best friend: Maive

Favorite TV show: Sofia

Favorite scripture story: ??

Favorite book: Pinkalicious and Frozen

Favorite game: Cinderella

Favorite story: Cinderella

Other kids think that I am: They share my bags with me. 

What do you like about your Mom? being nice to everyone

What do you like about your Dad? Holds us and not drops us.

What do you like about Molly? She's nice to me.

What do you like about Stockton? He is my brother dad! 

What do you like about Brynn? She is my sister mom!

What do you like about yourself? I like that I am nice when I play Frozen with Brynn.

When I grow up I want to be: a big girl!

I like learning about: us

I want to go to: Lagoon

If I had one wish it would be: a camera

Favorite thing to do: have dresses on

Favorite song: Beauty and the Beast

Ivy brought the Mr. Potato Head toy downstairs and asked, "Mom, do you want to play mashed potatoes with me?"