Isla: 37 Months (3 yr, 1 mo)

I think my mom put it best after spending 4 days with my kids: Isla is quite the little leader!

This month she has taken a real interest in cooking with me in the kitchen. Whenever she spots me digging around in the fridge, she pulls a chair up to the counter, grabs a cutting board and a cheese knife (the only one I let her have) and asks if she can help. As messy as it can be, I'm loving this new-found bonding activity.

Isla was quite the star while we were away! She got to spend time with both sets of grandparents and talked all their ears off. Whenever we called to say "hi," she was far too busy playing to stop and visit (she must have missed us terribly...)

Isla loves her new cousin Lilly and usually she and I have to fight over who gets to hold her.

She continues to ask "why" about 12 billion times each day. It's literally her response to everything that I say, even if she already knows the answer. Sometimes I think she's truly curious, other times I wonder if she's just not ok with silence.

Everyone who told us "just wait until three" when we mentioned the challenges of the "terrible twos" was right! Ever since her 3rd birthday, we've ventured into uncharted territory: epic tantrums, sass and defiance to name a few. Isla's spending a lot more time in her room these days, learning to self-calm. "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." This is proving to be a lot harder than I ever dreamed possible!

One of my favorite developments this month is that Isla has begun to pray aloud. In the past, she always provided a list of who we should pray for but now she's formulating her own prayers. Usually they include thankfulness for her family and food and house and prayers that mommy and daddy would have a good trip (maybe we get another one since she keeps praying it?) The other day she also prayed for Christmas. Love it!

Any time we hear music playing, this girl begins to dance. One of her favorite dancing locals is the wine section of Trader Joe's (don't ask....) Every time we pass that section, she parks her cart and begins to twirl and throw her arms about - eek! This morning she was digging the music in Starbucks and gave all the customers a show. I do admire her free spirit and we have yet to have an accident....

Isla told me the other day that she doesn't like bounce houses "because they have too many kids." The more I get to know this little girl, the more I see a little mini-me. Chaos is not her thing and she likes to stick to situations she can control (bounce houses and trampolines do not fall in that category!) This being said, she definitely has some extroverted tendencies and is very outgoing when it comes to greeting other kids and asking them to play. I'm proud to be her mama!