Adventures in Childhood: Micah at Three and a Half

This is Micah. Believe it or not, she's three and a half. I honestly cannot believe how quickly the past year has flown by. One minute, I was writing all about her adventures as a rambunctious little two and a half year old, and the next minute an entire year had passed. How is that possible?

At any rate, since I devoted an entire post to Kendall the other day, I figure it's only fair to devote another one to Micah. Attention hog that she is, I'm sure she would agree.

My little girl loves, I mean LOVES playing dress up. The tackier the better. Most days, as soon as she's finished with breakfast, she heads for her dress up bin and starts piling on the layers. In case you were wondering, as long as it matches your tutu, a Santa hat is always in season.

She's one big ball of energy. The girl never slows down. If I get a decent picture of her, it's nothing short of a miracle. She's constantly on the go. She's a girly girl, for sure, but she's not afraid to get sweaty either. She loves playing outside, kicking the soccer ball, and running hither and yon.

Unless of course, she's zoned out watching Sofia the First with her babies, which, by the way, is one of her favorite pasttimes. She's been playing "Mama" for a long time, and she thinks she has it all down pat. I learn a lot about myself when I hear her talking to her babies. The girl repeats verbatim things I say to her all the time. Which means that she does, in fact, hear me, even if she pretends that she doesn't.

She's a really good big sister. She loves Kendall, and she gets a major kick out of making her little sister giggle. No one can make Kendall laugh like Micah. Kendall adores her big sister, and for good reason. Micah can be so sweet when she wants to be. Fortunately, most of the time she wants to be sweet to her sister. That will probably change in years to come :)

She loves drawing, and, recently she's actually started to draw pictures instead of just scribbling on the page. For a long time, she refused to attempt to draw anything. She would hand me a crayon and ask me to draw a picture of a house...or a little girl...or a flower...or a sun...but she wouldn't even attempt to do so herself. Then all of a sudden one day while I was filling some orders in the etsy shop, I looked up, and she had drawn a picture of the two of us, complete with a rainbow over our heads. She never ceases to amaze.

I love this little girl. She thinks I'm amazing, but I know the truth: she's far more amazing than I will ever be. I pray that she never loses the sparkle in her big blue eyes - that she never takes herself too seriously - that she will always be her sister's protector - and most of all, that she would grow into a young woman who loves and serves the Lord with all of her heart.

This little lady makes me laugh daily. She reminds me to just let go and live a little. She has brought such joy into my life, and I love her so.

Until next time, grace and peace.

Adventures in Toddlerhood: (almost) Two and a Half

"What're you doooooooin, Mama?"

"I'm cooking supper, what are you doing, Micah?"

Two seconds pass.

"What're you doooooooin, Mama?"

"Still cooking supper. What about you?"

Three seconds pass.

"What're you doooooooin, Mama?"

A couple of weeks ago, Micah and I had that conversation 500 times a day. Literally. If I sat down, she asked. If I stood up, she asked. If I put my shoes on, she asked. If I brushed my hair, she asked. If I picked up a book, she asked.

The questioning was constant and drove me up the wall.

Now she's moved on. She only asks me two or three times a day, but we've taken up another conversation in its stead.

"Somebody's hidin' in my woom, Mama."

"Who's in your room, baby?"

"A mon-ter's in my woom."

"There's not a monster in your room, Micah."

Pauses for two seconds.

"Somebody's hidin' in my woom, Mama."

This conversation ensues every. single. time I ask Micah to take something to her room. The first time we had it, it made me grin. The 689th time we had it, I wanted to bang my head against the wall.

In case you can't tell, her conversational skills are growing, even if she sounds like a broken record at times. She's at such a fun age. Every time I turn around, it seems she's learning something new. My jaw dropped the first time she pointed at a stop sign and told me that it was an ot-ta-gon, but really, I shouldn't have been surprised. I've been pointing at the octagon in her Elmo lift-the-flap book for months.

If you ask her name, she'll answer Micah Joooones. We started working on my and Dennis' names too, just in case someone asks her who her parents are. I didn't have much hope in teaching her my name, but she's getting there. If you ask her my name, she'll say Essie Ann Joooones. Poor Dennis is left out. She knows his name but refuses to say it most of the time. To her, he's Daddy Joooones.

She loves to eat and has an appetite like her mama. There's not much that she turns down, and it's funny to me that if there's broccoli on her plate, she'll eat it before anything else. She also loves Mexican food. Girl after my own heart. And breakfast. Also one of my favorites. Sometimes she eats more than I do, which is saying something. The girl can pack it away.

She's fascinated with the idea of being a big sister, and she insists that the new baby is a girl. Poor thing will be disappointed if Peanut turns out to be a boy. She likes to lift my shirt and look at my belly, and every now and then, she'll talk to the baby. Melts my heart.

She's pretty stingy about giving out kisses, but if I pretend I don't want one, she'll grab my face between her little hands and cover it in kisses.

I don't want to forget her at this age. I'll take the toddler stage over the baby stage any day. That's not to say that toddlerhood is without challenges. Last night we had a major meltdown over brushing her teeth. And she's obsessed with things matching. If it doesn't match, chaos will ensue. If she's eating an orange and the wedges fall apart before she pulls them apart, she throws a fit, but I can handle all that. The good far outweighs the bad.

I love this little girl. Can't imagine life without her.

Until next time, grace and peace.