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22 Apr '12 - 866 W, 10 I 45 Months

This cheeky girl is 3 months away from her fourth birthday!

Amazingly, that is what you get when you ask Yaya to cry! She can't help smiling while she does it . Another month of fun-filled days has passed very quickly!

* Mouse over the pictures for captions

In a similar vein to last month, Yaya has had a physically active month. Not only does she tear around the house at top speed (why walk when you can run, skip or hop around?), she has played soccer and gone swimming at the pool, and gone outside to do yardwork. Lots of fun physical activities.

She plays all day long, and has a dozen costume changes a day (at least) where she transforms herself into a different character. Previously she could switch roles without a change of clothing, but now that she can dress and undress herself, every different role also requires an outfit change - including footwear and headgear. One good thing about this is that she doesn't insist on wearing her pink polka dot top (she calls it a dress, but it was a dress when she was two, now it's a top) 24-7. Also, she has somehow reduced the amount of "little girl baby" that we see, and that is most certainly a welcome change. I think it helped that we told her that as little girl baby, all she can do is lie down and cry. She can't talk or walk or do fun things - and she does see that her little brother doesn't talk or walk, etc. Hopefully playing a character that does nothing has substantially reduced its appeal (can I be the exciting Woodsman instead of Red Riding Hood's boring Grandmother, please Yaya??). Alas, I am typecast into playing either boring do-nothing, no-singing roles, or else I play the elephant character in all the animal shows. What is she trying to tell me? Lose weight or you won't get good roles?

Anyway, she is a hoot and a holler. Her memory is amazing, and she uses her words very well. She surprised me the other day by saying "I'm going to 'tach this wire" (tach = attach). Where did she learn the word well enough to use it correctly? She is also making up her own songs, both composing new music and lyrics, and making up new lyrics to existing melodies. It is really amazing how quickly she thinks on her feet to make up these songs. Mostly it is songs sung to Adik. Perhaps she has a touch of the poetry bug, taking after Vin?

She is also becoming a good little artist (a touch of her Pak Yope?). She can really draw things quite well and she can write "MAMA" like a champion! Her coloring skill is still spotty (ha ha), but she does enjoy her arts and craft. I also love that when she signs her name on her artwork, inevitably it reads "Y A A Y" . She verbally spells her name correctly but perhaps she prefers the symmetry of YAAY?

Foodwise - no change. Same old few things. Although we now have her saying she'll eat noodles, rice and chicken when she's four years old! We'll see how that goes. I'm hoping that when she watches Adik start on solids in a couple of months, that will inspire her to try things again. She did use to eat and love to eat practically everything! I miss the good eater that Yaya used to be.

Potty training status: she is approaching night time dryness! Not only is she waking up with dry diapers in the morning, she has even been waking up to go potty in the middle of the night! We are very pleased! In fact, the diaper at night is probably mostly a ritual rather than a necessity now. We'll wean her of that when she's ready to let it go though - no need to rush her when she's doing so well on her own. It is also interesting to note that she never took to pull-ups. She went straight from diapers to underwear during the day, and I think it will go this same way at night as well.

Here are a few pictures that I love:

As always, it has been a fun and full month. Yaya is an awesome big sister and really has adjusted well to this role. We're proud of you, darlin'. Happy birthday baby girl! We love you!

thanks everyone! she definitely brightens our day! i wish she would stop growing so fast though

sila - 03 May '12 - 23:17