A Big Girl

At three years old, it's easy to entertain Layla because she is interested in everything! She still loves the television, and Dora is still her favourite, but she also loves to play. Her are somethings that keep her away from the television.

Puzzles: Layla is pretty good at doing puzzles. At first, she needed a lot of guidance to where pieces go, but now she has figured out some good reasoning techniques. "Hmmm...this is Dora's head, she needs her shirt..." She is currently working on a Dora and a Candyland puzzle, both contain 25 pieces. It's always a delight to see how happy she is when she puts in the last piece. Today, she sang Dora's "We Did It!" song after she made the puzzles.

Board games: Layla's enjoys Candyland, and Fishing. We still have to remind her to take turns, and which way to move on the board, but she loves the concept of playing and having a winner, even if it's not her. Adelyn doesn't play Candyland, but she will take a stab with the fishing pole, and enjoys being part of the action.

Hide and Seek: Layla has definitely improved on the concept of Hide n' Seek. Before, she was always the seeker, now she'll hide too. Her hiding spots can be quite clever, but she's likes to yell out where she's hiding from, so it's easy to spot her. And she gets ecstatic when she's found. She's also a very fast at counting to ten, so you have to sprint to your hiding spot.

Stickers: This girl loves stickers. Layla loves peeling them and sticking them everywhere! And I mean everywhere, she will stick them on paper, on her clothes, on her body, and of course, I see them on the carpet, on the furniture, in the car.

Play Doh: Layla loves loves loves Play Doh! Her current obsession is her new Burger Builder set, she loves making the bun, the lettuce, the tomatoes, etc. "just like the picture." It's also fun for Mommy and Daddy too. One time she started to make candies using the tools from the set, it's always a joy to see what her creative fingers will build.

Painting: Mixing colours and exploring with paints is new for Layla at home. Now that she has started, she can't stop, and she has dozens of paintings in her little gallery. She loves how two colours can transform, and make new colours, and she loves getting her hands right into it.

It's amazing what goes on in a three year's head. Here are somethings that she's likes to talk about right now:

Family connections and relationships: Layla likes to point out, that Poh Poh is Mommy's Mommy, Ngee Ngee is Daddy's Mommy, Sook Sook is Bah Bah's brother, and so on... I've also heard her talking to "Mrs. Lam" on the play phone. When I asked her who that was, she knew it was Ngee Ngee. So funny!

Driving: Lately, when we're in the car, Layla has started asking when she could drive. I told her that she's not old enough yet, and her response is, "Mommy, I am a big girl, I want to drive like you." Our conversations about driving can last quite awhile, she'll ask all these questions, and her favourite is why? I told her that when is she old enough she can drive me around, but we'll have to see what happens when the time comes.

And of course, she loves talking about how she is a big girl, and what big girls can do. And when I ask her, "Are you my baby?" Her answer is, "No Mommy, I'm your big girl."