Rooney, 34 Months

QUICK STATS

clothing size: 3T-5T
diaper size: 5
shoe size: 9-11

ROONEY, 34 MONTHS

• Moved to a toddler bed on Christmas Eve
• First big haircut (4 inches off the back!)
• Prefers to wear mismatched socks
• Can count to 18
• Can run the DVD player by herself (!)
• Wants to be a "maker" when she grows up (a baker/cook)

On being almost 3: Rooney has definitely had a few emotional outbursts this month that I can only explain as her being almost 3. She will cry, nearly inconsolably, about really small or irrational things. Honestly, it is so hard to not laugh!

My Facebook status from Dec. 10, 2014:

Reasons Rooney has cried today: 1) Other people live on our street. 2) I didn’t turn off our Christmas tree lights when we went to get donuts.

Overheard:

• "I'm growing up."
• "Thank you for taking a shower."
• "Frosty the Snowman was a happy Halloween." 
• "I want this off, Mommy. I don't want this on." 
• "You have a lot of hands!" (I was carrying a lot of stuff)
• "My water's all gone. Can I have some more?"
• Referring to the baby: "It's ready to come almost out?!"
• "Why babies can't eat juice or ice cream or pizza?"
• "Tickle me with your beard, Mommy!"
• "I wear my team shirt [jersey] like daddy because we are buddies!"

On potty training: She likes to wear underwear over her diaper, and goes potty on the potty about once a week (I thought we were onto something when she went two days in a row, but it only happened five times total this month -- all at school).

On sleep: Bedtime is 7:30 pm. On Christmas Eve, we turned Rooney's crib into a toddler bed. We've had her big girl twin bed set up in her room for few months now, but she doesn't have any interest in sleeping on it (she says she will when she's 3). I was getting tired of going into her room in the morning to get her out of her crib (Eric has a part-time job at Costco so he is gone most mornings), PLUS she was getting really heavy for me to lift in and out, especially now that my bump is getting bigger and my ab muscles are disappearing. Rooney really liked the idea of a toddler bed, so we took the front railing off her crib and put on a smaller railing so she won't fall out. She loves it and does NOT want to go back to a crib.

However...now we have the problem of her getting out of bed at night. :-) It could totally be worse, and luckily it is only before she falls asleep and not in the middle of the night...yet. Usually it's just once or twice:

• Night 1: 2
• Night 2: 8
• Night 3: 5
• Night 4: 1
• Night 5: 2
• Night 6: 2
• Night 7: ZERO
• Night 8: 1
• Night 9: 4

So it could totally be worse (I read one family counted 145 in a single night - yikes!) and I'm finally getting used to the realization that I won't always know if she's in her crib or not when I hear a noise. It was definitely a little frightening to have her sneak around the corner without us hearing her! (I feel a little insane keeping track of how many times she gets out of bed, and I don't plan to keep it up.)

We also got her the OK to Wake! clock (I needed it in a pinch so I got it at our local Barnes & Noble) so she knows when to get out of bed in the morning. It turns green at a certain time you set and the child then knows they are OK to get up. The problem we are having is that it seems to actually wake her up in the morning, and then she'll jump out of bed to come find us.

Even with all the times she's gotten out of bed, we have peace of mind that she was ready for this step and is still excited about it (even though sometimes I miss having her contained in a crib, although that feeling is fading as she gets up less and less). It's working really great for now, and my parents have an extra crib that we can borrow for the new baby if needed, so there is less pressure for her to move to her big bed.

On health: Rooney had a cold this month with wheezing and mucous-y eyes - which is no fun! She would wake up and say, "My eyes are closed!" She gets the wheezing every winter at least a couple times and while it's not fun, it's at least somewhat reassuring to know we've gone through it before, many times. It's way less scary now than it was two years ago!

We still go to the chiropractor every week, and she also puts essential oils on her feet every morning in an effort to stay healthy!

Favorite foods:

• Raisins
• String cheese
• Popcorn
• Tacos
• Pizza
• Cereal (she ate it with milk for the first time)
• Macaroni and cheese (she seriously asks for it for breakfast)
• Bananas
• Pretzels
• Hot dogs
• Water
• Smoothies (moo-sies)

Loves:

• Music and dancing
• Getting Christmas cards in the mail
• Cutting with scissors (we got her a stack of construction paper for Christmas)
• Giving high-fives or knuckles
• Playing in the snow
• Being tickled
• Jumping on the bed

Best friend: Finley Hajduch

Favorite game: Hide and seek (sometimes when Eric walks in the door after work, we are already hiding to start the game)

Favorite color: orange (pink is second)

Favorite movie: Finding Nemo

Rooney,

You are the coolest kid I've ever known. You talk about "our baby" quite a bit, and that makes me so happy. You say you are excited to help change its diapers. Our lives will all be changing soon, but I love to think about how we will navigate it together as a family and come out even stronger and happier on the other side. You have shown us how awesome parenthood can be, and you're a big reason we want to do it all again. You make us laugh every day!

xoxo,
Mommy