An Interview with a Four-Year-Old

I have a four-year-old! Crazy! Linnea (for the most part) is SO much fun these days. She's goofy, curious, sweet, and loving, and we love her to pieces! She's got a little edge of sassiness, but she's really SUCH a sweet girl.

I'm a little late with this, but wanted to continue the annual interview I started last year. One thing I've really enjoyed about this age/stage is watching Linnea discover who she is, her likes and dislikes, etc. In case you're curious, our interview from last year is found here.

Here's our interview from this year. (I added my thoughts in italics.) It was very cute - she was quite serious about the whole thing. More thoughtful than last year, and answers came much easier.

1. How old are you? Four!! (She is so proud of this. In the weeks after she had her birthday, she'd tell strangers, "I'm FOUR now." She doesn't really have her Rs, so it's more like Fow-a.)
2. What is your favorite color? Purple and blue (Purple has been pretty consistent. I have expected her to say sparkly something, or rainbow, as she has cited those in the past.)
3. What is your favorite toy? (She had to think about th(is one...) My firetruck (A bit of a surprise, as she hasn't played with it for a while. She got a garbage truck for her birthday that she's played with quite a bit. She also likes to play with play food A LOT.)
4. What is your favorite food? Mushroom stroganoff!! (True story, and both Jeromy and I love this about her because it's so unique. She loves going to Noodles for it, and also LOVES when Jeromy makes it at home. Other favorites are pizza, any type of pasta, egg wraps - our creation...basically just scrambled eggs and cheese wrapped in a tortilla, and fish).
5, What is your favorite snack/treat? Cheez-its (Another surprise. We never really have them at home. She chose to bring cheez-its to preschool this past Friday when it was her turn to bring snack, so maybe it was fresh on her mind. She likes pretzels, goldfish crackers, craisins and raisins. She loves chocolate and ice cream as treats.)
6. What is your favorite TV show? (Lots of thought about this...) Ummm...Mickey Mouse [Clubhouse]. (We've been trying to cut down on TV at home. Not that we think it's awful or anything...it just was getting too excessive for us. I know she watches different shows at daycare, but Mickey does tend to be the one she wants most with us.)
7. What is your favorite movie? Frozen (Yup...still. We haven't watched in a while, but she definitely still loves it.)
8. What is your favorite animal? (Some thinking...) A pony. (Interesting to see the similarity from last year. We did go to the Renaissance Festival again, where she once again rode a pony. I don't know if that's what she was thinking about or not...)
9. Who is your favorite friend to play with? Raia (Again, same answer as last year. This one was a bit of a surprise. Not that Raia isn't a good friend, but they haven't played together in a while. She does, however, very much look up to her and had an adorable "over the fence" conversation with her around the same time I did this interview.)
10. What's your favorite thing to do outside? Play on a swingset (Very accurate. Girlfriend could swing ALL. DAY. LONG. It was the best thing ever when we A) bought her a swingset for our yard and B) she learned how to pump.) 
11. What is your favorite thing to drink? Ice water (What a diva...ha ha ha. Over the summer we started drinking stuff with ice - which we don't do very often. Needless to say, she liked it.)
12. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? My ballerina story...my baka! (I have to laugh about the ballerina story. She just got the book from a church friend and it is her latest obsession. It's a book that looks like a purse and has several stories about little girl ballerinas in it. Her baka is her beloved blankie that ALWAYS needs to be in bed with her.)
13. What is your favorite song? Okee Dokee Brothers (We've istened to their stuff for awhile, but just recently borrowed the CD from the library. They're really great. I don't mind this obsession.)
14. What makes you happy? (She leans in close and almost in a whisper) Icccccceee cream. (That's my girl. Ha ha ha!!!)
15. What makes you sad? (Became very thoughtful.) When people hit me? (I asked her who would hit her and she shrugged her shoulders.) Maybe doesn't talk to me?? (I guess it's good that she can't think of a whole lot that makes her sad.)
16. What is one thing you love about mama? (She gave me a huge hug.) That you love me!!! (Cue mama melt...)
17. What is one thing you love about daddy? Just because I love him... (I tried to get more out of her...I think she basically meant she loves everything..)
18. What do you want to be when you grow up? A "fighterfighter" (Again, same answer as last year. She LOVES fire hydrants and will come running from anywhere in the house when she hears the firetrucks - which is regularly because we live right by the fire station. She loves watching them drive by.) 

Linnea is SUCH a personality, and is coming into her own more and more by the day. It's so fun to watch her grow. She is such a sweet little girl, and we love her to bits!

An Interview with a Three-Year-Old

I'm super behind on my posts...especially in regards to my new three-year-old! I'm working on a few more posts...and update...a recap on her party, etc., but thought I'd start here. I did a little interview with Linnea. I hope to ask these same questions each year around her birthday to see how things change.

The perfectionist in me got a little frustrated that some of her answers weren't quite what I would think is the "true" answer, but I went with what she said, and I think overall it's a very accurate peek at our sweet little girl. Here we go...

1. How old are you? Three!! (pronounced "fweeee!")
2. What is your favorite color? Pink! No! Purple! (I think purple is the more accurate answer.)
3. What is your favorite toy? My Thomas Train. (Then I got the cutest little expansion on that answer...) Well, I don't have a Thomas Train. Just a biiig Percy train and a red one I can use too. (Totally accurate. She doesn't actually have a Thomas train. The ones she has are Percy and whatever train is red.)
4. What is your favorite food? Grilled Cheese and Mac and Cheese (Girlfriend loves her cheese...)
5. What is your favorite snack/treat? I like chocolate! (That's my girl) And ummm...graham crackers and Cheerios.
6. What is your favorite TV show? Super Why
7. What is your favorite movie? Frozen!
8. What is your favorite animal? (Lots of thinking on this one...) Bullseye!! (The name of the pony she rode at the Renaissance Festival this past weekend.) 
9. Who is your favorite friend to play with? Raia (A neighbor friend) 
10. What's your favorite thing to do outside? Play sidewalk chalk
11. What is your favorite thing to drink? Milk and water (True story. She doesn't drink anything other than white milk and water. She really doesn't care for juice.)
12. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Teddy. And blankie. And Murphy.
13. What is your favorite song? Let it Go. Jesus Loves Me.
14. What makes you happy? Wearing my Anna dress. (This makes me laugh. She got an Anna dress - from Frozen - for her birthday a couple weeks ago and it's been a daily thing for her to request, plead, beg...to wear it.)
15. What makes you sad? (Got very serious) "For you to saying no to wearing my Anna dress"
16. What is one thing you love about mama? Playing with my Anna dress (I think she misunderstood it to me one thing she loves to do with me.) Kissing you!! (I'll take that!!)
17. What is one thing you love about daddy? Eating crackers. Doing puzzles. (Again, I think perhaps she misunderstood the question. This also made me smile because it's what they were doing that afternoon. It tells me she loves doing everything she does with her daddy!) 
18. What do you want to be when you grow up? Anna! And a "fighterfighter" (firefighter). And play the bells (at church). 

Linnea is so much fun, and there's no telling what will come out of her mouth next! It was so fun to do this interview, and I look forward to hearing what she says in coming years (although at the same time I don't want the time to go too fast!).

It Never Gets Easier, Does It?

It's a question I've asked my mom, and a few other more seasoned mama friends a handful of times in the last 2 and a half years. "It never gets easier, does it?" Part rhetorical, part joking, part completely serious. And the answer I get every time is some form of "no."

It is a more complicated answer than just "no" (I know and understand this now). Most of the time, it sounds something like, "Each age and stage brings its own set of challenges..." "It doesn't get easier...it just gets different..." and so on and so forth. Short answer: No. It doesn't get easier.

I have no idea why I would think that motherhood would get any easier. I suppose, upon some reflection in the last couple days, it's because most new things get easier with time. In my work as an Academic Coach, I talk with students on a daily basis who are starting or restarting their educational journey. We talk about the challenges, and the adjustment, and how little by little, it's getting easier.

I think about my running. I NEVER thought I would be a person who enjoyed running. As a kid, I dreaded the mile run at school. But when I started to practice and work at it, it got easier. There are still ups and downs, but running is MUCH easier today, than it was those many years ago running around my high school track. And with practice, it will continue that way.

But motherhood. Motherhood is a different beast.

Now let me say before writing any further that I love being a mama. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I have ALWAYS wanted to be a mom. From the time that I could comprehend that it was a role I could play someday, I knew that it would be one of the most valued roles in my life. And it is, without a doubt.

But as someone who sets high expectations for herself, and is used to doing fairly well in most endeavors I take on, there are times that the weight of motherhood weighs heavy, and the reality that it won't really ever get easier sets in.

Are you totally depressed yet? This is coming across as a total bummer of a post. That was not my intent.

Anyways, the last couple weeks has been a bit of a motherhood challenge. I've always heard that 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 is a particular challenge. And that's just where we are at.

Don't get me wrong. We have many wonderful, relatively easy, happy days. We laugh, we play, we snuggle, we enjoy our days as our little family of three.

And then we have hard days. The days that both Jeromy and I have busy, stressful days at work. We rush to get out the door to work, we rush to get to work, we push through the work day to rush home, and make it through the routine of our life. The days that whatever we do or offer to Linnea is wrong. "I want some milk!" "Okay, Linnea, here's some milk" (screaming) "I don't want milk!" The days that I literally have to wrestle Linnea into her clothes in the morning. The days I get 2 hours of crabby, moody Linnea...and get a report from daycare that she had a great day. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

And we have the nights (we've had lots of these lately) where Linnea wakes up in the middle of the night insisting that it's time to be awake.  I spend these nights up and down the stairs between our bedroom and hers, consoling, scolding, snuggling, pleading, medicating, and everything in between. Those nights I am convinced that I will never sleep again. I watch the minutes...hours tick by, begging for sleep. Just in the last week we've given up the nuk, gone through a rough patch with teething, and realized that the transition to the "big girl bed" is on the horizon... it's been rough. Last night, for example, I was awake from 2:30 until 5:15. During that time, she insisted she wasn't tired and it was time to be awake. When I went back into her room at 6:00, after she had finally crashed, she told me to "get away from her," and said she was sleeping. Oh, little one. Why don't you sleep when it's time to sleep?

I think back to naive, new mama me back in late 2011, when she first slept through the night and I thought, "thank goodness we got through that!" I'm not stupid enough to have thought that she'd never wake up in the middle of the night again. I just thought it would be a little more consistent than the reality turned out to be.

So that's where I'm at. It's certainly not horrible, and I know many parents have dealt with so, so much worse (including my own parents). But I am a perfectionist. I'm a planner. I'm a worrier. I'm emotional. All these parts of my personality are still making peace with the fact that motherhood is imperfect, unplannable, filled with worry, and an emotional journey. I am still making peace with the fact that it never will get easier. Just different. As I continue on this journey, I will promise myself to enjoy the moments where all is right with the world, take the ones where all is not in stride, and always remember that "this too shall pass" and that it's not supposed to be easy. And that's okay.