Now that class is over (poor students have a final tomorrow but I don’t have to proctor it!) I have been able to watch TV for the last two nights in a row! All caught up on some sitcoms (WTH has happened to Scrubs, by the way??? What is THAT about?). Soon I’m hoping to catch up on some of the rest. But there are hours’ and hours’ worth.

My running is back on track after the rough patch I had in November when I traveled so much I didn’t run for about a 3 week stretch. I find that getting back into it isn’t as hard as I feared and it’s a good thing since the Disney Half marathon is coming up Jan 9. On that note, I really can’t wait to get Anna back to Disney this year. She’s still not fully into Disney shows or anything really (a few maybe) but she will have a blast with all the fun rides and shows. And she’s so much more grown up she’s going to be able to verbalize it so much better. It’ll be interesting to see how much she remembers.

When we take her places like this the nay-sayers will comment that she’s just too young to remember so why bother. But the child cited the first snowman doll she saw this year as: “That’s like Nana’s, mommy!!!” in reference to the slew of snowmen my mom always places all over her house, including last year. So she remembers.

She also remembers the Christmas Tree cakes she had last year (those little Debbie ones) and has another round of them this year. The other night as we were eating cheese and crackers, she said, “like in Colorado!” and yes, she was right, it’s like the cheese and crackers we ate together in Colorado.

It KICKS ASS to know we’re making good memories. It’s REALLY, REALLY cool.

So I wonder how much of Disney she will remember since when we left last Jan, she was 21 months old and asking for more “choo-choo and boat.”

These days she is in a great attitude phase. She’s a little big girl, ready to have fun, go places, and do things. She doesn’t really give us much opposition lately. She’s easy in the car. We were at TJ’s house the other night where she mentioned that the phase of the 3-year old is more about the frustration that comes along with wanting to do it all herself but can’t exactly. And it seems like the day after TJ said that, it started. Her biggest grief comes with not getting her 90^th-percentile head (blame Paul) through the standard neck hole in her shirts J Or her socks not going on right. Or whatever. And her favorite phrase is “I want to do it by myself”. There has been this thread all along since about April, but lately she’s telling it to us more and more and it’s really trickling to everything. Which is great. And I mean that only half-sarcastically.

But I’m new at figuring out how to tell a toddler to keep trying, you’ll get it, just keep trying! Would you like help from mommy? No?! In the heat of the moment, that doesn’t help at all so this morning I offered the shirtless Anna a hug and a breather so we could start again. So like I’ve learned starting 2 years and 8 months ago, we’re entering a new phase with new tricks.

It is really cute watching her carry the umbrella all on her own while I get soaked in the cold.

Why isn’t she learning letter recognition yet at school? I think she’s ready. I’m going to work on that. At home. I think she’d love it.

Also I bought a big old container of cookie cutters in lots of different letters and shapes. So I think we need to make cookies sometime when I’m not feeling lazy or tired. Maybe next week. Just a few more nights of TV for me! ;)

For a few nights this week, she’s had a bad cough which worsens while she’s trying to sleep (Paul has it too). I think it’s getting better. This year, I gave her the Buckwheat honey like I did last year. She begged for more. Last year she wanted to vomit. Funny how things change in a year.

And this time next year, she’ll be almost 4.