I recently wrote a PTPA Blogaholics post about the trials and tribulations challenges (read: soon-to-drive-me-to-mental-breakdown-maybe-it's-time-for-a-Malibu-and-pineapple-now difficulties) I've been having with our three year old just in the past few weeks. By the way, I was just kidding when I said my child is driving me to a mental breakdown and to the bottle. Totally kidding. She's a sweetheart and I love her to bits. She's just gotten into this feisty, stubborn, whiny mode lately.

Whining drives me nuts. I hate to say it, but it does. I cannot deal with the whining. Whiny kids make my ears bleed. There. I said it.

Secret Mommy confession:  I actually locked myself in the bathroom the other morning so I could have two minutes to myself.  Of course, my three year old had to get out of bed and start banging on the door. Then she started crying. When I opened the door to see why she was screaming her head off, I saw that there was a puddle in front of the bathroom door.

Great. I just made my child pee all over the floor because I needed two minutes to myself. *sigh*

Poor kid. She's been doing such an awesome job with the toilet training and wakes up dry in the morning. She only had a few accidents when we were visiting her cousins on our mini vacation in Haliburton. I guess new environment, lots of distractions, and too much fun with the cousins totally threw her off. She didn't get to the toilet on time twice or three times. This time, however, it was Mommy's fault that she peed in front of our bathroom.

Anyway, I have to focus on all the things I absolutely love about 3.

Little One comes up with the funniest expressions. She's had a word explosion and is such a chatterbox. She is now able to correct us when we're wrong. "I'm not Honey! I'm [insert Little One's real name here]!" or "Lola (Grandma in Filipino), it's not 'You make me happy when skies are blue! It's you make me happy when skies are gray!'"

She also knows how to reason and understands consequences. "Daddy! You're a bad boy! Go to your mother's house!" (I have no idea where she got that from! Honestly!)

Me: Why weren't you nice to your friend?
Little One: Because she hurt my feeeewings!

"When I'm an adult, can you buy me a latte?"

Yes, she comes up with some gems that totally make us laugh.  I need to remember that this period of Little One's childhood is so special...and it's fleeting. These are but mere moments in time that can never be retrieved. I won't have her this little for much longer. This makes me really, really sad.

I also need to remember this:

 If you really want to see what I was going on about earlier, here's the post. I welcome comments, tips, advice, and anything you can say to help me keep my sanity. Please and thank you.