H at 3.5 years old

Holland is at such a fun age! She is hilarious, opinionated, sweet, unreasonable, loving, volatile, empathetic, and smart! She goes to our little preschool coop and preschool classes at the gym. I also try to do real preschool with her at home--reading lesson, workbook pages, practice writing. All of that other stuff is just bonus--fun and crafts.



Holland is such a good buddy for me. She loves the one on one attention that preschool stuff gets her. She is three years old which means that I can anticipate what I am going to get from her. Some days she is as sweet as can be. Other days she is out to get me. Some days she likes to play independently. Other days she wants to be in my face the whole day. It is all good. I think because I am around those other girls for our preschool group I stay pretty grateful for my own 3 year old. Also, Miriam was a really hard three year old so comparatively Holland is on the reasonable side.


Of course this isn't always true. She wants the other parent always. Especially in the morning when John is at work, Mommy simply won't do. When I say "Good Morning" to her when I go in her room to get her up, she replies with, "I want Daddy." She has shut the door in my face and has thrown many, many tantrums about this issue. She warms up to me throughout the day though. And by bedtime when Daddy puts her to bed, all she wants is Mommy. *insert eyeroll*
She adores and is adored by her sisters. She loves being babysat by Eliza. Nothing makes her laugh as much as playing with Miriam. They are both so sweet and kind to her. We are blessed.


One of her less cute activities is when she wants to play doggy or kitty with me. It wouldn't be so bad but she uses this fake baby sounding voice that is really wearing as a day progresses. Her real little voice is so darling.
Holland doesn't sing much these days, but she cuddles and kisses a lot! I loved it the other day when she said, "I want to kiss Mommy with wet lips!" Then she licked her lips several times before kissing me. And today during Sacrament Meeting, she looked up as sweet as can be, "Daddy, do you love my beautiful lips?" She's a riot!

We love our little one!

Holland loves her flip flops so much. She cares a lot about what she wears, but fortunately she occasionally lets me dress her, which proper incentives of course. I follow an LDS parenting expert on Instagram. She says that it is completely appropriate to give incentives to your kids for good behavior. She pointed out that adults perform for incentives all the time--paycheck, respect, satisfaction. It made me feel better about that parenting technique.

 Holland really loves that purple crown she got for Christmas. She keeps it in all the time--way more than any of my other girls kept on crowns or headbands. It is kind of awesome.

Holland still says she loves Sophie the most, but really I think she loves our family best. Shhh. Don't tell her!