The Waldock Kids: Our 3-year-old little lady

As of October 3rd, we are officially the parents of a three-year-old! Even though Rebekah often seems much more grown up than she really is, it's hard to believe that she is already three.

Rebekah has made some "growing up" changes over the past month. She stopped sucking her thumb "cold turkey" when we put up a "thumb chart." She had only been sucking her thumb at naptime and bedtime, so she got to put a sticker on the chart whenever she woke up and hadn't sucked her thumb. Once her chart was full of stickers, she got a special treat. I had told her that she would get a surprise when her chart was full. She said, "Oh! What will the surprise be?" I asked her what she would like it to be. She said, "I would like it to be a snack." I asked, "What kind of snack would you like it to be?" She replied, "I would like it to be a surprise." So we were back to the surprise! But both the stickers and the surprise snack were a huge motivation for her, and there has only been one naptime since when she sucked her thumb. We only did the chart thing for a week and a half, and she doesn't seem to even think about sucking her thumb anymore, which is great! She's even forgotten about the chart, which was a surprise to me. I thought she'd be wanting to do that for a looonng time. =) She did get her "surprise snack" though.... M&Ms which she loved and calls "nem nem nem nems!"

Pointing out one of the stickers on her chart

Rebekah is also staying dry at night now (most of the time!) - something I've been waiting for for awhile! She's gone through spells where she stays dry every night for several weeks, and then wakes up wet for several days in a row. Because of that, I was still putting her in diapers or pull-ups at night, especially when we were in other people's homes (which is often these days). She's been doing very well lately though, and the bed she sleeps in at my parents house has a plastic sheet under the matress pad, so it won't ruin the mattress if she does happen to have an accident. She is very excited to be allowed to wear underwear instead of a diaper to bed now!

Rebekah has also started dressing herself and brushing her own teeth. I know that many children do these things on their own before they are three, but Rebekah didn't seem to have the motivation. Or perhaps I didn't motivate her enough. =) Either way, I finally decided that now that she is three, she is plenty old enough to do these things. She's still working on doing a thorough job of teeth brushing, but she's getting much better. I don't want to be a hovering mother, but I do want to make sure her teeth are clean! As for dressing herself, until recently she would get very frustrated when I asked her to put a piece of clothing on by herself. She would just give up and ask me to do it for her. She had been getting better about that, but still asked for more help than I thought she really needed. Finally a couple of weeks ago I gave her her clothes and told her that she could come out of her room when she was dressed. It worked! She dressed herself, and has been doing so ever since. She still needs help with her socks, snaps, and buttons (and often her shirt ends up on backward!), but she finally has the hang of dressing herself. I'm so glad! She also chooses her own clothes most of the time - thus the pink socks with the purple shirt!

Rebekah loves her brother. Now that Daniel is getting older, it is even more fun to watch them play together. Daniel still doesn't do a lot of playing with Rebekah, but he loves it when she teases him or makes faces at him. Sometimes she gets a little carried away and ends up biting him (which we have addressed with her a few times already!), but for the most part they get along very well!
Rebekah is doing quite a bit of informal learning of her letters and numbers. About a year ago she knew all the letters of the alphabet, but lack of practice caused her to forget some of them. She loves letters and words though, and seems to be picking things up again even without my working with her. She has also been learning the sounds of each letter. Sometimes out of the blue she will say a word and then tell me what letter that word starts with. Most of the time, she's right! She still doesn't know her ABC's completely yet. She has the right order, but there are three places where she invariably leaves out certain letters each time. She always leaves out the same letters, so I'm hoping that her abbreviated version of the ABCs won't get cemented in her little brain!Rebekah started AWANA Cubbies this year. For those who don't know, it is a church program for 3-4 year-olds where they hear Bible stories, learn memory verses, play games, etc. It is set up like a club, and they have handbooks that contain their memory verses for each week. The kids have little Cubbie vests that they wear, and when they reach certain points in their books, they are awarded with patches to put on their vests. They also get a sticker in their book for each verse they say. Rebekah LOVES Cubbies, and is highly motivated to learn her memory verses now! She can quote around a dozen verses, and memorizes new ones quickly.

It's neat to see Rebekah so excited about learning Scripture verses. As she memorizes, we talk about the verses, and she is learning more and more about who God is and what He has done for us. She is at the age where she is beginning to understand her own sinfulness and the fact that Christ's sacrifice on the cross was payment for that. Lately she has often been asking for stories about when we (or Grandma Eileen) were little. I was saved when I was 3 1/2, so the other day I told her the story about my salvation experience. She listened intently, and it is obvious that she is processing all the things that she is learning. We are not pushing her at all, but we are praying (and we hope you are as well) that the Lord will do His work in her heart and life so that she will accept Him as her Savior as soon as she is ready and understands.

This past year has been a time of much learning and growing for my 3-foot world traveler. She has learned a LOT about life and has experienced several things that many adults have never
experienced. Aside from spending time in 5 different countries and at least 30 different American States, in Rebekah's 3 short years she has visited historical and important landmarks all over the world, ridden an elephant, traveled by nearly every mode of transportation imaginable, and so much more. Experience and change matures a person, and although I know I am a biased mother, I believe my little girl is mature beyond her years. Sometimes I am amazed at the things she says or does, and it is often hard to remember that she is indeed only 3-years-old.

At Niagara Falls in September 2009

Upon seeing the falls, Rebekah asked, "Who turns on the waterfall?"

Even with all of the changes in Rebekah's life, and the fact that she meets new people every week, she is still a very friendly little girl. She is not as friendly with strangers as she once was (which can be both a good thing and a bad thing), but when we are in someone's home, she warms up to them almost immediately. That is also both good and bad, as she makes friends everywhere, but has difficulty leaving them at the end of a trip. She asks when we will go back to see them again, and it is difficult for her to understand that it will probably be a long time before we will see them again.

Dora is still Rebekah's "best friend" though!

It has been very nice to have my parents' home to "come home to" between travels. An added bonus is that my sister lives 15 minutes away. She has two children the same ages and genders as Rebekah and Daniel, so they have become great playmates. We are thankful that Rebekah at least has one "constant" friend in her cousin Kylie....even though she will have to leave her when we go back to India, and even though they sometimes fight like sisters!