Happy birthday.

Claire has been 3 for almost three weeks now and I can already tell my sweet little 2 year old is molding into a "threatening three." 

Claire gave up napping right after turning two years old (about the time we took away the pacifier).  Grace did the same thing, so I was not that surprised when Claire followed suit and was definitely prepared for hard times with Claire as a 2 year old.  Well, it never happened.  Claire adjusted well to not napping.  She was pleasant and good for me in the afternoon.  By about 6pm, she would start winding down and then crash in her bed around 7pm.  On the other hand, when Grace gave up her naps at age 2, she was always hard for me in the afternoon and melted down around 4pm when we were playing outside with the neighbors (I was always pulling my hair out from 4pm until Mike would get home and we'd put Grace to bed).

Well, Claire as a 3 year old is like Grace as a 2 year old.  My sweet Claire who always wanted Mommy to be happy with her a few months ago has become sassy and has started saying phrases like, "Mommy, you're not going to be my friend" when she is mad at me.  And she now cries and whines over everything and anything. 

If I had to put my finger on one thing leading to this behavior change in Claire, I would definitely say lack of sleep.  Claire used to do okay with no nap because she would fall asleep by 7pm at the latest and sleep until 7am.  Now she refuses to go to sleep and stays up late (last night, she did not go to sleep until 8:30pm) and she is religiously up in our room at 6am every morning.   Less than 10 hours total is not going to cut it, so changes in this house are coming!

Even though last night was not a great night with Claire, it does amaze me how cute she can be when she is not doing what she is supposed to.  I lost count of how many times I went into Claire's room to tell her that she needed to get back into bed, but one time, as I was about to enter her room, I heard. . .

       Happy birthday to you,
       Happy birthday to you,
       Happy birthday dear prince,
       Happy birthday to you

And here is what I saw. . .

So happy birthday to prince and again happy 3rd birthday to Claire!