My Harlo Girl

On my other blog, since Harlo was a wee little thing, I have done tidbits of her life every couple weeks to keep track of all the milestones, funny things she says, etc. I’ll be continuing that over here from now on.

Harlo is the head of my children. She’s the perfect girl for the job. She’s strong and stubborn, sweet and protective. She’s smart and witty and sensitive. She’s helpful and creative and has the biggest imagination I’ve ever witnessed. She loves things like cooking and cleaning or helping me with any task at hand. She loves her sister and would do pretty much anything to keep her happy.

She is at such a fun age right now. She rarely gives me bouts of grief, the only thing I usually have to get after her about is minding her own business when it comes to parenting Stella. (oh, big sisters!) She gets along well with almost anyone, but still probably prefers to play all by herself where she can let her imagination soar!

The girl loves to dress-up. I’m not talking your regular princess dress and crown, although that could be on the menu as well, I’m talking full on outfits of articles that may or may not go together. Her favorite things right now are leotards or “leotarns” and tights. She wants to wear her leotarn under every outfit, everyday. Every single morning it’s a battle and a compromise. Before the leotarn, it was a swimming suit under everything. Haha, I’m a pretty laid back mom when it comes to these things, but it’s not like I really have a choice. The lady is happiest when she is in her get-up of choice. Who am I to judge?

Some days I have to sit and ask myself if she’s really 3, or 16. She has got such a little mouth on her! Yesterday we were arguing about something or other at Nana’s house while she was playing with her cousins. She was giving me a little sassy attitude and needed to be in check. I walked out of the room and she says to her cousins, “sorry guys, I just had to talk to my mom for a minute. I didn’t mean to yell!” when I walked back in she says, “I’m sorry mom, let’s be friends, K?”

She’s also pretty much obsessed with California. The other day she asked me if we were ever going back to our old house. I asked her if she’d rather live in our old house or our new house and she says, “I’d rather live in Sam Diego.” So like her dad. Both of them are complete when they’re at the ocean.

She is so helpful. I love doing my chores with her at my side. She chats with me and carries right along with me. She’ll entertain Stella if I need, she’ll help me fold laundry, she’ll just go where she’s needed. I am so grateful for her sweet willingness.

She is also a master negotiator. She cannot NOT negotiate. Just like her mama. 😉 She’s always trying to find a way to sweeten the deal, or get bonuses added. If I ask her to eat her dinner, she’ll quickly say, “if I eat all my dinner… I can have ice cream?” if we’re going to run errands and I ask her to get in the car she’ll say “okay, I’ll buckle so we can run errands and we can maybe get a treat? That be a good idea?” I ask her to get her clothes on and she’ll say, “I’ll put my clothes on if I can wear my leotarn.” So so frustrating at times, but hilarious none the less. She’s lucky I can appreciate a sweet deal being made.

I feel like she’s finally getting an end to her painfully shy streak. She’ll now gladly give family hugs and kisses, say hi to people, answer questions when she’s asked. Whew! I was starting to stress there for a bit. We have also not seen a tantrum in a good little while. It’s weird when you’re making your way through the toddler years and you feel like that is going to be your life forever… then all the sudden your toddler turns into a little person and we may go full days without a single tear. It’s miraculous, really. And it’s given me hope as I’m now going through it with Stella.

Her favorite thing to do still is probably painting. I don’t think a day goes by she doesn’t ask to paint. Her staple foods remain, peach yogurt and oatmeal. Her favorite shows right now are fresh beat band, Olivia and Peppa Pig. I love when she watches Peppa because she’ll talk in an english accent for the rest of the day. Best!

She memorizes songs so quickly. Theme songs, church songs, songs on the radio.. I will always hear her humming a familiar tune. She’ll hear it one time and she’s got it pretty much down. She also does pretty well with choreography. She can watch fresh beat band and have a lot of their dance moves down pat. It’s crazy to me how grown up she’s getting.

She is so much fun to show things to. She always has the best reaction. This last week Brady and I went to California and shopped a bit for things around the house. I would think most kids couldn’t be bothered by home decor… not my Harlo. She was so thrilled about every last article we brought home. I’ll find her sitting and admiring my new curtains, or compliment me on how I’ve styled our bookshelf. “Wow mom, that looks really wonderful!” she’ll say. As I was showing her some new stuff she’d say, “Oh my gosh mom! That’s so cute. I just love that. Great job finding that, mom.”

She’ll often tell me how beautiful I look or when she likes my outfit. While we were gone my mom and Brady’s mom watched them. Nana told me that on her way to work before she had dropped the girls off, Harlo out of the blue says, “nana, you look so beautiful!” I swear she always knows just the thing to say.

It still amazes me how sweet how she talks to Stella (most of the time). Always calling her ‘baby” or “sweetie” or “sweets”. She’s always willing to play and share with Stella. She usually only gets frustrated when Stella is refusing to play with her. Haha, I love so much being the mom to two little sisters.

I wouldn’t go too far as saying she’s a mama’s girl, but the older she’s gotten, the more she seems to think I’m cool. She’s always been such a daddy’s girl, but lately we can bond over stuff and relate better than Daddy can. She’s into all things girly and lady-like and she thinks it’s pretty cool that I know and appreciate that kind of stuff. She’s pretty much my best little gal pal.

She is so full of life and is such a good reminder to me what this life is all about. I love this little girl so much.