First, Karis has really blossomed lately in her desire to play meaningfully. She loves being a mama to her baby dolls by changing their diapers, nursing and burping them, putting them to sleep, feeding them, etc. Another favorite for Karis is dressing up. She absolutely loves putting on any and every piece of clothing she can find. In fact, she prefers to wear about 7-10 items at once. :) Karis also happily joins in on any games that the other kids play, such as phone, digging in the dirt, play-doh, stacking blocks, cooking in the toy kitchen, etc. In addition, she loves to be held and to sit in laps, especially when that involves reading stories and singing songs (ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle, Tea Pot, Sunny Sunny). And when Daddy comes home, wrestling and being tickled become her two main endeavors. When we are out and about in town, Karis is always a social butterfly. I can always count on her to wave hello to strangers or say "bye" to the store's cashier, and she never cries when I drop her off at therapy or school. She is also my bravest child so far - almost any place or new thing sounds like fun to her (like the 20' slide at the pumpkin patch that she slid down at least 5x).
Developmentally, Karis has been learning a lot of new skills and really working hard at her therapy sessions. She currently has one Physical therapy, one Occupational therapy, and two Speech therapy sessions per week. I still love all of her therapists, and they care about Karis so much - I'm so thankful for them! With PT, Karis has begun walking independently (no more walker), and she is currently working on things like: going up and down steps without losing balance, jumping, running, etc. Below is a video of her running at the refuge... she is so so close!! For OT, Karis is working on fine motor things such as: peg puzzles, coloring (vertical and horizontal lines), cutting with loop scissors, and manipulating other small objects. A big leap for her with OT over the past year has been her growing understanding of purposeful play - meaning that she now sees purpose in putting the puzzle back together or putting all of the shapes into the bucket. With ST, Karis has improved so so much over the past 9 months! She is now speaking in 2-4 word phrases, and she can repeat almost anything you ask her to (or at least give it a good try). There are still a handful of sounds that she can't pronounce clearly (mainly throat sounds like "k" or "g"), and she is working on saying the ending of words (like the "t" in cat, or the "f" in woof).
As for other more general things, Karis is a pretty good sleeper. She typically naps for 1-2 hours in the afternoon, and she enjoys listening to me read a story before naptime and bedtime (usually she will fall asleep while I read for the naptime reading session). At night she will sleep from 8 pm until around 6:30 or 7 am, but randomly (maybe once or twice a month) she will wake up multiple times at night crying because she wants water. On those occasions, she will take one long drink and then go right back to sleep without any fuss. Now that she's in the big girl (toddler) bed, she does sometimes fall out of the bed, but she either just crawls back in herself or unconsciously sleeps on the floor until the morning (we often have no idea when or how she fell out when we find her on the floor). Also, on a side note, all of our kids are currently sharing the same bedroom (Enoch sleeps in a loft bed over Karis' toddler bed.) and it actually has gone better than I expected at first. After I read to the kids at night, they stay awake and sing songs or the girls answer Enoch's silly questions (like "Are you my silly goose?" "Are you my sweet pea?" "Are you my monster truck?"). Eventually they all get quiet and drift off to sleep, and I personally think it has made them better friends overall.
snuggling after nap time. Sometimes if she wakes up early from nap I can go lay down in my bed with her and we can both get a 20-30 minute snooze.
When it comes to food, Karis is still a big eater. There are very few foods that she doesn't like (broccoli, spicy food), and she always asks for a second helping. Our fairly routine meals include: oatmeal with berries for breakfast, lunchmeat and cheese on a tortilla wrap served with carrots or celery or a bell pepper for lunch, and then a dinner with a balance of meat, veggies, and carbs. And just like clock work, every morning between 9:30-10:00 she fervently reminds me that it is time for snack (her favorite of which is a banana). She loves soups and casseroles best because they're so easy to scoop with her spoon (which she now does independently!!). We do watch very closely while Karis feeds herself though because she sometimes stuffs too much in her mouth which sometimes results in choking. Karis is also now learning how to drink from a cup with no lid, and she's getting much better with her fork.
This is a video of two of her most endearing traits right now - her laugh and her love of giving kisses.
Of course, it's not all roses with our 3.5 year old little girl. Karis has definitely entered the testing phase. For months after she learned how to clearly say the word "NO" she said it all the time. Thankfully we've worked past that milestone, and now her boundary she is testing is quick obedience... meaning that she looks for your eye contact and concentration to be sure you mean what you say when you give her a command. When she plays with other kids, Karis can sometimes be rough (by hitting or taking toys away), but it seems to be attention seeking more than anything, and she is always willing to be gentle after a reminder or two. Overall though, these little quirks are pretty similar to those we've walked through with Enoch, and we are so thankful for our little girl.
Karis loves to get in on the action whenever Enoch is working on a project. Here she was carrying cups of water from the ditch over to a hole he was digging in order to make a pond. She loves helping and getting his attention when she does a good job. :)
My little selfie buddy who is always ready to say "cheese!"
Kissing her lamb (this toy walks and sings "Mary had a little lamb." It used to scare Karis, but now she thinks it's cute and silly.)
She has really caught on quick to the potty training concept. She typically potties on the toilet 1-3 times per day, though she isn't quite telling us when it's time to go to the bathroom independently yet.
pretending to sleep with Enoch
"talking" on the phone
Looking big!
Karis does well swinging in a big girl swing, but dismounting is still a tough task for her.
This little monkey is bad about pushing a stool over to the counter where treats are cooling off and stealing one. I think she had just taken a chocolate chip cookie here and then climbed off the stool to sit down and enjoy it.
This was Karis' first time to walk like a big girl during an office visit (her eye check up). She did great, and now she often walks when I need her to.
Karis had her blood drawn after her 3 year check up, and her blood work and thyroid looked good, praise the Lord! Poor thing did not appreciate the process though.
On a fun ride at the pumpkin patch where a four-wheeler pulled a little train of barrels through a pine grove.
And one last video. I love how she helped the monkey climb the steps and then slide down. :)
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