Francesca Turns Three

Francesca is three! While she is able to do and say more and more with every day that passes, the truth of the matter is that the more things change the more they stay the same. Francesca came into the world exactly the person she is today and will hopefully be for the rest of her life.

Francesca continues to talk, sing, and shout up a storm. But now she can sing in key (as evidenced by regular rounds of 'happy birthday to me!" in the weeks preceding the great event) and has expanded her musical repertoire to include the recorder, various kinds of drumming, the piano, the triangle, the whistle, and the accordian (yes, the accordian - a great gift for a child and terrific torture for the parents). Francesca has also become an expert at humming and will hum at length and with great verve before pronouncing herself a hummingbird.

And she has discovered the megaphone. Turns out the megaphone's unconventional use - her face inside the large end - is as interesting as its conventional use to "make things very loud!" However, the megaphone is not needed to amplify her frequent laughter. If others start laughing at something someone did or said, Francesca wants to know "was that funny?" and, if told it was, immediately starts laughing along. Francesca has also been working hard at perfecting her own routines and comedic timing, trying things out until people laugh in response and then practicing and practicing some more. When all else fails, she will wait a few seconds while staring you down and then announce "booger!" That gets 'em every time.

Francesca is still her super sweet and intensely affectionate self. Most every morning is begun with extended cuddling and every day is ended the same, with many huge and spontaneous "i love you!" outbursts sprinkled throughout the day. Francesca's love of nature also continues and she now - literally and with no prompting - will stop to hug a tree and murmur "I love you tree." Her love of books and reading continues apace and a lot of time each day is spent reading everything from books about sharks to "I Spy" books.

While Francesca continues to be her independent self, she also likes the world to know who her people are. For example, if the maternal parental unit takes her to a cafe, Francesca will select a table while Ioana is at the counter but after a few minutes will generally point and delightedly yell across the cafe "hey! that's my mamma!" And when returning home at the end of the day, Francesca explodes through the door with a happy cry of "let's go find my papa!" although she does sometimes have to admit that "papa is a silly kid!"

There have also been some new adventures in the last few months. Ferry boat outings from the Port of Oakland are a big hit and Francesca loves riding the ponies. The pony ride is in Tilden Regional Park - an enormous park in Berkeley that also offers the Little Farm (a real farm with cows, pigs, sheep, goat, chickens, etc.), a visitor center where Francesca demands that whoever is with her read the various signs to the stuffed fox and other animals, a very old - and fast - merry go round, a steam train, and loads of trails and open spaces. Another new adventure has been taking classes that she attends by herself - gymnastics at UC Berkeley and dance at the Albany Y. While the drop off can cause some momentary anxiety, at the end of class Francesca always runs out happy and generally declares "that was fun!"

Perhaps the biggest change in the last half year is that she has moved beyond just being interested in other children to really wanting to have close friendships and therefore thinking - and talking - a lot about her little friends and their adventures . A bit surprisingly, the sharing and taking turns part of it seems to come very easily to her and, therefore, time with other little ones is only a good thing.

The one thing that has never wavered and we are sure never will is Francesca's clarity and certainty in knowing exactly what she wants and thinks. With almost 41 inches of height already backing her up, the world tends to listen and comply.

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