Happy 3rd birthday to my smart, beautiful, independent daughter. Although I can't celebrate with you today (I'm still in CT due to Hurricane Irene) I am thinking of you. Your 3rd year has been even more fun than the first two. You and your brother have started to play (and fight) like real siblings and you are becoming your own little person. You continue to amaze your father and me every day with the things you learn and remember. I hope that good memory stays with you for your whole lifetime as it will come in handy. A few of the "milestones" currently present in your life as you reach your 3rd birthday:
- After some intense focus from us this summer, you are almost potty-trained. I would say you're about 90% of the way there and you've been doing really well lately. I'm sure you'll be really excited some day when you find out that I've been talking to everyone about your bathroom habits :)
- You discovered the Sprout channel this year. Or maybe Mommy and Daddy discovered it? Either way, you are now somewhat obsessed with the goodnight show and would watch it all day long if we let you. You don't seem to understand that that show in particular is actually only on at night but you also don't care and will watch Sprout any time of day. We tried telling you that you could only watch in at night when you're going to bed but that backfired a bit when you started waking up in the morning and immediately telling us that "you were tired" and wanted to lay down and watch the good night show. You love all the "sub-shows" of Sprout but Caillou and Angelina the Ballerina are your favorites. You also like putting on your tutu that Aunt Sarah have you and twirling around like Angelina. It's pretty adorable.
- You still like to read a lot. Sometimes you want us to read to you but you still like to sit in your chair and read to yourself too. You know a lot of the stories by heart so you often just "read" them all by yourself.
- Mommy has been working out a lot this summer using DVDs and you like to "exercise" with me. Usually you do the warm up stretch and maybe a few of the jumping moves but then you get bored and move on to something else. Sometimes you come over and act as my trainer, telling me "Good job Mommy" or repeating what the instructor is saying to motivate me, which is pretty cute. When I do downward dogs in Yoga you and your brother like to crawl under me.
- Daddy has taken you on some ATV rides around the neighborhood and you still love to go on bike rides. You love being outside and you come home most nights from daycare filthy and with sand all in your hair, which to us, is just a sign that you had a really fun day.
- You are an incredible eater. You love almost everything but cheese is definitely your favorite food. You ask for it at least 10 times a day and think it should be part of every meal. You will try pretty much anything, though, which is great. You love fruits and vegetables, which I am so thankful for, especially since your brother won't go near anything that's green (gets that from Daddy).
- You love music and sing all the time. Daddy has been playing you Long Tall Texan and every time we get in the car you request "Giddyup" which is your name for the version he has. You know all the words and sometimes sing it karaoke style into your mini keyboard in the playroom.
- You love to color and draw. You definitely seem to have an artistic streak in you.
- We are still renting the condo near Aunt Jennifer's house in South Helena. Daddy has been busy building our house and I sure hope we're in before your 4th birthday next summer ;)
- Unfortunately you are still using (and loving) your beloved binkie. I am hoping the binkie fairly will show up this week as we've been discussing the fact that only babies use binkies and once you're 3 years old you're a big girl and no longer need a binkie. You seem amenable to this plan but we'll see how that changes once the actual binkies are gone in a few days. I know you'll forgive me someday (probably by the time you graduate from college, I hope).
- You were a flower girl in your Uncle Dan's wedding this spring and you let Nana carry you down the aisle. You're also a flower girl in your Aunt Sarah's wedding this fall so maybe you'll be ready to venture down on your own this time?
- You have started to play make believe. You bring your dolls with you around the house and put them in chairs and talk to them and make up stories. It's really pretty amazing to watch your little mind work and create and dream.
- You're pretty excited about your birthday cake. The presents get your attention too but whenever we talk about your birthday, the cake takes center stage.
