Three!

I am not sure how she turned three years old on Friday. It just doesn’t seem possible.

It seems like yesterday we were finding out she was a girl and through tears I wondered how in the world I would mother a daughter. I had no idea what was ahead. Several months later, on December 9^th we welcomed that pink bundle of pure joy and the moment I saw her, I felt sure we’d figure it out.

Three years into it, we haven’t figured out much, except that she is a blessing in her own little right and has brought so much life and happiness to our family. There have been times when I am quite certain any person on the planet could mother her better than me, but I am certainly thankful that I get to be her momma.

We had a Tangled birthday party to celebrate yesterday afternoon and I’ll share those pictures soon.

But, I’ve been terrible at writing down all the things she’s doing, so for memory’s sake, I want to try to record a few…

Annabelle, you…

- Can count to 12. After 12, you skip around to 20, but you’ve got the 12 thing down!

- Know all your colors. The only two you get confused on is black and brown.

- Love to make matches. You will see two things that are the same and you get so excited that “they match!”

- Also love to play cards…I’m certain this is a gene straight from your namesake, Great-Granny and your great-Papa Quincey. They did love some cards. Although, instead of Spades, you’re more of a Go-Fish & Match girl, for now.

- Love music and to sing. You make up little songs all the time, most of which involve the line, “all my fwends”

- Love to dance. Your signature move is a little bounce and then a twirl with a couple sways.

- Love to write and doodle. WITH PENS. It’s gotten us both into some trouble and we’ve got a couple of marks on our leather couches that we can’t get off, but you get these gene honestly, too. J

- Are obsessed with clothes. So much so, I am planning to discuss it with your pediatrician at your next well-check visit. You’d change clothes 25 times a day if we’d let you. We have to keep the door to your dressing area/closet closed all the time, or else you drag all your clothes out and change all day long. I’ve started to take out two outfits a day and you change back and forth between them (and of course your princess dress-up dresses).

- Speaking of your princess dresses…they are your favorite. You’d rather be wearing a big ole poofy itchy princess dress and plastic heels than anything else. (except for maybe your jammies…you do love your jammies…you get that honest, too.)

- Love steak and shrimp. They are your favorites. But a hotdog is close behind. Gummies, Goldfish, string cheese and “gween” grapes are your favorite snacks.

- You are much like your Pappy & your Daddy and you love some orange juice…anytime of the day.

- If given the choice of where we are going to eat, you almost always choose Sonny’s (you love to get a hotdog there) or Chick-fil-A. Although when we asked you the other night where you wanted to go out to eat for your birthday, you said, “Red Wobster” :) Daddy says, of course you can’t be the kid that picks the Pizza Hut. :)

- Are still pretty shy. You don’t say much around others, but you don’t stop talking all day long at home.

- Make us laugh all the time. You are so silly.

- Love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse & Little Einsteins. You are also into movies right now, and your two favorites are Toy Story 3 and of course, Tangled.

- Speaking of Toy Story 3- there have been several times when I’ve had to make you take a nap and carry you into your room. You don’t like it, and as you’re having a little fit, you tell me, “Put me down Big-Baby!” (Big Baby is the big baby doll/bully on Toy Story 3.) I almost fell out when you said it. Of course I told you how it wasn’t very nice, and then laughed my head off when you were asleep. :)

- Are starting to really be a big helper around the house. You love to help me with whatever I am doing. I know you’re going to be such a little mommy to your baby sister.

- Get so excited over the littlest things. I LOVE this about you! You make everything so much more fun. Christmas decorating was too much fun this year because everything I pulled out, you loved. It’s been the same way doing your birthday party. You see something new and say, “awww, that’s ‘dorable, Mommy” or “boo-tiful” or “SO cute!” You’re such a girl and I love it.

- Have the best memory. You are always asking us if we “member” something and you will recall the whole event for us. Even things that happened months ago.

I took Aunt Carrie’s advice and started writing down funny things you have said several months ago, but have never posted them. We have quite a list, but here a few favorites:

- “You’s my co-pilot, Mommy.” (“co-pilot” heard after a mickey mouse clubhouse episode).

- You love jewelry and always want to hold my rings and watch. I know better, but sometimes I let you. One day you were holding my engagement ring and said, “what is dis mommy?” I told you it was a diamond and you said, “ooohhh, me wike diamonds.”

- You call all of your stuffed animals your “pets.” One morning we were getting in the car and you found your stuffed turtle and when you grabbed him up, you said, “dere you are! I been looking all over dis house for you!”

- One day when I laid you down for a nap and was walking out of your room and you yell, “wait, come back here, little friend!”

- You add the “y” sound to words when you are being silly, and so “yes, ma’am” turns into “yes, Mammy” quite often around our house.

- If you want to hold mine or Daddy’s cell phone or something else, you always try to talk us into it by saying, “it be mines turn, then it be yours turn. That be okay.”

- Anytime we pass a car, you say, “you driving like Kyle Busch.”

- We put footie pj’s on you one night and you said, “oooh, I’m so nice & toasty”

- If you ask us a question and we don’t answer right away, you’ll say, “talk to me!” The other day you were hollering out the window at the cows and said, “moo to me, cows!”

- When you ask a question and we do answer, lots of time, you’ll repeat the answer we gave you, then say, “got it.”

- Anytime you want to do something longer than what we want you to, you’ll always say, “just a couple minutes.”

- Clothes that are inside out, you call, “inside backwards”

- You shorten “mommy and momma” with mom now, and I can barely take it. You sound so old and grown up calling me mom.

- When we are leaving once place or finishing up something, you ask, “what’s next?”

- You are undoubtedly our favorite three year old girl.

love, Momma

~amw~