Almost Three

I can hardly believe you are about to turn three.... you should still be my baby! But you are growing up so fast. Everyone says it goes by faster than you can blink - and it's really true. You amaze me, your Daddy, and your grandparents with your vocabulary and the concepts you seem to grasp at such a young age. Some of your phrases that either astonish or set us to peals of laughter (or both) include:

"Oh, yes, mommy, that's a really good idea."

"Look both ways, mommy!"

"Don't tell me that..." (that one gets you in trouble every time)

"Oh mommy, you're a good finder."

"Just a little bit, Mommy, just a little bit more?"
(said with your fingers pinched together to illustrate how much a little bit is...)

"I know, Mommy, I know..." (Then follows a long drawn out explanation of your 'master plan')

"Mommy, I will never use the potty, never ever. I like my diapers. I will wear them forever."

"No, Mommy! No helping....I will do it myself!"


You are so polite! You nearly always say "please" and "thank you". You will say "excuse me" if you're trying to get by. You're still working on sharing....but I've read in different books that your brain hasn't completely developed the 'sharing synapses' yet....so I'll cut you some slack on that one.

You are very obsessed with Strawberry Shortcake (the updated version, not the ones that were around when I was a kid!) at the moment - it has taken first place in your loves. Just the other day you insisted I buy you a Strawberry Shortcake balloon you saw in the grocery store. I'm afraid I'm pretty much a pushover when it comes to buying you little nonsensical things like balloons or stickers or such. So I'm staring at it now as it floats above my head in the living room. You watch the Strawberry Shortcake videos over and over again on your DVD player in the car, and can sing a lot of the songs by heart. You also play with the Strawberry Shortcake dolls a lot. Of course, their clothes don't stay on for very long. You're in that "naked baby doll" stage right now. Between your 'oh-okay' Mommy and your spoiling Grammy and Grandma, you've got about every Strawberry Shortcake figure that has been released in NC (and VA for that matter!). I think Grammy is going on Ebay hunting for the elusive 'Blueberrry Muffin'. You said you want a Strawberry Shortcake birthday party this year, and I think Grammy is going to make sure that happens.

You still love Mickey Mouse and all the Clubhouse figures, and you watch it first thing when you get up every morning while you're eating breakfast (a strawberry-bannana cereal bar and chocolate milk every morning!). You still love to play with the Clubhouse we got you for your birthday last year. You've started really loving tools - which we attribute to one of your other favorite shows Handy Manny. It's about a Spanish-speaking handyman and his talking tools who live in 'Sheetrock Hills' and fix things for their neighbors. You have three tool sets now - a wooden one, and a "baby" set (small Handy Manny tools that go with the Handy Manny talking doll!) and a "mommy" set (bigger tools made for your size). So you go around the house "fixing" things all day. It's very cute.

You are also into the Disney princesses some. We haven't really let you watch the videos other than Cinderellla....most of them have such scary elements in them (i.e. the dragon in Sleeping Beauty, the wicked queen in Snow White...). Someone brought Snow White to church, of all things, and was playing it in the nursery. You've since said you had 'bad dreams' about a witch trying to steal your birthday cake. I don't know if the two things are connected or if you've been influenced by the in-your-face Halloween aisle at Wal-Mart.....either way, Mommy is not pleased. But you did decide on being Sleeping Beauty for Hallelujah Night at church this year. You have the dress, the crown, and Grammy bought you a matching pink princess pumpkin to put all your Trunk-or-Treat loot in. I can't wait to see you in the costume - neither can you, for that matter. You've asked over and over if you could wear it. Finally we hid it in the back of your closet - 'out of sight, out of mind' still seems to work for the most part right now.

You've really started making deeper friendships with the kids at church. Your "best" friend is Cameron (not to be confused with "Little Boy Cameron - your cousin) but you also love Destiny, Courtney, Haley and Joeb very much. In one of your little children's books there is a picture of a group of children on a beach and whenever we get to that page you name off who everyone is: "That's me, and Courtney, and Destiny, and Cameron, and Joeb, and Little Boy Cameron, and Baby Gabby, and Haley!" you say with confidence.

You are starting to grow a little in the foundations of your faith too, and that is a very exciting thing to behold. You not only say your prayers at night and meals, but you remind others if they forget, and you're starting to put some crucial concepts together - God as creator, Jesus loves us all, and stuff like that. The other day you were making waves in the bathtub and I said "You're making some big waves there." You replied, "Like the ocean." So I asked you who makes the waves in the ocean. And without hesitation you said, "Jesus." It was a thrilling moment for me, even if you did have that 'duh, mommy' expression on your face.

Almost three....where did the time go?