Three!

On August 28th, 2008, at 8:48 in the morning, my little girl S was born. Her birth was the happiest, most exhilarating moment of my life.

S literally at birth. My doctor pulled her out, gave her a quick wipe, 

lifted her up so J could take this picture, and then placed her on my chest.

Today, she turns three! It's been amazing to watch her grow and change from minute to minute, day to day, year to year. She came out with her own little personality, and continues to show it to us every day!

Smiling

Silly

Happy

Shy

Motherhood has been amazing and tiring and happy and challenging and lovely and bittersweet and easy and hard. But even in challenging moments, I remember how lucky I am to have her.

S at three is funny and sweet, stubborn and strong. She speaks in complete sentences. She's my little backseat driver, telling me when to stop on the red, go on the green, or turn right on the red. She reminds me to put her seatbelt on ("Mommy, I need my seatbelt!"). She can spell her name, the word "Stop" on signs, and other words randomly. She loves stuffed animals, animal-shaped balloons, and animals on TV. She hugs on them (even if that means pressing against our TV screen LOL) and says they are nice and they are soft. She will hug real people, but without quite the same level of enthusiasm! She has no interest in dolls yet: princess, baby, or other. She loves cars and balls and books and various little kid video games on her eReader. She has recently developed an interest in wearing bracelets (her first glam-yay!). She knows how to slide things on the touchscreen of my smartphone. She will pee on the potty, but refuses to poop on it. She used to love The Backyardigans, now she loves Busytown Mysteries and Super Why. Her favorite sayings are "You can't catch me!" and "Don't DO that!" She likes to sing, but doesn't like you to sing with her. She sings a couple of little songs in French almost perfectly. She loves to swim and play in water. She is three, but is the size of most five-year-olds and already wears size 4 and 5 clothing, with or without the T. She loves tortillas and cheese and rice and beans and bananas and corn and oranges and applesauce and watermelon and cantaloupe and mac and cheese and pizza and milk and cookie stix and ice cream and cake and will pretty much eat anything she is given. She is not a picky eater at all.

In short, she is awesome and I love her very much. :)

S in the fancy outfit the Nana bought her to wear at her birthday party. Note the bracelets!

Happy birthday, S, my little pumpkin. I can't wait to see what this next year has in store for you and me!

Love,

Mommy

P.S. Her party was yesterday, and I am still so exhausted I will have to do a post about it at another time. Note to self: New rule--no more outdoor birthday parties in August. TOO HOT.