Three

Dear Emmie,

Three?! Really??? I didn't expect my baby girl to grow up so fast on me! These last three years have flown by and we have been so blessed by your presence in our family.

Here are a few things about you at THREE that we want to remember...

• You have such a contagious smile! Those cute dimples are irresistable and once they reveal themselves, those around you start smiling too, including your mommy. I just love those little impressions in your cheeks.
• You still love to suck your thumb! In fact, you have developed a nice little bump on it from all your suction. Live it up this next year because the doctor said it's a-okay for you to suck away for now, but once you're four - it's time to stop.
• You LOVE princesses! You love to watch them in movies, play with your princess dolls and figures, dress up like them, dance like them, sing like them, and you even love to make your good-sport big brother make believe he's your prince. Believe it or not I have not encouraged this love for "pimpesses", but the love affair got started last Christmas when Grandma and Grandpa H. gave you your first set of princess dress up.  From there there was no stopping you. The other day I even caught you laying down as Sleeping Beauty, pretending to be dead (nice), and telling your Prince - aka Parker - to kiss you and bring you back to life. And yes, the good sport that he is, he kisses you on demand....
• You are very self sufficient. You have been dressing yourself for well over a year and you can entertain yourself for long periods of time. I often look over to see you singing and dancing in the corner, off in your own little world. When you are in these modes it can take quite a while to get your attention!
• You are LEFT HANDED like your daddy! This trait is usually accompanied by an artistic side so I am eager to watch you cultivate your talents!
• You just started a new dance class - ballet, tap and jazz and you are loving it!

• You are super friendly and love to be social. Whenever we are out you love to wave and say "Hi" to all the other kids you see and you call all of them your friends. I hope you will continue this and always strive to be friendly with everyone around you.
• You are a great eater! Your favorites are homemade mac n cheese (or any mac for that matter), pizza, waffles, and Danimals. You also love tacos (made with ground turkey), manicotti, chicken, rice, apples and peanut butter, carrot sticks, corn on the cob, noodles, mandarin oranges, and you love love LOVE bread/rolls and BUTTER. You'd eat a whole cube of butter if I'd let you. And of course, like your brother you love treats and chocolate. You don't get to partake however unless you've eaten your meals and you usually do!
• You are a great sleeper. You are in bed by 7:30ish  and will sleep until 7 or 8 if it's quiet. You refuse to sleep without your lamp on everynight however. It's a ritual and a necessity and you won't have it any other way.You take a nap in the afternoons and are pretty grumpy if you don't get it.
• We are working on potty training. You are getting close but aren't quite there yet! It's mostly my fault... I just couldn't deal with attempting it last spring being so sick with this pregnancy for 22 weeks straight. So we've recently started but you have my same attitude that pull ups are just easier these days! I thought the Dr. would be disappointed, but he said that less than 20% of 3 year olds at their annual appointment are potty trained and said you are closer than most! We are taking it in stride and we'll be there soon.
• You LOVE your nursery class at church. You go happily every time and it's been so nice that you are so well adjusted in that way.
• You are completely in love with your purple blankie (whom we just call Banky). It goes everywhere we do and is an instant source of comfort to you. Because of that special power, I think I love it almost as much as you do and wish we had 4 more of them... :)
• Other things you love these days are being outside with friends, riding your trikes and scooter, coloring, play dough, playing with your babies, swinging, going to the park, changing outfits numerous times a day, the TV shows Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Dora, reading stories, the movies Cinderella, Enchanted, Monsters Inc and Tangled, your dance class, and the color PINK!

You are so excited for your new sister to arrive and I know you will be such a big helper once she is here! I am so grateful that you will have a sister to share your life with. She will be very lucky to have you!

You are a huge blessing in our lives Emmie and we love you to pieces!

XOXO

Love,

Mom