Madeline's 3rd Birthday!

Wow, 3! I cannot believe my baby girl is 3! Year 2 was tons and tons of fun.

I know 3 will be fun, it has already been a bit more challenging!

As you can see, my sweet girl loves to dress herself. She likes accessories (she does not get that trait from her momma). Loves tutus!

She wanted her picture taken like brother in his crib.

Madeline is a great eater. Loves lots of healthy foods and her morning smoothie, but she definitely loves her sweets/junk food too. Like me, she loves icing. At birthday parties, she will lick the icing off the cupcake and leave the cake behind.

Loves going to Razorback basketball and baseball games. I think Baseball is her favorite.

Sleeps in her own bed like a big girl every night, except weekends we let her sleep with us. She asks throughout the week, is tonight a weekend? She knows the answers but is just testing us to see if we say, come and and sleep in our bed tonight. She sleeps about 11 hours a night. Naps are a struggle and they happen about half the time. She has not ever been at going to sleep for naps. If she goes to sleep, the nap last along time.

For about a year, when she is upset, needs comforting or going to sleep, she will rub your ear. 

She was supposed to give up the paci at 3, but she still asks for it all the time and we give in a lot! 

Great eater. Is not very picky at all. Loves lots of healthy foods but loves the junk too.

Loves to role play and play pretend all the time. We usually play store, restaurant (What you want? is how she approaches us for our order), school. She plays like her teacher Mrs. Ashley all the time. She will read to her babies, ask them if their mommy or daddy is picking them up today, pretend to paint doll or my hands and make hand print artwork, she will say" that is beautiful, your mommy will love it!" She will also come up to me say "may I take m break now".

Madeline loves school and her friends at school. It has been amazing watching her relationships grow with her friends over the past year. I think that is one of the huge changes I have witnessed along the journey. On Thursdays, she is sometime a tad bit sad that she has to stay home from school. Last Monday, she asked- Do I go to school tomorrow?" After hearing yes, she jumped up with excitement and said - I get to see my friends tomorrow!

Loves, Loves books. She loves for us to read to her and her read to us.

Can dress herself.

Loves music! We have Peter and the Wolf classical composition in our car cd player. When we get in she always asks to hear the story. She will ask is that the wolf, if that the duck..... Still loves our Kindermusik class with Mrs. Ruth.

Loves her Gymnastics class even though she always runs off a few times for me to take her potty or to get water. Not sure why. A few weeks ago, she ran off and I took her potty. Then a little bit later she told her teacher she needed her mommy to take her potty. Once we reminded her she just went potty she decided she did not need to potty, she needed a drink from the water fountain.

Loves to pretend drive the car.

Amazing memory!!!! We have to be careful because she watching everything we say or do and will copy.

Truly believes kissing a booboo and a band-aid makes any booboo okay. So sweet!

Very strong willed.

Very, very, very loving and caring. 

Very interested in middle names. 

She knows her full name, what city/state she lives in as well as her grandparents.

Knows her left from right. 

Can direct us in the car to get certain places.

Gets so excited when she sees a letter "M". She will say "there is an M for me"

Connecting certain behaviors to ages. Mom, when I'm big, I'm going to do this.... When I'm 5 (holds up five fingers) I'm going to go to school there..... She even told me one day, When I'm big, I'm going to grow big boobies..

Has a shy side to her  

Big brown eyes.

Can put a diaper all by herself on a doll.

Always says " I'm a Daddy's Girl" The other night, Ben did not let her do something she wanted to do and Madeline looked at him and said - "I'm a momma's girl". That was the first time I had ever heard her say that. Madeline and her DaddyBear have a special bond! 

Weights about 33 pounds.

Large vocabulary! Always has been.

Best Big Sister in the world. She loves him and always takes care of him. For example, in music class, she always makes sure Graham is gets an instrument, scarf..... She will be playing with people on the playground and proudly say... That's my baby brother Graham. Hey, look my my baby brother, etc.... If she sees he has a runny nose, she will run get a wipe and clean his face, etc....She would hold his hands and help him walk, etc.....

I could go on and on and on this sweet person, but I will stop here!

She is precious and our favorite girl in the entire world.