Wednesday, January 11, 2012

She Is Three

Three years ago, I had just brought my baby daughter home. She was already Sam, not Samantha.

I wrote about her first year here.

I wrote about her second year here.

She has been here for three whole years. And she will tell you all about it.

She has recently, and by recently I mean yesterday, been weaned off of her pacifier. All we had to do was explain to her that she was now a big girl, she had her cup and her blanket, and she no longer needed her pacifier. And then reassure her (repeatedly) that all would be OK.

She is terrified of the dark. I think for some reason she has nightmares about trucks coming into the house...not exactly sure why, but she talks about it a lot.

She loves chocolate milk, and cookies, and brownies and candy. This is what happens when she has too much candy. Although sometimes that just happens, because she is high on life.

She is sweet, and adorable, and she knows how to get what she wants from who. Daddy and Oma are the easiest targets, me and new K are the hardest...although it really doesn't take much to sway me.

She remembers everything you tell her, so if you are going to take her to the zoo, you had damn well better plan on following through. She also remembers things that she has done at the most random of times. The other day she asked me if we could go to the fair, like she did that one time. (It was in August.)

She is the best big sister, and the past year has seen her grow leaps and bounds in that role. She infamously threw a bottle at Charlie's head the first time I took them in to visit my co-workers. But now she helps her and guides her and encourages her. "Good job sweetheart!" is frequently heard in my house.

Her smile lights up the room. Her laugh (and screams) echo throughout our house. Everyone who meets her loves her. Strangers even smile when they see her...especially when they see her talk to her little sister.

She talks...all the time.

"Hey, what's the big idea?"

"Mommy...where ARE you?"

"What a great idea!"

"I think I'll just play the iPad for a couple whiles."

"I wanna watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on Disney Junior."

"NO KALE NO!"

When we are in Michigan, she'll often ask, "Can we go to Oma's Michigan?"

When she was opening her presents on her birthday, she popped off...

"I have to go potty, I'll be right back."

She jumped up, ran in to the bathroom, and came out a few minutes later, ready to open more presents. When I asked her what her favorite part of her birthday was, she told me "the princesses." (Girl loves Dairy Queen ice cream cake. The edible image was totally worth the extra 5 bucks.)


She makes me want to bang my head against the wall, she exhausts me and I can't keep up with her. But then, she smiles at me. And tilts her head, and I melt. The past year has seen her grow from a little toddler who talked a whole bunch but didn't say a whole lot, to an opinionated little girl who loves nail polish and Minnie Mouse and doing things her way. She can show you where anything is in our house, and just how to make chocolate milk.

For the most part, she is potty-trained. BUT, if she doesn't feel like wearing underwear and going through the arduous task of peeing and pooping in the potty, she is fully capable of changing her own diapers. Not pull-ups, actual diapers. And if there are no wipes available and she did #2, not to worry...she'll just use clothes.

I can't believe it has been THREE YEARS. My little baby girl is THREE. Her hair is finally long enough to pull back in a pony-tail, except for the bangs she cut herself and the lock on the side that she hacked off in the bathtub one night. She is THREE. I love her with all my heart. She is the coolest kid I know, and I can't wait for the next year just to see what she is going to do.

Happy Birthday little girl. I love you bunches and bunches and bunches!


She cut those bangs HERSELF.

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