3 Years Old

My Sweet Baby Girl,
You are three years old today! Although when people ask how old you are you are adamant you're still two. You have grown fond of being two and it may take a while to accept the fact that you are officially three, but that is okay you have a whole year to get used to the idea.

When I look back over the years I am amazed at how much has changed, but I am even more amazed at how much has stayed the same. So much of who you were as an infant is still exactly who you are as a toddler.

You still are extremely expressive and it is almost impossible to get a picture of you without some strange or goofy expression. When you were an infant I was envious of all my friend's who had sweet smiling pictures of their sweet babies when all of my pictures of you were with a furrowed brow, or a shocked expression, mouth agape. Now as a three year old your expressions are just as wacky, but I no longer long for sweet smiling pics because baby girl you have too much personality to contain and it shows with those wild pictures.

You have always been an artistic spirit even from a very young age. The arts move your soul and fill you with joy. I have set up an art station in our home where you frequent up to a dozen times a day. You spent the majority of the day coloring, drawing, cutting with your kid scissors. I have never seen a child so passionate about being creative. When we blew up balloons for your party you asked if you could draw on them to make them more special, when you are in the bath you spend your time with bath crayons coloring the walls, outside you spend most of your time drawing with chalk. You even started bringing a notepad and colored pencils in the car so you can draw while I drive. All the practice has made for some pretty impressive art and a huge mess in my house! Oh, but to watch you create brings me as much joy as it brings you to be the one creating and so I don't mind the mess and I love the creations.

You were an early and constant talker. The amount of talking has only increased and it is rarely quiet in our home. You always have something to say and you often get mistaken for much older because of your ability to talk, and talk, and talk! Your understanding of Spanish is continuing to develop, but at a much slower pace than English. You understand everything that your daddy and some of our Spanish speaking friends say, but you still prefer to answer in English or Spanglish.

When you were a baby I often felt sadness when I thought of the days passing and you growing older. I wanted to keep you as my little baby snuggled in my arms forever. But as you grow older I get more excited for the future seeing glimpses who you will become. Our mommy daughter dates are full of conversation across the dinner table (although that of a three year old variety) and we are starting to have many of the same interests which makes for such a beautiful relationship. I like to think that we will grow closer and closer as we both age and that our mother daughter relationship will someday be that of two best friends, drinking coffee in the early evenings, eating brunch on Sunday mornings, chatting on the phone and enjoying all the beauty life has to offer with one another.

Our future looks bright together, kiddo.