Though you’ll probably not remember it, you had an amazing 3rd birthday!  We spent it with our friends at a place called Pump it Up….a bounce house place.  Though they had many bouncey offerings, the ginormous slide seemed to be all the rage and the place where most everyone spent the majority of their time.  After an hour of exciting play, we enjoyed pizza and your Dora themed cupcake cake.  A good time was had by all and you received some pretty fun/cool gifts!  The bounce house from Grandma Karen and Grandpa Bruce was a HUGE hit…and will get many years of use!  Daddy and I were able to attend your at school birthday party – we brought cupcakes and helped serve the entire class.  They sang to you and everything — I think we had the most fun though! You are maturing so fast.

You are starting to vocalize cause/effect….for example, if one of us comments that our shirt is dirty you will say “we should probably wash it”.  When we use the last of the milk you will say “we should go to the store and get some more”.  Or the other day daddy was having trouble getting out of the car since he was so close to the wall and you said “maybe you shouldn’t park so close”.  You are also learning extended colors like golden, hot pink, and silver.  Though you are one of the youngest in your class you’d NEVER know it – you are almost a head taller than the other children and you are right in line with them in your learning abilities!

You recently started having “night terrors”…sounds way worse than it is…at least for you.  About 1-2 times per week, within a few hours of you falling asleep, you will start hollering for mommy/daddy.  When we go in your room you are sitting up in bed mumbling incoherently.  The first couple of times we got you out of bed and tried to talk to you about what was going on:  Bad dream?  Something scary?  etc.  After talking to the doctor at your 3 year check up we realized the best treatment is to leave you in your bed, verbally console you in a calm voice, and gently put you at ease by rubbing your hair or your back.  So far, it’s working!  You will usually fall right back to sleep within a few minutes. Speaking of your 3 year check up!  You weighed in at 36 lbs and were 3′ 3” tall – placing you in the 95th percentile for both height and weight!  Not that it comes as a surprise to any of us, given your gene pool!  However, based on these results we are considering moving you from dance and gymnastics classes to soccer and volleyball lessons!  🙂

Though you love to play outside, and have even had a couple of play dates in the pool with dad this summer, you have an irrational fear of bugs and flying critters.  Even just the sight of the prettiest of butterflies will evoke a shrill of sheer terror.  We are working hard to help you understand those critters can not hurt you but mom’s ridiculous fear of bees is not helping to set the best example.  We’ve taught you to say “shoo fly” when you see a scary bug and that seems to help since their presence is usually brief.  That fear extends to loud noises like lawn mowers and forklifts at Sam’s Club.  You’re our overly cautious little lady!

You are also learning manners and will often say “scuse me” when you want mommy/daddy’s attention.  You are good about saying please/thank you, and you cover your mouth when you cough.

You love to watch Dora, Diego, Scooby Doo, and your all time favorite – America’s Funniest Home Videos!  Oh and the cutest thing ever — when one of us says something or makes a sound like “tsk, oooohhhh, yikes, oh no, gasp, etc” you will say “Mommy/Daddy, why you say _____”?  It’s not so much what you say, but how you say it, that’s so cute!

On a whim, I bought you a pair of slippers while at Target the other day…and you LOVE them!  You hair is getting sooooo long….it hangs almost to the small of your back now but you rarely want to wear it in a ponytail or any other type of hair holder.  You seem to like it best when it’s unrestrained and hanging loose….and the person who tries to tuck a strand behind your ear will most certainly get a scolding.

You continue to do great with Brady – you are still enamored with him.  Your father and I just try to cherish those moments knowing full well the day will soon come when you are clawing each other’s eyes out! If the next 3 years are as fun at the first three we are in for quite an amazing ride!

Oh Monkey, I can’t believe it – you will soon be 3 years old!  Where has the time gone?!  We’ve got your 3rd birthday planned out…and are looking very forward to it.  You are an absolutely amazing young lady and bring so much joy to our lives.  You are growing and maturing every day and are sooooo smart.

You are enjoying school and like your new teachers.  You are in gymnastics and dance classes.  It took you over a year to start participating in dance class and unfortunately, you are just a hesitant in your gymnastics class.  We are currently trying to bribe you into participating.  🙂

You are adjusting quite nicely to life with a brother.  You absolutely adore Brady and are constantly giving him kisses, sharing your toys with him, and even attempt to console him when he is crying.  You are such a kind soul.

At some point in your life, I think the number 149 will mean something to you.  For whatever reason, that is the number you come up with anytime a number is in order — when you measure something or respond to a question about a number.  It’s really kind of funny!

You LOVE to dance and are quite fond of music/singing.  You got all into watching Dancing With the Stars the other night and often request we play music so you can dance.  Your most recent love is cheering.  You’ll shake the pom poms and tell us to do the 2 Bits, 4 Bits cheer.  While we are cheering you will jump around shaking the pom poms…it’s soooo cute!  You also love all things out doors – playgrounds, hitting/kicking balls, tricycle rides, etc.  It’ll be soooo much fun when we can get in the pool this summer!

Well, Brady has been home for almost a week now and you are adapting to the change rather well!  Though hesitant to get too close, you have taken a true liking to him.  You are always interested in knowing where he is and what he is doing and you LOVE to give him kisses on his head.  You don’t seem to have developed any jealously or negativity towards him…for now.  🙂  The fact that we have tried really hard to keep things status quo for you – making sure to pay as much attention as before, do as many fun things as before, etc. might be contributing to that.  It’s very important to your father and I that you know just how special you still are…and always will be…to us.  I would say we are doing a pretty good job of adapting to being a family of 4!

Didn’t think it was possible, but you are getting more beautiful by the day!  Your hair is stunning, it appears your eyes are going to be hazel, and you just have a certain presence about you that draws attention – even from strangers.  We dressed you up Saturday and went to an Easter egg hunt.  We had got your dress and shoes about a month ago and you loved it!  You kept spinning around so your skirt would fly up – you would say, “My dress is moving”!  You even busted out some of the dance moves you’ve learned in dance class.  It was sooooo cute!  We ended up taking you to the park for the egg hunt and some play time.  You had a blast!  We got lots of good pictures – in many of them you were even hamming it up for the camera!

You are doing well at your new school.  You adore your teachers and have already learned many new things.  It’s just hard to believe you will be 3 in just a few short weeks!  Where has the time gone?!  I miss my baby girl…but am greatly enjoying the young lady you are developing into.   You are such a blessing in our lives and we cherish each and every moment we get to spend with you!

That term is about to take on a whole new meaning as Brady is scheduled to make his big debut tomorrow morning!  You have been so sweet this whole pregnancy – talking to my tummy, kissing my tummy, tickling my tummy.  You definitely understand that there is a baby in there, but I am not sure you have quite conceptualized the fact that he will soon be here with us.

We have to be at the hospital by 6am tomorrow so Kim is going to come over around 5:30am.  She’ll play with you and get you ready then take you to school by 10am.  Then Luli will pick you up around 3pm.  Depending on how Brady & mommy are doing we might have Luli bring you to the hospital that afternoon.  If not, then we’ll wait til Saturday.

Luli is soooooo excited to see you!  And I know she is already feeling very thankful for the opportunity to spend some special one-on-one time with you.  You are pretty much the highlight of her day….everyday!

You are doing well in your new school.  You finally settled in and are able to get dropped off with excitement instead of sadness and hesitation.  Your teachers are awesome, the curriculum is challenging, and you love all the extras – dance, gymnastics, and Mr. Vick.  You stay busy all day but your favorite part is getting to go play outside 2x/day!

You have been on a kick lately of recognizing like items by exclaiming “Same Ting!”  It can be anything from 2 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, to us drinking from the same cups, or even when we are both eating a cheese stick.  You love to find things that match or are the same – especially colors.  It’s pretty impressive how smart you are!

You are loving your baby brother!  You have fun laying on mommy’s tummy and even like to give Brady kisses!  You’ve been lucky enough to feel him move a few times — which always seems to draw a smile from you.

You are doing well in your new school.  You get to do gymnastics, dance, and once a week Mr. Vick comes to sing songs, play guitar, and do puppet shows.  Your teachers are very nice – Kelsey, Shonna, & Ambryn.  You are one of the youngest in your class and seem to enjoy the challenges that come along with that.

You are starting to recognize your alphabet letters and we’ve been going through your flashcards each night.  You are able to recognize every single picture and over the past week or so have begun to recognize a good portion of the letters.  It’s so fun to watch you grow and develop – you are such a bright and beautiful young lady!

What a blessing you are to our family. I thank God each and every day for you!

It amazes me how much and how fast you are growing. You’re articulate, curious, cautious, helpful, loving, kind, caring, and funny. We were in Toys R Us the other day and I said “I love you Hailey”, and you replied with “I am special?!”. It made me laugh and cry at the same time!

You seem excited about your brother’s arrival. You give my belly kisses and talk to him a lot. I don’t think you have any clue what his arrival will mean for you but I am glad you are excited…at least for now. 🙂

There have been many (negative) changes at your daycare over the past few months. After giving it MUCH thought, your father and I decided it would be best to move you to a different school. We checked out a few and decided on the Children’s Courtyard. It’s a little bit farther but the positives will definitely be worth it: nicer facility, more organized classrooms, more structured curriculum, more staff, more extracurricular activities, and a super cool playground!

I am a bit nervous about introducing too much change in your life, but feel confident this is the right thing to do. Luckily your dance class (same company and teacher) is offered at the new school so you’ll still get to see Miss Wendy once a week. And we signed you up for gymnastics, too. I really think you’ll enjoy that!

We went on our usually weekend morning coffee run Saturday and I drove you by the school – want to try and get you excited about the change. All we really did was see the playground but that was enough to get you fired up! My plan is to leave work early one day this week so we can go tour the place and introduce you to all the new teachers and kids.