My eldest is three years old. She's a little miss - dainty, sweet, funny, delicate and beautiful. She's such a mini-me in so many ways. She doesn't like to be messy (i.e. asks for a napkin and wipes her mouth after each bite of spaghetti, points out any crumb on the ground and loves to pretend to vacuum). She loves her play kitchen and playing hostess. She lines her toys up in straight lines and always wants everything to be perfect. She says, "I love you, mommy" spontaneously and give me a big hug. She loves being creative, practicing ballet and singing more nursery rhymes than I even know. She tries to count to twenty and most times forgets the number six. She says the cutest things and makes me laugh all day, but also knows just how to push my buttons too.
As she's growing, she's not just my daughter, but becoming my person - my little friend who I chat with right before she goes to bed. She loves when I do her nails and when we have picnics together outside. She helps me bake and is always up for wiping down the kitchen cupboards. She's my little buddy, sidekick and darling girl.
I love that she loves chicken nuggets (my fav), broccoli, sweet potato fries and mango. She'll request miso soup, but more often bowls of her ultimate favorites - 'belly pasta' (star pasta with bone broth & parmesan) or 'daddy egg' (poached, soft-boiled or over-easy eggs). She loves chocolate cake, apple cinnamon rice cakes and animal crackers too. Most days, she wants to play or watch a show over eating, but we get through it even if there's some promises of sweet treats at the end. Speaking of shows, she's mastered how to use a tablet and has her favorite shows on Netflix she navigates to herself. She's starting to learn her letters and drew the perfect 'x' yesterday without prompting.
Her English accent is adorable and I can't wait until we visit America so everyone can point out the little phrases she's picked up and tones she uses. She says, 'would you mind..' and 'please may I..' which is all very polite and nice. She's great at preschool now - going two morning and one full day, which is where she is learning from the other children around her and mimicking what she's learned at home. She'll start official school in September 2018, which is scary and exciting at the same time.
She's also the best sister who can be a bit too loving at times, but it's just in her nature to be affectionate. She loves pushing Clara on the swings and giving her kisses. She also does not like it when Clara destroys the toys she's worked so hard on arranging, but will also bring special baby toys to the park with us so Clara has something as well.
I can go on and on about how wonderful Amélie is, and despite how difficult it is sometimes to take care of an emotional toddler with tantrums and all, thinking this will never end, I do know she's growing up to be such a sweet girl who will definitely have a bright future ahead of her. I mean, she is finally sleeping in her own bed, in her own room and has been fully potty trained for a year now so that's a good start right? But really, she's a superstar and she's three!
Also, here's a little recap of what we did on her actual birthday this past Tuesday:
^^We had lunch outside at the playground (sandwiches on whole wheat bread, grapes, snap pea crisps & green tea lemonade for me), then went to the library for books and songs.
^^We did one last happy birthday after dinner plus got the cupcakes all ready for school the next day.
It was a great birthday, but I'm happy to have our regular routine back again too.
