The Harriman Family: 3 years

Mary Ella,
I cannot even believe I am writing about you at 3! I think I've been putting this post off on purpose. It doesn't even seem possible that you could be so grown up or that I could even be a mother to a 3 year old. But you are, and I am. I'm tearing up right now just thinking about how much I love you and how much I wish time could slow down. Part of me wishes I could just keep you in a little bubble of safety and love just the way you are now, but that's not realistic or healthy. And I do love watching you learn and grow, so, so much, so on with it we go! It's just so hard to think about having you home with me for only 2 more years, so I'm writing this to try and remember what life was like for us with you at this age. I wish I could remember every single thing...

You are 34 lbs 6 oz (75th) and 38 1/2 in (90th).

You are still a very picky eater. If you love something you will eat a lot of it, but if you don't we only get a few bites in you. You recently decided you like chocolate milk. This seems like a small victory since you haven't drunk milk since you stopped taking a bottle.

You still take an afternoon nap and sleep all night in your big girl bed. You wake up around 7 and start yelling, "Mommy!" You have been sleeping in panties for several months and have only had a couple of accidents.

You love your new extra-curricular activities: gymnastics, ballet, and tap. You always say, "Mommy, I listen to what my teacher says."

You love going to preschool story time now, but still enjoy baby bookworms just as much as you ever have. It's perfect for you and Rhett!

You love, love, love to read books! Your favorites now are longer picture books. You like anything girly like Fancy Nancy or Pinkalicious or Princess stories.

You know too many songs and nursery rhymes to even begin to list. You also like to make up your own songs and sing as you go.

You constantly talk, talk, talk. About any and everything. To me or yourself. It's like having a little person with me all day. I wish I had recordings of some of our conversations. You really understand so much and, you're vocabulary is truly amazing. You use funny words like perhaps or actually or perfectly or "yes, of course." I make a conscience effort to answer all of your questions, even the "whys" that could drive me batty. I want you to know that I am always here to talk and listen, and I want you to feel big enough and important enough to deserve my time and concentration and the best answer or advice I can give. I also never want to squash your curiosity or inquisitiveness. Some of our best conversations happen over breakfast or lunch or in the car. You come up with some crazy stuff in the backseat. It's so neat to watch your face as you are thinking about something so seriously. And some of the stuff you say is so funny! You make me laugh every single day!

You still love all things Disney. Princesses, Little Einsteins, Mickey Mouse, and your new love is Doc McStuffins. Disneyworld and the Bippity Boppity Boutique were absolutely fun and fabulous for you at this age!

You play really well independently most of the time. There are so many simple things that entertain you. Puzzles, playdoh, blocks, books, cooking in your kitchen, "babysitting" your babies...

You love to help me in the kitchen or fold clothes- you try to help me with whatever I am doing.

You love to play outside. Sidewalk chalk, hopscotch, riding your tricycle and scooter, blowing bubbles, swimming in the pool, playing in your playhouse, going to the park...

You also love to color and draw and write, stickers, stamps, paint, anything artsy-crafty...

You love to dress up and dance and twirl and play all of your instruments.

You are so, so smart! You know all of your letters and sounds! And you can write many letters too. I can only take a little credit for teaching you. You have known M E H for a while, and then you learned how to spell MARY and picked up those letters. Then, you started showing interest while we were reading books. You learned O and S and noticed that a W was an upside down M. I decided a couple months before you turned 3 that I wanted you to know your letters. So, we got a puzzle. And I put a letter app on my phone. And I broke out the Leap Frog DVD that Julie had given you who knows when? After watching that about 10 times to and from Orlando, you learned all of the sounds. And the app helped with matching the upper case and lower case letters, and it lets you practice writing. Thanks, technology! I guess Mama should put my training to use and teach you how to read now! ;)

You are loving our "letter of the week" activities. I think you will love school!

You randomly say throughout the day, "I love you, Mommy." Or sometimes you just call me mom. Yeah, I don't like that. I started a little game about how much I love you, and you picked up on it brilliantly. I'll say something like, "I love you as deep as the ocean" or "as colorful as a rainbow" or "as bright as the sun" or "as busy as a bee." Then you say one back to me, and we go back and forth. I'm amazed at what you come up with and how spot on it is. You say things like, "I love you as tall as a giraffe" or "as high as a kite." It's so sweet, and I don't want to forget the emphasis you put on "as briiiggghhhht or as hiiiiggghhh as" whatever.

Every night before bed we read atleast one book and say our prayers. I go first and then yours goes something like this: "Deawa Dod, Fank you fo dis day. Fank you fo all da many bessings dat you dive to us. Fank you fo da food dat we ate today. Fank you fo da tlothes that we wowre today. Fank you fo all da many bessings. We yuv you. Dood night. In Jesus' name, Amen" Then I ask you 4 questions, and you always give me the same answers. I ask, "Do you know how much God loves you?" And you say, "too much." "Do you know how much I love you?" "Too much" "Do you know how proud I am to be your Mommy?" "Too much" Do you know you can be anything you want to be?" And here's where you say, "Cinderella" ;)

You love going to Bible class and are so good during church service. You know the stories of Noah, Daniel, Jonah, David and Goliath, and more. You know we go to church to sing and pray and read the Bible. You know reading the Bible is how we learn about God and Jesus.

You can recite the golden rule. You point your finger and say "tweat udders da way you want to be tweated." I can't say that you always do that, but at least you know what we're going for. Ha!

I think you could drive the car and get us to church or dance or swim lessons or the library or wherever we are going. You are good with directions, and you know your left from your right. I have no idea where you learned that!

You are starting to see your brother as a playmate...when you're not trying to be his mother. ;) You love to hug and kiss him and are really very patient with how rough he can be. You are not good at sharing just yet.

You have quite an imagination. So, much that you've come up with a couple imaginary friends. Or maybe they're just puppets. I've seen you talk to yourself in the mirror, but you also talk to your hands and they talk back! Your left hand is named Yoyo. He is a boy or the "brother." Your right hand is named Princess, and she is a girl or the "sister." Yoyo seems to be a little bit of a troublemaker. Or atleast you say that princess is the nice one, and yoyo is the mean one. Let me just say when all of this started it freaked me out! But from what I've read and from talking to people, apparently, imaginary friends are actually a sign of creativity and intelligence. Let's hope so, because I was beginning to worry about multiple personalities. Ha! And it really troubled me that there was a naughty one, but that is common too. Thankfully they're not always with us, just occasionally. I definitely try to down play it, but I don't know what I should expect. I remember specifically having 2 imaginary friends when I was little, and I turned out okay, right? Ha! Maybe it's a firstborn thing?

You ride your Mickey Mouse car around the house about 90 mph! And you hoard random things under the seat.

You are such a great swimmer! You can jump in and swim to me, swim back to the side, and climb out all by yourself.

I could go on and on about all the sweet and wonderful things that you do and all the joy and happiness and pride that you bring to our family. But let me be real, you are sweet and sassy and smart and spunky all rolled into one. Let me talk for a minute about the sass and spunk. I have loved every.single.stage of your life from 0-3. It has been a breeze being your Mommy. But honestly, this age is challenging! Three seems very different from two...I could see it coming before your birthday. You can go from sugary sweet to what the heck in 2.5 seconds. You can be moody and downright cranky. You vocalize every thought you have, good or bad. You can speak with nasty tones and make ugly faces. And let me just say, you have some faces. You have always been so animated with big expressions, and that can go a number of ways. You tell me "no" or "I don't want to" or "let me do it." I have to say, "you don't talk to Mommy that way" a LOT! I feel like some days are spent doing nothing but trying to correct you and make you be sweet. Every now and then, and especially after we travel I have to have what I call a no tolerance day. You have usually gotten away with more than you should, so I have to make up my mind not to bend one little bit. You've heard of "picking your battles." Well, this would be the opposite of that. Sometimes it's all out war, and I already know who is going to win every single battle. And after a day like that, you get back on track. And manners? I so badly want you to have good manners, but I feel like I constantly am correcting you without it coming naturally to you. It can be exhausting! Maybe you act out because you are jealous of the attention I give Rhett. I don't know, but 3 has been a little bumpy. Dr. Smith adores you and asked at your 3 year old check-up if you are always so happy and compliant. I said, "Yes, you are usually happy and usually mind very well. But, sometimes I wonder where my compliant child went." And he said that anyone that ever spoke of the terrible 2s hadn't had a 3 year old. But he said 4 is as good as gold. We'll see about that. And I'm not saying that you are noncompliant, at all. You are generally well-behaved and happy and sweet. It just may depend on whatever little 3 year old mood you are in. There, I said it! Moving on..

We love you so, so much! Everyone loves you, Mary Ella! You truly know how to let your little light shine for the world to see! We are so proud of you!

Here's a little flashback of each year that has been blessed by you...