Saturday, November 27, 2010

Happy 3rd Birthday, Addie!!!

Our little princess turns 3 years old today. I can't believe she's been with us for 3 years, yet I have a very hard time remembering life without her. I continue to fall more and more in love with her every day as she continues to grow and mature into such an amazing little girl.

Addison had her 3 year doctor appointment at the same time Chase had his 9 month, a couple of weeks ago. She weighed 29 pounds (30th %) and was 37 1/2 inches tall (60th %). She is such a little peanut and actually easier to carry around than her brother, though that doesn't happen often. She still wears diapers or pull-ups at bedtime (and soaks them!) and wears the same size as Chase - 4's. She had her blood pressure taken for the first time and received the meningococcal vaccine booster (which, by the way, made her thigh SO SORE that she wouldn't walk on it for an entire day and a half). We play "doctor" a lot at home and the blood pressure cuff and shot are her favorites, ironically. Her only health issue is her Asthma for which she uses an inhaler twice a day. Otherwise, her doctor gave her a clean bill of health and thinks she (and her vast vocabulary) is pretty darn special!

Addison is a magical little girl. She is wise beyond her years, very inquisitive and analytical, creative, athletic, talkative, excitable, and sweet as sweet can be. She loves to pick out her own outfits, accessorize, dress up, put on makeup, do hair, play with her babies, have tea parties and picnics - girly girly girly! She also loves teeball, soccer, basketball, trains, riding her bike and scooter and her swingset and indoor swing - tomboy, tomboy, tomboy! She also loves to read, stack cups, string beads, color, play with stickers and playdough, paint, cook, bake, eat, cuddle, kiss, hug, sing, dance. I guess she's kind of like a jack of all trades. :)

She loves and absolutely adores her brother. She tells me this all the time. She is protective of him, and drags him (literally!) away from things he shouldn't be getting in to (cords, dog food, etc.) She's also sort of a tattle-tale. :) She tells on adults (Daddy and Grandma are her favorite victims) if they don't do things "the right way", otherwise known as the way I do things. She tells on Chase if he's doing something he shouldn't be doing or "eating" (putting his mouth on) her toys. She tells on the dog (i.e. "Wrigley is trying to eat Chase's food"). She tells on her friends and cousins when they hit, push, take a toy, won't share. Sometimes, this trait comes in very handy, while other times it worries me. I'm sure she'll grow out of it. Right now I actually think it's kind of cute.

She loves school. She asks almost every day if that day is a school day. On our drive there, she exclaims how excited she is to see her friends and on the way home she tells me what a great time she had at school that day.

Her favorite color is PURPLE!

Addison is pretty well behaved. I think we expect a lot from her, which I know isn't good and we are trying to lower those expectations. She's just so capable and relatively mature (having had to grow up maybe a little more quickly than the average child due to my health issues), and it's easy to forget she's only 3 years old. She's pretty independent and for the most part, I can count on her to behave, thus not having to keep an eye on her at all times. I hope the freedom I allow her doesn't mean that one day I'll find her drawing on the walls or cutting her hair or something worse!

She is a great, healthy little eater....and is constantly eating. She doesn't care for pizza, mac and cheese, chicken tenders...all the things kids are supposed to like! She would rather have black beans, chick peas, blueberries, strawberries, avocado and yogurt. Oh, she loves yogurt. She usually eats about 3-4 a day and always wants more. She also loves her snacks, whether they be crackers, pretzels, veggie straws, goldfish, etc.

She wears some 3T clothes, but most are big on her. She mainly still wears 2T and some 18-24 month dresses, that function more as tunics now. I finally put away her favorite top (used to be a dress), which was a size 6-12 month. Not kidding! She wears a size 7 or 7 1/2 shoe.

She goes to bed around 7:45 or 8, but usually doesn't fall asleep until closer to 8:30 or 9. She wakes up, on average, between 7-7:15am but sometimes is up at 6:30, with her lights on, clothes for the day laid out in front of her, reading a book. I strongly discourage this! I always put her back in bed, hoping she'll fall back to sleep, but she usually doesn't. Either way, I don't go to her until at least 7:15. We are working on sleeping until Mommy or Daddy come to get her, or at least having her call our names to let us know that she is awake, while still laying in bed. Most days, she's pretty good about this. She takes a good, consistent 2-2.5 hour nap in the afternoon (usually 1-3ish)

I really don't know what I would do without this little girl. I know for a fact that I would not be in the position, health-wise,that I am today if it weren't for her. She truly is an angel in disguise!

I love you, Addie-Bear!!!!!!!!!

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