Claire - 3 Years

Claire, you are three years old! Baby girl, you are growing up! It's been a fun year watching you grow into a little girl. You're a walking ray of sunshine, and you bring so much joy to everyone you know!

Your measurements:
Height: 38.5 in-83rd percentile
Weight: 37 lbs-92nd percentile

You wear mostly size 4T clothes these days, though some 3T still fit. You have beautiful blue eyes and blonde hair that naturally curls at the ends. You're a gorgeous little girl!

Here's what you've been up to:

- You are a real character and you crack us up on a daily basis. You're a jokester...you're funny, and you know when you're being funny. You've recently started using your eyes to communicate a lot of your humor...when you say something silly, you open them up big and it always makes us laugh.

- You're a pretty good eater overall! There's typical toddler pickyness and you're very sensitive to things being spicy. You love donuts and will ask for them for dinner! You're also pretty good about eating vegetables, but of course your prefer sweets and snacks!

- We took you to your first dentist appointment last month and it went well! You were a real pro about the whole thing and didn't freak out at all. No cavities! The dentist did say you'll probably lose your baby teeth early because your front teeth have very small roots. It's called root reabsorption and while they say it's related to some kind of trauma to the mouth, (like a fall, but it can often be something minor that parents don't notice) I wonder if it might be genetic. I lost my first tooth at 4 and was always a little early with dental stuff, and it sounds like you will be too. You're still faithfully devoted to your paci. I try to only fight one battle at a time, and between James being born and potty training, we just haven't taken it away. It's hard for me to take away something that comforts you so much, but we're going to work on it. You're also very attached to your pink blanket aka your "sheet."

- You started Mother's Day Out two days a week this fall and you love it! I was nervous to send my first baby off to "school" but it's been so good for you! You adore your teachers Miss Kelly and Miss Irma, and your classmates. Your best buddy is Ellys. It's been so good for you to have this socialization and time to learn with others.

- Your favorite shows & characters: Rapunzel, Mickey Mouse ("Nickey Nouse"), Despicable Me/Minions, all the Disney Princesses, PJ Masks, Doc McStuffins, Paw Patrol, Baby Chelsea (A real life toddler whose parents video blog their daily life. You watch it on Youtube kids and love it! The internet is weird!).

- You're a pretty good sleeper. Naps happen about 50% of the time on non-school days, and you sleep well at night. Getting you to sleep is the hard part, and often involves hours of you coming out of your room for various things...needing to use the bathroom, needing water, etc. You've also started coming into our room in the early morning hours and sleeping with us.

- We're on the long slow march to being potty trained. It's been a lengthy process that started sometime around November. You've mostly got the hang of it, but you don't really tell us you need to go (unless it's nap or bedtime, in which case all of your potty training suddenly becomes priority # 1 ;) ) and you're also not usually interested when we try to get you to go.  I think it's just a matter of every kid being different and the fact that your parents have no clue what they're doing. Having a wild little brother in the mix makes things more complicated too! You've made lots of progress though and I know we'll get there soon!

- You're a very sweet child with a lot of spirit. You enjoy having everyone together, and you love to sing, dance, and play with babydolls. You've definitely had some "threenager" moments that literally started the day your turned 3, but you mostly reserve that behavior for mom and dad (okay, mostly mom). You're a first-class big sister to James, who you call Jambo, Jamesie, or buddy. Y'all really play together now and it's so fun to see!

- You're a very talented artist. You definitely got your daddy's art gene. You love to draw and color, and you often blow us away with what you can draw without any help. You're also a great communicator with a strong grasp of language. You compare things using similes all day long..."this is like this...this is like that."

I decided to interview you the other day. Here are your answers at 3 years old!

Favorite color: purple and pink...and yellow
Favorite food: broccoli
Favorite drink: milky (pronounced mulky)
Favorite book: my name book (a neat customized book Dizzie and Corey gave you for your birthday about all the letters of your name)
Favorite show: Mickey Mouse
Favorite movie: Punzel
How old are you? 3
How old is mommy? 2
How old is daddy? 4...I don't know
Favorite thing to do: play with microphone
Favorite thing to do with James: do babies
What do we do all day? play
Favorite place: school
Best friend: Ellys
Favorite song: Twinkle 
What do you want to be when you grow up: "Like for Halloween?" After some clarification, she said playing with babies
Favorite Animal: octopus

Claire, we love you to pieces! You bring so much sweetness to every day. Daddy and I often ask each other how we got lucky enough to have you and your brother. Being your mommy is the best thing ever!

I love you,
Mama