"I AM three!"

Annie has vehemently insisted for the last couple months that she was three already, but now she actually is!  It  hardly seems possible that three whole years have passed since we met this little sweetie.  Here she was at 0, 1, and 2.

She has recently found a new role model: Madeline.  The theme song for the shows (available to download on itunes) goes, "If you believe you must be big in order to be tough, then you should get to know me. I'll teach you other stuff!  ...She may be teeny tiny, diminutive, petite, but that has never stopped her from being pretty neat!" I would say this applies to our Annie girl, too. She may be teeny tiny, but she certainly has a big personality.


Some of Annie's current favorie activities include:

• Visiting with Charlie!
• Reading, especially Rudolph, Madeline, and Peter Rabbit
• Watching movies (mostly Disney/Pixar animation, but also Mary Poppins and Annie)
• Singing one line song selections from: Tom Petty (I'm a bad boy, 'cuz I don't even miss her), Weezer (I don't care 'bout that), or her own creation (Oh, Charlie pirate!)
• Ice skating -- i.e. turning in big circles and getting into funny yoga-type poses
• Driving the shopping cart at the store
• Pointing out various colors and telling us that she likes "that one"--usually blue
• Counting! She can get to 12 on her own, 20 and above with assistance.  Twelve is usually followed by 14, 18, and sometimes 11-teen
• Playing with the iPad
• Carrying around her stuffed animals, talking to them, comforting them when they are scared, nursing them when they are hungry. Her current favorite is her new Penny doll, but she does a good job keeping them all in pretty active rotation
• Playing the guitar
• Carrying the stepstool all over the house to turn on lights, reach things in the pantry, and wash her hands or brush her teeth on her own

She really enjoys talking to/smiling at Eric at the table, in the car, in his crib, at school... She loves her little brother!

 

She has also recently started telling us that we are her best friends, or asking us to confirm.  One night last week she unfortunately told us that we were not her best friend anymore after something had "hurt her feelings", but we seem to be back in her good graces again.

Annie enjoys picking out her own clothes, buttoning and zipping them on her own, and putting on her shoes and socks.  Sometimes there's a little crisis if a zipper gets stuck, and she still needs a little help to make sure the shoes are on the right feet.

She enjoys ponytails, some days.

She can finally reach the deadbolts and can open the front and back doors. Yikes. Although it is helpful for letting Sadie out in the yard :)

She is still very sensitive to loud noises... fireworks, thunder, the fire alarm. The smoke detector went off while we were cooking dinner the other night and she needed to "take a little break" away from the table to go to her room.

Annie very much enjoys her "special chocolate drinks" for some calorie supplementation. All the animals on the pediasure bottles keep her entertained.

She likes to color, paint, use stamps and play with play doh at her special art table.

 

 

We can't wait to see what she will come up with next!