I'd say that Emma has been exhibiting the verbal, physical and emotional aptitude of a three year old for several months now. Because of that I don't have too much of an adjustment to accept that my two year old is now three. Like I've mentioned in an earlier post though, I am having difficulties coming to terms with the fact that soon she won't be the baby of the family. She is so sweet and cuddly, but over the last several months has definitely been doing her part to prove to me that she is not only an independent person with opposite views on most things from me, but that she will no longer come at my beck and call for cuddles, kisses and hugs. Don't get me wrong, she is still the most snuggly little girl I know, but it has to be on her terms now. Here she is below, in clockwise from top left to bottom left - driving her ice cream truck, building towers as tall as her, hanging off of the counter, and showing off her love of accessories. In the bottom left picture, Will clearly did her hair that morning as he doesn't put limits on accessories like I do. He also doesn't pick up after the trail of hair accessories all day long like I do either.
Emma is still of the mindset that less is NOT more, and constantly battles me on what she is going to wear for the day - three tutus, three pig tails, three headbands, etc. It'd be one thing if she kept all of the accessories on throughout the day, but she doesn't. She doesn't even make it to the breakfast table without starting the trail of debris that follows her through the house and the rest of the day. Here she is below wearing her robe and showing me how it twirls when she spins. I guarantee minutes later that robe was strewn across the floor.
In the below picture you can see that she has already lost her leggings as well as her coat. It was in the 30's when I caught her proudly riding around in a tutu and snow boots.
Emma's birthday dawned bright and early, as most holidays do in our house since the girls were born. Emma hopped in our bed around 6:30 and asked me if it was her birthday yet. She also asked me when we were going to wrap the presents together, not realizing that since it was HER birthday, she didn't get to help with the present wrapping! Things took a turn for the worse suddenly and by the time we went downstairs - even with the enticement of opening presents - she was overcome by heartbreaking emotion. Ahh, three. Twos are nothing. Threes. Threes are where the drama is at.
Even sitting in front of her presents, it took her another five minutes of me whispering sweet nothings in her ear to calm down and compose herself enough to open presents. As you can see below, once the tears stopped she opened up binoculars, some field guide books, a bug box, a new kitty bath towel, and lots of Calico Critter items - a rabbit family, a baby rabbit, a cottage, couch set, and beds. Now she can play side by side with Lucy and her Calico Critter toys.
Here Emma is below holding daffodils, which were in bloom the day Emma was born and have become her official flower each year since. Emma probably spent more time playing with her balloons than her presents, which is always a good reminder as to what a three year old appreciates.
Emma asked for cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs and sausage for her birthday breakfast. She was in the early stages of recovering from a nasty stomach bug so barely ate anything, but was content to have her favorite things in front of her on her plate.
After breakfast we continued our tradition of reading the photo book I had made about the day she was born. Emma wanted to read it to us this year, which was entertaining!
After the story about the day she was born, we measured Emma's yearly height on our growth stick. She is just a tiny bit shorter than Lucy was on her third birthday, making up for lost time as on her second birthday she was a full inch shorter than Lucy was at the same milestone.
We had macaroni and cheese for lunch, another Emma request, and again, barely any food was eaten by Emma and Lucy didn't eat any of it. Emma was still content to just have one of her favorite foods in front of her. Both girls took naps, as they are still recovering from the stomach flu, and after naps convinced me that the sleep was enough to make them healthy enough to go out for ice cream at our local frozen yogurt bar. Here they are below enjoying ice cream with me. In the bottom right picture Emma was patting my stomach, making sure Violet was enjoying her ice cream too. In the bottom left picture, the girls are enjoying some people watching with their treat.
I made Emma's cupcakes and icing in advance and froze it, not knowing what shape I would be in on Emma's birthday, so close to Violet's due date. I was ever so grateful I had done this, as when we came home from ice cream, Lucy threw up everywhere. By the time I cleaned up from that and got dinner started it felt like the day was slipping through my hands. Here the girls are below on the sunny, spring like day I made the cupcakes and icing - licking the beaters on the front porch. In the bottom picture they decorated the thawed cupcakes with sprinkles while Will and I finished making dinner.
Will went into work late this morning so that he was able to be a part of present opening, Emma's birthday breakfast and our Day You Were Born story as well as growth chart measuring. He also had plenty of time for playing and snuggling since Emma got us all up so early this morning. Emma loves Will so much, and my heart melts every time I see her climb into his arms for a snuggle. She compares anything that is big to being, "Bigger than daddy!" i.e. semi trucks and houses. She also describes any grown up male as a daddy instead of a man. In the below left hand picture, Emma is giving Will a snuggle before he headed out for work. Because of his later start, she was able to pick out a tie for him - she picked out the wildest one he owned of course, and Will received many comments all day long - the gift that just kept giving!
She also loves her big sister and had a really good day with little to no fighting which I definitely appreciated. Lucy also did a wonderful job of helping us shine the spot light on Emma to make it a special day for her. Last year Lucy had a really hard time with all of the focus being on Emma for the day. It is amazing what a year and a stomach bug can do.
The day went by too fast in my opinion. In between the birthday traditions, Emma played Legos, colored, played her favorite game Memory which she is really good at, and even found time to do tricks on the counter with Lucy and enjoy stories with Daddy.
To me, the age of three marks the transition of the rapid growth of the first three years of life to a more leveling out of childhood changes. From here on out Emma's stories will be told as a part of the family blog post each month along with Lucy's. I will miss the chance for me to reflect individually on Emma's growth and personality but am also looking forward to the congruence this will bring to our family's overall story. Plus, little Violet is arriving just in time to have her own three years in the spotlight.
Happy birthday Emma! You are the best daughter, little sister and now big sister that we could ask for and you are such an important part of our family! We love you!
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