"I'm Almost Three"

It's hard to believe we will be celebrating Shelby's third birthday next month! Where has the time gone?! Shelby amazes us every single day with her creativity, memory, love for learning, sweetness, intelligence, and her uncanny ability to annoy her Mama & Daddy. ;)

Shelby, we couldn't possibly love you any more than we do! At night after you've gone to bed, I often tell your Daddy stories about crazy things you did or said that day while he was at work. Daddy will almost always reply: "I love her." You are so uniquely ours, and we love every little thing about you.

You thought it was so silly to sit in the Bumbo seat!

Back in January, we tried to potty train you. It was a horrible experience for all 3 of us. At the time, we thought you were “ready.” And in retrospect, I still think you were. But I should have remembered that our first-born is a perfectionist like her Mama & likes to do everything in her own time. So we called it quits & decided to wait. Then in June--amidst the chaos of Daddy’s graduation from residency, family visiting, and having a newborn at home--you randomly started asking to go potty. In my mind, that was the worst possible time to start potty training with you. But, I’m so thankful that we just followed your lead b/c there truthfully was very little “training” involved. You just did it all on your own! And I think we only one real accident, which was at home so it was very convenient! Ha! Of course, we had to teach you how to take off your pants, how to flush, how to determine what an appropriate amount of toilet paper is, etc…but it was so much easier than I ever could have imagined it would be! If I only I could have known all that back in January! Ha! Hopefully I will remember all of this when Hadley's turn comes around. ;)

We still keep you in a diaper for naps & bedtime for now. We tried you in underwear & pullups for naps/bedtime, but you were so anxious that you might have an accident that you couldn’t sleep. And we didn’t want to push it too much b/c we know it will come in time. Perhaps TMI for some people…we are still working on going #2 in the potty, which is kind of funny to me b/c when we started this whole potty training business that was easier for you than #1. But now, it’s the reverse. Ever since you were a baby, you have liked to do your “business” in your bed. You would never have a poopy diaper anywhere other than your bed, which was kind of convenient for me—I never had to change a dirty diaper while we were out and about. Now at almost 3 years old, you still prefer to poop in your bed for whatever reason—I guess you’re very relaxed in your bed?! Who knows?!

Play-Doh

You still love, love, love art projects. You really want to be able to cut with scissors by yourself. So that is something we are currently working on!

Playing with shaving cream. This is a fun activity that's
great for 3 reasons--sensory exploration, practicing writing
letters, numbers, or words, & cleaned the table for us! :)

You can read about 50 sight words, which just blows me away. For the past couple of weeks, you’ve really been showing me signs you’re almost ready to start reading. When looking at my box of Cracklin’ Oat Bran over breakfast a couple weeks ago, you said “Mommy, does that say chicken?” I didn’t know what you were talking about b/c surely there wasn’t a chicken on my box of cereal. But you pointed to the word “Cracklin” and said “It looks like it says chicken.” Sure enough, it did! We were at the commissary one day, and there was a sign posting their new hours. You pointed to it and said: “ Look, Mommy! It’s the days of the week!” When we were reading a book the other day, you pointed to the word “there” and asked if it said “three.” Amazing. I don’t want to push you too hard or too fast, but I am trying to take advantage of this love for reading right now..and the kindergarten teacher in me is loving every minute of it. Last week we started doing a few sight word games together and doing a little adapted version of Guided Reading. It makes my heart burst! Here is a little video of you reading your first book:

Pretending to sleep in Hadley's crib :)
Every time we go in the nursery, you think you have
to climb in the crib for some reason! ;)

You love to use your imagination & do lots of pretend play with whatever you can get your hands on--Little People, beanie babies, you name it! I was feeding Hadley in her room one day while you were playing in your room. You kept running into Hadley's room & getting receiving blankets. Here is how I found you in your room:

If you look closely, you'll see that Violet has a pillow & blanket
for her nap. There are also 2 beanie babies napping with pillows & blankets.
There is also some on her bed that she is putting on the covers. She was very
proud of this arrangement!

You are very into people's ages, so we've been talking to you lately about your upcoming birthday and you are all about it. Now when people ask you how old you are, you quickly tell them "I'm almost three." This morning, when I walked into your room to get you out of your bed, the first thing you told me was: "It's almost my birthday party, Mama." Yes, sweet girl, it is. 

We love you, Shelby-girl, and we're so proud of you!