Happy Birthday to My 3-Year-Old Princess

Happy birthday to my Princess! I can't believe it has been three whole years since she came into our lives. On the other hand, I can't believe this beautiful girl hasn't been in my life forever, I don't know what I would do without her!

This picture says so much of what it is like to live with my Princess. When Princess is around, things are held in a delicate balance; you never quite know what she is going to do next. However, even though she is usually doing something right on the edge like balancing between couch and coffee table, climbing furniture or jumping from really high places, she is somehow (usually) pretty adept at whatever she is trying to do. She can pedal a bike better than her big sister, water slides are no big deal, and we recently fulfilled one of her biggest dreams by letting her ride on a ferris wheel (more on this to come in another post).

Also, just like that half-eaten sandwich by her left hand, thoughts of food are never far away. She loves her comfort foods like SunButter sandwiches, noodles, and most fruit, but make sure none of that food is touching each other, ok? And hey, why not skip all this real food stuff and just get to the treats, ok?

Princess is smart, like scary smart. I don't know any other barely 3-year-olds who can tell you an entire very detailed story, using words like "fragile" and "creature." There are times that she talks and an old person comes out of her mouth, and we just can't believe that our teeny baby girl is saying such gigantic things. I'm a little scared of the day when she starts outsmarting me, but I know that day isn't far off!

There are times that Princess turns into a 10-year-old boy. Why are farts and vomiting and other gross things funny? And why does she like playing with every bug she can find and digging in the dirt until her face and hands are black and smeared? Maybe she is trying to make up for the fact that we will never have a boy, but whatever it is, she sure loves it.

And then there are the times that she is so absolutely little girl. She recently received a bunch of hand-me-down shoes from her cousin, and she loves to open the coat closet where they are all neatly lined up and try on one pair after another. She will then put them all back and count them, sighing with happiness over the fact that she now owns more shoes than the rest of us put together, and that most of them sparkle.

She has recently learned the art of teasing. Ever since she was little, she has had a mischievous little smile where she crinkles up her cute little nose, like so:

And now that smile is usually accompanied by her saying something like, "Mom, your name is George, Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!!" or something equally as absurd and strange and teasing and adorable. 

Oh, my Princess, my beautiful, sparkly, spunky, perfect, red-headed fireball of a Princess. You make me sigh, or stop and count to ten, or just close my eyes while taking a deep breath, several times each day. You wear me out. And yet, I love every single minute of having you in my life. You give the biggest and best hugs, the best smiles, the best "I love you"s. You make my life so much brighter and I thank God multiple times I day that I get the privilege of being your mother. And then I pray hard for patience and insight, but mostly prayers of thanks for the wonderful person you are and the fact that I get to be in your life. 

Princess, I am so excited to see the person you are going to grow into. Thank you for taking me on this ride with you. 

Happy third birthday!