Making Memories of Us: Happy Birthday EJ!

Ellis turned 3 years old a couple of weeks ago. Three. Years. Old. That happened way too fast. Turning 3, she leaves behind the pudgy, wobbly toddler years and enters the big girl, preschool years. Just typing that brings a tear to my eye.

We celebrated on her birthday with a lunch at 3 Margaritas and a dinner at home with just the 5 of us. We had her "Dora Party" just this past weekend to wrap up the festivities.

At 3, EJ . . .

*is kind.

-she is genuinely concerned with how others are feeling and always provides a hug and an "aww, are you

okay?" anytime she thinks someone is upset. That is, unless she caused the upset, by pushing or pulling or taking. :)

* loves to help.
   - she always wants to get things for people. She's almost always willing to head to the kitchen, up the
      stairs, or wherever something is that somebody needs. She's also getting really good at helping set the
       table and taking her dishes to the sink.
* knows what she wants! or doesn't want.
   - Her signature phrase(s) these days - "I don't WANT to talk" or "I don't WANT you to talk" or "I don't
    want ANYBODY to talk". If things are not going her way, all should be silent!
* loves to snuggle on the couch and sit on mommy's or daddy's lap when she's eating breakfast or a snack.
   At bedtime, however, she wants no snuggling. She wants us to "lay with her", but that means she is in her
   bed and we are on the floor. Mainly, there's just no room for us with all of the babies and animals she must
   have with her.
* is smart.
   - she knows all of her letters and sounds (she still doesn't have all of the lowercase letters) and counts past
     20 (though she often skips13 or 14) and backwards from 10. She's learning to write her name - she has
     the "E" and "L"s mastered, but doesn't really put them beside each other yet. She knows all her shapes
     and colors. She likes to show what she knows, but usually only when it's her idea. She's not always big
     into answering questions.
*loves to talk and sing and color and draw.
- she sings songs all. the. time. Many of them are "EJ originals" and many of them are songs from Hope's

shows. She also sings lots of kids songs too, She still loves Dora, so she sings lots of her songs too.

One of my favorites to hear her sing is "A, you're Adorable".
-her coloring is still mostly all of over the page, but I've seen more attempts at trying to color specific parts

of pictures. Her "drawings" are lots of squiggles and lines and she loves when they end up looking like

something!
*STILL loves balls, babies, and books
-The only thing she wanted for Christmas was a ball. She takes after her daddy! She loves being a mama to all of her babies and taking them grocery shopping and putting them to bed. Many times stuffed animals are her "babies" too. She loves to look at books and have books read to her.

*is a WONDERFUL big sister.

- I was a little worried about how she would handle not being the baby anymore when Beck came along.

She has shown such patience and kindness and I just love watching her with Beck. She loves him so

much and he loves her too! and I know they are going to be great buddies.

*is hilarious!

-she makes us laugh all the time with the things she says. Her smile and laugh are contagious.

I can't wait for all the years to come with this amazing little girl!