Flamingos

I love this dress Stephanie is wearing! I actually bought it when Meredith was 2. It's a size 5 but it was on sale at a children's resale shop for $4.98. I remember because it hung in the closet for a few years with the price tag still on it.

And it has pink flamingos on it! I love flamingos, flamingoes, flamingi? Whatever. (Steffi's swimsuit also has a pink flamingo on it.) It's a small size 5 so Meredith has already grown out of it. I'm thinking about having Stephanie's 3-year-old picture taken in it but she's not really much of a dress person so I'm having trouble deciding. I want her to look pretty but natural and it's hard to look natural when you're doing a whole body pose and you have to keep your legs at just the right angle so people don't notice you're wearing Dora underwear. I'm kind of dreading taking her to the photographer though. Look at her face! Why does she always have to scrunch up her eyes when she takes a picture! I love her pretty little eyes but you can't even see them here.

Tisha, I hope you like pink flamingos also. This dress will be coming Rue's way before long! Just remember - it's not really a size 5.

She, Her, He, Him

Stephanie talks very well. You can understand almost all of what she says. I took her to the doctor last week and after the listening to the heart and looking at the ears and all that, the doctor remarked, "Well, I don't have to ask if she's talking proficiently yet?" (Because the child never shuts up. Really - there isn't even enough duct tape in the world to silence her for more than 1.32 seconds at a time. Even if you yell, scream, beg, or plead. Even if you bribe her with a cookie.)

Anyway, she does still get her pronouns mixed up. I know, she'll get them in time and I'm not worried about it anyway. For now, it's just so cute...

"My baby is sleeping in she's bed."
"Him are silly." - talking about Daddy

My Birthday!

I had my birthday. Now I'm 3!

I spent the first part of the evening eating frosting while topless. (This should be a part of everybody's birthday, no matter how old you are.)
I wanted a ladybug cake again. Because I had one last year so Mommy made some ladybug cupcakes.
And she also made a rainbow cake. It was a poke cake - isn't that a funny name? It had Jell-O stripes inside.
See, the sign says "Happy Birthday to Stephanie". And we had balloons!
This is me in my birthday crown. It lit up and was so pretty. Mommy broke one of the sides but she fixed it.
I got a dolly. Mommy didn't even know I like dollies but I do.
This is at Grandma's house. I had my birthday there too. Camden was my personal stylist. He's helping me to put on my earrings.

Happy 3rd Birthday!

This is my baby girl. (I don't know who that other girl is but she must have been fascinating.) She needs her bangs cut again. This picture was taken last night but I swear she looked different this morning. All grown up. She's 3 now, you know. We've been practicing holding up 3 fingers to show our age. She was quite upset to learn that she had to go to daycare on her birthday. She wants a ladybug cake again this year. I kept telling her that Mommy would make her a new cake - a 3-year-old cake - but, apparently, the lady bug cake from last year was a hit. I don't know if she really remembers it or she just saw a picture of it. Hayden asked her what she wanted for her birthday - she said, "blue." Yeah, that's helpful.

3 is a milestone birthday to me. That is when they stop being toddlers and graduate to being big kids. Maybe I only think that because that's when the older 2 were housebroken? But Stephanie has been housebroke for over half a year already. She's smart, she is. And she's clever too. Good traits to have but when they're displayed in a 2-year-old, it makes for some anxious moments for Mom. She's also head-strong, opinionated, adventurous, fearless, and determined. The others were fairly easy to distract at this age, but not Stephanie. She remembers. You might be able to distract her for a minute, like, say if you bribe her with M&Ms, but then she'll want to go right back to what she was doing. But she can't keep track of her sippy cup - she's always losing that thing - obviously, not high on her list of priorities.