Amelia Lee, Almost Three

This little girl is one cheeky monkey. She cracks me up. She drives me crazy. She repeats EV-ER-RY-THING. She knows what she wants. And what she likes. She is affectionate. And thoughtful. Sweet and naughty. A ball of energy and spunk. She is sometimes a grouch and sometimes a peach--and you never really know who you're going to get.

 She's in the process of dropping her afternoon nap and has only been taking a couple naps a week for months now. I don't love this, but I'm growing to accept the inevitable. She can mostly handle no naps but oh man not always. She stays in her room and even on her bed throughout, so I can't complain too much. When we come to get her she used to say, "I woke up!" Even when she didn't sleep. But now she says, "I didn't sleep!" We're like, yeah, we know. We WATCH you. It's actually quite entertaining watching her play during nap. She seems to be orchestrating something major; she walks about her bed and talks to her friends. Peeks out the window and kicks the wall. Sings songs and puts her babies to bed. She needs the downtime though and so do I, so I'm thankful she at least stays in there.

 She loves her daddy, and I mean LOVES. She thinks it's punishment when I put her to bed. I try not to take it personally but sometimes that's hard (for me). When I wake up with Wyatt and come out into the kitchen she often exclaims NO!, with that much emphasis. So that's a nice way to wake up (especially after waking up with a newborn throughout the night)! I guess I don't blame her...he is much more patient than I am. Thankfully he's half of this parenting thing we got going on.

She also loves her brother. Like, a lot. I am so incredibly thankful for the way she has accepted and welcomed him into our family. She likes to see him and hold him and squeeze him and she is for the most part super gentle. I'm impressed, to say the least. You never know how the sibling thing is going to pan out, but 7 weeks in and things are looking good on that front. WOO. Also, PHEW.

Art and painting are big right now, which I love. She is always up for crafting with mama and I can't help myself and buy her new art supplies whenever I get the chance. I just bought her some scissors, so watch out.

She still likes to get herself dressed and pick her undies and jammies. And she really likes for things to match. She tries real hard and I can usually convince her to wear what I want her to wear if it matches something else she's wearing...undies, socks, etc.

She seems to have become heavier and sturdier in the last few months. I'm not entirely sure, but I think she weighs around 28lbs. Maybe more. Either way, she's heavy. But maybe that's because I've gotten used to carrying around an 11lb newborn now. She is definitely strong. She is opinionated. And sensitive. Cheerful and silly. She loves to sing. And read. And hug and kiss. And take care of her babies. And pretend to sleep on the couch. And make her animals talk. And look at pictures of herself. And she likes to take off her socks. Her hands and feet are often cold. She likes to be funny. She likes to pick out which fork she uses. And plate and glass and spoon. She likes to be in control.

She loves to go to the park. And to eat at restaurants. She's a good eater, thankfully. I mean, not all the time. She is almost there, afterall. She is so into imaginary play. It's so fun to watch. I find her in her own little world so often and try not to disturb her too much by capturing the moment. She loves to dress and undress (herself and her animals). She thinks it's fun to wear pajamas during the day. Her hair is coming in thick and dark and beautiful. She's our delight.