Three

It is hard to believe we have a full blown three-year-old living in our house these days.  Each year I am amazed at the physical, motor skill, emotional, and intellectual growth Aria displays.  I love looking back at pictures from a year ago no matter the time of year, but on her birthday it is especially fun to see where she was at just a mere 365 days ago.  I've heard more experienced parents say the days are slow but the years are fast.  I couldn't agree more.  As Aria turned three last week part of me felt like we must have skipped two.  How is it that I don't have a toddler anymore?  So far I haven't been one to dwell on the past and wish for a return of the younger years with her.  While I still don't want to look back, I think I want time to slow down just a bit.  We are already talking about preschool, shopping in the little girls section, and thinking about a variety of activities from music and swimming lessons to sports.  Aria talks a lot about "when I'm big" and is excited for things like driving cars, wearing clothes my size, and playing basketball for the Hawkeyes.  Last night my reply to her latest "when I'm bigger" comment was that maybe she should just stay little for a while longer.  Alas, time passes inevitably.  I can't change its pace.  But I can enjoy each and every moment we have.  I want to be more intentional with our time and create an environment of love and learning for Aria to continue to grow.  I find myself praying more and more for things of her future.  I can see the person she is becoming, what her strengths may be and where she is going to need extra encouragement.  The little nine pound bundle God gave me three years ago isn't a helpless little baby anymore.  She has plenty of preferences and demands independence in a lot of areas.  Mostly, I pray God will capture her heart and she will want to be a "beautiful melody" for Him.

Aria at 3...

Height: 38 inches
Weight: 35 pounds
Eyes: Brownish Green
Hair: Beautiful dark reddish brown, finally just past her shoulders
Shoe Size: 8
Clothes Size: Girls 4 shirts/dresses, 3T for pants
Right handed

Favorites...

Breakfast: French toast
Meal: macaroni and cheese
Fruit: strawberry
Vegetable: broccoli
Dessert: ice cream
Restaurant: Red Robin and Perkins
Animal: cat
Song: Ring Around the Rosey (played more than 100 times more than any other song on my ipod)
Movie: Wild Animal Baby Explorers Hide and Seek
Color: red and purple
Bible Story: Jonah

Tidbits...

We are 100% diaper free!!  She's been in undies at night for about three weeks now and is doing great!!  Wooohoooo!!

Aria continues to love, love, love music!  She has numerous musical instruments and plays them all day long.  She loves to sing and wants to play and sing all together.  We had to sing "Happy Birthday" at least 30 or 40 times last week.  She also displays some talent in keeping rhythm and pitch.

Her verbal skills are crazy.  The latest development is her desire to sound out words she says.  She thinks about what a word starts with and says things like, "m-m-m-mommy...mommy starts with m!"  She is also able to point out words on a page by sounding out some of the letters.

She counts things to 20, but if you don't slow her down she will often skip 16, 17, and 18. 

Aria loves doing crafts and is starting to be able to write a few letters.  She can cut with scissors and loves to glue.  She isn't much into just coloring, but wants an activity to do, like drawing lines to match things. 

She also loves to play games.  She is awesome at memory/matching games.  Justin and I don't ever let her win, she does it on her own!  She is doing great at understanding what it means to take turns and celebrates with whomever wins.
 
Aria is always ready to be on the go.  She wants to go somewhere every day.  She likes grocery shopping, the library, church, basketball games, lunch dates, play dates, whatever we are doing.  She loves swimming, children's museums, science museums, play places, and anything designed for small people like her.  She is a lot of fun to take places.  She gets enjoyment out of it all! 

There is so much more I can say.  Aria likes to play hide and seek and go exploring.  She still loves Elmo, but has added Mickey Mouse, Hello Kitty, Veggie Tales, Winnie the Pooh, Thomas, Dora and all of their friends to her list of characters.  She likes to put on jewelery and chapstick/lip gloss.  She likes to play dress up and surprises us some mornings by coming out of her room with random outfits on.  She doesn't like chicken but does like shrimp.  Her "dancing" is running around in a circle forever and ever and ever.  She likes Herky and Mr. Shucks and Fred Bird and any mascot she comes across.  She can shoot a basketball one handed and smack a softball really far off a tee.  She thanks Jesus for things every night and prays for her special friend Connie's dad to feel better.  She brings me kleenexes when I'm sad and gives the best hugs.  Her level of understanding of so many different things is awesome! 

She is my daughter, of course I could brag about her for days on end.  I just wanted to give a picture of her at three because I'm sure this year will fly by and I will be posting about her at four.  I'll end with a few of my recent favorite Aria quotes:

Watching some cheerleaders at a basketball game: "Mom, why don't they have any shirts on?  They need to cover their bellies!"

Seeing wrestling on tv: "What are those guys doing?  That guy is trying to ride that other guy like a horse, but he's too big!  His shorts don't even cover his legs."

She'll even sit still and smile nicely for pictures these days...sometimes!