Her creative 3 year old brain

Last Friday, at show and tell day, the kids were supposed to bring in something to represent their pets. It was pet week. We packed a stuffed "Maggie" in Addison's backpack, and she told us what she was going to share with her friends.

Well, when Circle time came on Friday, she saw all of her friends going to their cubbies to get their things. Confused, she went to her cubby and pulled out her lovey that has a frog on the end of it. Miss Ana said that she could tell Addison's mind was turning. She could see her mouthing something, like she was practicing, as she was listening to the other children sharing about her pets.

When it was her turn, Miss Ana said, "Addison, is there someone you would like to show us?" She said, "yes," held up her frog lovey and continued, "My name is Addison Camille Crawford, and this is my special frog named Ariel. Ariel is my pet frog who is very precious to my family. We got her when I was a little baby. We love her so much. Thank you." Sweet girl forgot about Maggie. Bless her and bless Maggie, but I thought it was hilarious that she was not going to be left out of this event. It was even funnier because this lovey is her school lovey that she rarely naps with and has no emotional attachment to... She created a story on the spot. This is a perfect snapshot of Addison at 3.

I'm still working on loading and collecting pictures from our camera and family members' cameras so I can document the birthday party, but I wanted to load some phone pics and document Addison at 3.

3-year-old Addison melts my heart.

We interviewed her on video, and she told us that her favorite food is cake, her favorite stores are Publix and Books-a-Million, and her best friends are Savannah, Jack, Olivia, and Captain. Her imaginary friend/crush is still hanging in there. :)

We thought she might have forgotten about him, but the other night, she "couldn't go to sleep because she was too busy," so she said. I laid there and scratched her back and told her to think of happy things. She said, "Ok, mom, I'm just going to think about Captain." Ok, babe...

Her other favorite foods are cheese quesadillas, chicken, mac-and-cheese, and chicken. Her favorite fruits are oranges, apples, and bananas. She still asks for strawberries all the time, but when we recently reintroduced them, another mysterious rash appeared, so we shelved them again for awhile. She is doing better with vegetables, eating carrots, squash, salad, and broccoli. Usually they have to be drenched in ranch or cheese, but we're getting there.

She is a great big sister.
She is very into art and writing. She loves coloring and drawing and painting, and she's produced her first people. I love it when she draws me. :) She is practicing with her letters, and often asks me to "do dots" so she can connect the letters. She can freehand write all of the letters in her name (but she rarely puts them in order) plus a few others. Her favorite is the capital E, but she adds a few extra lines. :)

She loves to role play. At her birthday party, her bounce house quickly became Neverland. She also loves to be Mulan, Ariel, Belle, and the mommy. She is always a chef/waitress in the afternoon, but when she takes my order, whatever I want is whatever she doesn't have. I think she likes being somewhat of a contrarian--she gets that honest. :) When she is the mommy, she hands me toilet paper to help me wipe, tucks me in, kisses me on the forehead and says, "I love you sweetheart," tells me thank you for obeying, tells me that I am her precious girl, and puts me in time out. When I am assigned the role of Addison, I tell her that I want to obey her, that I am nice to my friends, that I am sweet and kind. Who knows the power of a subliminal message, right?
She is into princesses, Dora, and The Little Einsteins. She is usually in dress up clothes. Her current favorite books are Anita Bonita, Goldilocks and the 3 bears, A House is a House for Me, Pig's Lucky Day, and her Corduroy and Mickey Mouse Halloween books.

She loves to run and race. She's getting better at throwing and catching balls, and she is very into her basketball goal right now. She is not very interested in riding her tricycle. She had a scary fall and has since backed away from it.

She is very social and loves going to school and playing with her friends. All is not bliss though: She has been boycotting her naps, and no bargain seems to work, so grumpy afternoons have been the norm which translates into early bedtimes. She still naps for 2-3 hours on Wednesdays at Mom's and weekends at our house. Who knows the deal. She's also been aggravating a little girl at school, and we've had to talk to her about how God wants us to treat people.

She knows her own mind for sure. We went to a birthday party at Diva's and Dudes, and, admittedly, it was a little bit "Toddlers and Tiaras"-ish. When they asked her to do her hair, put make-up on, or interview her for her runway walk, she put her hand out and said, "Don't touch me. Don't touch me, please." I have to say that part of me was proud... Later that night, when I was tucking her in, she said, "Mom, did I have fun at the party?" I said, "I don't know. Did you?" She said, "I didn't like it when the girls walked around and wiggled their bottoms, and I didn't want them to touch me. I just wanted to dance." She just needed to process it outloud. That's my girl!
We adore our beautiful mess and just wish time could slow down.

Last Friday, at show and tell day, the kids were supposed to bring in something to represent their pets. It was pet week. We packed a stuffed "Maggie" in Addison's backpack, and she told us what she was going to share with her friends.

Well, when Circle time came on Friday, she saw all of her friends going to their cubbies to get their things. Confused, she went to her cubby and pulled out her lovey that has a frog on the end of it. Miss Ana said that she could tell Addison's mind was turning. She could see her mouthing something, like she was practicing, as she was listening to the other children sharing about her pets.

When it was her turn, Miss Ana said, "Addison, is there someone you would like to show us?" She said, "yes," held up her frog lovey and continued, "My name is Addison Camille Crawford, and this is my special frog named Ariel. Ariel is my pet frog who is very precious to my family. We got her when I was a little baby. We love her so much. Thank you." Sweet girl forgot about Maggie. Bless her and bless Maggie, but I thought it was hilarious that she was not going to be left out of this event. It was even funnier because this lovey is her school lovey that she rarely naps with and has no emotional attachment to... She created a story on the spot. This is a perfect snapshot of Addison at 3.

I'm still working on loading and collecting pictures from our camera and family members' cameras so I can document the birthday party, but I wanted to load some phone pics and document Addison at 3.

3-year-old Addison melts my heart.

We interviewed her on video, and she told us that her favorite food is cake, her favorite stores are Publix and Books-a-Million, and her best friends are Savannah, Jack, Olivia, and Captain. Her imaginary friend/crush is still hanging in there. :)

We thought she might have forgotten about him, but the other night, she "couldn't go to sleep because she was too busy," so she said. I laid there and scratched her back and told her to think of happy things. She said, "Ok, mom, I'm just going to think about Captain." Ok, babe...

Her other favorite foods are cheese quesadillas, chicken, mac-and-cheese, and chicken. Her favorite fruits are oranges, apples, and bananas. She still asks for strawberries all the time, but when we recently reintroduced them, another mysterious rash appeared, so we shelved them again for awhile. She is doing better with vegetables, eating carrots, squash, salad, and broccoli. Usually they have to be drenched in ranch or cheese, but we're getting there.

She is a great big sister.
She is very into art and writing. She loves coloring and drawing and painting, and she's produced her first people. I love it when she draws me. :) She is practicing with her letters, and often asks me to "do dots" so she can connect the letters. She can freehand write all of the letters in her name (but she rarely puts them in order) plus a few others. Her favorite is the capital E, but she adds a few extra lines. :)

She loves to role play. At her birthday party, her bounce house quickly became Neverland. She also loves to be Mulan, Ariel, Belle, and the mommy. She is always a chef/waitress in the afternoon, but when she takes my order, whatever I want is whatever she doesn't have. I think she likes being somewhat of a contrarian--she gets that honest. :) When she is the mommy, she hands me toilet paper to help me wipe, tucks me in, kisses me on the forehead and says, "I love you sweetheart," tells me thank you for obeying, tells me that I am her precious girl, and puts me in time out. When I am assigned the role of Addison, I tell her that I want to obey her, that I am nice to my friends, that I am sweet and kind. Who knows the power of a subliminal message, right?
She is into princesses, Dora, and The Little Einsteins. She is usually in dress up clothes. Her current favorite books are Anita Bonita, Goldilocks and the 3 bears, A House is a House for Me, Pig's Lucky Day, and her Corduroy and Mickey Mouse Halloween books.

She loves to run and race. She's getting better at throwing and catching balls, and she is very into her basketball goal right now. She is not very interested in riding her tricycle. She had a scary fall and has since backed away from it.

She is very social and loves going to school and playing with her friends. All is not bliss though: She has been boycotting her naps, and no bargain seems to work, so grumpy afternoons have been the norm which translates into early bedtimes. She still naps for 2-3 hours on Wednesdays at Mom's and weekends at our house. Who knows the deal. She's also been aggravating a little girl at school, and we've had to talk to her about how God wants us to treat people.

She knows her own mind for sure. We went to a birthday party at Diva's and Dudes, and, admittedly, it was a little bit "Toddlers and Tiaras"-ish. When they asked her to do her hair, put make-up on, or interview her for her runway walk, she put her hand out and said, "Don't touch me. Don't touch me, please." I have to say that part of me was proud... Later that night, when I was tucking her in, she said, "Mom, did I have fun at the party?" I said, "I don't know. Did you?" She said, "I didn't like it when the girls walked around and wiggled their bottoms, and I didn't want them to touch me. I just wanted to dance." She just needed to process it outloud. That's my girl!
We adore our beautiful mess and just wish time could slow down.