Three!

My curly girl is three years old, so it's fitting that she's having three birthday celebrations to mark the occasion: One was last week when we visited my parents and aunt and uncle; one was this past weekend with five of her little friends at Chuck E. Cheese's (a huge success!); and one is tonight, with a friend and her daughter who couldn't make it to her party. We're going out for ice cream, which is as much a treat for Mama and Papa as it is for her :)

Azucen@ awoke to a dollhouse to play with. Several months ago I got a new-in-the-box wood dollhouse and furniture at a consignment sale for $20, and last night I put it all together. She also had a birthday haircut today. It's much shorter than the one a few months ago, so that her papa can comb through it in the mornings now that I'll be going to work early. (It takes a long time to get a comb through all those curls, and John is wary enough as it is about doing her hair each day!)

Her language is evolving so much that sometimes I can't believe she's putting so many new words together. Toddlers are amazing. My favorite word - it makes me laugh every time she says it - is "me belp", which is her way of saying "myself". It is always part of the phrase "all me belp" ("all myself"). And since everyone besides her is "ella", the words "herself", "himself", and "itself" all translate to "ella belp". Example: "Me want to go upstairs all me belp" or "Ella want to eat pizza all ella belp?" or (with terror in her voice in public restrooms) "The toilet flush all ella belp!"

As she turns three, she is solid muscle and very coordinated; she really enjoys playing in water, kicking and throwing balls, running, and dancing. She loves baby dolls, bouncy balls, stickers, and her entourage of invisible friends (Geb-Gyeh, Numma, Azucena, Emmy the Snake, Puppy, and Ladybug). Potty training is not exactly her highest priority, which is fine but I'm a bit nervous that she won't be able to join her three-year-old preschool class in the fall (all kids in the three-year-old class have to be potty trained).

Some parents say the time flies by, but I don't find that to be the case yet. A whole lot has happened over the last three years. I can't wait to see how she changes and develops as she moves into her fourth year on this planet.