3 Years Old!

I decided to video Brinley in her interview instead of writing it down this time and I am so glad I did!  It captures her very well.  I will still write it for her memory book, but I will just put the video for now, so enjoy!
Brinley Jane,
Today you are 3 years old!  And what a delightful little blessing of a three year old you are! I love having your answers to my questions about your life, but there is so much more I want you to know. I cannot even begin to explain the joy you bring to our lives, but I will do my best to give you a glimpse of a 3 year old you.

Singing.
Your life is set to a musical.  It started as innocent singing of your favorite tunes while you were playing or riding in the car, and has just snowballed.  You know the words to every song you hear and you sing them at the top of your lungs.  Your favorites to belt out are Gloria In Excelsis Deo, also known as (Gloria We are Just in Stables) God is Bigger Than The Boogie Man (Veggie Tales), Fly Round and Round Aurora (from your princess singing book) and Anything is Possible (Strawberry Shortcake).  You have lately been using your favorite tunes and making up your own words about whatever you are doing at the moment.  You are one creative little lady!
Playing.
You love for me or your Daddy to play with you, and I must admit that your request, "Mommy (Daddy) will you play with me?" is very hard to pass up!  You are good at playing on your own as well, but I would definitely say that you prefer a playmate.Your favorite toys are your legos, play kitchen, Baby Clark, puzzles, playdough, and princess dolls.  You love to create scenarios, especially about cooking and serving food to people.  You really love it when I let you play in the sink where you cook all types of soups and beverages for me and everyone else. 

Artsy Fartsy.
You definitely inherited my love of all things art.  You will sit and color or draw for quite some time, especially if you are using markers or pens.  Another new discovery we have found are scissors.  You get out my patterned craft scissors and paper from the printer and you go to town! You love to paint with watercolors or draw with sidewalk chalk or our newest medium of sidewalk paint.  Your drawings really amaze me.  I mean, I am your Mom and I think you are brilliant, but even if I wasn't I think I would be impressed!  Here are a few of your best works.



You draw people with bodies and arms, legs, and complete faces.  One of my favorites was this one of a jellyfish that you came up with all on your own.  Maybe you will be an artist one day!

Shadow.
I have noticed over the past few months that you are very influenced by what people are doing around you.  If I am wearing a dress or a scarf or a necklace, you want to wear one too.  You want to be doing what I am doing, and it just absolutely melts my heart.

 You also want to do what your friends are doing, and we are so blessed to have precious little friends that do the right thing so this positive peer pressure has been really helpful.  It has made you a little more brave, a little more helpful, and a little more outgoing.  I pray every day for the friends you will have and I hope you will always be surrounded by friends that influence you in the right direction.  I also pray that you will be an influence on them as well!
Potty Princess.
Well, you just recently became potty trained.  Potty Princess comes from a lovely video that we borrowed from the library that taught you all about the potty process.  Your favorite part was obviously the song..."diapers are for babies not for princesses like you!"  Your potty training saga is a long story better suited for another blog post, but for now I can say that you are trained.  You have shown me that you can be very stubborn and strong willed, but also how smart and big you really are.  The process was really pretty painless and quick but most of all, we are so proud of you!

Reading.
You love books.  You like to be read to but more and more every day you love to read the books yourself!  You have memorized quite a few of your favorites like the "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" series, including Pig a Pancake and Moose a Muffin.  Its truly amazing to hear your little voice saying the words exactly.  I love it!  You also make up stories on your own when you don't know the story well enough.  You can easily stay entertained for a  good 15 to 20 minutes just looking through your books and reading them to Baby Clark.  You have started to sound out words and make small words like cat, dog, dad, and mom.  I know you will read early and the kindergarten reading teacher beams with pride over this!
The Many Moods Of Brinley.
It is so funny to see how your little personality is developing each and every day.  As I said earlier, I have learned through potty training that you are more stubborn and strong willed than I thought.  You know what you want and you will try your best to get your way.  So far, I have not seen anything too drastic, and usually you will give in to my way after a nice little warning, but you have been expressing your opinion alot more here lately.  I am glad to say this mostly just happens at home and not at church or other childcare.  Even though it is hard for me at times, I am very thankful for this. We have also discovered that you are not a morning person.  It usually takes you a good 15 minutes to be ready to talk or agree with anything.  Sometimes you solve this on your own by just laying in bed awake for a while before you call for us, and sometimes you get up and are just grumpy!  Usually breakfast or a snack will make you better, but until then, we have learned to watch out!  You have also started being much sillier.  You say silly things and try to get laughs out of us, or just laugh at yourself.  My favorite thing about it is that you are so very very sweet and such an openly loving child.  You love to give hugs to your loved ones and you recently learned to give real kisses, not just slobbery messes.  You don't say I love you very much but you are always coming up to us and giving impromptu hugs, pats, or laying your head on our shoulder.

Routine.
You are a creature of habit, and you like things to go a certain way.  When your Daddy asked you what you wanted to do for your birthday, you said, "Eat dinner, watch a show, and take a nap (which means go to bed)".  You could do anything you want and you choose the routine!  You still nap everyday for about 2 hours and go to bed between 8 and 9.  I am so thankful that you haven't started resisting naps yet and I hope you hold onto it until after your baby brother comes.  It does take you a really long time to fall asleep, but you entertain yourself by singing, talking to your lovies, or listening to music until you do. You like to watch a show in the morning when you wake up and one before bed.  Your favorites are Super Why, Curious George, Strawberry Shortcake, Dora the Explorer, Backyardigans, and Veggie Tales.  I know television gets a bad wrap, but you have honestly learned so much from watching those shows and it brings you so much joy, I can't imagine taking it away from you.

I must stop now because I am getting way too wordy.  I am just so incredibly proud of the little girl you are growing up to be and I am so very grateful for every day with you.  You are a light and a joy to me and many others and I love you more than words can express!

XOXO, Your Mommy