Happy 3, Elise!!

Elise turns 3 tomorrow, and today we celebrated with our families. We had a strawberry shortcake party with lots of great food, cupcakes, presents, balloons......it was a GREAT party!

It's crazy how much bigger 3 is than 2, and how much more Elise can do than a year ago. At THREE, Elise is:

a great eater, eating almost everything. Her favorite is egg noodles with pesto, any kind of fruit, and frosted mini wheats.

She can put on her own pj's and sometimes her own shoes.

Elise loves to brush her teeth and can do so without any help.

She knows some letters and numbers, particularly the numbers 7 & 4, both numbers she watches for on her clock to know when she can wake up in the morning and after her nap. :)

likes to do puzzles, color, paint, make jell-o, do play dough, and set up a tea party or serve us food out of her grocery cart. She often takes care of her "babies" Alex, Marylin, Grace, & Nora, favoring Alex most of the time. (Alex is named after Alex Trebek on Jeopardy, her favorite show!)

Elise's favorite places to go include the park to feed the ducks, McDonald's, and the rivertown crossing mall for the carousel. Oh, and the gas station for popcorn and diet coke. :)

She still wears diapers and has NO interest in the potty at all....yet.

Elise chooses to read Jonah and the Whale every night before bed. She even "read" the story to me tonight and said her own prayer, thanking God for a fun day.

It's crazy how very three Elise is. She wants to do EVERYTHING on her own, and each day I'm amazed at what she really can do by herself. She has such a tender heart, is sweet down to the core, and she makes us laugh so hard we can't breathe. She is the best part of any day, and I thank God for her almost all the time.

Happy 3, sweet girl!