Angie's 3rd Birthday

January 15th, and my little girl is 3 years old.  My how time flies.  And thinking back to when we brought her home (click here if you'd like refresh those memories), it just blows me away that we have been in this house that long allready.  And that she has grown so much.  She is just about the age that Caleb was when we brought her home. 

What can I tell you about Angie.  She is the stress of my life, but also the joy of my life.  She is extremely strong-willed, but then surprises us with her sweet kindness as well.  Her most prized posession is her blanket.  The red one with poka-dots is her favorite, even though she has 2 others as well.  Most of the time she's trying to figure out a way to tote it along wherever she is going.  We are constantly having arguments about how she can't take her blankie into the store, or to church.  She'd rather be wrapped in that thing than her coat if she's cold.  She likes to spread her blanket on the floor and play.  This could be dancing on it, lying on it like a bed, or playing with her toys on it.  When she's in a particularly good mood, she will sometimes offer to share her blankie with one of her brothers.  This (in my opinion) is true love.  This morning baby G was lying on my bed, and she climbed up there and covered him with her blanket.  And this evening Caleb hurt his foot and was whining on the couch.  Angie ran up to him and said, "It's gonna be ok Caleb.  You want my blankie?"  Other times, however, she won't share with anyone, and will throw a fit if you even TOUCH her blanket. 

Angie loves having her nails painted, changing her shoes, and playing with her dishes and play-food.  She has a very good imagination and asks her brother on a daily basis, "Can you be dad?"  (She likes to pretend she's the daughter and Caleb is her father).  Other times when I tell her to do something she'll say, "No....I'M the mom."  And if I address her as "mom" she'll do as I say.  Lately she's been putting her shoes on at bedtime.  I always tell her to take them off, but every morning when I go to wake her up, I see that she managed to sneak out of bed and find her shoes and put them on her feet before falling asleep.  As a result, she's had some really stinky feet lately.

Angie still does her "happy dance" (click HERE if you've never seen THAT before) when she is particularly excited.  And although the video shows her dancing to music, she does not need it.  Her CRAZY hair and I have a love-hate relationship.  I love how unique it is and that it reflects her CRAZY personality.  But I HATE that it's just so OUT OF CONTROL all the time.  Her ponytails are starting to look pretty good, but it's still a wispy mess by the end of the day.  Her bangs never seem to grow, but I am constantly having to trim around her neck and ears to keep it short.  I am hoping one day if I cut it enough.....it might all be the same length.

 

Angie has a TERRIBLE sweet-tooth.  I'm always catching her sneaking treats and candies.  And chocolate chips.....OOOH THE AGONY!  We have the SAME FIGHT every day.  She asks for chocolate chips when she wakes up in the morning.  And when I tell her no, she has a melt-down.  Then when I pick her up after work, she asks for chocolate chips.  I tell her no chocolate before dinner.  MELTDOWN.  And we go through it every day. 

 

She has EXTREMELY dry skin.  If I'm not really faithful about putting lotion all over her body after every bath, she scratches herself so bad that she bleeds.  This is ALSO something we fight about.  She HATES getting lotion after her bath.  And we ALWAYS have to do it.  She hates how it makes her cold, and then her skin burns after I've put it on.  There are times when I feel like she is ALWAYS whining.  And ALWAYS crying, and she just can't be made happy.  Then there are days like today, where she just somehow happened to wake up on the RIGHT side of the bed for once, and she melts my heart with her cute, happy little self. 

Angie's birthday always seems to get swept underneath the rug, because it's so close to Christmas.  But we did celebrate with Grandma and Grandpa Lyons the weekend before her birthday.  When I asked her what kind of cake she wanted...she replied, "Pink!"  And when I asked her what present she wanted she said, "A PINK one!"  So easy to please.  She just loves pink.  She's always pointing out pink things.  "MOM!  It's my fav-orit culler!"

 

She's a little-miss-sassy-pants at times, and yells and screams in public places sometimes.  She likes to flirt with getting in trouble by saying naughty words like "butt"  and "fart" (thank you Kaden and Perron Hansen) and her current favorite is to use made-up words that SOUND like naughty words.  Her personal favorite, "Doodie."  She uses this word to irritate her brother, and always uses it in a kind of sing-song voice.  "Ca-leb  doo-die"  It doesn't matter how many times I've told her not to say it,  she knows she can always get a reaction out of her brother if she says it.   

 

She was so excited to turn 3.  I just love this video of her opening her present.  Her little excited giggle melts my heart.  I just love it.  And I love her.  My girly-girl Angie.  Happy birthday.