She's Three

Elise, I can hardly believe you are three today. Your sappy mommy has tears in my eyes just thinking about it. I can just hear what you would say to me, "Stop crying, Mommy!" You aren't super-sensitive - that isn't a bad thing - you are a resilent kiddo. Unlike other kids your age, when you fall (which is quite often, my little klutz), you just pop back up - you don't put on a show. You are adaptable and handle change of plans remarkably well for a young person.

You are also a very confident girl. When I take you places, you are eager to make new friends. In classroom settings, you love to participate and loudly express your opinions. Once we were at the Wonderlab pre-school class, and the theme was making cottage cheese (Daddy's cheese - your favorite). Some of the kids were saying it was gross. You very loudly and adamently told them, "Daddy's cheese isn't gross, it is good, guys!" Your outgoing personality is a wonderful characteristic. Your mommy and daddy will have to help you learn to also be sensitive to others' turns and feelings, and to be good listener, so that your outgoingness makes others' feel included and loved.

You are quite smart. You have an uncanny memory.  You remember driving directions to your favorite spots in town, words of songs, and things we did up to a year ago. Just recently you said to me, "I like going to Nana's church. In Sunday School there were puppets and I threw my shoe at them." This happened at least a couple of months ago and seems pretty insignificant, but you remember. You've always been very verbal and word-oriented. You know your letters and their sounds. You can identify what words start with by sounding them out. While you are generally a girl on the go, you do love to cuddle with Mommy and read. And I love reading to you. Being a girl on the go, you ask me two questions pretty much every morning - Where are we going today? and Are friends going to be there?

Like your daddy, you are a performer. You love to sing. When you don't know the words to a song, you lips sync with a lot of passion. You wave your arms and nod your head with much conviction. I always laugh out loud when you do this, which makes you want to do it more. You like when you make other people laugh. You recently told me about how you put marker on your teeth at Sunday School and everyone laughed at you so you did it more. Your Mommy does not enjoy being the center of attention, so I can't relate to this quality, but I love it! 

You had a very big change in your life this year - you became a big sister. Mommy and Daddy couldn't be more proud of what a great big sister you are already. You love to make Lilah smile and you don't want her to miss anything. I often catch you sneaking into her room to wake her from a nap. I'm excited to watch you and Lilah become sweet friends.

Sometimes, my sweet Elise, you drive Mommy absolutely bonkers. You hate being alone, so nap time has become quite a battle. You are tired, but you just can't slow yourself down enough to rest. You become more independent every day (you can put your shoes on by yourself now), and part of that process is testing boundaries. Sometimes I have to punish you, which makes me very sad. But, it is Mommy and Daddy's job to teach you boundaries - we want you to be a loving and respectful person. I hope you always know that when we punish you, it is out of love. Because, Elise, we love you so very much. We are so blessed to have you. You bring much joy and laughter to our house.

Happy birthday Lisey Bear!

Elise 3 months

Elise 1 Year

Elise 2 Years

Click here for Elise's 3 year pictures (plus Lilah)