Leah Loo, Jelly Boo, and Teddy Too: Happy Third Birthday, Juliet Renee!

Juliet Renee,

You are THREE! THREE! Seriously, where has time gone? To celebrate your birthday you picked out cupcakes to take to the babysitters house. You picked out chocolate cupcakes with pink and yellow frosting. You talked me into getting you monster face cookies for your "bir-day eve". You know how to work it! You were so excited to come home at lunch, but super tired, too. I wanted you to help me make the cake, but you were exhausted.

We woke up today singing you "Happy Birthday" You woke up in such a good mood, saying, "It my bir-day! It my bir-day today! I three!" You were so happy and just kept smiling and cuddling your Mama and Dadda.

You picked out a "party" outfit and told me how you wanted to do your hair. You kept telling me how your diapers needed to go out the window now that you were three. You only use diapers at night, but your teacher's telling you that diapers go out the window at three really made an impression on you.

You are so joyful, Juliet Renee. When you are happy, you are *really* happy. You smile, and jump, and flap your arms. You will say things like, "I'm so happy!" and "I love you so much!". You make friends anywhere you go. Everyone is your friend (or as you say, "lot-er-body"). You love to talk up strangers. If another kid isn't playing with you, you will stare them down until they play with you. You get so upset when other kids don't play kindly. You get compliments on how nicely you play with others. You would never even imagine swiping a toy from another kid, let alone pushing, kicking or biting. You want everyone to be happy. When a strange kid treats you unkindly, you are beside yourself.

Your relationship with your sister is something, You tell each other all the time that you are best friends. You may play exceptionally well with others, but you can be down right dirty with your sister. You have bitten her and pinched her. When you two get mad at each other, it inevitably ends with one of you stomping off saying "You're not my best friend!". Once you two are separated though, you both get super upset until you make your way back to each other. When Leah is at school you go back and forth between crying about how you miss her and telling me how we should just leave her at school. You love to play baby, doggie, and kitty with your sister. Daddy and I love it when you play Frozen and you follow her around and say, "Why you shut me out? Why you shut the world out?!" You and Leah always want to dress just the same. That means dresses. All day. Everyday. When you wear leggings and a shirt you slump over and say, "Now lot-er-body think I a boy!"

For your birthday you wanted to order pizza. You wanted me to make you a yellow cake. We worked together to decorate it, and for once I think it's a Pinterest win. You opened your presents and were so happy that you couldn't stop jumping.

Your favorite food is Macaroni and Cheese, hands down. You can't get enough of it. You request if for every meal of the day. You love chocolate milk. You love most fruit. Apples are your favorite, but you also love melon, grapes, blueberries, and strawberries. You are a much more adventurous eater than your sister. You will try unfamiliar things. You also love corn on the cob, meatloaf, chicken nuggets, cereal and milk, and peanut butter toast/peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. You like the idea of sweets, but typically only eat a few bites of ice cream or cake before you say you are done.

You are so smart. Your counting has really improved. Most days you get to 12 independently and can get to 30 with some help. You know several letters and letter sounds. You don't like to color or try to write with me, but our babysitter you tells me you do it with her. You like puzzles, too. More than anything, you love to tell stories and make up jokes. Our favorite joke you say currently goes like this: "Knock Knock", "Who's there?", "Anna", "Anna who?", "Anna Pear!". You will also tell us riddles that go like this, "What is little and a house" Answer: Tiny house. You have the cutest little laugh I have ever heard in my life.

You love school. You ask all the time when you get to go back to school. You love Stay and Play and your teachers there. You did gymnastics for a few months and you love that, too. You are such a good listener and so coordinated! You have started speech and love that, too. Today you cried because you didn't have "peach".

You are so good with little kids. I know you will be an amazing big sister one day. You have such a way with babies. You tell me that when you get older, you are going to have twins and I can watch them while you work. You want to buy my van from me so you can drive them around.

Your favorite shows are: Yo Gabba Gabba (don't ask), Paw Patrol, Team Umizoomi, and Doc McStuffins. You love most movies, too. We watched Tinkerbell and the Neverbeast a few weeks ago and you were memorized.

You love to travel and ask often when we get to go back to the beach. You want to drive to Mexico and stay on the beach.

You go back and forth between telling me how big you are, and telling me how tiny you are. Today in the car you cried because you would never be 2 again.