Three Year Update!

Where has time gone? Three years old already?!? How can it be?? Allie is such a big girl! It amazes us what all she can do and what she is learning... Please let us sing our praises of her for a little bit....

SHE CAN....................

Letters:
       * Sing her ABC's (has been doing this since March 13th!)
       *Can identify the letters A,a,B,Q,O and J. Knows what they are by name.
        *Knows the sound A and B makes and words that start with those letters. She can pull them off of the
              easel when they are mixed up with all the other letters and tell you what they are. She also finds them  in books and other areas of print and points them out.

Numbers:
        *Count to 14  (Has also been doing this since spring)
         *Is able to count objects as she points or hands them to you.

Shapes:
       *She knows all of her shapes- circle, triangle, square, rectangle (trickiest for her to remember), diamond, heart, star, cube and octagon! (We were walking the other day and she said, "Look! An octagon!" And sure enough- on the ground- in the sidewalk- there were octagon patterns! Blew us away! :) )

Singing:
        *Sings all sorts of songs- Jesus Loves Me, This little Light of Mine, He's got the Whole World, Jesus Loves the Little Children, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, On top of Spaghetti,  on and on.... she LOVES to sing.
        *She loves making up her own songs and singing about things she is doing or sees. It is pretty cute!

Books:
         *She loves being read to. She'd sit and listen to stories all day! She is constantly wanting us to read to her. We read two or three stories before bed. She loves her Bible stories- and can tell you about Noah, Golaith, Moses, Jonah, The Good Samaratin (doesn't know it by that name- but knows the story), Jesus feeding the crowd with the little boy's fish and bread, Jesus' birth.  She loves other books too! It's a good thing mommy has tons and tons from when I was teaching! ;)
        *She can "read" (memorized) books like Cows in the Corn and The New Baby.  She also helped me read a rebus story the other day- I read the words, and she read the picture parts. It was pretty amazing. She got them right and had never seen the book before.

Big Girl Stuff:
          *She's been completely potty trained since February! (Two and a half! Pretty cool!) She does really well- even at night, and on trips! We started over Christmas break and she had it down by February! It is nice not buying diapers/pull ups! :)
           *She likes helping get dressed. She likes to pick out her jammies and put them on. She still has trouble with putting her tops on and off, but does her undies and bottoms pretty good.
           *She loves drinking out of big girl cups. Still has spills when she isn't careful, and still gets sippy cups of various sorts when she has drinks around the house or in the car- but has big girl cups at restaurants and meal times.
          *Rides her tricycle like it's no body's business! She can go backwards and forwards. She steers it really good! Also rides her scooter really well!
         *She doesn't take naps anymore unless she isn't feeling well, had a really busy couple of days, or just crashes after going like the little energi3er bunny for a few days. Usually every three to five days.
         *Has had two rounds of Story time at the library, Swim lessons, and Bible School.
         *Playing and pretending on her own more and more. It is cool to hear her.  Earlier she was in her play room and I heard her "reading a story" out loud. It went pretty much like this... I might be missing a couple details...but this is the basic "Once upon a time, there was a baby princess. Her name was "a puzzle" (R@punzel). She was in trouble.  Then the tr@nsformers came (ha!). Her mother was the queen. The end!"  (we have a newer R@punzel book that she has had me read a few times. It is a basic story- but I can assure you that there are no tr@nsformers in it. :) Ha! :) Daddy got a chuckle out of that! :)

  

Fine Motor Skills:
         *She can thread beads onto pipe cleaners to make bracelets.
         *She can use tweezers to pick up little pom pom balls and move them to another container.
         *She can draw with a pen/pencil/crayon a "Jesus cross" and smiles huge when you watch her do it. She's so proud of herself!
          *She is also learning how to use "safety" kids scissors. She gets that HUGE smile when she does it right, and concentrates really hard while she is working to cut. :)

Memory:
Her memory is AMAZING! She remembers things that surprise us! She knows which direction Nana and Papa's house is and landmarks along the way, and same with Gramps and Grammie's.  She remembers restaurants we've eaten at a couple months ago.  She remembers crazy things that you wouldn't think she would. We were headed to the bank one day and she asked if we were going to go past the YMCA. It was the same route that we use when we do go to the Y. It seems you tell her/show once or twice and she's got it!

           *She knows her birthday! (Month, day and year)
           *She knows her address! (House number, street name, city and state!)
           *She knows her full name! (First, middle and last)
           *She knows her mommy and daddy's first names.
           *She knows who mommy's mommy and daddy are, and who daddy's mommy and daddy are- as well as her only living great grandpa-Pappy.  (She knows he's nana's daddy!).  (Sometimes she gets a little confused but she's working on it all!)

Things she Loves:
          *Swimming- She is a fish! She loves swimming lessons, and jumping off the side.
          *Serving us food from her Cafe!  (Her kitchen and play food).
          *Dressing up in her princess outfits and shoes. She loves to accessorize as well... necklaces, crowns, bracelets.... :)
          *Being praised!!!!!!! And having mommy and daddy "smile big" (as she says) at her when she does something good or amazing! :) Sometimes she'll say- "Can you smile big at me when I do_____."
          *Wearing mommy's shoes (and sometimes daddy's) Playing dress up with her Princess skirts and shoes.
          *Playing with Gracie- especially balloon and frisbee.
          *Watching Mickey M0use Clubh0use, and Strawberry Sh0rtcake.
          *Playing board games with Mommy and Daddy. She has a Princess Memory game she is good at, and a Strawberry Sh0rtcake one she is good at too.
          *Playing outside.
          *Visiting Nana and Papa and Grammie and Gramps. Playing with her aunts, uncles and cousins.
          *Watermelon! Cheese! and Sweets :)
          *Having her fingers and toes painted like mommy.
          *She loves to pray. It is adorable to listen to her prayers!  I love this! It always makes me smile when I hear her pray because she is so precious in what she says!
           *She loves veggies! Carrots, peas, corn, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower!

Dislikes: (There isn't much here!)
         *Most meat (although this is getting a little better.) I'm not sure if it is texture issues or what.
         *Sleeping! :) Ha! This is getting better too. (Especially since we are done with naps!) (Still takes one every four days or so when she "crashes".)


Size:
          *Wears size 3-4T clothes. Some 4 smalls.
          *Wears size 8 shoes.
          *Is about 30-32 pounds

We love being parents, and are so blessed to have this little girl in our lives!!! She is a gift indeed!!!! We continue to try to savor every little second- as they are speeding past us! She has blessed us, and our families in ways we never thought possible! She is such a little joy! So full of life, and excitement. So busy and curious. So energetic and beautiful! God is amazing! We are grateful for the chance to parent her and raise her with His help!!!!