three

Miss Genevieve Grey turns three today. Although she has a crazy rebellious side, she is pure joy in my life. 

Lately, her stubborn and rebellious nature are making life a little less joyful, but that's a story for another day...today I will try to sing her praises. My absolute favorite physical feature of hers is her sweet cheeks. Every morning I press my cheeks to hers and squish her until she squeals. She is not a huge fan of being held too tightly or too close for more than ten seconds. She, like me, needs space. But she obliges kindly to my every plea and hugs and kisses me on cue. The other day she said, "Mama, you love too much." And I retorted, "You can never have enough love."

Both Tim and I feel like V has been two foooorrrreeever. Seriously. Most days I feel like she is a five year old stuck in a two year old body. She is bursting out of all her 3-4T seams and speaks like a school kid. She is so smart. She can do a 36-48 piece puzzle almost on her own. It takes her a considerable amount of time, and she does need a little help getting started, but once she sees the overall picture, she puts all the pieces together. She and I have been working on recognizing all her letters by sight and sound. She is nearly there. I don't think she has a clue yet that letters form words, but she knows she can do something with them. Her artistry amazes me in the fact that she has no interest in drawing her own pictures rather she prefers coloring pre-made pictures. She is pretty good at coloring within the lines. (Mya prefers to draw and isn't so careful about making pictures neat and pretty.)

Genevieve has a heart of gold, sometimes too much gold. If she could, she'd do everything for everyone. She loves to help Elle eat, get dressed, walk, run, and brush her teeth. She is Elle's shadow. Elle doesn't always welcome the help, but I think she realizes it's useless to outrun V. And V doesn't just do that for Elle, she does it for me, Tim, Mya and complete strangers. She loves to make people happy even if she causes pain while she's trying. 

V is completely enamored with animals. She chases all birds, dogs, cats, etc. So far dog bites and cat scratches have not deterred her from being overly-loving with them. I am so glad we got a big dog because had Blue been small, I believe he'd be in doggy heaven by now. Most small dogs run fast away from Genevieve. She hugs them so tight I'm afraid she's going to crack one of their ribs. So far we've avoided possible problems because I am constantly reminding her to "put the dog/cat down," "be gentle," or "let the dog/cat alone for a few minutes." 

Genevieve is so full of life. She is so different than Mya was at this age. Mya was also full of life, but things were just different. V wants to be like Mya in every way. She strives to make her proud. And Mya is really good to her and always tells her, "Genevieve, I'm so proud of you." (Of course, I prompt her.) V starts school next week. You cannot imagine her delight of being able to attend her own classroom at "Mya's school." She stopped napping when she gave up the binkie, and she isn't very good at quiet time. In fact, she's terrible at it, but I think she can be trained with time. 

And for some other random facts: She is still the worst sleeper in the house. I cannot tell you what it is like to be woken up with her cold hands on your face every single morning. She is lazy about potty training; it's 100% irritating. She is still really clumsy. She loves to dance. If you ask her what song she wants you to sing, she will always say "Head, shoulders, knees and toes." She will be our ballerina. Mya never really loved it, but Genevieve twirls for days. She is just finding a small (emphasis on small) interest in painting. She loves the sand at the beach and is not a big fan of the water. She talks about her grandparents every few minutes. Her grandparents are her favorite people in the whole world. She still has an affection for Mickey and Minnie but is gaining a few other interests. She is curious and gets into everything. If the house is quiet, I know she's into trouble. She loves putting on my makeup and perfume without asking, and we repeatedly go over why she has to have help. She loves taking showers/baths and will stay in the tub for hours. Her favorite princess is sleeping beauty although I am fairly certain she has never watched the movie. She watches Ariel the most, but she loves the Aurora dress. She has to sleep in a nightgown. Always. She likes to sleep with one leg under the blanket and one leg out. She still requests "You are my sunshine" before bed. 

Honestly, she can be tough...real tough. But more than anything she is a joy in my life. I love her through and through. 

(I took her to the beach last week to take these pictures. She picked out her own outfit and was so excited about the balloons that these were the easiest pictures to take. I think they capture her personality perfectly.)