The Work In Progress: 3 years

Dear Sophie,

Today you turned 3 years old. We had a party for you a few days ago, and all of our friends came over for a cook-out to celebrate. We had hot dogs, chorizo and hamburgers, and a bunch of other things. Everyone had a lot of fun playing, we had animal masks, bubbles and temporary tattoos to keep everyone occupied.

This has been a big year for you. You finalized the potty training (yay!) and started sleeping in your very own big girl bed. You are getting so big, and every day you look less like my baby and more like a little girl. Although you'll always be my baby.

You love stickers, and when given the option between coloring and stickers you always choose the stickers. You love books, and will want one book read over and over until you have it memorized, and only then will you move onto the next book. You love all things Dr. Suess, and adore the Cat in the Hat. You like to watch movies, and right now you are in love with the Princess and the Frog, all of the Toy Story movies, and Tangled.

Your favorite food right now is probably potato chips. But you'll tolerate salad, hot dogs, chicken and pasta. You'll eat pork chops, but only if we tell you it's chicken. I have been known to bribe you with lettuce to get you to try new things. You love pretty much everything salty, including different kinds of olives and feta cheese. You are a chocolate monster, but only chocolate candy peices (like kisses), you won't eat cake or cookies. Which means that there is more for me.

We joined the neighborhood pool this year, and you have been several times. You don't know how to swim, but you love jumping off of the side of the pool, and it's pretty amazing how you have absolutely no fear. You wear your "baby soup", and your sister wears her "diaper soup".

You still call me Mama, and you call Daddy "Da-ee" unless you call him "Dad-dy" with an English accent you picked up from watching too much TV. Your Abuelita is "Weeta", which I think is absolutely charming. And Claire? Clairt.

You talk so much now, it wears me out just thinking about it. You can spell your name, and now we're working on writing it. You're so smart and outgoing. We signed you up to start pre-school in the fall at St. Philip's, which is right down the street. You talk to everyone, and are not shy at all.