Happy 3rd Birthday, Sweet Pea!

Oh, my precious daughter. You are so beautiful, mysterious, precocious, silly, and impish! Happy birthday, little angel!

Sweet Pea is deceptively well-behaved. She plays very nicely by herself, which is a definite change from her siblings. But woe to me when Sweet Pea is bored ... she finds very creative ways to entertain herself! She will empty drawers of clothing in her room, shred the pages of books (even her favorite ones), hide small items of mine or MJ's, or climb virtually anything.

Because of this, Sweet Pea must nap alone in her room, where there is a video monitor so I can keep an eye on her. This relegates Little Man to sleeping in my bedroom, which he does not like, but there is no other solution. Sweet Pea falls asleep about 50% of the time during naptime, when she's not getting repeatedly dressed and re-dressed, re-organizing her drawers or closet, or reading (board) books in bed.

She still loves to put things inside other things, so some of her favorite toys are her purse and any small objects that are easily stashed inside it. She likes to build, and is getting more and more talented with the MagnaTiles and blocks. She is very skilled with puzzles, and there are several 48-piece puzzles that she can do completely on her own.

Sweet Pea is hands-down the most affectionate of our three, and will give hugs and kisses spontaneously to us or to her siblings (even when the affection is not reciprocated or wanted!). She has recently begun talking in a silly, deep voice when she's playing or entertaining herself. Her enunciation isn't as clear as Little Man's, which has led to a host of adorable mis-pronunciations working their way into her vocabulary.

I think she will be very good at gymnastics, because she is an incredibly agile climber and loves to tumble. She's recently learned to do somersaults with no hands, and even how to stand on the edge of a chair and somersault onto the ground.

Sweet Pea is still our most shy child, although she's showing signs of coming out of her shell a bit. She's starting to talk occasionally to strangers at the grocery store or the mall, and she didn't cry at all when I dropped her off at camp each morning last week. But she has to initiate the conversation. If a stranger approaches her and starts talking, she will sprint back to me and bury her face in my leg!

Her self-help skills are excellent. She can dress and undress herself, buckle herself in and out of her car seat, put her shoes on, fold her clothing, climb in and out of anything, open and shut anything.

She is wearing mostly 18-month clothing, so although I have no idea what she weighs or where she falls on the percentile scale (her 3-year checkup is in a few weeks), I know she is still extremely small for her age.