Is it possible?

Do I really have a three year old???

Yep, as of February 18th, I am officially the mother of a three year old. And, since it's been a while since I've done a big 'ole Brianna update, I thought this would be a good time. 

Let me begin by saying that I've heard over and over (in mommy circles, on message boards, in other peoples' blogs) that while the twos are known for being terrible, the threes are worse. And, so far with Brianna? That's been pretty true. I really almost hate to even say that because she is a good little girl most of the time. She's generally obedient and happy and sweet. However, I try to keep things real, and reality is that we have our tough days. And yes, generally if she's on a naughty streak, it lasts for a whole day. She tends to be really well behaved or really not-so well behaved. There is little gray area. And actually, her Bible class teacher told me the same thing about her :-).

I do think, however, that everything we go through behavior-wise is completely normal. We try very hard to teach her right from wrong AND to teach her to feel sorry for her wrong actions if they have hurt someone or gone against God's will. I don't want her to just be sorry that she got caught or that she is in trouble. In light of this, I will generally tell her (especially if she's done something to hurt someone else) that I'll be waiting for an apology when she is ready. I don't want her to just say she's sorry when she's not (which she will do . . . she will say sorry very quickly if she thinks it will get her out of trouble). One day, she pushed Brenson away which caused him to fall down. She was punished, but I didn't say anything to her about telling him or me that she was sorry. About 10 minutes later, she comes up to me and apologized for her mean actions toward Brenson and said that she wants to be a nice girl all on her own. I was so proud of her. I hope that means that she's learning what we're wanting her to learn. 

Okay, so enough of that :-). Brianna had her 3 year well-check at Dr. F's office on March 6th. She weighed 28 pounds and 9 ounces (27th percentile) and was 37 inches tall (47th percentile). I was really surprised about her weight . . . she's always been in the 50 or higher percentile, and her weight has never been in a lower percentile than her height. She is healthy and growing though, so that's what matters. She currently wears size 3T and 4T clothing and size 7 and 8 shoe.

Brianna loves Brenson so much and is a great big sister. Now, that's not to say that they don't have their moments. She definitely gets tired of him and will sometimes push him away or tell him no when she's trying to play with something and he's all up in her business. However, when I ask her to help with him, she is great about doing whatever I ask her to do. She's also very good to share with him. Sometimes, when we're leaving the house, she'll remind me to get Brenson because he's too little to stay home by himself :-).

From the day she was born, Brianna has been a Daddy's girl. That fact hasn't changed, but she is becoming more and more of a Mommy's girl, too. She loves to help me with chores (she puts wet clothes in the dryer for me, helps put away clean laundry, helps unload the dishwasher, helps set the table, clears her spot at the table after meals, and takes her dirty clothes and Brenson's dirty clothes to the hamper for me) and she loves to craft with me. She also enjoys cooking and playing outside.

Brianna is completely potty trained and has been since October. You may remember that we daytime potty trained her when she was about 22 months old, but she still slept in a pull-up at night. Well, after weeks of waking up dry, we scrapped the pull-ups and she went to full-time panties. We have a stool in her bathroom, so when we're at home, she can use the bathroom 100% independently. I'm so thankful for this!

Bri is still a fantastic eater. She eats whatever we're eating (with just a few exceptions) and can clear her plate like a pro. She generally asks to try new things (I know, right?), and will try it two or three times before deciding if she likes it or not. There are some things that she really wants to like and will try repeatedly, but she just doesn't :-).

Singing is one of our favorite things to do around here. Brianna will sing constantly as she plays and before she goes to sleep and in the bathtub. Sometimes, she sings songs that we know, and other times she just makes up songs as she goes.

She knows all her colors (and has since before she was two), knows how to spell her name, can write a B, knows most of her shapes (and can draw a circle really well), can count (I'm not sure how high), and knows her letters and some letter sounds. Now, with the letters, there are about six that she can pick out (like if I say, "find the Q", she can), but she can't (or won't) say "That is a Q" when I ask her what letter it is. She still loves to read, color, paint, etc. She also knows her days of the week, and is always very interested in what day it is. She can tell you what street, city, and state we live in, what our last name is, my name, her daddy's name, and her own full name. I'm sure there is a lot more I could add to this list, but I can't think of anything else for right now.

We have recently been working really hard on learning Bible facts, and she's doing wonderfully. She can say the books of the New Testament and can recite several scriptures. We are really emphasizing scripture memorization with her right now. She loves to pray and sing Bible songs. We are so proud of her in this area.

On her actual birthday, we went out to dinner with my sis and her family to a local mexcian restaurant. We let Brianna choose what she wanted to do, and that's what she chose :-). Then, we came back to our house and had cake, ice cream, and presents.

Brianna loved it when we sang to her!

She is very into My Little Ponies right now, so I got this cake at the local grocery store and put a pony on it. Perfect!

She loved opening presents (or course). She's just at such a fun age for that.

Hmmm, what is this?

She's also really enjoying these Snap-N-Style girls that she can dress up herself.

She was actually very excited about these ponies, although you can't tell in the photo :-).

Annnnnd, this video pretty much sums up the rest of our evening :-). This is what happens when you feed your three year old cake and ice cream on their birthday. Excited much?