Chickadee is THREE!

My little baby is not really a little baby anymore. I'm not so sure she even qualifies as a toddler. When we were at the zoo today, people were oohing and aahing over kids smaller than her instead of telling me what an adorable baby I have.

Chickadee is growing up. She daily reminds me that she is "still Mommy's baby" but now she is a three-year-old Mommy's baby.

We did a two day split on celebrating her birthday. Yesterday was the real deal, but Speed didn't want to miss pre-k because of field day so we did low key things. Chickadee's meal of choice was hot dogs and macaroni. Her "field trip" of choice was the zoo.

Chickadee has a somewhat new (maybe 3 or 4 months) obsession with Thomas the Train, so her birthday party was Thomas. Thomas cake, plates, shirt. Thomas presents. Thomas, Thomas, Thomas. I love that she is opinionated about what she likes and it's not Frozen like every other girl in her class. :)

Things to remember about Chickadee as a two-year-old:
7. Chickadee can consume almost an entire red pepper in one sitting. She turns down fruit and starchy snacks for red peppers. I'm sure she inherited this from me.

6. Chickadee wanted only one thing for her birthday: Thomas pull-ups. I assume she knew they existed from a friend at school because we've never had them here. I chose not to give them to her for her birthday, but did get them when she was out of pull-ups the other day. I have never seen such a response to a pack of diapers as I did that night. Screaming and clapping over Thomas. He's proving to be a good night time potty training help as well because "Thomas not like it I pee on him!"

5. Chickadee requires far less sleep than Speed and Sunshine. As a result, we spend about 2 extra hours together every day. A chunk of this is getting ready in the morning. While I get ready, Chickadee plays with her "dogs" in my room. These would actually be a cell phone charger and an iPad charger that she pulls around by their "leashes" and puts in different parts of my room...the "vet", the "dog park", the "dog house", and their beds.

4. Chickadee is a bookworm like no child I have ever seen before. I hope this goes on throughout her life. If I can't find her or she isn't responding to her name, there are two little corners I can look in. More than likely, she will be reading a book or twelve and ignoring the rest of us.

3. Chickadee's teacher and peers call her by a different name. It's a gross mispronunciation of her real name, modeled regularly by her teacher. We finally had a chat with her teacher the other day to see if we can move in a closer direction pronunciation-wise. Chickadee is sure to report to me daily if Miss Loretta called her the right name and that she is not (mispronounced name) or (Chickadee + old last name), but that she is (first + middle+ last name).

2. Chickadee is still a leech. It's uncommon for me to cook dinner alone, shower without her in the room, or even take out the trash without her on my hip. She still loves the carrier. She would like for me to retell and replay parts of our day or stories of people we know every minute if I could. Her recent "story replay" is that my grandfather gets oxygen to help him breath and that we went to "his house" to see his bed.

1.  Chickadee has been such an easy two-year-old. I am not sure if it's because she really IS easy, or just easy in contrast to her siblings, or if she's just a regular ol' pain in the butt two-year-old whom I happen to adore so even her tantrums are easy. This kid brings all of us so much joy. She is silly and funny and sweet and so clearly sees Speed, Sunshine, Stubby and me as her world. It's hard for any of us to be mad at her for more than a split second.

Happy Birthday to my little Chickadee. I love you.