Esther Turns 3!

Yesterday Esther turned 3 years old! I have been thinking of her as 3 for a while now so I am used to it, but still 3 is so old! Definetly not a baby or a toddler anymore, she's a little kid now. I posted the following on IG (along with the 5 following photos. Who doesn't love insta's new slide show option!?) 

3 years ago sweet little Esther made me a mama. Birthdays are always so bittersweet to me. It is sad to say goodbye to the little baby stranger who we brought home from the hospital, who first taught us to be parents. And to the little toddler who got into everything and would never sit still. Now she is a big three year old who can talk to me and dress herself and loves people. Although I'm always wishing time would slow down, I am looking forward to seeing who she grows into next. 💙 #EstherRichelle #sappypost

On Friday I did a little photo shoot with Esther for her birthday, She was surprisingly very cooperative and I got some really great pictures. 

"Show me how old you are"

Her own pose on this one ;) 

Most of the day we spent at our new house painting. we didn't want to go out since I'm pretty sure we are all still contagious with HFMD. But Esther had fun there anyways. She loves playing in the backyard. Leland set up a new swing that my mom sent for her and she had a blast. I was too busy painting to get any pictures but we are so excited to move in in two weeks!

After painting we decided to go out for ice cream since we had coupons for a free cone. Esther was in heaven there. Both girls had just woken up from naps and were so cute and good. 

 in an ice cream induced daze

Afterwards we came home for presents and cake. I have one style of cake I make for every birthday ha. Esther really liked the butterfly wings and rain coat we got for her. 

I will update this post with her 3 year stats once we go to her well check in a couple of weeks. Esther has a funny, bright and bubbly personality. She loves socializing and friends. She is comfortable talking to most people which seems so strange coming from shy parents like me and Leland. She still struggles to share a bit but overall she gets along well with other kids. She loves Adele and typically plays well with her too. She is a pretty good eater for the most part as long as we don't try to force her to eat anything. If anything becomes a battle with her we always lose ha. She is just really stubborn when she wants to be. She is still a bad sleeper but I think she is slowly slowly getting better, She is not as brave or wild as she used to be, which is fine by me ha. She is fully potty trained now which is so nice. It took us about 6 months to get from 100% diapers to 100% accident free, but it wasn't as bad as I expected. 

She loves to read books and can now recognize a few letters. She knows all her colors and loves any type of art project or craft. She loves helping me with chores and can do a few things by herself. She can count to 10 and sometimes higher but she really isn't interested in anything academic right now. She just loves to play and pretend and is starting to get more and more imaginative. I am of the mindset to just let little kids play to learn and not do anything heavily academic until they are school age, so I haven't really tried to teach her numbers or letters yet. We aren't sure if we will put her in preschool in the fall, but if we do it will probably be something more play centered. 

Her favorite things include princesses, little bear, tall mountain (hiking), my little pony, playing outside, and dancing like a ballerina. 

I am working on her 3 year interview video so that will hopefully be posted soon!