3 years old. Happy Birthday, Claire.

Wow, I can't believe three years has passed already. I am sure I say this every year, but really, how can you be three already??
You are such a beautiful girl Claire, inside and out. You are loving, kind, curious, and intelligent beyond your years. You have such an immense vocabulary and remember EVERYTHING! I have to be very careful what I promise or what I say as I can be certain it will be held against me one day. You bring up experiences from months previous and recall them with such vivid detail that it really amazes me. Claire, you have a passion for learning. You ask question after question and recently took a deeper interest in the rules of the road. I suppose this could be concerning, but again, I will say you are intelligent beyond your years. You love to tell me when I can go, when I should stop, ask questions about where I am going, try to give me directions or question me when you know I am not going the right way. You can spell your name, have a solid understanding of numbers, counting (1-20), colors, and you are beginning to understand letter/symbol relationships. You have appropriate pencil grip (Jessica should be proud) and your gross motor skills are right on par. You can gallop, skip, hop on one foot, balance on on leg, catch a ball, throw a ball, and are beginning to pedal your tricycle. You clearly understand what you need to do, but your little scrawny legs aren't quite strong enough to push the pedal around. You mastered a trike at Grammy and Papa's, so I am sure you'll be able to handle yours as well.
You are a fabulous big sister. Mya loves you like no other and vice versa. You are the first to help her if she is stuck or needs some help with a toy. You rush to her crib after a nap so you can greet her with a "well good morning." You call her "mya mooshky" 99% of the time. Your sweet little voice and that cute little name melts my heart.
Claire you love, love, love Miss Maureen's house. I am not sure if it is because of Miss Maureen or because of her swing. You love to swing--the higher and faster, the better. You can pump your legs all by yourself. You can do most things by yourself--and prefer it that way. You recently discovered that you can pull the fridge door open all by yourself. Now nothing pleases you more (or me for that matter) than getting your own yogurt or cheese--both of which you love. When you are super hungry, you'll eat nearly anything--unless of course it is green. You have convinced yourself that you will die if you eat "trees" or green beans or peas too. Occasionally when we eat Chinese food, you'll eat a piece of diced carrot that was mixed in the rice. You make sure to tell me---I am guessing that you probably tasted it after it was already too late to get out of your mouth. You love chicken and rice, macaroni and cheese, hamburgers, steak, french fries, watermelon, canteloupe, strawberries, yogurt, cheese, yo-gos, scrambled eggs, and sausage. We stay away from juice, but I occasionally give you Vitamin Water. I call it juice and you love it. I love it too because it contains no sugar. I've also tricked you by giving you V8 fruit juice. I do this occasionally as well. Even though it has fruits and vegetables in it, they are still pretty high in sugar too--even the Light version. All in all, I am trying to keep you a healthy kiddo. So far so good as you've only had one ear infection in your three years and are growing like a weed. You are tiny, tiny, but moving out of 2T shirts. I find it so hard to believe, but it is true.
Claire, you are such a gift. You make me laugh daily. You bring smiles to my face on the darkest of days. You love to snuggle each and every night. You accept consequences willingly and have a clear understanding of acceptable/unacceptable behaviors. We have established a counting to five method for discipline and I am pleased to say that you rarely go to timeout.

You love to do homework, puzzles, play babies, play in your kitchen, or read books. You also love Dora, Diego and the Wonderpets. You watch them off and on during the week. You are such an awesome kiddo, Claire. I can't believe we've had three years getting to know you. You are so loved. Happy birthday, bubby.

*Claire got this scooter and a helmet from my parents for her birthday. She loves it. Mya actually enjoys getting pushed on it as well. On a side note, Claire actually loves the helmet more for daily wear than for her scooter or biking activities. So much so  in fact, that she actually wore it into the grocery store where we entered a conversation with my old boss. I was quick to explain the situation instead of letting him think I may have a different kind of special child. Goodness. She definitely is special.