Three and a half

Today is Rebecca's half birthday (as in, she turned 3 1/2). She is 39 1/4 inches tall and weighs 35 pounds. She is transitioning into size 5 clothing, and 10XW shoe size. Her favorite foods (judging by what she requests most often) are fruit (all kinds), carrots, almonds, noodles, rice, crackers, pumpkin oatmeal, dark chocolate chips, and ice cream (which she only gets to have on special occasions), but she will eat almost anything, and will ask for a salad when we go to Chick-Fil-A. Her favorite color changes at least weekly, if not daily, and her favorite clothes are the ones that have the largest variety of colors in them, especially if they have flowers, butterflies, hearts, or dots. She loves anything soft, and likes to wear pajamas whenever we are at home.

She continues to love books and is now an amazingly proficient reader (no credit on my end...God just made her brain so that she pretty much taught herself to read!). She recently learned days of the week and likes to talk about what is going to happen on each day. Other activities she enjoys are singing; taking her babies and stuffed animals shopping in her shopping cart and then putting them to bed; playing doctor and helping Mommy take her medicine; cooking (both pretend and the real thing); and playing outside, especially now that the weather is so nice. She is eager to help with household chores, including emptying the dishwasher, folding and putting away clothes, and putting thing in the compost pile.

I love listening to her talk and knowing what her little mind is thinking about (as long as I get a break here and there). Her favorite topics of conversation revolve around God, family (particularly where all our relatives live, what we did the last time we saw them, and when we will see them next), her activities, how Mommy is feeling today, and why Daddy has to go to work. Her enthusiastic, heartfelt hugs are treasured by all who recieve them (except maybe a few shyer playmates). We continue to be very grateful that she is such an easy child to love and take care of.

This is the first year we have really celebrated Rebecca's half birthday, and since Gran was visiting, we did something special and went to a ranch yesterday. We could have not had more perfect weather! We brought a picnic lunch (salad, Terra chips, and fruit, since bread is off-limits now), and then watched Rebecca have fun riding a train, petting lots of animals, play in a bounce house, riding a pony, go on a hay ride, feed a cow, swing on the swings, eat ice cream, and pick out a pumpkin to bring home. The only thing missing was a kite, but Gran put that on her list to get Rebecca for Christmas.

It was a lovely day, but we were all tired at the end.