David, Lisa, Kayla, Isaac & Annika

Wow, can't believe my first baby is 3! Time has sure flown by! Kayla is full of energy and full of life and constantly keeps us on our toes.

She knows her numbers and letters and colors. About a month ago she started waking up earlier than normal (normal is about 8), so I told her that if she woke up and the first number on the clock was an 8, then it was ok to call me and get up. If it was not an 8, then she needed to either go back to sleep, or rest quietly in her bed until there is an 8 there. With one exception (when she woke up at 6:08 and said, "there's an 8!") she is actually adhering to that rule, and is calling for me after 8 - yeah! This conversation also prompted her to frequently ask what time it is during the day, so she is starting to get an awareness of time.

Speaking of sleep, she typically is up at 8am. We have a quiet time from approximately 2-4 in the afternoons, but she actually naps only maybe 2 out of 7 days in the week. But she is able to read her books and play with her stuffed animals and in general is able to keep quiet during those 2 hours. Bedtime routine starts between 8-8:30, maybe a tad later on days when she took a late nap.

She is potty trained, really not having accidents at all. She even tells me in the bath if she needs to go! However, peeing in the water apparently is acceptable to her if we are in a pool, the ocean (er, lake) or outside in our bathing suits! We are still working on that (sorry fellow YMCA-ers)! I still put her in a pull-up for naps and at night time. She has a little portable potty in her room and can use that if she needs to pee during nap time or at night (and she often does). She is typically dry when she wakes up in the morning, but I'm not willing to do laundry on the days when she is not! If she falls asleep during nap time, she is only dry maybe 50% of the time.... but since she naps so rarely, it means she's usually dry then too!

She's not a picky eater - she'll typically try almost anything. After trying something new she doesn't always want more, but she is willing to give us a "no thank-you bite". Her favorite breakfast food is by far pancakes (with chocolate chips, oh my!). Whenever we make pancakes (which isn’t all that often) we make a ton of extra ones for her so we can have it for several days. Her favorite lunch options are perogies, chicken nuggets or PB&J as a main portion, and has cheese, veggies and fruits to supplement that. For dinner she eats what we eat, although we give her extra fruit/cheese/veggies/crackers/etc if necessary.

She is a total social butterfly. She is not shy at all and feels completely comfortable walking up to a group of kids and including herself in their play! :) She also has a very small personal zone, so she will happily give strangers hugs and kisses! She likes to ask adults if they have kids, what their mom and dad’s name are, etc. She is starting to ask other kids what their names are (first and middle name - so funny!).

We are teaching her to be polite – saying please, thank-you, no thank-you, excuse me, etc. She typically will say them on her own without being prompted.

When leaving a store or a friend’s house or anywhere when she is holding onto a toy or a box of cupcake batter (for example) that she wants to take but can't, we tell her to give it a hug and kiss and put it back where it belongs. She might be a little sad about it, but she's actually really good about putting things back without complaining!

Her gross motor skills are as they should be. She can run easily over different surfaces. She recently learned how to pedal a tricycle. She goes up and down stairs by alternating feet and without using the wall or handles. She can gallop. She can stand on one leg.

Her fine motor skills are pretty good. She can use utensils (although often just eats with her fingers). She likes to use her fork as a knife to cut things into small pieces - oh my! She is starting to color pictures more or less in the lines (as opposed to just the whole paper). She'll actually have a picture where the general body is one color and other things in the picture are a different color. She can also draw a stick person, with a circle head, 2 dots for eyes, a smile and arms and legs. However, if you weren't watching her draw it and tell you what she was drawing, it's very likely you would not see that in her picture :)

She is starting to hate goodbyes. She does not like it that David has to go to work. Every morning she searches our house for him and then sadly says, "He'll come back at the end of the day". When David puts her to bed at night, she tells him that he is not to go to work without her, he needs to wait for her on the couch. So sad! She frequently tells me not to go anywhere during her nap time or when she goes to bed. And this year, when all of our family left after her birthday, she was really sad. She kept asking people, "Will you be here when I wake up?"

We are starting to have lots of conversations about Jesus. She recently told me, "Kayla loves Jesus, He lives in my heart... and if I ever get lost he will come and hold my hand and help my find mommy." I love the faith of a child.

We just had her 3 year check up. She weighed 32.7lbs (50ish%) and is 37 inches tall (50ish%). She is overall healthy and happy.

For her birthday this year we had both sides of our family come in town. We decided to go to Michigan's Adventure for the day - and we had a BLAST! It was such a gorgeous day outside and we had so much fun! Kayla was quite nervous to go on rides at first, but was quite adventurous by the end! Here are some pictures of that day!

She was beyond spoiled with presents. She loved opening them and is still enjoying playing with all of her new toys and listening to her new CDs in the car!

She got to choose 3 balloons for her 3rd birthday and picked out her cake from Costco! She enjoys sharing her birthday with Pop-pop too!

David got all crafty with her and made a Birthday Count-down chain (since weeks before her birthday she would ask, can I have my birthday cake now?!) and then also made her a piñata to break on her birthday!

We go through some rough times with her behavior, as she is stubborn and smart and knows how to push buttons and chooses to push them. But she is such a sweet and loving girl, we truly treasure having her as our daughter!