Three Best Years!

On March 19th, my sweet, bouncy, loving, giggly, adventurous, vibrant little Lyla turned 3! What an exciting year it has been! How much she has learned and grown!

So... what's changed in a year?

She's taller, stronger, brighter, able to express anything, talks ALL the time, makes friends, loves friends, organizes games, plays pretend, explores her world with blatant over-confidence, enjoys foreign films (thanks, Miyazaki!), has favorite characters, toys, colors, knows how to play her mother, father, grandparents, aunts and uncles to try to get exactly what she wants, understands emotions, apologizes on her own (sometimes), has "taste" in clothes and preferences regarding most things, sneaks to do things she knows she shouldn't, completely and affectionately adores her baby brother, snuggles at just about any time and place, can proficiently run in Mommy's shoes that click-click, asks questions - lots and lots of adorable, curious, perfect little questions, sees the moon and wants to "go up there," appreciates things being tidy and clean, always tries for "one more book" at bedtime, dances wildly to all kinds of music, gets sarcasm and has a sense of humor, really, really, really wants to play video games, can operate most electronics as if this ability were innate, spends tons of time with the people she loves, wants to try new things every day, and just plain loves the world she is learning and the life she is living.

We still can't think of how much we love our baby girl without tapping the waterworks just a little. And she's not our "baby" anymore at all. And if we forget it, she will remind us.

To celebrate Lyla this year, we had another party at Grandma and Grandpap's house. It's really hard not to party in their beautiful, wide yard in the perfect spring weather, though next year we plan on trying something new (and simple!). Lyla loved the bounce house so much last year, she wanted to have another one this year. Gia and Lyla had been planning her cupcake-themed party for months, looking at cupcakes, buying cupcake decorations, talking about cupcakes, baking some "practice" cupcakes... so when the party day finally came, we were sure to have an overabundance of - yes, you guessed it - cupcakes! I might add, Gia does the best parties. And Pap has the most gorgeous yard of all time. Perfect. Day.

Lyla's actual birthday fell on a Saturday, so it was one of those rare occasions when we could celebrate on the real deal. The night before, Lyla saw me wrap something and place it on the fireplace. She (surprisingly) resisted any urges to tear it open prematurely, but upon awakening the morning of her birthday, jetted directly to the fireplace, mumbling something half-awake, presumably about the present. The special gift from Mommy and Daddy was a cat-bus plush toy from her (current) favorite movie, My Neighbor Totoro. Her reaction was a bit disappointing, truth be told, but in her defense, she was still very sleepy. She soon perked up, though, and ran circles (literally) with her new buddy.

Luke and I split up, then, so I could get to Gia's and set up for the party while he went to pick up the bounce house from the rental place. When he arrived with it, she watched set-up and scrambled in as quickly as she could to test out the bounc
e-a-bility and sample the slide.

Party guests - including cousins, close friends and a few buddies from school - started showing up soon after and had all kinds of fun together bouncing, sliding, painting cupcake banks, smashing open a cupcake pinata, eating all kinds of confections (or otherwise cupcake-shaped foods), and of course, devouring plenty of cupcakes. Lyla's gift-opening skills have improved significantly from last year, however, her distractibility (hello... bounce house?) could stand a little work.

I can honestly say I have never seen my daughter so filthy in all three of her very busy years, as she was by the end of the night. From a distance, this child had visible dirt from head to toe. It took two good scrubbings and a thorough soak to restore her to an acceptable state of cleanliness. What that says to me? She had fun. We did, too.

We love you, Lyla Celeste. Happy Birthday!

For more pics, go HERE!

Thanks, Gia and Pap, for all your hard work and prep for this fantastic party. We will remember it forever... and at 3, now, Lyla just may remember it, too!

Mommy is still working on Lyla's 3-year portraits, but they will be ready to share soon!