Sallie Cate is 3!

My sweet Sallie,

Yesterday you turned 3 years old! I hate I didn't get your post up then, but we are having way too much fun at the beach for me to want to blog. But it has already driven me crazy that I am a day late so I figured I better sit down and write.

I still can't believe my baby is three years old! You do seem like such a big girl these days, and you have been so excited about turning three! You think you are as big as your sister, and you always say "I wish I was 5 and could go to kindergarten." :)

You are still a mama's girl and love to be held and cuddled. But you are also very tough and like things done your way. You keep us on our toes for sure. Daddy calls you the boss of the house, which in case you didn't know, is not necessarily a good thing. :)

You are very strong and athletic and have really enjoyed gymnastics this year. You moved up to the three year old class a few weeks before your birthday, and while you weren't too excited about me not being down on the floor with you, you now love it. You don't love swim lessons but your teacher always talks about how strong you are and says that you have a natural affinity for swimming. I'm hoping that with lots of pool time this summer, we can stop lessons soon.

For as tough as you are, you are also a girly girl. Your favorite colors are pink and purple, and you love to dress up like none other! You probably go through at least 5 princess dresses a day, and you almost always have one on when we run errands, go out to eat, etc. When Curran was little, I would fight her to not wear them in public, but now I know that it is so not a big deal and SO not worth the fight. And you are happy as a little clam when you are dressed up. You are way more opinionated about what you wear than Curran ever was. We have a battle most days over your outfits for school, even if you helped me pick them out the night before. You even fight me on my pajama choices, so I don't even lay them out for you anymore. You prefer to wear your hair in a pony tail, and you can take or leave a bow. Most of the time you don't want one, and I have to sneak it in.

Ever since you switched to a big girl bed, your sleeping has gone down hill. You wake up most nights and come to our bed. We have had a few good nights lately where you have slept all night, but those are rare. You mostly sleep upstairs with your sister, but you still sometimes sleep in your room, and you always nap in there. You loved your stuffed animals and lovies, or "friends" as you call them, and you sleep with a handful of them every night. You also like to take an animal to school each day and get so upset if you forget one.

You are still a great eater! You are pretty adventurous in what you will try, and you would snack all day long if we let you. You eat breakfast before school with Curran, and then you eat again {usually two more servings} when you get to school.

You still consider Win to be your best friend. Whenever I ask who you played with at school or what your favorite part of the day was, you always say "Win!" You absolutely adore your big sister, and the feeling is quite mutual. Don't get me wrong, y'all fight plenty, but for the most part you two are very sweet with each other, and she takes such good care of you. It is very interesting and fun for me to see the relationship between an older and younger sister since all I know is having a twin. I hope that you will always be so close, despite an almost three year age difference.

Sallie Cate, we can't imagine our lives without you. You bring such laughter and joy into our lives, and we are so very thankful God blessed our family with the gift of YOU these three years ago. We love you dearly, sweet girl! Happy birthday!