Happy Birthday Hannah…3 years old!!!

It is absolutely unbelievable that my precious firstborn is 3 years old!!!  At this point, Hannah's imagination is in full swing!!  She loves playing make believe with about anything, from baby doll play, to play houses, to cooking, to talking on the phone, and just about anything else.  She is often running away from giants, hanging out with her "girls", driving her car to the store, and doing her daily routines with her baby dolls.  She makes up songs, and is constantly singing both real songs (country or "christian") and sometimes made up words to real tunes.  She is so funny, creative, smart, emotional, serious, and silly.  Hannah's memory absolutely amazes me as she retells stories from past events, her daily activities, and even just as she repeats things that I have told her.  Hannah is very conversational, though very apprehensive in new situations or among new people.  She gets a little overwhelmed in social settings like the playground or her YMCA class, but quickly comes out of her shell.  She has begun to be more daring at the playground and is really good at climbing and going down the slide.  I love watching her little mind work and how proud she gets of herself when she does something new or hard all on her own! She reads her books constantly and either says exactly what they say verbatim, or makes up new words and creates her own stories.  She has named her baby doll, "Baby Caroline" and is such a good little mommy to her.  She loves to watch Curious George, Super Why, Cat in the Hat, and Peppa the Pig.  Her favorite movies are Tinkerbell and Cinderella, and she LOVES to reenact the scene where Cinderella dances with the prince, runs away, loses a shoe, and then when the slipper fits her after trying it on the stepsisters first.  Cinderella is by far her favorite princess, but she loves them all.  Purple has become her favorite color, and for the last six months has been asking for a purple birthday cake with jewels on it.  Luckily our local Harris Teeter did a fabulous job making this sweet little dream come true!  Hannah definitely dreams of being her mommy, through caring for her baby to putting on "deodant", high "wheels" and jewelry.  She loves to be outside and dig in the dirt, or play with chalk, or go to the playgrounds near our house.  She has started swinging on the big girl swing and really does an awesome job balancing.  When outside, she loves to squeal and scream at the top of her lungs!  She loves people and GOING!!!  Everyday her first question when she wakes up is either, "where are we going today?" or "who's coming over today?".  I think her favorite friend is her cousin Molly, but she loves all of her friends and talks about people constantly!  Leading up to her birthday, she liked to tell Daddy and I that she was "growing up on us" and how she "wasn't going to be 2 anymore".  Another thing she often says is, "that's SO siwwee" (silly).  It's really cute and she says it about just about everything!  She still wants to be "hold", and loves to snuggle with her mommy and daddy.  She still loves to suck her thumb and touch her belly button, and while she is growing up and knows ALOT, she still gets confused about brothers and sisters, often calling Ethan her "sisser".  We love this sweet girl and all of the things she tells us about.  She is sweet and caring and very polite!  Happy birthday my sweet 3 year old!!

Dancing in her new Cinderella dress the morning of her party.

Opening presents on her actual birthday.