To Celebrate Harper Ann's 3rd Birthday (and as penance for being a lousy blogger - Although I did have a little side project blog during lent that you can find here) I offer you Harper Ann's Year in Review. It's going to take several blog posts to recap a year with such a lively one. My mom kept the kids overnight last weekend and this is the text I got when I asked how the kids were doing: "JC is sleeping, Holt is being sweet, and Harper Ann is being Harper Ann." Yep, that's my girl. So, let's have a recap of Harper Ann's year:
- While she talked before her birthday last year, around August the verbal floodgates opened and she has been talking non-stop since then. In fact on the way home from Irene's birthday last year the only time she did not talk between Houston and Cleveland was the hour she slept after lunch.
- The girl has developed an attachment to a pink bear lovie that she has aptly named bear. She cannot sleep without bear and pappy and occasionally her monkey blanket.
- Around her second birthday she started using the big girl potty and has not looked back and was deeply insulted when I suggested she sleep in a pull-up at night. We have been completely diaper/pull-up free since September and I have still never had 2 in diapers.
- She loves her Disney Princesses and has an unnerving fondness for Melificent in sleeping beauty who she affectionately calls "the evil"
- She made her first trip to the beach when we went to Galveston for our first real family of four (5) vacation.
- She sings a mean version of Jesus Loves Me - seriously she goes into headbanging and death metal mode on some versions - it's quite violent
- She hates her car seat and seat belts
- She has a smile with a little more character since she decided to tangle with the coffee table and ended up with slightly grayer and misplaced teeth - but they are baby teeth and in a few years we'll never know the difference
- She and her daddy have a song, "My Girl" and she makes no qualms about letting you know it is her and her daddy's song and no one elses
- She loves to be naked, or Nakey as she likes to call it.
- She loves butterflies and tattoos - and much like the naked obsession, we hope she outgrows this or at least the combination
- She cannot pass up a bottle of fingernail polish to save her life.
- This winter she found Holt's old Johnny Poppers boots and wore them with almost everything - there were many a Sunday morning spent in battle over those boots (sometimes the fuzzy ones) - do you even have to ask who won?
- We have the opposite problem this summer - we cannot keep shoes on the girl - we literally have to chase her down and put clothes and shoes on the child
- She likes to pick up pebbles at the playground or around her swingset and swing them in the swings very gently and she calls them her babies - who knew she would be so maternal
- She loves to Dance, alone or with someone, it doesn't matter - she is a dancing queen
- She loves Music - one time in the car I thought she was asking to hold my hand, nope she just wanted to listen to "the devil's right hand by Steve Earle. - HA is not a Hand Holder
- One of her favorite movies is "The wind is Gone" (gone with the wind) and her favorite character is "her pittypat" and she calls Rhett Butler "her dancing man" - her of course being Scarlett
- She loves Crawfish
- She loves her sleep and wants to sleep in her bed, but still lets me rock her for a little while at night (it's my favorite time of the day - rocking my girl and then reading to Holt) - She will tell me after a few songs that she is ready for her bed and I tuck her in and that's all she needs, well that and her night night music (a random CD I burned wit slow soft music that has everything from Aaron Neville and Emmylou Harris to Warren Zevon and Bruce Springsteen)
- She loves to dress up like a princess or a ballerina, the girl loves her tutus and tiaras
- If you ask her who she is going to marry she says Jesus because she loves him- hopefully this doesn't mean she is headed for a convent, but it is very sweet.
- She says "Yea Ma'am" in the sweetest little voice and expects a kiss on the cheek for saying it and will kiss you on the cheek if you tell her yes ma'am
- She can say Holt and Jane Cannon's names a hundred different ways and each one carries with it a distinct order
- She loves to paint, particularly on her toys, pumpkins and herself - do not leave this child alone with paint or lotion for that matter
- She loves makeup, but will tell you that if you wear too much you look "cheap and twashy"
- She is a Mama's girl
- She greets me and Jonathan with the most joyous squeals and screams of "MAMA and DADDYYY"
Harper Ann's Year in Review
Part Un, Deax, and Trois
She has had the sweetest change in character from a shy toddler to a kind, joyous and friendly little girl, and while she may give us fits, she is never boring and is a constant source of laughter and genuine happiness in our lives. We love you little one.
