Sam is 3!

You always hear the saying "time flies," but honestly, now that I have Sam, I realize it's true. It's hard for me to believe that three years ago today at this moment, Sam was only 2+ hours old and Ryan and I had just become parents. Now, that little baby who was once so tiny is a loud, energetic, loveable, fun and wacky little three year old! Amazing!

Happy Birthday little one! Mama and Daddo love you so!

The birthday girl opening her presents this morning

I won't lie. Three (or almost 3, as the case has been for the past few months) can be a trying age at times, but it is also just so much fun to see Sam's personality develop, and to marvel at what she is learning, how she is processing things and to see her grow into her own little person.

It's hard for me to remember all the things that I marvel at and shake my head at every day, but here is a short list of Sam-isms of late:

- We are definitely in a "Why?" stage at our house. Sam wants to know why about everything, and honestly, sometimes I just don't know the answer!

- Sam is also picking up all sorts of phrases and learning how to use them correctly in conversation. Some of my favorites are: "That is so cool!"; "Really, Mama?" (said in exasperation at just the right time); "Daddo, you are kidding!"

- Sam has quite the memory! We can read a book once or twice, and she can recall the character names and the general idea of the story. And if she doesn't know the words, she will now pick up a book and make up her own story to go along with the pictures. These stories usually start with, "One day..." It is just so adorable!

- She can now entertain herself for much longer stretches of time, coloring, doing stickers or playing with her babies or reading books on her own. We love this one! :-)

 - She loves her arts & crafts! She is constantly saying to me, "Mama, I want to do a project!"

- Her imagination has turned up a notch. She loves to "make" things for us in her play kitchen or in the bathtub, and because they must be talking about Halloween at daycare, she's taken to talking about ghosts and "scary monsters." Luckily she isn't scared of these things :-)

- She has the most expressive face! I wish I could capture all her expressions. With her big eyes and cute little face, some of the funny ways she squinches up her face to express things, or to make us laugh, is incredibly cute.