3.5 Years Old

Ya know what happened without us even realizing it.....our girl turned 3.5 years old.

Life is not fair.  I know this.

But how does this happen?  I know, I know, "time flies...they grow so fast...20 years will pass before you know it".  I know this, of course, but it's different when you actually live it and feel it unfolding before your eyes.

On May 18th I sent Eric an email at work saying "Avery is officially 3.5 years old today.  Can you believe it?"

His response back.....well I can't put some of those four-letter words on the blog.  :)


But it's a constant struggle I have - EMBRACE today.   LIVE today.  APPRECIATE today.  LOVE today.  Because it all goes so fast.

 I want to drink her up.  Every ounce of that 3.5 year old body.  Hug her, snuggle her, cuddle her, while she still lets me.

Avery is such a strong and sweet little 3.5 year old.  It's difficult to summarize her into a few words, especially as we witness her layers unfold over time.  She is tough.  She knows what she wants.  She has no apologies for her thoughts.  She is opinionated and strong.  She can still throw a tantrum with the best of them, luckily they are very rare.  Timeouts are another rarity, but she also knows how to press buttons.  Especially Grammy's it seems.  hehe.  Mine and Eric's too of course.

And then you witness this incredibly sweet sweet side of her.  Sometimes I'm not sure where that comes from.  She loves to blanket you with thank you's, can ask such insightful questions and genuinely cares how you are doing.  I sometimes I get an "Mommy, are you happy?"  When I answer, "yes", she comes back with a "good, because I am so happy too".  *gulp*   how do you handle that??  She seems so compassionate and caring at such a young age.

Then her little brother.  She loves her little "Holdie Marcy".  "Big big boy, Mister Holdie, Buggy"  Hugs and kisses before bed every night for her little guy.  Sometimes she seems to have more patience for him then I do!  ha, because believe me he can be super annoying.  :)  she definitely hits her limit and he seems to know it and love that and know exactly which doll to attack next.  oh good stuff.

Avery continues to love all things princess.  ALL things.  She still loves her sports too and can go from kicking the soccer ball to twirling in a tutu.   Kind of the epitome of my girl.  Tough and sweet.

So as our tradition calls for, I took her official 3.5 year old pics.  The last time I did that was back HERE when she turned 3.


And as Avery would say "Daddy, don't say what the heck!!"  And then followed with "Daddy needs a timeout".  

MY GIRL.