free. three.

dearest little middle ... my cora.  coconut.

you. are. three.
(and you have been for oh ... about ... 2 months and 20 days.  but we all know how good mama is about getting these done on time, don't we??  moving on.)

you are three.  and you are so incredibly proud of it. 
you are proud of how close your feet are to touching the floor.
you are proud of how high your fingertips can reach on the countertops, the mantel, the fishtank.
you are proud of how you can climb to the top of the play area.
and you can sleep at grandma's.  all. night.
and you like firetrucks now too.

three.

it's like two.  but with more attitude.  and opinions.  and smarts.

in other words?
frustrating.  with quite possibly a capital F.  and i don't do that a lot around here - so you know it's big.






but even through all the Frustration ... there are so-very-many things that i do LOVE about you. 
and if i could narrow it down?  these are the three things that i would choose ...

one.  your giggles.

when you get tired, you get a potty mouth. 
you start to say pee.  and poop.  about EVERYTHING. 
what you want to eat.  what finn might say when he gets big.  what you see outside the window. 
and you find yourself to be absolutely hilarious. 
there are few things that can set you into a fit of giggles.  maybe a good tickle torture.  or a game of "try-to-get-me-stella!"
but your chosen vocabulary at a moment of exhaustion can certainly create the most adorable round of belly giggles.  so much so, that i cannot help but smile, too.  (and i will probably regret it someday.  i know.)

two.  your heart.
you love.  unconditionally.  you care about everyone and everything. 
you are the first to react to someone getting hurt. 
you are the first to kiss someone's owie.
and you are the first to run up to see if they are ok.
i love that you love ... so. much.

three.  your ideas.
as of late, you are always coming up with "great ideas!"  which are always preceded with the phrase ... "i know!  i've got a great idea!!" 
and then you come up with a mostly long.  often complex.  idea of how we can solve our current problem. 
we don't always use your ideas.
but we should.
and i'll try to remember that.  k?

you are my heart. 
i love you sosososo much. 
super huge.
super big.

and tonight ... when i'm sitting here while you are staying at grandma's?  i miss you more than you will ever know. 

i love you
my sweetheart. 








my sweet daughter that on her third birthday ... her golden birthday ... requested a pink and purple bounce castle in the backyard. 
and so?  her daddy found one.
and on a chilly day in early may ... we bounced.  and bounced.  and bounced. 
until the bounce-people took it away.
and we waved goodbye to it as it drove off.
and we may have cried just a little. 
and if you ask ... this was NOT a bounce tent.  it was a BOUNCE CASTLE.