What is she up to now?

Miranda is 3 years 3 months old. (Almost...she will be on Sunday.)

She is an amazing little girl who teaches me so much every day. She is incredibly verbal. There is nothing this child can not communicate. I have strangers coming up to me on a regular basis who tell me that they are amazed at her vocabulary and pronunciation of words. She doesn't really sign anymore. Not as a way of communicating anyway. I'm sad to say she has forgotten many of the signs she used to know but she can still do some. We watch Signing Time occasionally and she does still enjoy them. I think that when she has a younger sibling who is learning sign language it will help her to regain that useful skill. Some of her favorite things to do now-a-days are to color and doodle on paper. Just yesterday she drew me a few faces! She's hitting a big "I can do it!" phase and I would say about 75% of the time, she can! She helps in the kitchen, she helps with cleaning, taking care of the animals, grocery shopping, etc. It's fantastic! She's great at listening these days and that's also a nice relief. Don't get me wrong though, she can throw some impressive fits when she wants to. Everyone has their days and she is no exception.

She loves getting out of the house with us, doing just about anything. Shopping, visiting parks and playgrounds, museums, fishing, newt hunting, visiting family, BBQ's, anything. She's up for it and is rarely scared or phased by much. People adore her wherever she goes and she loves the attention she gets. She is normally friendly with everyone she comes across but will sometimes act a little shy and do some flirting first. It doesn't usually take her long to warm up though. She is very sweet and polite with other children. She adores kids who are older than her and will follow them around like a little puppy dog. She's willing to try just about any game they want to play although sometimes they don't have the patience for her.

Bedtime continues to be my favorite bonding time of the night. Adam does bath and teeth brushing the majority of the time, and then she comes to me for a diaper, pj's and a story. (Adam does enjoy reading her Uncle Remus stories though.) I love reading stories to her, more than anything. I love teaching her and seeing the wheels in her head turning. She is so incredibly smart and as the saying goes, a huge sponge just soaking everything up. She is really getting good at knowing all her letters and their sounds. She almost spelled her name today without looking at it. She knows M-I-R but needs some help after that. That's okay, I know she'll get there.

One thing that must be said is that she is extremely excited for school this fall. If you give her the chance, she'll talk your ear off about going to school in September. She was excited about dance camp, which was supposed to be this week but unfortunately it got canceled due to not enough participants. She was heartbroken. I know it will be okay then because come September, she'll be in preschool as well as a real dance class. She's going to love it!

She is still a thumb-sucker although it usually only occurs when she is tired or upset. She has short spurts where she carries around a certain stuffed animal like a lovey but soon forgets about it or gives up on it. Miranda is incredibly skilled at being able to shake off a bump or a scrape. We've never been the kind of parents to make big deals out of injuries. If it requires attention we do so in a calm manner and after a bit of snuggle (and thumb-sucking) she is usually good to go on her way. (I actually have a funny story I'd like to share here...but I think I'll save it for another post.) She is definitely one tough cookie.

She will spend a large amount of time sometimes playing her with her toys in her room now. She has a wooden castle with people as well as her doll house and train table up there and she loves it! Her little backpack full of dinosaurs comes out often as well. She loves to bring those outside as well as her tub 'o beans. She'll bury and uncover them in her sand table or just play out scenes in there. Bike riding is also one of her favorite activities. She loves to ride her bike around the backyard with the bigger kids and can actually keep up pretty well. She is getting pretty good at going down hills on bike and keeps her balance amazingly well. People are usually confused when they see her on her Strider bike but she loves it and it seems to be working out fantastically. Miranda also loves to sit in her bike seat and ride on my bike (or Adam's).

All in all, it's great spending these summer days with her. I  love to people watch and sometimes I see families with multiple kids and kids very close together in age. As anxious as I am to add on to our family, I am so incredibly thankful to have this time alone with her. I'm glad I won't have to share her for some time yet because she is the best little person I could imagine.