Happy 3rd Birthday, Francis

Francis's 3rd Birthday
Originally uploaded by The Gulde Family.

Last weekend we celebrated Francis's 3rd birthday. It sounds so darn cliche, but geez... they grow up so fast. She is so smart and so sweet. Her favorite color is blue (and has informed me that George's is green), she can count to 16-ish, she absolutely loves books, going to the pool, riding her bike, coloring on the sidewalk and watching movies (current fav: Sound of Music). Her favorite food is steak. Her favorite drink is milk.

After she wakes up in the morning she reads quietly in her bed, and later in the afternoon when she wants to avoid naptime, she says "Do you think maybe we could watch a little bit of TV and snuggle wuggle on the couch?" (she knows I can't say no to that) And today when I asked her if she needed to go pee-pee she said, "No, do you?" She's just fun.

For about a month leading up to her birthday she made it very clear that she wanted a tiger cake. She said "Mommy gets a lion cake, I want a tiger cake and Georgie gets an elephant cake." That is, until the day before. She had a quick change of heart and decided she wanted a Nemo cake - and to be totally honest, I was pretty bummed. I really didn't want her to want a commercial character thingy, but at the end of the day, I had a fun time making it and when she saw it for the first time, I got over my consumerism hang ups. She loved it and that is all that matters to me. There is nothing better than the jaw dropping gasp of your 3 year old daughter.

Francis, I love you and am so proud you. I am so blessed to be your mommy. It breaks my heart that you'll never be 2 again, but I know year 3 has great things in store for us.

p.s. thanks to Uncle Jeff and Aunt Denise for the bike! She was absolutely out of her mind excited and hasn't gone a day without riding her bike around the block since.