Three year baby update!

[dorchadas]

"Three old!"
-Laila

Happy birthday Laila!

sashagee has very strong ideas about theming and decorating, and she wanted a mermaid/ocean theme since Laila loves fish so much. So when Laila went to bed on Saturday night, we spent a while decorating the room, putting up jellyfish-balloons and opalescent streamers and balloons and inflatable mermaid tails, and when Laila woke up, after breakfast sashagee put her in her very cute party dress:

A bioluminescent mermaid. As usual, I took multiple pictures and when she was looking at me she wasn't smiling and when she was smiling she wasn't looking at me.


The party was sparsely attended, though, because it was on Mother's Day--it couldn't be on Saturday because sashagee's brother's girlfriend's graduation was that day and he asked it not be that day--but the families, thosesocks, and dinaraua were all there. Laila ran around in her dress, she gave people hugs, she played with some toys that her grandparents brought her and sat with her aunt and her uncle. We ate some sandwiches and a delicious cake, which Laila blew out all by herself:

I also have a video of her reaction to the decorations, but it's 2'30" in HD so it's like 250mb. I'll stick with the cake.

In more general Laila update news, she's using a lot more sentences and having actual conversations. We went to the park and she kept saying "So fun park!" and telling me about the various things she was doing. On the way home, we passed by a house with two women on the front porch, and Laila asked them "Climb stairs?" (I had to translate from toddlerese, of course). She climbed up the stairs and while she was trying to find the cat who had poked their head out to see what was going on, the older of the women asked if I worked at the AMA because it turned out she does too. She's in Med Ed, who since the Plague Years no only go in for three consecutive days once every other month. No wonder my department told us to stop coming in on Mondays if that's the kind of thing the other departments get up to! The cat sadly was not interested in being pet, so after a bit we continued on our way with an assurance that maybe next time, the cat would be there.

Laila's current interest is drawing. She still likes reading books--her current favorite is probably We're Going on a Bear Hunt after a period obsessed with Sheep on a Jeep--but right now she always wants a pen and her "three colors" (we only allow her to pick out three crayons at a time, to prevent them from getting scattered and lost). She loves drawing hearts and flowers right now, and especially loves it when we write out her full name (which her grandfather calls her affectionately and which sashagee calls her when she's misbehaving). She also loves Kpop, which sashagee shows her (Red Velvet and Aespa mostly), and particularly dancing to it. It's not just any imagery, though, she has clearly-defined preferences--there are times when sashagee will show her a new video and after ten seconds Laila shakes her head and says, "No. Don't want it."

She's been taking a gymnastics class, partially to get her active and into a physical pursuit and partially to help socialize her to the idea that there will be adults she doesn't know who tell her she has to do things and she'll have to listen to them. She's into makeup, too, mostly having her nails painted through she loves sashagee blue eyeshadows, which she calls "blue ashes." She's also started throwing tantrums, collapse on the floor crying and yelling tantrums, though we're lucky because they only last for ten seconds or so. Then Laila seems to get it out of her system, she'll maybe cry a little bit more, and then give us a hug and say "all better." She's a very adaptable toddler.

What does the future hold for our happy girl?


Her black eye is because she can right into an open drawer before sashagee could stop her. And true to form, she cried for a bit, then said "All better" and went over to go draw on her easel.

Comments

[angelofthenorth]

Happy Birthday Laila!

[earthspirits]

She's very sweet. Happy Birthday, Laila!!! :)

[gwendraith]

Goodness, she's too cute for words! She looks insanely adorable in her dress and I loved the way she blew out the candle and clapped when everyone else did. Happy birthday Laila 💗

She is the cutest little girl in the world!

[dorchadas]

She definitely is!!

She's so encouraging. She loves clapping for people and telling them "You did it!" and "Good job!"

[weedpizza]

Happy birthday!