Anna turns 3

Today our Anna turns three. Hoowee! As usual on these birthday posts, I sit here for a long while trying to imagine how to describe the unique, complex, beautiful, frustrating, and endearing character of each of our kids in one post.

Impossible. So instead I'll just jot down a few things and invite you to come visit and meet this little chica in person.

Vitals: Weighs in around 23 pounds. Hazel eyes and reddish-brown hair. Healthy as a horse.

Likes: pink (thanks to her brother telling her so), tractors, tools, picture books, sidewalk chalk, cutting up paper, Sunday School, cheese, and being outside.

Brother: Anna's best friend is, obviously, Jonathan. Last night when I asked them what was the highlight of their day, she said it was "playing with Jonathan." He still directs (controls) their play to a large extent, but we are in no doubt whatsoever that she will not be browbeaten by stronger personalities in her life. However, I'm not going to mention the birthday umbrella debacle.

Speaks: More and more complete sentences, mimicking some rather grown-up cadences (think "oh my goodness!" when opening birthday cards, or "sure you can" when a simple "ye"s would suffice). We're loving these new glimpses into her mind. Yesterday she re-arranged some pumpkins outside, asked me to come look, and said with a big wave of her arms, "Welcome to my grand opening!" Interestingly, Anna speaks mostly in English (with a few key words in German). We used to joke that to understand her, you had to know English, German, and Anna.

Sleeping: Having gone through really bad sleep stages (mainly having to do with waking up really often and/or early), Anna has been sleeping awesomely for the last half year or so. After we tuck her in, she looks through books for awhile and drifts off around 7:30pm or so and sleeps through until 5:30 or 6:30. She naps for an hour or two most days, but I'm afraid I see the end of that in the near future.

Also, I'm anticipating Daylight Savings Time with a special kind of dread.

This has actually been a birthday week for Anna, starting on Sunday, when we had the great- and grandparents Harder and Uncle Charles over for a party.

It was warm enough to sit outside.

Anna and Jonathan each got a beautifully illustrated book of nursery rhymes and classic children's stories. While they love them, they're also easily scared by some of the pictures. Meaning some serious bed-time holding...

The birthday "theme" this year has been pink tractors - the piñata made by Grandma Schrock (will be smacked next Sunday), the gift from us, and of course, the cake. I made these two pictures black and white because the frosting colors ended up rather garish.

What fun to blow out candles when you're three!

Woops, there it is.

Anna got a jumprope (as did Jonathan) and an umbrella from Oma and Opa. I really can't express all the angst related to sharing the umbrella, but suffice it to say that there have been a lot of tears around here lately.

A blissful, rare moment alone with the prized possession.

There will be more pictures to come, but for now...

Happy birthday, dear Anna!