Amber Turns Three

Amber is no longer a baby or toddler, she is a beautiful little girl in both her looks, her words.

Look my shadow!  She exclaimed on a walk one day.

Here are three funny conversations I remembered to write down this year:

1/15: I'm laying with her to get her to sleep.  She swats at her ear.
Tina:  Is your ear buggin' you?
Amber:  Tares a bug in my ear?  Is a spider coming out?

4/27:  Each time we tried to call Amber a "girl", for a while we would be corrected and told "I not girl.  I'm a baby".  Then today when we called her a "baby", we were corrected with "I'm not a baby.  I'm a princess."  There you go.

7/7:  Amber is being super sweet to Chris, cuddling and telling him she loves him.  Chris jokes "Are you buttering me up?"  Amber responds "I not butter you, I putting you away".  Chris said he'd rather be buttered up.

9/1: Amber is sitting in Chris' lap. She looks at his face very intently and then says to him "Is that a creature in your nose?". Chris responded with a big smile, "No, that is nose hair". What a great vocabulary for a two year old and apparently also time for Chris to do some grooming. :-)

I wish I had written down all the adorable and attention-getting things she's said this year.  It's amazing how quickly she has progressed from broken sentences to serious conversations.  

Along with her mastery of language, a very distinct personality has also appeared.  She has a wonderfully independent spirit.

Though she likes to hang with the boys and be rough and tumble with her brothers sometimes...

She more often, than her brothers, will choose to do something inside quietly with me, like creating very interesting dramas with her toys or taking selfies on my phone.

She is definitely a little mama, repeating all I say to the boys - from correction, to comforting boys when their hurt, to giving direction - with not only the same words but inflection too.  Strangely, though they don't take to being corrected by each other well, they take her corrections with a smile.  

She is definitely the princess of our home, ruler over nearly all she surveys.

She and Titus continue to be two peas in a pod, which leads to some bickering at times but more often to quality play time together that warms the heart.

Lance is her champion and pet dog.  Jared is her play buddy and pet cat.  I'm so thankful for how all the boys have bonded with their little sister.

Amber loves all her "guys", especially her Daddy, on whose lap she would rather be than any other place.  She treasures their reading time together each night, and special bike rides.

For her birthday today, we went to the NC Zoo, she had wanted to see the elephants and zebras, in particular.  Thankfully, the animals did not disappoint. 

She is maturing in other ways as well, like learning to take our "no" with grace.  Though she clearly liked this giraffe, she gave no argument to putting it back.

Last but not least we have the celebration photos.  Celebrating the life of our precious little girl.  May God bless her always and may she hang tight to His love.