3 1/2 years

Hello, my sweet Eva! Last week your officially became "three and a half." Our world has been a whirlwind of learning to accommodate you AND your new baby brother so this post will be a bit short, and a tad late.

You are the best big sister that Jensen could ask for. You greet him with a great big "Good morning, buddy!" every single day, cover him in kisses, help with diaper changes, and love to sit on the ground and play with him. You are dying to pick him up, but for now you are able to hold him carefully in your lap. I can't wait to see you and Jensen grow as siblings and play together in the years to come. The other day you hugged him, looked at me with a huge grin and said, "We are best friends. We love each other so much." My heart melted.

Look at that smile! One of my favorite things about you at this age is when you are doing things that you know will make us laugh. Whether it is one of your funny sayings {"Woah, woah, woah. What are you talking about?} or your dance moves {Back it up sister, back it up!} you can make us giggle so much. You also have inherited your daddy's taste for pop music. I'm not the biggest fan of some of the crazy songs y'all dance to, but I love that is is a special bond for the two of you to share.

The other day I was bent over helping you put your shoes on and you asked, "Mama, why do you have white parts in your hair?" I looked up at said, "It's not white. It's gray. It just happens to people when they get older." {and have crazy children...}You responded very sadly and said, "But I don't want you to be so old." Haha, ouch. I think I have a few good years left in me. But seriously, I need to start a book of all your funny sayings. 

A few months ago you started gymnastics and you love it. You spend 50% of each day doing flips, hand stands, and cartwheels all over the house.

In the past few weeks I feel like your ability to do "pretend play" has really started to develop. Your imagination has grown! You recently switched from "nap time" to "rest time" where we let you play quietly in your room and I think having that hour on your own to play has helped you be more creative with your toys. You also love all Disney movies and really love all the Golden books that go along with them. When we are driving in the car you will often come up with random questions about the movies or books and spend the whole drive asking me all about it. I love that you are always thinking, although sometimes I might be okay with a moment or two of quiet :) You are very chatty these days!

Look at those long legs! Lately you just look so tall. I notice it and our friends comment on it a lot lately. You are 37" tall and 28 lbs now, so you have grown a bit over the past 6 months.

You are also so smart! You know all of your capital letters and lots of the lower case letters too. You can count reliably up to about 15, and then stumble your way up to 20. When you have a good "rest time" you can earn a little fuzzy pom pom to put in a jar for a prize later on. The other day you said, "I have 5 right now. If I earn one more today, then I will only have three left. Then the next day I could only have two left. Then one left. Then my prize!" I couldn't believe you figured that out all in your head!

Eva Kate, I love you tons. The other day you told me, "Mama, I love you so much AND a little bit." Yes, we have some hard days. Being three and a half brings out some strong emotions in you, and there are days when it can be frustrating. But you are my absolute favorite little girl in the whole world and I am always thankful to be your mama.

You have started telling me that you are growing up. Oh, sweet girl, I don't need that reminder. I see it every day. You have told me very clearly that you have to grow big enough to go to kindergarten one day. At least I still have a few years before that happens....it will be all too quickly.