Gabriella is 3

In January, we celebrated our Sweet 3 year old with a sweet party!  We had cupcake decorating, cake/ice cream eating, presents and fun.

Gabriella has brought our family so much joy the past three years.  It has been fun (& interesting) seeing how each child has such a different personality.  Gabriella is full of love for others.  She spends a lot of her free time mothering her baby dolls; packing and unpacking diaper bags, changing diapers, feeding bottles, soothing, etc.  Her birthday and Christmas were full of baby dolls and accessories.  It's so neat to see how she is just a natural care taker.  Gabriella is our Ms. Independent too!  She knows what she wants and is determined to do/get it by herself.  Its been fun and challenging to watch her abilities grow with her determination and practice of her self help skills.  She loves to pour her own milk, dress herself, pack her own snacks, etc.  She has been a climber since she was a baby and this has continued.  This girl will climb a mountain if there's a snack out of reach that she wants.  Although she may be timid at first, her personality shines when she's surrounded by comfort.  And although we broke the paci habit at about 2.5, she has recently decided that she needs one again.  She's so sneaky that she will hide them, so even if we take them away, she has a stash of them where we can't find them!  :)  I put her to bed one night and took the paci away, just to come check on her later with a paci in her mouth.  She's always keeping us on our toes.

Other things about our sweet girl...
Loves...
- mimking Mateo and Malachi (monkey see, monkey do)
- singing
- dancing
- playing babies
- playing with animals
- her neighbor, Bella
- being outdoors
- her Grandma and Grandpa
- Chuck E Cheese
- candy/sweets
- pretend play
- tackling Malachi
- her daddy calling her "cute girl"
- Chick Fil A
- saying Pooty and Poopy (especially when she's tired) :0

Although Gabriella does an amazing job of keeping us on our toes, it's been incredible having a daughter.  Her love and gentleness, paired with her wrestling and energy, is such a great balance.  I'm excited to see her personality expand more during her threes.  This girl is so beautiful and loved.