faves about lily

in honor of lily turning three, i wanted to write about the things that we love about her (yes, i even consulted pat on this post). here are some of our faves about lily:

1. instead of saying bought or give, lily says "borrow me." example: "mom, you borrow me a birthday."
2. she throws the word "actually" into her conversations. she likes to say that's her favorite or your favorite. lately, she keeps reminding us of our family relationships. when my mom came over, "that's your mom, mom." "gracie is my sister", etc....
3. lily gives the best welcome homes. whether it's pat returning from work or me from an errand, she runs to the door and jumps up and down and announces you're home. usually gives hugs and kisses too!
4. if you say no to her, she starts to give a little jump and says: "plleeeeeeease." this is in no way annoyingly done. it's very cute and probably more effective than it should be.
5. lily has always been a little parrot and loves to repeat back or restate what you tell her. it's pretty cute to hear her repeat things and see what she emphasizes.
6. lily is very independent. she often helps herself. i've found ice cream cartons or peanut butter jars with a spoon in them.
7. she can pour amazingly well for her age. one time she wanted milk in her cereal. i was in the middle of something and told her i'd be there in a minute. when i got there, she had already helped herself. she lifted up a gallon milk container that was at least 3/4 way full and poured her milk without any spills. i believe this incident happened more than 6 months ago. i don't let her practice with milk gallons, but since then i've repeatedly seen her pour well. don't quite know what life-long talent this translates into, but i do find it impressive nonetheless.
8. a true little sister, lily loves to do everything her big sis does. gracie loves to sing and so does lily. lily loves the preschool songs, but she's also learned songs from musicals that grace has been in and the cheetah girls songs (which gracie unfortunately keeps listening to lately). it's great to hear lily belt out "tomorrow" from annie (the play gracie is in right now).
9. lily also loves being a big sister and babies of any kind. unfortunately, lily's almost toddler brother loves to wrestle and pull her hair. he's gotten chunks of her out before i could stop him. i swear she will be bald before he outgrows this stage, but lily is undeterred in her desire to love and play with him.
10. she also loves her big brother whom she calls "japie" instead of "jakie".

those are my faves about lily. she is just a ray of sunshine that keeps me on my toes and smiling all day long!