Sabine and Lourdes are 3!

Happy Third Birthday to Sabine, my tiny dancer!  Sabine your are obsessed with dancing right now, and I love watching you show off your moves.  Every night you must shake your stuff to Ooh La La by Britney Spears and Firework by Katy Perry before you go to sleep.  You even like to watch the music videos and then try out the moves when you dance to the songs later.  You also love to be silly and make your siblings laugh.  You will do physical comedy, like making a funny face or smacking yourself in the head just to get us giggling.  Just a couple of nights ago, you walked around the house with your pink wand in your hand and when I asked what you were doing you said "I'm a witch, stop talking" and then proceeded marching around the coffee table.  You continue to be a really great drawer.  You take your time and make great circles and color really nicely in the lines for such a little girl.  You also have your brother's love of books.  You will suck your thumb and lay on my chest while I read you book after book.  Your favorites right now being Gruffalo, the Trixie trilogy, all things princess related and Ladybug Girl.  And if I'm too busy to read to you right then, you gather your own stack of books and sit quietly while you study them.  And while you have changed so much from last year, one thing you haven't changed is your cuddly, loving nature.  You LOVE your Daddy.  I love catching glimpses of the two of you giving kisses at Indian Boundary Park or you climbing up on Daddy's lap after you finish eating.  You two have a special bond that is sweet to behold.  But that is not to say that you don't love your mommy too.  You like to spend a lot of time cuddled up in my lap, sucking your thumb.  You are so territorial over my lap that when your siblings try to hone in on your space, you say "no, my mommy."  And when I ask if I am Lourdes or Finnegan's mommy too, you emphatically respond "no!"  Your siblings know better than to press it, because you more than hold your own in a tussle!  But you can also be very gentle.  You LOVE looking at and touching babies and you are always very sweet and kind with them.  I love that you are so multi-faceted.  I know you are going to be such a dynamic, interesting, confident woman someday and I will love every minute of watching that evolution.  I love you, baby!

Happy Third Birthday, my sweet Lou!  The first thing that comes to mind when I describe you is strong.  I have no idea where you get all your muscles from, but you are ripped my friend.  I love watching you play at the park.  You can cross the monkey bars all by yourself!  You can flip yourself over a bar.  You can climb any structure without the slightest fear of falling.  You are a force to be reckoned with.  But you are also shy when it comes to meeting new people and prefer to hang back in mom's arms until you decide whether it is safe.  You are definitely a mommy's girl, but in a great way.  You don't cling to me or act whiny when we are out on our adventures, but when we are at home you love your mommy cuddles.  You give great, tight squeezes where I can feel your whole body tense up while your hugging me.  But squeezes can only last for so long, because you need to get right back to being a big girl with Finnegan.  When we ask you how old you are, you say "5" because in your  head, you are exactly the same age as your brother and should be allowed to do all of the same things.  Once I started laying Finn's clothes out for him so that he could dress himself in the morning, you decided you would now pull things from your dresser and dress yourself before I could come down to help.  If Finnegan is going to sleep on the top bunk, then by God so is Lou.  Which leads in nicely to your next wonderful attribute, your stubbornness.  Once you draw a line in the sand, your Dad and I must weigh how important the dispute is because it takes a GREAT deal of energy, cajoling, disciplining on our part to get you to cave to our desires.  Some fights just aren't worth it with you.  And while it can drive your Dad and I crazy now, I know this characteristic will come in very handy as you get older and go to college/grad school and into the work force.  I am so lucky that I get to have court-side seats to watching you grow up and become the strong, fierce, amazing woman I know you are destined to become.  I love you, baby!