Life at 3!

It's hard to believe we've only had our Leighton Layne for three years! I really can't remember what life was like before she was here. I'm pretty sure it was a whole lot more boring :)

Measurements
Height: 39 inches (90th percentile)
Weight: 33 lbs (75th percentile)

She's long and lean just like her Daddy :)

Sleeping
We have started phasing out naps! She will still take a 3-4 hour nap if I make her but she is so grumpy when she wakes up and fights bedtime so hard that I decided it wasn't worth it. She is happy to play all day that disrupting a good mood to force her to nap is a battle I don't think is worth fighting anymore. Most days she goes to bed at 9 and sleeps until 8:30 or 9 in the morning. Somedays she will take a cat nap on the couch in the late afternoon but most days she's awake all day until bedtime.

Bedtime is SO much easier now that she isn't napping, meaning I don't have to put her back in bed 10,000 times before she finally falls asleep. We always read books in bed together. Go, Dog, Go!, The Green Caterpillar, Left Foot, Right Foot and ABC's Book are her favorites right now. She has started saying she is afraid of the dark so I let her sleep with her closet light on and most nights she requests I lay down with her for a few minutes. She always sleeps with her pink baby blanket and pink ladybug nightlight. Once she is asleep she sleeps hard and never gets up in the middle of the night. She wakes up in great moods and is always ready to start her day! She has also started wearing panties to bed instead of a pull up. Growing up so fast!

Eating
For breakfast she likes pop tarts, cereal, toast, bacon, pancakes or french toast. She isn't a fan of eggs or doughnuts. For lunch she likes yogurt, apples, hummus, cheese sandwiches, grapes or cheese & crackers. She doesn't like deli meat or peanut butter.
For dinner her favorite food is steak! She likes chicken, mexican food, plain pasta, mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. She will occasionally eat a plain hamburger but usually only takes a few bites. She doesn't like hot dogs or seafood and loathes ketchup! She likes to dip chicken nuggets and french fries in ranch.

Her favorite treats are fruit snacks, lucky charms, cookies and ice cream. We have to limit these like crazy! She definitely has a sweet tooth. She will only drink milk or water and hates all juices and won't go near soda! She says when she grows big she is going to drink coffee lol. She takes a nightly vitamin to make up for her pickiness during the day.

Temperament
Leighton has had a huge boost in her vocabulary in the last six months. She never stops talking and thinking and imagining and playing. Her little mind never.stops.going. Now that she talks so much better we've seen such a change in her temperament. She is so much more easygoing and less frustrated. She asks for help, uses her words and thinks things out so much better than she used to. She rarely has tantrums and if she does they are almost always induced by lack of sleep. She is a loving big sister who is always happy to play with Gracen and is pretty good about sharing her toys. They've had a few "run ins" lately over toys but it's usually when little sis rips something away from big sis. Leighton is good about finding other toys to offer to Gracen and shares her favorites when we ask her too.

She loves to play outside and loves going to the pool. When Daddy is home she loves to play hide n' seek or play her guitar. She likes to color or do her "projects" as she calls them. I've started doing some preschool workbooks with her when Gracen is napping and she loves to do her work. She is always trying to make us laugh by telling jokes or acting silly. She loves to say, "Aw, I'm just kidding!"

Details
Her favorite toys are her play kitchen, vacuum, baby dolls, dishes & food. She loves to help in the kitchen with dinner and really loves to dust! She got a set of dinosaurs for her birthday and plays with them daily! She likes to pretend they are a family and separates the big ones (Mamas) from the little ones (babies). Her favorite color is PINK and insists that everything she loves must be pink too. Her favorite ice cream is anything pink, favorite baby doll is pink and she insists on wearing her pink converse shoes with every outfit (even smocked dresses). Everything has to be pink, pink, pink! She loves to get her hair fixed, pick out bows, get her fingernails painted and put on makeup. She loves anything small and calls it "baby." Baby ice, cups, animals, dolls, purses, balls...if it's little then it somehow becomes an obsession.

Her favorite tv shows are Caillou, The Wiggles, Umi Zoomi and The Bernstain Bears. We are all super excited to be going to see The Wiggles in concert in a few weeks! Her favorite movies are Willy Wonka, Stuart Little, The Chipmunks and Cat & The Hat. She will watch shows that are cartoons but not movies. She loves Cinderella but the movie never keeps her attention and she never chooses to watch it. She only likes movies that have people in them.

She's been fully potty trained since May and has just started wearing panties even at nighttime. We recently put away all the potty chairs and she just goes on the big potty. I am excited to have that chapter behind us.

She started gymnastics this summer and seems to love it. I'm not sure how much of a career she will have being at the 90th percentile for height ;) She looks so cute in her leotard and ponytail. She loves the bars and balance beam and doing her forward rolls. I love seeing her with little girls. They all laugh and play and are just too cute for words!

I know I'm probably forgetting a million things that she likes, or does or is good at. She is so amazing and brightens our lives every single day. Our little Leighton Layne...how we love her so!