Anna Kimball is three

Somewhere in the middle of a two-week stretch in which we all passed around a nasty cold and our house resembled a snowstorm of Kleenex, Anna Kimball turned three. (I'm beginning to think we should start celebrating her half-birthday in a bigger way since maybe then she would have enough healthy friends to have a real birthday party. January is the worst!) Mercifully her birthday fell on a day that wasn't quite as snotty or miserable as the rest and we all enjoyed celebrating her life immensely.

It's funny to look back on Emery when she turned 3 and realize how different these two girls are. When Emery turned three she had already established a passion for Cinderella. Anna Kimball could give a hoot about Cinderella, or any other princess for that matter. She knows she's "supposed" to like Snow White since Emery has already claimed Cinderella, but in truth she really has a thing for Arthur.

Here she is modeling her new Arthur "pack-back."

Emery was quick to point out that it is a "boy"color, but judging from the smile on her face, I don't think Anna Kimball minds a bit.

We kept the day simple, but full of fun surprises like trip to Target where the girls got to pick something out from the dollar section and lunch and ice cream at Chick-fil-A.

Of course there was also plenty of playtime at our neighbor's house, from whom Anna Kimball also received her gigantic three balloon.

I wish I could convey accurately in words just how silly and special Anna Kimball is. There's just something about her that's particularly fun and light-hearted. One friend has compared her to a Muppet and commented that she just seems game for anything. Just watching her putter around the house all day, terribly busy with her play kitchen and tending to her baby dolls is enough to give me the giggles. Anna Kimball adores and looks up to Emery, but when Emery is at preschool, I don't think she misses her a bit. (this gives me some relief as we anticipate kindergarten for Emery in the fall.)

There's a lot I could learn from Anna Kimball. She doesn't seem to think too hard about anything, is quick to share with her older sister and is seemingly unperturbed about her failures (i.e. doesn't mind a lick when she has yet another pee accident all over the floor). Anna Kimball, you are a bright ray of sunshine in our house and we don't know what we'd do without you. Not laugh as much, that's for sure. Happy birthday sweet Anna Kimball, we love you!

I think it's a spring flicker

Last night the girls and I walked up to our neighbor's house for a quick visit. It was raining lightly and when Emery noticed the water hitting her cheeks she wondered aloud, "What is that hitting my face?" I told her it was sprinkling but she quickly corrected me, letting me know that it was a spring flicker hitting her face.

Of course. Sometimes I just don't know what to do with her outfit choices other than laugh. They are part ridiculous and part perfectly appropriate for a lively almost five-year-old little girl. Who knew when we went shoe shopping last week that the pair she selected would coordinate so well with her outfit?

In other news, Anna Kimball is mastering the art of potty training. I'm writing this down here so that I won't be discouraged when it comes time to train Jamison -- the first day and a half is dreadful, awful, beyond frustrating, but then it will click. It will.

On day two she took her show on the road to our neighbor's house (does it sound like we go there a lot? We do.) This pic will definitely be making into her rehearsal dinner slideshow one day.

As for Jamison, he's still lapping the house on all fours, most often in search of me. I try to treasure the first hour or so he is awake in the morning, even if it's before 6am, because it is only then that he is truly and utterly content with anything and anyone.

I can't believe we will be celebrating his first birthday in two months. Whoever coined the phrase "The days are long, but the years are short," hit it spot on. This year has been no exception, although when I think back to last March it seems a lifetime ago. Jamison loves to clap his hands, observe his sisters' antics, not play with any of his toys but eat all manner of refuse on the floor and attempt to snatch my iPhone wherever I might have laid it down.

Sometimes I just want to eat his face -- I love the girls but I don't think I ever had quite the appetite for their cheeks as I do for his.