Ari- Almost 3

Dear Beautiful Ari Baby,

You're almost 3!  You seem to be regressing back to baby mode.  You have made a lot of requests lately to be held more or to be fed your food.  Either you're jealous of the attention Callie is getting or you're trying to postpone growing up and being more independent.  You never seem to show anger toward Callie, so I don't know if it is jealousy.  You are always so sweet to your baby sister and have always been willing to help with anything she needs.

Sometimes I forget how little you are.  You seem to just follow right along with Mia most of the time and keep up really well with her.  We bought you skis and you were so excited to go!  By the time we get you from the car to the bunny hill, you get too worn out to try though.  You were excited the first two times we took you, but by the third time, you told us you didn't want to do it anymore.  I think you know what your limits are and you're just not ready for it yet.  Hopefully next year, you'll be able to try it again!

Now that you're almost 3, your naps are getting shorter and shorter.  Most days you'll go down for a short nap or quiet time and then we still have a little time to play together before we go pick up Mia from preschool.  You love snuggling and reading books or playing with your baby dolls.  I love those sweet one on one moments with you!

You have such a sweet personality.  You and Mia fight, like normal sisters, but you are always the first to say sorry.  When Mia gets in trouble, you always feel bad for her and want to help her immediately, even if she had just hurt you.  You're always willing to share your candy or treats with all of us too.  Sometimes you'll even offer more than half.

I don't know why, but you apparently hate wearing pjs to bed.  You put them on every night and after we tuck you in, you take them off.  I don't know how you don't freeze without them on in the winter!  We're still trying to figure that one out.

You're beautiful, Ari!  I love your sweet personality and gorgeous blue eyes!  Our family wouldn't be the same without your love and compassion!

I love you!

Love,
Mommy

Ari-isms

Feb 13, 2016

We were making breakfast in the kitchen and the girls were running back and forth. All the sudden it started to smell stinky, so I asked if someone had tooted.
M: I didn't.
A: I didn't.
M: It was Daddy.
D: No, it wasn't me.
A: Was it me?
I don't think we ever figured out who it actually was, but apparently you think it might have been you.  ;)

Mia came running into the family room and yelled, "Ari!" Ari tried to hide by ducking her head under her little doll stroller.

Eric took a video of Callie showing off her crawling skills. Mia and Ari were playing in the other room, so there was a lot of background noise. Ari came over and asked to watch the video. As we were watching, we heard Mia yell (in the video), "Ari!" Ari immediately yelled back, "What!?" not realizing she was responding to the video.

Feb 1, 2016

You have the cutest tickle laugh! The other day you started whining about needing to take a nap and I tickled you until your whining turned into your cute tickle laugh. You actually were laughing so hard that you snorted. It was even funnier because you were wearing pink pants and a pink shirt, so you looked AND sounded like a cute little piggy.

Jan 4, 2016

Mia and Ari Conversation:

A: What are you?

M: Did you say, What are you? Did you mean, who are you?

A: What are you?

M: A person

A: You’re not a person, you’re a Mia Bear.