LL at 3

It's been a few weeks since her birthday, but I wanted to record a few things about LL at 3 years old.

She continues to be a ray of sunshine with her upbeat attitude, funny expressions, and beaming smile. Sometimes she explains her humor, saying, "I was just being a joke!"

One of her current trademarks is an assortment of different sounds effects that she peppers into her interactions with us...I would describe most of them as growls, really, but they are cute little growls. She and AG like to act like tigers, and a few times this week they have approached me on all-fours, making their best tiger noises, and at the last second LL jumps up and tells me, "I'll save you from the rescue!"

For months now she has been telling us, over and over, the details of an episode of "Gilligan's Isligans" that she watched one time. There was an Indian in the episode, and she's had a preoccupation with Indians since then (which was probably also spurred on by reading a few "Little House" books...).

Like many kids her age do, she often shocks us by seeming to absorb things she sees and hears and then repeating them with great detail. She can quote huge portions of her favorite books word for word, and she has a great memory for Bible verses and other "memory work" even when we haven't truly "worked" on it!

She has a natural way of lavishing us with compliments and positive feedback. This often makes common interactions a joy because she has such a glowing, "can do" attitude! Of course, we also recognize a need to channel this tendency in the right way...and to be cautious about our own response to it sometimes! I mean, the girl has a little song she sings to me at least a few times a week; it goes, "I love my mommy, she's so cute and smart!" Watch out! (She may have a future in politics...)

On that topic, I have been amazed by how she's soaked up the bits of this campaign season that she's been exposed to. Months ago, with no prompting from anyone, she picked up on the names of the two major presidential candidates and she drops their names all the time in her play/talk at home, and even has gotten some funny responses from strangers when she says them in public (such as when she sees a photo of one of them and comments on it in Target...or wherever). "I approve this message" spontaneously entered her vocabulary and has been said more times than any of us can count since. And here's our exchange this morning:
LL: "Do I go to school today?"
Me: "No, it's not a school day. We are going to vote today!"
LL: "Is Sarah Palin going to be there?" (first time I've ever heard her say this name, and I don't think I've said it to her...)

We are so blessed to have this fun, funny, sweet, bright, loving little girl to share our days.