Happy Birthday Adrienne!

Adrienne's 3rd birthday was actually on the 1st of August but I have been busy for one reason or another for about a month so, at long last, her is her birthday tribute:

Adri started off, and still remains, the tiniest kid I know. She was under 6 lbs at birth and now, at 3 years of age, weighs in at a hefty 23 lbs (barely more than her younger sister). At her last doctor's visit the doctor congratulated us when we found out that Adri is "almost on the charts." Since I am the one who is most familiar with Adri's clothes vs. Juliet's clothes I am the only one who knows which clothes each child should be wearing. More than once I have left someone else to clothe them only to come back and find Adri in Juliet's clothes and Juliet in Adri's clothes. The funny thing is, they always seem to fit just fine.

Jason and I always thought our house was babyproofed just fine. Then we would invite other kids over only to discover we were horrible babyproofers. The problem was that Adri never got into anything she wasn't supposed to. We would tell her once and she would listen. She never tried to eat things she found on the floor or pull things off of the table. To this day she is still very careful to ask if she can touch things. She once asked me if it was okay for her to get the kitchen sponge wet, and once asked Gramma Joyce if it was okay for her to step in the dirt. Being the older sister, she also tries to make sure everyone else knows the rules (she often reminds me that we aren't supposed to pick the flowers at the botanical gardens) and might just tattle if you don't.

Adri has never skimped on saying "I love you." When she was younger she didn't quite understand how the exchange went though. Once we would put her in bed she would say, "I love you! I love you too!" She still does it every once in a while and I'm not sure if she's just a little confused or merely impatient for us to get our part out.

Like her mother before her, Adri is very fond of animals of every kind. She loves puppies and kitties and has to work very hard to contain her enthusiasm lest she scare them away before having a chance to pet them. We visit our local pet store at least once a week and I'm always glad it's there so we can get our puppy fix and then go back to our pet-free home. I can't wait for the day we'll actually be able to let Adri bring a puppy home with her; it should be a hoot.






Adri is extremely shy. I'm not even sure if shy is the right word. She just doesn't want to be forced into a conversation, ever. Many a time one of her well meaning aunts or uncles have tried in vain to coax her into chatting with them. She will look straight forward, never even acknowledging your presence, and remain silent until your attention is drawn elsewhere. Once you are gone she will talk about you, but never directly to you. She is extermely polite when she is at ease with the people around her. Please, thank you, bless you, excuse me, sorry are all part of her regular vocabulary. We frequently have talks about being polite to our friends and family but the best I can get out of her is to say 'no thank you' instead of completely ignoring someone. Man, the boys in her high school will have their work cut out for them.




When she's sure only people she is comfortable with are around, Adri's favorite thing to do is sing. Sing and dance. And sing. What does she sing? Mostly Disney princess songs and a song she claims is her favorite song. The favorite song is about 20 minutes long and it changes practically every day. The song mostly has to do with what she has done during the day mixed in with words from movies or stories we read. She tells me they sing that song in nursery but I'm not sure if I believe her.

Once she has stopped singing about princesses, all she wants to do is play with her princess dollies. She is forever asking me to play dollies with her and I often have to incorporate what the dollies are doing into my work, like dollies have to help sort the laundry or put away the groceries or do the dishes . . . you get the picture. Adri doesn't ever mind, she is just thrilled that I'll acutally play because she knows I don't like to play dollies very much. "You don't like to play dollies, do you Mommy?" Well, this breaks my heart just enough to convince me to play once more.

Lucky for me, there are a few other games she likes just as much as dollies. Hide and seek is one she never gets tired of. Once I introduced her to duck-duck-goose and her life was never the same. Aside from those games, jumping on Mom and Dad's bed is always a favorite - as long as it involves lots of tickling.

Recently she has started trying to get attention by announcing, "Look what I can do!" followed by her jumping in a goofy pose or doing a silly dance. It never fails to capture my interest long enough for a good laugh.

Adri has always been a great help around the house. She puts her dishes in the sink, throws her trash away, loves to help empty the dishwasher and has even started to comment, "Mom this room is so messy! We need to clean it up." And she does. She has also started babysitting for me. It's tough to get kids and groceries into the apartment and up the stairs all in one run, so I've taken to putting Juliet and Adri in their room. I ask Adri to watch Juliet and play with her while I'm out getting the groceries for two mintues. She always agrees and asks, "And then you'll come back?" I assure her that I will in deed come back after I retrieve the groceries. She is always very considerate of her sister and makes sure she always has a toy to play with.

It's hard for me to be in a bad mood with Adri around. She is always ready to compliment me on my 'pretty dress' or tell me I did a good job making her cereal. And when she can't think of any other compliment, she'll tell me I'm a good mommy or at least that she likes my car (it is a pretty sweet ride).

She suprises me at how often she is willing to try something new. She loves to learn new things and will even try new foods - a trait she certainly does not get from me. Jason and I are positve that she is the smartest 3 year old on the planet. We love to listen to all of her questions, watch her figure things out and imitate us. It's amazing to see someone learn so much so quickly.

She once left me a message on our cell phone. Not actually a message to me but she was talking to the answering machine as if she was having a conversation with me. "Hello Mom. There was a hippopotumus and he jumped high in the sky. Yes Mom. No. No. Yes. Yes, we were in the pool. Yes. Okay, I love you too." It's still saved on the phone.

One of my favorite things about Adri right now is that she calls me Annie. It switches from Mom to Annie occasionally and for some reason I think it is adorable. People are always suprised when they hear her ask "Where's Jas?" I kind of hope she won't stop but I'm pretty sure kids grow out of this kind of thing.

Adrienne has been a joy to us since the moment she was born. She makes me feel foolish for even thinking I wanted my first child to be a boy. No one could ask for a better big sister than her. Happy birthday Adrienne!