Indie's 3 year update!

       

Two Years Old

Three Years Old

 Can you believe our first little nugget is already 3 years old? It's been a year of big changes.  Our toddler has morphed into a little kid.  She is an absolute joy.  She is quick to help, sensitive, tender, creative, imaginative, compassionate, giving, self aware, fun loving, somber, eager to please, quick to learn, hates contention, and absolutely beautiful.  

  

         Indie has taught me so much.  I've become a person of much more depth, patience, and love since Indie came into our world.  She made me a mother. She has had to (and will continue to) endure a clueless first time Mom. She has helped me mature and grow in ways I didn't think possible.  I know I have so much more learning and growing to do. Indie has brought me closer to Christ and given me the beautiful gift of seeing a small shred of how Christ loves. 

          As Indie is leaving babyhood behind I'm clinging onto all of her tiny toddler ways.  I love the way she speaks, even if at times no one else can understand her. I love hearing her original thoughts and ideas.  Here are a few ways that Indie has turned the English Langues into her own: 

Banana: A-man-a

Belt or shoe strap: Seepee belt 

Please: Pah-lee

Hungry: Hunn-ee 

Hamburger: Ham-a-bur

Top Roman: sad noodles 

Adele's song 'Hello': My Sad song!

Instead of saying why: Indie says 'How you not..?' ('How you not play with me?')

Damon:  Daaa, she has a habit of not closing consonant sounds 

How old are you: What your number start with?

When Indie asks a question she will quickly say: 'Yes or no' to cut to the chase.  

Left and right: Red and Blue. I started saying 'One foot, two foot, Red foot, Blue foot,' when we would put socks or shoes on.  It morphed into me beginning the rhyme and Indie ending it as she got dressed. Which morphed into Indie thinking that one foot is always the red one and one is the blue. Which morphed into directional names. If I tell her to go to her side of the car, for example, Indie'll reply: 'The red side, or the blue side?'

letters: Indie knows that I is for indie d is for dad m is for mom

           In this year Indie has said goodbye to her binkies, her crib and her diapers.  She goes potty alone and can get clothes back on by herself but has now regressed into wanting us to help, probably for company.  Indie dabbled in gymnastics and started taking dance in Orem.  She will continue dance classes in the fall here in Pocatello.  She will start her first year of Preschool this fall as well. Preschool's mostly for fun. If it's anything but an amazing experience for her, we'll pull her and wait another year.  

           We are just barely starting to get long enough hair and strong enough hair to start doing sporadic hairstyles on Indie. I did the messiest of messy and littlest of little french braids on her. Indie's eyes have changed color from a blue to a brown/green color. Which is random, but her eyes are now more like Damon's.

     
  Since Baby Sister has shown up Indie has watched more shows than I'm proud to admit. As such she has deep love for a few favorites. She went through a Mulan, Toy story, Dragon Tales, Little Einstein, and Mickey Mouse clubhouse binge stage.  Indie loves any show with music and will memorize song lyrics to songs really quickly. She will surprise me when playing by spouting off lyrics I wasn't even aware she knew.  Indie also likes to pay attention to the voice navigation on my GPS and will try to remember the names of the streets and make conversation about where we are going, and incorporate street names. 

         Every morning without fail, Indie will ask what we dreamt about and then tell us that she dreamt about airplanes. Damon told Indie he had a dream about airplanes one morning and I think that was the first time the concept of dreaming had ever been introduced to Indie. Since then, morning after morning, for months Indie will report to us that she dreamt of airplanes. We are waiting with baited breath for the first deviation in her dream reports. 

         Indie will occasionally have bouts of being completely out of control.  It's likes she's possessed and can not be reasoned with. It happens at night and it's almost like she's still asleep. Luckily this horrible state of toddler being has been few and far between. When Indie is over tired or out of routine she will throw fits akin to her night terror while awake. It's awful. 

         Since Baby Sister was born Indie has also been having a harder time sleeping. I don't know if it's the age, or the change in family dynamic, or the simple fact that she finally realized she can get out of her toddler bed without our permission... Whatever the reason Indie will go through phases of waking up once or twice each night for a week in a row. Sometimes she will just silently stand by my bedside til I wake up or acknowledge her.  

         Indie loves Estelle and is usually a very willing and enthusiastic helper. She throws away diapers, gets blankets, gives songs and pats, retrieves binks, helps burp, and does really anything we need. Indie is almost always game to help. 

     Indie is not a snuggler.  She will accept love when she's hurt and once she decided she's no longer hurt she doesn't want loves and is on her way.  She loves to rough house and be held while we play around, but to cuddle or snug is not her style.  

      When I get mad at Indie or reprimand her she will growl defensively at my tone before I can even explain what she's in trouble for.  When I compliment Indie, tell her something that made me proud, or tell her about a good memory we have of her when she was a baby she can't help but smile, rush into you and hug and kiss you. When she feels good, it's like she overflows and doesn't know what to do with all the good feelings except to hug and kiss whoever is closest to her. 

     For almost as long as Indie could talk she has asked for the same songs at night. She always wants ABC's followed by Row Row Row Your Boat.  Every bedtime. Without fail. She also loves to read. She had piles and piles of books surrounding her bed constantly. After we put her to sleep she will read and read until she is tired enough to pass out. 

      Indie really is just the sweetest, a heart of gold.  I explained to her one day while we picked up her room that we could take toys or books that she didn't want anymore to other kids who needed and would love them.  Indie immediately grabbed all of her favorites. She told me she wanted the other kids to have them. So the kids could be happy.  For the rest of the week Indie would randomly come up to me with a beloved play thing and tell me I could give it away.  Not wanting to crush her giving spirit and not wanting to get rid of all her favorite toys, we put them in a pile in our bedroom for her to make sure she really wanted to give them away.  I slowly just snuck her favorites back into her toy bins and got rid of the things I knew wouldn't be missed. (By me or Indie)  She's still a teeny one, and still learning how to not throw fits and what not, but she really is the sweetest. 

       Indie loves: Apple sauce, noodles, cucumbers, broccoli, water, corn, playing 'family' with any object imaginable (food, crayons, silverware, trash...) Mom's made up Magnolia stories, rough housing with Dad, helping with chores, singing songs, quality time, affirming words, going on adventures, the cabin, cousins, animals, colors, organizing, making people laugh, books, cooking, eating raw flour, collecting small things, and lots lots more!

         Indie hates: letting mom or dad down, getting scolded, having messy hands, getting wet, potatoes, chicken pot pie, bugs inside our house, leaving friends, leaving family, seeing people fight, sadness, and not having parents that can read minds.

     Something I especially love about Indie is how well she reasons, communicates and listens for her age.  She likes to talk out her emotions.  She likes to understand things.  She tries to grasp hard concepts. She really tries so hard to please and to do her best and to grow. I love that when I tell her we have something we are going to focus on improving, that she really will work on it and be so proud of herself when she knows she's done better. It's a quality I really admire in her. 

      We love you Indie. You have magnified the love in our home so much.  When I was pregnant with you I was so worried about the unknown and how it would affect me. Dad gave me a blessing during one of my panicked moments and in it Heavenly Father assured us that you would bring more love into our home than we thought possible. It's so true. You are amazing. I can't wait to see what your next year has in store for you and I look forward to the day that we can read this together and remember how small and amazing you were.  Love you my sweet girl!

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