Happy 3 1/2 Callie Mac!

(10 days late and picture overload)

How is this possible.  How is it that you are 3 1/2 already my little one?  As I’m typing this you are reading one of your favorite books, your ‘Bible Book,’ in bed.  It’s not unusual to go and kiss your head one last time and find you like this.  You know almost every story by heart now and I can’t tell you how proud that makes me.

You are miss independent these days.  You know how to use your stool to pick out your clothes, and it’s almost always a dress or a skirt that you can twirl.  You refuse to let me ‘fix’ your hair anymore and stick to ‘hoverbands’ instead.  I’m trying to be okay with letting all of that control go knowing it’ll happen sooner than later anyway, I was hoping for the later.  I’m still trying to hold on to your babiness as long as possible, but you are doing a good job of not letting me. :) 

I love taking pictures of you and your sister.  You typically make a funny face for me, you love being ‘silly!’  I love having you put on a show for us, it’s very entertaining and you love getting a giggle from Chloe.

You have a tendency to be shy around new people, giving them a little smile over the shoulder.  We’re trying to work with you on this but know not to pressure you into it.  You get very excited when you finally get the nerve up to say hello and it’s so cute.  I know you’ll get it soon enough and then I’ll be scared that you talk to everyone!

We love playing games and a new favorite is dominos.  You also love to color, paint, and cut with scissors, you and I both love a good arts and crafts project!

Even though you are a dress girl, you aren’t afraid to get your hands dirty.  You pick weeds in the yard with me, help daddy with his outside projects, help G-Kat and Nana feed birds and Sunny, and ride in Big V’s tractor.  I love that you are becoming so well rounded!

I love that you are typically a go with the flow kind of girl and rarely have a bad day.  However, when those bad days come, man it’s a doozie.  When you are having a breakdown you like to say “I’m going to sleep it off in the car!”  It usually works, almost like a reset button, thankfully.

We  still maintain a little girliness when it comes to bugs, as in you and I are not that into them.  You do love caterpillars since they turn into butterflies, but other than that you’re calling Daddy to help!

We have a strict 7:00am wake up rule around here.  Meaning, no one is allowed out of their rooms until 7:00am. We’ve set you up a clock in your room with a sign underneath that reads 7:00am.  You come RUNNING into our room at 7:00 saying “I see two 0’s!”  I love it.  You are still snuggly and it’s nice to have a few minutes with you in bed before your sister wakes up.

I thought for sure when you were little you’d be a shoe girl, but that’s can’t be farther from the truth.  You wear one pair of shoes until they are worn flat out.  I’ve tried all that I know to do to convince you that wearing other shoes is fine, but you insist.  So for now, I’ll take it since that means I only need to buy one pair at a time!

Callie, you and your daddy both love fast cars and tattoos.  I want you to be your own person, but I these make me nervous!   

You love to sing songs!  We sing a song before bedtime every night and it’s usually Twinkle Twinkle.  You also like all types of music including toddler tunes, country, 'rap,’ Florence and the Machines,  and still a little Bieber.      

We don’t watch much TV around here, because you would watch it 24/7 if I let you.  You tend to have a better day, attitude wise, if it’s off and you’re playing outside or with your sister.  Usually the 30 minutes before your daddy comes home, when I’m trying to cook dinner, we’ll turn cartoons on.  I think you enjoy the quiet time after a full day, I know I do. :)

You still LOVE school and dance, your two activities outside of the home.  Next year you will go to school 5 days a week.  This makes me sad that my mornings with you are now down to a few and you’ll be in high school before I know it. You’ll love it though, you seem to thrive in school and love all the activities there.  We’ll continue dance for as long as you want to.  We’ll start you in a sport soon though, maybe soccer, you seem to like that right now.

You and your sister and two peas in a pod.  Yes, y’all have your screaming hitting little fights, but it’s short lived and y’all do a great job of starting over and playing.  I’m still amazed at how different y’all can look.  When your sister was born, I swore I was looking at you y’all looked so much alike.  Now, I see two very different beautiful young girls.  Even though you are the big sister, Chloe tends to take the care taker role of everyone in the family, including you.  She wants to be with you at all times and if you aren’t around she gets less rambunctious.    

Everyone tends to say you look like your daddy, and I agree to some extent. You look a little like me at this age, so I think you are a great combination of us both.  

Sweet Callie Mac, I can’t imagine what our life was like without you now!  You’ve been such the perfect addition to our family and have made our lives so full.  You are SO excited about your next birthday, you’ll be turning 4 and that’s when you can finally have gum.  Heres to 6 more months of gum free hair, clothes, and furniture, can’t wait!