Monday, May 30, 2016

Alexis Joy is turning 3

We are quickly approaching Alexis, Jack, and Faith's 3rd birthday as it's a week away, and I want to keep up the tradition of devoting a blog post to each of them. Alexis was the first born, so I will start with her post.

I looked back at the list I wrote to describe Alexis in her 2-year-old blog post, and most of it is still true today. It's continues to amaze me that a child's personality is already so strong at such a young age, and that various traits just become stronger as time goes on.

For the most part, Alexis is our most intense child. She feels joy, sadness, excitement, and frustration and all other emotions very deeply. Sometimes it is impossible to get her out of a grumpy mood, especially if she falls asleep at nap time (which doesn't happen very often anymore). Other times she will be upset about something and then someone will do something funny to try to cheer her up and she will start laughing heartily. 

Alexis continues to be a Mommy's girl. She always wants me to be the one to pick her up, change her clothes, or help her with something. Not Daddy, not Grandma, and certainly not an unrelated adult. Most of the time I comply since I try to avoid meltdowns whenever possible with our three toddlers.

Last year I wrote that Alexis loves dirt, and this has stuck. She definitely doesn't mind getting filthy, which is quite a contrast to her identical sister who loves to be clean. Alexis is one of our messier eaters and she likes to clean her face and wipe her nose with her sleeve, even when we tell her not do so. 

Alexis is also a fitful sleeper, which I know firsthand as she often spends some portion of the night in our bed (most mornings she wakes up around 6:00 a.m. so I take her back to bed with me so I can get another hour of sleep, and she usually falls asleep too). She moves a lot while she sleeps, which means her feet end up kicking me in the stomach. Her hair is usually a crazy mess in the morning and after napping from moving around so much.

Right now Alexis is the most aggressive as she tends to push, hit, and bite to get her way or just get a reaction. So far she has only done this with her siblings, and hopefully we can get this behavior to stop sooner than later. 

Although it isn't very loving when Alexis is aggressive, she is the most affectionate child. She tells Micah and I that she loves us all of the time, and she often tells Faith and Jack that she loves them as well. She gives giant bear hugs which I love. I'll never forget the day a few months ago that I went for a short run and when I got back she stopped what she was doing, ran towards me, tripped, and then hugged my foot because that was the only thing she could reach from where she fell. From her actions one would have thought that I was gone for weeks as she was so intent on hugging me at all costs. Her deep, genuine love is awesome and she isn't afraid to show it.

In last year's blog post I wrote that Alexis loves to run, sing, she is timid around dogs, she is super silly, and she is demanding. All of this remains true. She loves to point out that she's a "fast runner." She has gotten into the habit of singing her own version of a Daniel Tiger song to us every night before we leave the room ("Making something to say, I love you Mom and Dad"). She also likes to tell us when we can and cannot sing at bedtime (most often she tells Micah to stop singing with me mid song). Life with Alexis is definitely entertaining. 

Now that the kids are speaking so well, I decided to start a new tradition that I've seen others do on their blogs. I asked each of the kids the same set of questions a week before their 3rd birthday, and I plan to ask the same questions every year. Here are Alexis' responses:

•What is your name?
I'm Lexi

•How old are you?
3

•When is your birthday?
June

•How old is Daddy?
3

•How old is mommy?
I don't know

•What is your favorite color?
I want pink

•What is your favorite food?
Broccoli [although she tries it once and awhile, it's definitely not her fav food!]

•Who is your best friend?
Auggie and Eland and Griffin and Val [this is a family that we see often]

•What is your favorite song?
Skip to my Lou [we often call her "Lexi Lou" so that's probably why]

•What is your favorite animal?
Giraffe

•What are you scared of?
Lion

•What makes you happy?
The elephant

•Where is your favorite place to go?
The park

•What do you want to be when you grow up?
Lion

•What is Mommy's favorite thing to do?
A cheetah 

•What is daddy's favorite thing to do?
A elephant 




Here are photos of Alexis throughout the past year:

24 months

25 months

26 months

27 months

28 months

29 months

30 months

31 months

32 months

33 months

34 months

35 months (Faith left, Lexi right)

Although it is a cliche, I truly can't wait to see how Alexis grows and matures in the next year. We love Alexis as deeply as she loves us, and we feel honored to be her parents on this wild ride.

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