Faith Elizabeth is turning 3

From the beginning, Faith has been our most strong-willed child. It's funny to think that she was in the NICU the longest, because since then she hasn't allowed herself to be last at anything. When we go for family "walks" around the neighborhood, Faith insists on being in front and running the whole time. If she stops and someone else takes the leads, she mopes, pouts, and sits down on the sidewalk until everyone stops and waits for her to take the lead again. She definitely knows how to get her way. 

Like Alexis, Faith tends to be a bit dramatic, but she has a quieter way of doing it. If she is really sad about something she usually just slumps her shoulders, puts her head down, sighs, and waits for someone to console her. This has proved to be quite effective for her, although sometimes it's hard for us not laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.

Faith is the "little mommy" of our trio and she seems to have developed some empathy. She wants to make everyone else feel happy, so if a sibling is upset she she'll grab a favorite stuffed animal or try to come up with an idea that would stop the crying ("I know, maybe she needs a snack!"). Everyone likes to help us with stuff, but Faith seems to be the most willing to do tasks or help a sibling when in need. The other day I got a little upset when she spilled her smoothie three times in 5 minutes, and then in the afternoon when I asked her for a hug she told me that she was sorry for spilling her smoothie in the morning. I'm continuously surprised by how well Faith reads emotions.

Faith has almost always been the first to meet developmental milestones, and this trend has continued. Although all three are very close developmentally, Faith seems to catch on a little more quickly. For example, she knows her colors pretty well while Jack and Alexis are still working on it. She seems to think of herself as the oldest sibling and she is very independent, and sometimes it seems we think of her that way too, even though she is technically the youngest. She is also a bit of a tattle-tale as she loves to tell me when Jack is sucking his thumb (we don't want him to suck his thumb unless he's in bed) or when another child is doing something wrong. 

Although all three kids enjoy getting attention, Faith especially seems to enjoy being in the spotlight. A few weeks ago we were at Target and Faith said to me, "Nobody is saying hi to me!" The kids are so used to people commenting on how cute they are and asking if they are triplets, so Faith was annoyed that nobody was admiring her that day. All I could do was laugh.

The girls seem to take turns not napping, so I always have someone awake at nap time, but when Faith does sleep about half the time she falls asleep in the most random places in her bedroom. It's as if she literally plays until she falls asleep and then she's so tired that it doesn't matter that she's using a Magna Doodle as a pillow.

Like Alexis and Jack, many of the personality traits I described for Faith's 2-year-old blog post remain true today. She tends to be the most social with other children and adults. She is the first to interact with other children at the park and make "friends." She tends to be more of a daddy's girl than a mommy's girl. She is very attached to her stuffed husky doggy, and Alexis is very attached to her Snoopy, and we rarely leave the house without their doggies even though they stay in the car when we go places. She still doesn't like messes and is always asking for a napkin when she eats. She is also sensitive about her clothing. Last year it was just shoes, but now it's everything as she won't wear many of her clothes because they don't feel right (I know I was this way as a child too, so I can't blame her). 

Here are Faith's responses to the questions that I asked each of the kids:

•What is your name?
Faith

•How old are you?
4 in June

•When is your birthday?
Last year

•How old is Daddy?
Bigger and bigger and bigger

•How old is mommy?
4

•What is your favorite color?
Pink!

•What is your favorite food?
Peanut butter and jelly peanut butter and jelly all the time!

•Who is your best friend?
Maggie

•What is your favorite song?
Peanut butter and jelly song

•What is your favorite animal?
Zebra

•What are you scared of?
Koalas

•What makes you happy?
Sad face and happy face [sometimes we play a game where we make a sad face, then we make a happy face, etc.]

•Where is your favorite place to go?
To the park to the other park

•What do you want to be when you grow up?
 A horse and a cheetah

•What is Mommy's favorite thing to do?
Run

•What is daddy's favorite thing to do?
He likes to run

Here are photos of Faith 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

34 1/2 months (Faith left, Alexis right...they look so similar here)

almost 36 months

It's hard to imagine life without Faith. She challenges Micah and I in so many ways, both as parents and as individuals, and she is a great sister to Alexis and Jack. We look forward to watching her make new friends and learn new things over the next year.