Since Joe is going to be in Ontario on Jane's actual birthday, we decided to celebrate it on Friday because there was no school that day! On Thursday night I was concocting various plans of either going skating or swimming with our crew for her little party. And then just before Joe and I were about to go to bed, Jane comes into our room crying about her ankles. She had a bunch of water blisters on them that she had been scratching. Immediately I thought, "OH NO! She's that tiny percent that is going to get chicken pox from my shingles even though she has already been vaccinated!" The thing is, it was only around her ankles. No where else. And the blisters she had didn't look like your regular chicken pox. She wouldn't be happy until we had put a "bandaid" on them, so we put after-bite ointment on them, wrapped them up so she couldn't itch them and sent her back to bed with our fingers crossed. We told her it was her birthday tomorrow and that she was turning three! She didn't believe us and kept saying, "No. It's not my birthday!" She must have known it was actually not until Monday!
But then, she started getting presents. The first being her birthday cereal. This is a tradition I hadn't realized I started until one of the kids mentioned that this is a "thing" I do for birthdays and they actually look forward to it. So, birthday cereal it is!
And miracle of miracles! In the morning, we were happy to see that her bumps were gone. Who knows what they were? Possibly a reaction to something? I was just glad to see no sign of them and glad that we could actually have a fun day ahead of us. So we went skating as a family at Pason's Arena. We never last too long with the girls, but it was still fun. Zoe is bawling in our little family picture here. Ellie sent Jane over to Zoe to give her a hug and at first Zoe fought it and I thought, "this is going to be bad" but then she suddenly had a change of heart and hugged Jane back. You have to know that Jane is not very friendly to Zoe for some reason, which is odd because Zoe is the most huggable and kindest person in our family. Zoe said that was the best part of Jane's birthday party, when she gave Zoe a hug to make her feel better. Probably because it was all so shocking!
Snow angels. On the ice.
Zoe and Jane. My constant skating buddies.
My plan was to just have lunch at home, but then someone mentioned McDonald's. So, that was the end of that.
By the time we got home it was way passed Jane's nap time, so she was READY to sleep. And sleep she did.
As soon as she knew there were presents coming she decided that, yes, it was her birthday after all, and those presents were for her. I know my little Jane and she loved every gift. Jane has moved on from Peppa Pig right into Paw Patrol! She has almost all of the Paw Patrol puppy figurines, except she is missing Skye. These were hand-me-down toys from Zoe, so for one of her gifts, I got her Skye so she could complete her set! I also got her Paw Patrol undies---which she immediately changed into and, might I add, changed THREE different times throughout the rest of the day! She also got a Paw Patrol sticker book. I also bought her a phone and a doctor's set. It sounds like a lot, but compared to what the older kids want these days, this was pretty cheap. I'd say of all the presents, the doctor's set took the cake. A few weeks ago at Parent Link, they had set up a doctor's play station for the kids, and she LOVED it! That's all she wanted to do and that's all she talked about at home. Always wanting to give me bandaids and always telling me that my heart went, "bum-bum! Bum-bum!" So, this was perfect.
Sleepy post-nap-ready-for-cupcakes face.
And just like that, she's three! Jane. Janey Jane Jane! You are looking up at your Dad in this last picture, and this little look says it all. "I'm cute, but you can't trust me!" By far, you are our most determined child in our family. You want what you want and that's that! Sometimes what you want is fine with me and all is well with the world, but sometimes it's not! Usually if you get caught doing something you know you shouldn't be doing, you like to wave us off with an, "it's okay, Mom. It's okay." Your other favourite phrases these days are, "Mom, I wanna tell you something" (that's your attention-getter for "Mom, listen to me!"), "I do it!"(when you want to do something yourself, which is always) and "I can't!" (if I ask you to do something you don't want to do) and "play with me!" Your other siblings were lucky because they had each other to play with during the day, and you only have me! So while kids are at school I get a lot of requests to play with you. We usually build blocks and then play with the Paw Patrol crew on the blocks. Or sometimes it's your Little People set in the castle. You always want to have conversations between your toys. It's adorable where your little mind goes. I'm sure it has something to do with whatever Paw Patrol episode you watched that day. "Oh no, there's a ghost! Aaaaah!" And your imagination doesn't stop at toys. Once we were at Costco and you wanted each fry you ate to have a personality. At first it was cute, and then it got a little disturbing because you and I were the "monsters" eating all the innocent baby fries! Haha! "Aaaah! Oh no! Don't eat meeeee! Not the ketchup!"
Having the kids at school all day makes for a long day sometimes, so usually I give you my morning and we rotate through going to the library (there's a fun "read, sing and play" class that we both go to together. The teacher's name is Miss Sarah and when I told you that, you responded, "No. You not Sawah!" Meaning, she's not Aunty Sarah. Haha!), Parent Link (which you call, "Play Place" because there are a bunch of toys set up for you to play with, including play dough!), running errands together (usually Costco), and sometimes I have mornings where the laundry just needs to get done so I fold clothes while you try to get me to play with you. You haven't really gotten into drawing or colouring yet, although just a few days ago you actually sat down long enough for me to show you how to draw a smiley face. So, this may be the start. You also love to bake with me. When you see me pull out the Bosche, you immediately know that there are eggs that need cracking and spatulas that need licking.
You are also a girl of routine. For lunch time I usually get you situated downstairs with a plate of food and turn on a show or a movie to watch while you eat. You have your chig (blanket) right beside you and you are ready to settle down. I come down an hour or so later and usually your plate is clean and you have fallen asleep or are on your way! I transfer you upstairs to bed and you have a nice little nap for me. Carrying a sleeping Jane is adorable. You have your finger in your mouth to soothe you and your chig right under your face. There were a couple times last week where I strayed from our routine a little and you would not nap for me. Granted, you are getting older and none of your siblings lasted this long with naps, but I am clinging on to them for as long as I can! So, routine it is!
You are our only child who wakes up at night and tries to crawl into bed with me! I don't know what happened, but over the Christmas holidays, something changed in you and you feel the need to wake up and check in on me and Dad. Sometimes it's to go to the bathroom which is great! Yes please! But sometimes you just want to snuggle. It takes everything in me to get up right away and put you straight back to bed. I don't want to start bad habits, but the Mother in me loves the feel of your tiny little body snuggled up into mine. So yes, sometimes I will allow five or ten minutes of snuggle heaven. And it is seriously the sweetest thing. But then it's right back to bed! I will admit, there was a time last week when Joe was out of town and you pulled your sly little trick of snuggling with me at some point in the night. I was sick and didn't have the energy to put you back to bed, so I just let you lay there beside me. You totally kicked me out of my space. But heck! Joe wasn't there, so I just moved over. It was pretty cute. I woke up the next morning though thinking, "What have I done?!" You won.
A few months ago you finally started sharing a room with Zoe and Ellie! It took about a month or so of adjustment for everyone, but I think we are good now. Thankfully your sisters are pretty deep sleepers, because you are notorious for getting up at least two or three times after being tucked in, "A drink, Mom?" or "I need to go potty!" You don't. But you know exactly what lies to feed me to stall. You and Zoe and are both pretty particular about your bedtime routine. If for some reason I can't read you both a book of your own choosing and sing you each a different bedtime song WHILE scratching your back, then we all have problems falling asleep! I am trying to ease Jackson or Noah or Ellie into doing my job so that when I am not around or am sick then it's not such a big deal. Also, sometimes the break is nice. I think when you know that I am not an option, you will take what you can get (as long as I don't poke my head into the room!). Your favourite bedtime song these days is, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."
You love to be outside. Even in the winter! Each time we are about to drive somewhere, you see your trike in the garage and grab it before I can grab you and try to pedal around on our snowy driveway. DETERMINED! Not even the snow stops you.
Jane, I love you to pieces. You are sassy, sweet and super hilarious! Everything out of your mouth is adorable or hilarious. Or both. I am looking forward to this year seeing what Jane the three-nager will bring me. I love you! Happy Birthday!
