Celebrate Keara

In the hospitalOne week old

2 months old4 months old7 months old10 months oldOne year old14 months old16 months old20 months old2 years old2 and a half

Almost 3 3 years old

Wow! Keara is now officially 3 years old! I can't believe it. In so many ways, it seem like she was just born. Yet in so many other ways, it seems like she's been around forever and like "it's only been 3 years!?"

I will post in a bit about her birthday party, but right now, I want to share a little about our Keara. It's harder to do a spotlight on Keara because very little is about milestone and more is about personality, preferences, etc. I'll do my best. If this bores you, don't read it~it's long!!

Keara

*is my best friend, biggest helper, source of entertainment, and so much more. She delights me (almost) all the time and is an amazing child to parent.

*has always understood the details about what we're talking about. She has an incredible ability to control herself and her emotions. She has rarely thrown fits and those she does throw last less than a minute.

*LOVES babies. She cannot wait for this one and begs to hold any baby she can. She has done that since she was a year old, even if it meant holding "babies" who were bigger than her.

*understands what it means to change your attitude and can do it immediately and choose to be happy.

*cherishes friends. I can see so much of my personality in her. She craves deep friendships with one or two people but really has little interest in being the center of attention. If there is someone with a stronger leader personality in the group, she will not take charge. But if she feels comfortable with the people she is with, she can be a great leader.

*is very shy...at first. She is polite and outgoing, but has a hard time warming up to strangers right away. But when she feels safe, she finds instant friends (especially with the wiser women in our ward.)

*feels great empathy for other people. You can see her heart reaching out when others are sad or hurting (unless its Taryn). She understands a lot about human emotion and does a great job helping people feel better.

*obeys VERY well. She is a great listener and obeys (unless she's in a bad mood or very tired).

*says some of the funniest things. Usually these things are because she thinks too much about something.

*Is focused and determined. She will decide she wants something and will NOT forget about it, no matter how hard you distract her. Thankfully, this never has anything to do with material things, like candy at the grocery store. But rather, it has to do with what she has for breakfast, or the outfit I told her 3 days ago she could wear, or what I told her we MIGHT do today.

*Likes to talk about what's important to her. Her latest thing was "Let's talk about it." She LOVED sitting or lying in her bed at night and talking about her day or how she was feeling or a question she had.

*Likes being comfortable. Again, a trait I see in both (well, even Braden too) of us. She finds what she likes and sticks to it. She has a hard time branching out. This is NOT the case with food, where she will still eat almost anything we put in front of her. But it is the case with things like movies. We don't let her watch TV, so she only watches DVDs. She wouldn't sit thru a movie until 8 months ago or so, and her favorite was Baby Einstein Baby McDonald. She watched it until it was so scratched she couldn't watch it anymore. Not in one day, but she refused to watch anything else. Then it was the LeapFrog Letter Factory, then The Santa Clause, then Cinderella, then Peter Pan, then Finding Nemo, then The Jungle Book, with a little Annie and Robin Hood thrown in. Each infatuation lasts until we FORCE her to watch something else. But when she is in on a kick, she will only watch that one video.

*is passionate and gets very excited about almost anything.

*is very flexible and is willing to go with the flow. We LOVE that about her.

*is an incredible nurturer. I don't think anything about Keara is as evident as how much she nurtures. This is a trait she was born with and has strengthened over the last 3 years. She sees dolls, not as toys, but as real people who rely on her for support and life. She cares for them in a tender way. She adopts pretty much any doll or stuffed animal as her child and will feed, clothe, diaper, burp, sleep, entertain, read to, and in all other ways take care of that child. She is aware of what they are doing every minute of the day and includes them in almost all her play. It has been a great way to teach compassion, empathy, forgiveness, apologizing, obedience, etc. She disciplines them and teaches them and it's fun to hear what she is teaching them. The trouble is, it started with 1 friend (meaning her dolls), and has since turned into WAY too many. She just got 3 more friends this weekend alone for her birthday. And since she truly sees each as her child, its very difficult to put them away in a closet after the bond has been made. She also nurtures Taryn and tries to take care of her, like washing her hair in every bath, getting her up from naps, reading to her, etc. But, sometimes (often), she doesn't nurture Taryn at all, especially when Taryn is trying to play with her friends.

*has 3 distinct love languages, I think. I need to read the book, but if I were to pin it down, I'd say quality activities, quality conversation, and physical touch. Interestingly, that's a blend of mine and Braden's. (And no, I don't think it's just because that's a blend of mine and Bradens that she has those. Taryn's is definitely physical touch and I think words of affirmation.)

*can be destructive or mischevious, if she wants to be, or if she's bored. (see pic below) Just so you know she's not perfect. But close...

A couple more random things:

*hates the thought of getting her hair done. She does great once she's finally sat down to do it, but otherwise hates it.

*loves being outside and digging in the dirt. But she HATES being covered in mud.

*loves to swim.

*loves pizza and rootbeer, mashed potatoes, ketchup, strawberries, shakes, green beans, oatmeal, and chocolate.

*apparently looks forward to being a mom, being a grandma, and driving!

As for measurements, which are fun to compare, she was born at 6 lbs 5 oz, 19 inches. She is now 24 lbs and I don't know how tall. She hardly grew in the first 2 1/2 years, but has sprouted like a weed since. She suddenly went from wearing 18 month pants to needing 3T for the length. She wears 3T shirts too because they need to cover her belly. A couple weeks ago, she could fit in a size 4 shoe, but now is getting blisters in a size 6. She's not gaining weight right now, but sure is growing bigger. She tells me everyday, "I'm growing up!"

We love Keara. She is the perfect first born and is so wonderful in our family. We appreciate her nurturing spirit and really look forward to putting it to work when she's older. She is SO fun and so enjoyable to just be around. We are so grateful for her good friends and grateful that so many of you know her well. If not, maybe this helps to get to know her. I just hope she can bless many lives in her lifetime. She is a huge blessing to me!

Getting Taryn up for a nap...AKA entertaining Taryn for mom
Helping make pancakes Bored during naps...we took all the boxes OUT of her room after this.
Getting Taryn a snack while mommy took a nap...yes, sprinkles apparently count as a snack. Reading with her friends